Kirby’s Return To Dreamland Deluxe
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Exciting upgrades, mini-games and eye-grabbing graphics turn this remake into one of Kirby’s best games yet.
With the release ofKirby’s Return To Dream Land Deluxe, I felt like I was a kid again, despite my increasingly graying facial hair. HAL Laboratory’s 2011 original release of Kirby’s Return to Dreamland on Nintendo’s Wii brought back the iconic platform gaming that was first introduced to fans on the handheld Game Boy console in 1992.
Our pink fluffy hero has gone through plenty of changes, but this is hands-down my favorite Kirby adventure.
Deep down, I feel that all classic Nintendo IPs belong on Nintendo Switch, and current/former/subsequent Kirby games are a case in point. The controls are so intuitive, that within moments of starting I was maneuvering my fuchsia friend around some very familiar territory like an old ranch hand. Kirby’s basic moves in Deluxe don’t deviate from their traditionally assigned roles: jump, jump twice to float, inhale your enemy to obtain their Copy Ability, release your Copy and use your basic weapon. But just when I had settled in for a comfortable ride with zero expectations, the game threw me for some loops.
To my delight, Nintendo has thrown two new copy abilities into the Deluxe mix: Mecha and Sand abilities. I’ve justgotto gush about the former for a minute because yes, it’s every bit as adorably badass as you could imagine. As Mecha Kirby, not only does helookawesome, but his copy ability allows you to fly via booster, fire overhead rocket launchers at elevated enemies ,and let off a high-powered laser beam special. This was my go-to throughout the bulk of the game, mostly because a blaster-like ability felt as natural as playing other classic side-scrollers, likeMetroidorMega Man. As cool as it probably sounded on paper, I didn’t mess much with the sand ability, although I appreciated the fact that it seemed to round out the elemental weapons.
Speaking of weapons, one element that I truly savored was the improved Super Ability. In the original Return to Dream Land, Kirby can obtain a Super Ability from a glowing rainbow-colored baddie that throws him into a surreal realm of absolute power corresponding to that enemy type, i.e. Fire, Ice, Beam, etc.
In Deluxe, you’ve still got these totally awesome powers, but unfortunately they drain much faster than in the original. Regardless,I fondly remember gaining the Monster Flame ability that summoned a massive dragon that laid waste to all visible structures and foes, the Snow Bowl ability that turned Kirby into an omnipotent furious snowball and an Ultra Sword that destroyed literally everything, including the ground.
Throughout Story Mode, perhaps the only complaint I had was the ease of the boss fights, but this could just be due to the fact that the series has always been targeted towards a much younger demographic than myself. Be that as it may. when I encountered the Onion Ocean boss, Fatty Puffer, I basically jumped and mashed the attack button repeatedly for maybe 15-20 seconds before victory. Elden Ring it most certainly ain’t.
Apart from the new skills, Deluxe’s most prominent variations revolve not around its titular character, but Magolor, an alien whose ship crashed into Dream Land. While present in the original, Deluxe gives Magolor plenty of room to take center stage. For example, in Story Mode, I was given an “easy” option where Magolor would assist throughout the game during various pitfalls (which I happily accepted). This generous help is something akin to the Mellow Mode inYoshi’s Crafted World. With Magolor in my corner, I could fall into a deadly hole (which I did) and he would tirelessly save me from death each time (which he did). Elsewhere, Magolor would appear and drop copy ability stars to give me a leg up in some minor boss fights. Nice guy, right?
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However, these mild interventions from Magolor are nothing compared to the biggest addition to Deluxe: the entertaining mini-game area of Merry Magoland. At face value, Magoland is a Magalor’s theme park composed of multiple challenges and inhabited by characters that you encounter in Story Mode (mostly previously defeated enemies-turned friendly). During the first boss fight on Planet Pop Star, for example, I gave a brutal thrashing to the classic Kirby boss Whispy Woods. Sure enough, once I strolled into Magoland later on, who should appear but Whispy Woods - as tame as a labrador and even willing to let me wear a mask with his likeness to bury the hatchet. To be fair, Ididtry the masks a fair bit, but with so much going on in the game, it was almost too much extra flare for me to handle, especially while decked out in my Mecha gear.
But our good friend Magolor, while charming, has an alternative story to tell, which was another one of Deluxe’s surprises in an unlocked Epilogue after the final boss battle. In Magolor Epilogue: The Interdimensional Traveler, Magolor steals the show and platforms his way to recover his power and ultimately make it home without too much fuss.
It’s worth noting that Story Mode, Merry Magoland and the Magolor Epilogue are all fertile grounds for a co-op mode featuring King Dedede, Meta Knight, or Bandana Waddle Dee. However, in my case, the experience was predominantly solo, whereby I showed the CPU opponents hanging out in Magoland who was head honcho.
This is a beautiful squeaky clean remake, which is to say that it’s the beset that Kirby has ever looked. Deluxe had me loving every second, which I happily spent soaking up the dynamic graphics, competing at Magoland, and zooming around in sweet Mecha suit.
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe not only got me as giddy as a youngster in a candy shop, but was a solid reminder that, with a bit of pure imagination and innovation, Nintendo could still expand upon the worlds of existing IP, especially its pink pudgy ones.
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