, the
boss of the first stage, Green Greens ''Kirby's Dream Land'' is a
side-scrolling action-
platformer. Like many other platformers of the
8-bit and
16-bit era of video games, levels are played on a
two-dimensional plane in which the
protagonist,
Kirby, has six health points and can move left or right as well as jump. Kirby's main method of attack is to inhale enemies and objects into his mouth, after which the player can choose to swallow or spit them out as a
star-shaped projectile attack. In addition to running and jumping, Kirby can fly by inflating himself with a mouthful of air and flapping his arms. Flying can be done indefinitely; however, while flying, Kirby's only method of attack is to release the air puff held in his mouth which cancels his flight. The game consists of a total of five
levels. Levels are made up of a series of large "rooms" connected by doors that lead Kirby to different areas, rather than the single continuous corridors typical of platformers at the time. Some of these doors lead to hidden areas or alternate pathways through the level. The doors act as
checkpoints returning the player to the beginning of a "room" should they die rather than starting the level over. The goal of the game is to clear the level by defeating the
boss at the end. If Kirby touches a harmful enemy or obstacle, he loses one or more of his
health points, depending on the enemy or obstacle he touched. The player starts with a number of
lives, which are lost if Kirby loses all of his health or falls into a bottomless pit. Kirby can recover lost health by eating food, found across the stage. The player will receive a
Game Over upon losing all of their lives, although they can continue from the beginning of the current stage by selecting "Continue". Unlike the copy abilities of later games, ''Kirby's Dream Land'' has more traditional
power-ups that offer Kirby temporary abilities when he picks them up, although they are not a big part of gameplay. These often appear in the form of food, such as Spicy Curry that gives Kirby fire breath or a Mint Leaf (Sweet Potato in the Japanese version) that lets Kirby fire air puffs rapidly without losing flight. At the end of each level is a
boss Kirby must fight to obtain one of the Sparkling Stars. Most bosses are fought by sucking up small objects or projectiles created by the boss' attacks and spitting them back at the boss. The third boss, Kaboola, is fought using an unlimited version of the Mint Leaf item, incorporating
shoot 'em up elements. The last level before the
final boss consists of a boss rush, where Kirby must fight all of the game's bosses again going through a short area based on that boss's home level. There are also many
mini-bosses during the levels. Like many 1980s-era platformers, the player can accumulate points by defeating enemies and collecting items, with an
extra life granted when the player has enough points. However, because ''Kirby's Dream Land'' lacks a save function, scores are not recorded. Also, there are no save files, so the player has to start over again when the Game Boy is turned off, if the player chooses to return to the title screen after a game over, or if the player resets the game. Once the game has been completed, a code is offered to play an optional extra game, in which the difficulty is significantly increased. Completing the extra game offered a second code that lets the player adjust lives and vitality settings to play an easier or even harder game, and listen to music and sound effects freely. ==Plot==