Another reissue? Yes, after the unexpected launch of Metroid Prime Remastered and the anticipation of Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp, Nintendo invites us to once again immerse ourselves in the great adventure of Kirby, originally published on Wii. If we’re far from being surprised by Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe reminds us why good games on the Nintendo platform are timeless entertainment classics.
- Available on: Nintendo Switch
- Price: $79.99 + transaction
Return to the classic formula
If you’ve never played Kirby’s Return to Dream Land, there’s a little pink ball from Nintendo in the pop star world. On a beautiful day, Kirby and his friends witness the crash of a ship from another universe. Backed by a light narrative, your adventure will lead you to help the captain of the ship so that he can restore the parts of the latter and return to his homeland.
With the exception of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land reflects other games in the franchise. It offers an ultra-easy scenario as well as simple levels where you’ll have to use Kirby’s copy skills to destroy your opponents and solve puzzles. To this end, the skills you take from your enemies will serve you not only to collect stars to increase your number of lives, but also to recover parts of the gears hidden in each table.
Thus, this simple but undeniable pleasure awaits you in this re-released adventure for Nintendo Switch. After wrapping up the original game on the Wii, this new installment reminded me why the Kirby games remain one of my favorites when it comes to instant fun without breaking my head. Despite the classic format, very similar to other Kirby games, the levels are beautifully done and designed in a way that encourages us to change our skills regularly, whether we decide to play alone or with up to three other players. In short, for fans of Kirby and platformers, this is sweetie!
On the other hand, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land remains a game that leans towards simplicity and lightness. If you’re a fan of platform games, you’ll find that the game is easy, as the levels offer few challenges and scores of lives can be accumulated quickly. Even if the hard mode is unlocked after completing the campaign, you won’t face much difficulty. It’s a well-known aspect of the franchise’s games, but don’t expect new, tougher challenges with this re-release.
Please note that if you are playing the game with younger or inexperienced players, a new easy mode is available. I doubt you will use it, but if you do, it will make the playable campaign even easier by adding the Magolor character to it. The latter will throw healing items at you and save you if you fall into the pit. It would be amazing, but at least you won’t be disappointed with this Kirby adventure.
New abilities of the little pink ball
Although, like any good Kirby game, the adventure revolves around the protagonist’s ability to copy, the developers have added some new ideas to spice up the classic little pink balloon experience.
So, just like in the original game, you will be able to swallow and copy the abilities of certain special enemies. By doing so, you will increase the attack power of some basic skills, including ice, fire, and sword. For example, fire will throw a huge dragon through the screen, and a sword will spawn a large blade that will cut through everything in your path. Although they are limited and temporary, these powerful skills will come in handy for clearing certain special obstacles and gaining access to the secrets of various levels.
However, this re-release adds new abilities to Kirby that fit perfectly into the adventure. In addition, the sand technique will allow you to surf and send waves of dust in the face of your enemies. The Festival skill, taken from Kirby Star Allies, turns enemies on screen into stars and healing items. As for the robot, without a doubt my favorite technique, it will turn Kirby into a small fighting robot that can fire both lasers and missiles. All of them are interesting and so well designed and integrated into the adventure that you’d think they were already part of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land in 2011!
Forbes
Post-camping and aesthetic additions to the menu
HAL Labs didn’t just add new features for this reissue. Actually, it’s not just a port of the Wii version, as new modes have been integrated in addition to the main campaign.
The new main mode is unmistakably an epilogue with Magolor, the little alien we have to help in the main adventure. During this short 2-hour campaign, you will have to manipulate Magolor at different levels, helping him regain his unique skills. Initially, your character will be very weak, but the more you progress, the more you will turn it into a real destructive force on two legs. Like Kirby’s Adventure, Magolor’s Adventure is well thought out and refreshes Kirby’s formula, if only it’s too short.
HAL has also added a new Magolor Park where you unlock ten mini-games. Some, such as Earth-Cracking Punch or Karate, are carried over from other Kirby games, while others are completely original. Despite their small numbers, most of them are fun to play together for one or two games. However, since these are mini-games, don’t expect to play them for a long time or return to them regularly.
New single-player challenges inspired by Kirby’s techniques also make their debut in this re-release. You will gradually unlock them by collecting cogs in the main campaign. If it’s easy, then the additional challenges will be more difficult, especially if you want to get gold medals. Indeed, the game will accumulate your points according to the small medals you collect in the levels, the number of enemies destroyed, the passage time and the health you have left after completing the challenge. It’s a great way to perfect every Kirby technique while asking us to be as fast and perfect as possible at every challenge.
Otherwise, Nintendo has added dozens of little masks to collect, as well as hundreds of goals to complete. Featuring the characters in the game, these masks can be worn by your character during your adventure. However, if they are cute, they only have an aesthetic benefit. To be honest, I’m tired of wanting to complete goals and game modes with only pretty useless masks as a reward.
Reddit
Cute Nintendo style
Finally, the images show you the work done on a visual level. Not only was the game ported to HD, but Nintendo reworked the visual vibe to give it a slightly more cartoony feel. As such, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is very colorful with an orgy of gorgeous flowers as well as gorgeous character models. Admittedly, we are clearly targeting a younger audience with this image, but older people will surely appreciate this improved cute side over the original version.
Amazon
Should you play it?
Kirby’s return to the Wii was welcome as we returned to Pop Star in an adventure that took us back to the origins of the series. On the Nintendo Switch, the passage of time means we’re facing an undeniably interesting yet very classic game. In about eight hours, you’ll complete both the single-player campaign and its new epilogue, while other expansions will only keep you coming back occasionally.
Admittedly, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a good little platformer, but not for $90, especially when compared to other platformers released in the last ten years such as the excellent Kirby and Forgotten Land.