Kirby and Gooey are on a fishing trip, when all of a sudden, Dark Matter appears and shatters the planet's rings. He then proceeds to possess various Dream-Landers, including King Dedede. Kirby and Gooey then team up with Rick, Coo, and Kine, as well as new characters Pitch, ChuChu, and Nago. They collect all the Heart-Stars to create the "Love-Love Stick" and defeat Dark Matter and his leader: Zero.

The game's platforming mechanics are very similar to most other Kirby games, as is Kirby's skillset. Kirby is able to jump, duck, slide, fly (by inflating himself), as well as perform his signature move: inhaling enemies. When Kirby inhales an enemy, it can be spit back out as a projectile, or swallowed. Normally this has no effect on Kirby, although specific enemies grant Kirby copy abilities, a staple of the Kirby games. Copy abilities replace Kirby's standard inhaling move with a special attack, depending on the enemy Kirby ate. For example, swallowing a fire-based enemy allows Kirby to become a fireball.