The History of Kirby's Dream Land 2

Each animal changes both movement and weapon. Rick runs faster and does not slip on ice. Coo flies fast even against harsh wind and lets Kirby inhale in midair. Kine swims against currents and lets Kirby inhale underwater, at the price of being poor on land. Pair any of them with a copy ability and the ability itself transforms: Spark on Rick becomes the Beam attack from Adventure, on Coo a lightning bolt from the sky, on Kine a volley of light bulbs.

The game's second system is its secret one. Each island hides a Rainbow Drop; collect all seven and they form the Rainbow Sword, which opens the true final battle against Dark Matter itself instead of the possessed Dedede. The anniversary book later noted this game as one of the hardest in the series to complete at 100 percent. Played on the Super Game Boy, the game adds a custom border picturing the animal friends, a limited color scheme per world, and sound effects rendered by the Super NES sound chip, applause, wind, and thunder where the story calls for them.

The music is by Hirokazu Ando and Tadashi Ikegami, both HAL regulars, the first Kirby score built by a team rather than a single composer.

Dream Land 2 quietly re-founded the series. Dark Matter became its first recurring cosmic villain, the animal friends became beloved regulars who returned as Dream Friends decades later, and Shimomura's darker, collection driven take on Kirby continued through Dream Land 3 to Kirby 64. It was re-released on the 3DS Virtual Console in 2012 and 2013, included in Kirby's Dream Collection, and added to Nintendo Classics in 2023.