While quite fun, you can beat the game in under an hour, making Kirby's Dream Land lacking in content in the long run
GRAPHICS:
Even though this game is quite early in the system's life, it still looks pretty good, matching up with titles like Super Mario Land 2. It can handle quite a bit on screen at once, and the sprite are quite nice. It is just a damn shame this game is black and white, since this world really seems to be full of life and energy. But still, for a GB game, it holds up nicely today. 4.2/5
SOUND:
This game introduced to what are many classic tunes in the franchise, and they sound really good here. They never get annoying, besides being a bit too happy for some, and they are really catchy. I have to say, I really do love the tracks in this game, and it is great they left a legacy. 4.5/5
GAMEPLAY:
This game is a 2D plataformer. Unlike cousin Mario, Kirby doesn't stomp on enemies, instead has to swallow them and spit them back to do damage. He can swallow other enemies or other things in the level, such as blocks, even though they have the same impact. It presents some interesting possibilities, and the game is quite fun on its ownl. Kirby's other main ability, being able to float like a ballon, also can be quite usefull to skip hazzards, but isn't entirely abusable due to some stuff in the skies, which balances it out a bit.
One thing that isn't in this game however, is the copy ability. In all games past this one, Kirby can copy the power of some of his enemies, but in this game he can't. While the game is suited so that you don't outright need it, it is a real shame going back now to play it, since it is one of the main things that make Kirby games so fun, and this game could have benefited a lot from it. It would make the gameplay more deep, but instead we only have swallow and spit, and since there is no variety on that, the game is rather shallow.
The problems do not stop there, unfortunately. There are also two things that this game does that are really hard to overlook. The first is the dificulty. This game is a total cake walk, and if you get a game over when you are older than 10, you should be ashamed. Granted, I have lost lives in this game, but most of the time it was due to my own stupidity. Not even the bosses possess a threat. And the other and biggest gripe with this game is its length. This game is easily beatable in less than an hour. There are only 5 levels and that is it. There is a hard more, but that is the only reason to replay it, and it isn't even that hard at all. While fun, gameplay also can only carry replay value so far.
Even costing bellow 5 bucks on the Virtual Console, this game was remade in Kirby's Super Star, with the copy ability and all, and since you get essencially this game along with other, there is hardly a reason to recomend the original version.
2/5
OVERALL:
While fun, the short lengh and existence of a better version makes the original Kirby's Dream Land seem as a rather unncessary game nowadays. It is fun, and you could really do much worse with $5, but if you can get the better version for $8 along with much more, this is hardly worth purchasing.
The good:
-Graphics hold up nicely today
-Music is really good
-Presented some interesting gameplay mechanics that deviated from traditional plataformers
The bad:
-Really, really short
-Very easy
-Lack of copy ability gives the gameplay low variety
-Can get it in color and with the copy ability with Super Star for a little more