The game follows Kirby as he goes through five levels to retrieve the Sparkling Stars and food of Dream Land from King Dedede.

For more advanced players, he offered additional optional challenges such as a hard mode and the ability to edit Kirby's maximum HP and starting number of lives.

[4] The game was the highest grossing in the series, with 5,130,000 copies sold, until being beaten out 30 years later by Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

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.

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.

The Dream Landers are a very peaceful and carefree people that use their magical Sparkling Stars to play and work among the heavens.

As the residents are discussing what to do, a spry little boy named Kirby flies in on the spring breeze, and volunteers to defeat King Dedede and retrieve the food and Stars.

Upon successfully doing so, he uses the magic of the Sparkling Stars to transform into a hot air balloon and return the King's stolen food back to the people of Dream Land.

[12] In order to give the character more international appeal, the developers decided to change Popopo's name, so they polled Nintendo of America for suggestions, and eventually chose Kirby.

Other members of the development team were unaware of Kirby's coloration; in particular, Shigeru Miyamoto initially thought that he was yellow.

However, Nintendo of America designed the North American box art and advertisements with a white Kirby based on the game's grey-scale visuals.

Upon release, Nintendo Power editors George and Bob shared generally positive opinions of the game; George stated that it is a really fun game, owing its quality to its excellent play control and well thought out concept, while Bob stated that it is deceptively simple looking, when it in fact features a decent challenge for more experienced gamers.

[23] As of 2010[update], it has sold in excess of 5 million copies worldwide; Gamasutra cited its new style of gameplay for its success.

"[31][better source needed] Humongous Life's Jonathan Wahlgren called it a strong game, but felt it to be "too elementary".

[34] Allgame's Joshua Crystal called it a "great game for beginner players and ones that enjoy a fun, but short, experience.

[27] IGN's Lucas M. Thomas and Craig Harris included Kirby's Dream Land in their wishlist for a hypothetical "Virtual Console" for the Nintendo 3DS, commenting that its inclusion would be based on nostalgia rather than it feeling "new and sensational".

[37] GameSpy's Gerald Villoria, Brian Altano, and Ryan Scott called it "basic" compared to later games in the series, adding that it lacked a sense of danger because Kirby could fly.

[43][44] Kirby and King Dedede appear as playable characters in the fighting game series Super Smash Bros.