alostvagabond

"Kirby's Dream Land 2 DX" is a ROM Hack that released in 2023. It's a hack of "Kirby's Dream Land 2" which originally released on the Game Boy in 1995. While the original was designed for a monochrome display, and the Super Game Boy doesn't really do too much for the game, this hack serves to do something about that! This hack is a full a complete overhaul in the sense that it colorizes everything! There are also added visuals, optimizations, and a few more settings.

This hack made some huge waves in the ROM hacking community and it's where I first dipped my toes into that world. I first saw the hack revealed on Twitter where hacker "kkzero" had made a trailer showing off their work. Immediately it blew up and became one of the most downloaded games on ROMhacking.net

Many reviews say that this is the definitive way to play the game and I believe it! The game is rather short at only 3 hours to beat it. If you want to go for 100%, be prepared to play for a lot longer than you'd expect. There are a couple of secrets in the game, but the thing that took me the longest was trying to find "Girl blob". Apparently it's a 1/8 chance to find her, but I feel like I spent an hour trying to get her to spawn in. I still have the screenshot from when I found her.

This was the first game that I really put my Analogue Pocket to the test with and I can't think of a more beautiful way to experience this game. The visuals are on point, and it's just a classic Kirby game that if you've got a couple of hours to kill, it will not disappoint.

Check out the hack!