One of my all-time favorite trends in the retro gaming scene over the past few years has to be colorization rom hacks of some of my favorite Game Boy games. Just in the past few years, games like Super Mario Land, Pokémon, and countless others have been lovingly enhanced to support Game Boy Color levels of color while leaving the core of the game intact. Best part of all, these rom hacks even function on original hardware once patched, for that authentic experience!
The latest enhanced classic comes from the extremely talented modder kkzero and takes the original Kirby’s Dreamland 2 for the Game Boy and enhances it into a fully enhanced DX version, complete with a rainbow of beautiful colors. The DX version boasts several impressive improvements that make this rom hack truly remarkable.
Full Colorization – All backgrounds, tilesets, and sprites have been fully colorized, taking full advantage of the GBC’s graphics capabilities. The colors are vibrant, and they add a whole new level of life to the game that was not possible in the original release.
Extra Visual Snazz – Smoother fade effects, some color animation, and other little details push the hardware just a bit more. These additions may seem small, but they add up to create a much more polished and visually appealing experience.
Slowdown Eliminated – The GBC’s double speed mode is enabled to diminish virtually any lag present in the original game. This improvement means that the gameplay is smoother and faster, which makes the game more enjoyable to play overall.
All-new Settings Menu – The DX version includes a brand-new settings menu that allows players to customize their experience. You can change the Status Bar Color, toggle color animation in the Status Bar, or toggle the Animal Friends’ BGMs interrupting the level music.
SGB Support Intact – The DX version still includes support for the Super Game Boy. Players can play with the SGB border enabled in emulators that support the unofficial “SGB+GBC” mode. This feature adds an extra level of nostalgia for those who remember playing the original game on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Now, in order for this game to function, you need to have a rom file of the original game (which we won’t be linking to here for obvious reasons) and the rom hack file found on romhacking.net. Once you have both files, you’ll need to patch the original rom file to complete the process.
As someone who owns more than one copy of this game and actually dumped my own rom from my original cart, I can tell you it’s an absolute treat to play this game with a new coat of paint. Hopefully, Nintendo considers similar treatment and adds some color to original Game Boy games on Nintendo Switch Online in the future!
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Written by Jason Ganos
Nintendo super fan since birth, Jason is the creator of Amiibo News and editor-in-chief at Nintendo Wire. One of his life goals is to provide the latest Nintendo news to fellow gamers with his natural know-how.
