Review: KIRBY'S RETURN TO DREAM LAND DELUXE is a Fantastically Fun Game
Towards the end of February, Nintendo released Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe. This is a remaster of the exciting Wii title featuring everyone’s favorite pink puff for the Nintendo Switch. It features a story mode, minigames, and even a new epilogue. Nintendo was kind enough to provide me with a copy of the game for this review, but the thoughts below are my own. You can also download a free demo on the Nintendo eShop and give it a go before committing.
The tough puff Kirby is back for a 1-4 player platforming adventure across Planet Popstar. Help Magolor rebuild his ship with newly added Mecha and Sand Copy Abilities!
Float and fight along with friends on the same system as you control Kirby. Each other player can control a different Kirby or one of Kirby’s iconic friends like King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Waddle Dee.
This game is fantastic. I’ll admit that I never played the original Wii version, but that’s why ports/remasters can be a positive in the world of gaming. Now, anyone with a Switch can also enjoy a fantastic side scrolling platform adventure. Just like probably every other Kirby game, it’s a lot of fun to play and pretty chill. Kirby titles are not known for being very challenging and the fact you can make the game very easy by letting Magalor save you from falling and doubling your health can make it a walk in the park. That’s not a bad thing though. This is helpful and sometimes even necessary when younger kids play solo or even cooperatively with you.
That’s right, the game allows up to four players to adventure together. Player one will take the role of Kirby and the other three can also be Kirby (but of different colors) or some of Kirby’s allies: King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Waddle Dee. This is always a perk in my opinion. I love playing games with others, especially on the same couch.
The main story is fun and does get challenging as you advance. It also solidifies my hatred of water levels. They’re always the most annoying ones for me. As you play, you’ll gather some gears to help repair Malgor’s ship and unlock a few areas. There are solo challenges where you have to get the best scores on a level with a specific power, there are rooms where you can gain access to specific powers, and there are rooms with the subgames.
There are 10 subgames that you can play with your friends at Merry Magoland. If you just want to shoot the breeze for a bit or even make things a bit more competitive, these subgames are a blast to play. They’re very short and make for a short spot of fun during a small party.
In my time playing Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, there’s only one complaint that I’ve found. As I already mentioned, you unlock subgames in Malgor’s ship with some of the gears you collect. However, these are already unlocked in Merry Magoland from the start. Thankfully, you don’t spend the gears to unlock the games in the ship, but it does feel very redundant. I wish this had been reworked a bit to make something else unlock in place of the subgames.
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a fun game to play. It’s fairly easy but provides hours of fun with a main story that up to four people can play and minigames that are perfect for small parties. The game looks good, sounds great, and runs well on the aging Nintendo Switch. I love using the Mecha ability personally, but let me know your favorite power in the comments below.
