This is a fan-made ROM hack, first released in May 2023 by “kkzero“, of the Super Game Boy-enhanced Kirby’s Dream Land 2 that converts the game for use on the Game Boy Color. And it certainly does this great game justice and really makes those colours pop! In fact: it is much more colourful, and looks even better, than the Super Game Boy version. So much so that it is definitely the best way to play Kirby’s Dream Land 2, IMHO.

Kirby’s Dream Land 2 DX features full colourization (all backgrounds, tilesets, and sprites have been fully colourized, taking full advantage of the GBC‘s graphics capabilities); extra visual effects (smoother fades, some colour animation, and other little details to push the hardware further and make the game even better); slowdown elimination (the GBC‘s double speed mode is enabled to eradicate any lag present in the original game); an all-new Settings Menu (change the Status Bar colour, toggle colour animation in the Status Bar, and toggle the Animal Friends’ music interrupting the level music), and leaving Super Game Boy compatibility intact (play with the SGB border enabled in emulators that support the unofficial “SGB+GBC” mode).

I have to say that – after playing all versions of Kirby’s Dream Land 2 back-to-back recently (the original version; the Super Game Boy version, and this) – that this one is by far the best. The care that has been taken with this hack, and the use of colour throughout, is simply spectacular.

For a game that began life as a monochrome title – this is something of a transformation. And the people responsible for creating it should be applauded!

More: Kirby’s Dream Land 2 on Wikipedia
More: Kirby’s Dream Land 2 DX on romhacking.net
More: Kirby’s Dream Land 2 DX on YouTube