Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Review: A platformer suitable for everyone

On Nintendo Switch, the Kirby series is experiencing one of its richest periods. Only a year has passed since the hilarious debut of the mascot in 3D platformers with Kirby and the Lost Land (here is the review of Kirby and the Lost Land) but rather than continuing to experiment with the three dimensions, Hal Laboratory and Nintendo have decided to propose a return to the origins of the series with Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe . One of the most loved episodes of the saga returns more than ten years after the original publication on Wii (where it was known here in Europe as Kirby’s Adventure ) in a version for Nintendo Switch which, between graphic improvements and additional content, represents the perfect excuse to re-visit this iconic adventure.

Back to Dream Land

The serene daily life of Kirby and his companions is interrupted when the spaceship of the intergalactic traveler Magolor crashes on the surface of the planet Popstar. Unable to return to Halcandra, his home planet, Magolor asks the chubby hero to help him find the parts of the vehicle that went missing all over Popstar after the disastrous landing.

Thus begins, with the lightheartedness that has always distinguished Kirby’s narrative universe, an extremely classic adventure that develops in a succession of colorful and playful worlds, but which does not give up a few twists in the second half of the story. experience. After all, defining Return to Dream Land as a “classic” episode is at least an understatement, because the title is on balance the starting point on which all the most recent platformers that see Kirby as the protagonist were founded. Without having to retrieve the convincing chapters published on 3DS, remaining within the confines of Nintendo Switch, those who have already played Star Allies will find many similarities between the two titles (do you want to refresh your memory? Here you can read the review of Kirby Star Allies ). Just like the 2018 episode, Return to Dream Land is also a 2.5D platformer structured in worlds composed of short-lived levels. Kirby can run, slide, jump in the air several times and of course resort to the iconic ability copy of him that will allow him to assimilate the powers of the enemies once swallowed. One of the main innovations introduced in Return to Dream Land was that of linking an expanded moveset to each of these skills, with numerous moves that could be performed by associating a different movement input to the action key.

This guaranteed dynamic and flexible gameplay, which encouraged the player to experiment as much as possible with the various transformations, both to face the fights and to solve the numerous environmental puzzles that led to obtaining the “energy balls”, or hidden collectibles in each level.

The Deluxe version keeps this structure intact but enriches it by inserting new transformations that refer to the history of the series. These innovations are decently integrated and do not clash at all, without being unbalanced or excessively powerful to break the balance of the game.

Compared to Star Allies, there is no opponent capture mechanic, but it is possible to resort to the so-called Super Abilities, enhanced versions of copy talents that guarantee Kirby immense offensive power. In addition to being usable only for a limited period of time, these will only be available in certain sections of the levels and cannot be recalled at will.

In short, it is a gameplay element which does indeed create a bit of variety but which loses its ” novelty effect ” with the recurrence of the situations in which it is exploited. Feeling that unfortunately also occurs in the frequent clashes with the mid-bosses: despite the convincing level design of all worlds,the continuous recurrence of the same enemies produces a certain tiredness in the player , especially in the final stages of the adventure.

A platformer for everyone

Return to Dream Land Deluxe fully embraces the philosophy of Kirby titles and presents itself as an extremely simple platformer . However, this does not imply that it is a dull game or suitable only for the little ones.

While the progress of the main campaign, which lasts around 6 hours, is always very relaxed and devoid of a real degree of challenge (except in some difficulty peaks during the final stages), the situation changes radically if you face the title from a completionist perspective. While retrieving all 120 Energy Orbs is a challenging but certainly not impossible task, it is in the optional content and post-game that a significant increase in difficulty level is felt . For example, being able to obtain the maximum evaluation degrees in the challenge rooms requires a mastery of copy skills that is not at all obvious, and once the game is completed you can try your hand at the “extra” mode which is nothing more than a new degree of complexity calibrated towards the high.To complete the offer of unlockable content already present in the Wii version there is then the Arena , or rather the inevitable challenge in sequence of all the Bosses of the story mode.

All these are additions designed for a very different audience from the one that could easily stop at the satisfaction of having completed the main story. For this reason, the new help systems designed to further protect the players are not entirely necessary. The safety net offered by the helper Magolor, which fortunately can be deactivated, as well as the possibility of using consumables to restore energy, are elements that weaken an already very soft level of challenge.

I travel in company

The real star of the offer is the multiplayer component. Up to four players can take part in the story mode and the three additional users have the ability to jump in and out at any moment even holding a single Joycon each. This allows you to vary the gameplay significantly: while the main player is forced to use Kirby, the other three can decide whether to play the chubby ball, or choose one of King Dedede, Meta Knight and Waddle Dee assistant.

These do not have Kirby’s copy abilities but are in turn based on the transformations obtainable and refer to a certain power. Compared to Star Allies, the multiplayer is integrated in a much more convincing way within the gameplay and it is perceptible that the level design has been studied to present levels that can be enjoyed both in single player and with friends.

Where the previous platformer had noticeable pacing drops when relying on the responsiveness of the AI ​​controlling other allies on the field, Return to Dream Land Deluxe does not have this problem. The only real missed opportunity is the lack of online multiplayer; if the implementation of the online play was already hoped for in the 2018 chapter, today this choice seems even more anachronistic.

Minigames and party games

The aforementioned defect stands out even more if we take into consideration the effort that has been made to dramatically expand the ” party game ” potential of this Deluxe edition. In fact, the original on Wii offered two mini-games designed to take advantage of the Wiimote’s pointing system but now on Nintendo Switch, the total number of challenges rises to 10 .

The new games have largely been taken from the history of the series and longtime fans will appreciate the references to some of the lesser known Kirby chapters. The minigames, whose simplicity and immediacy closely resemble the frenetic gameplay of Mario Party (here you can find the review of Mario Party Superstars), are no longer a marginal addition to the singleplayer offer, but almost a “game within a game” , an offer that makes Dream Land Deluxe almost the spiritual heir of Wii Play. A parallel that also continues in the possibility of simulating the motion control of the historic Nintendo console through the use of the gyroscope. If you have lost all references to the movements of the Wiimote in the main adventure,it is very appreciable that the potential of the Switch and the Joycons have been exploited to ensure that each minigame presents a unique and well-packaged gameplay .

The Magolandia Park is then the most important novelty with regard to multiplayer. We are talking about a sort of explorable hub where missions and rewards are associated with each minigame. The various objectives require a certain mastery with all difficulty levels of each challenge, and the rewards obtained keep intact the sense of progression already seen in the main mode. In fact, the prizes are divided into two distinct categories: on the one hand we have masks that can be worn at will by all the playable characters.

These have no specific characteristics but are just funny aesthetic elements and, in addition to representing yet another invitation to collect, they are a love letter to the history of the series and to the characters who have been the protagonists. And then, in a way not unlike the Waddle Dee city featured in Kirby and the Lost Land, the park itself becomes a participant in our progress: completing worlds in the main story and completing the challenges of Magolor, the hub it will be increasingly populous and full of attractions.

With the addition of “Tours” it is also possible to take part in several mini-games in sequence, an option that further stratifies the multiplayer potential of this re-release. Unfortunately, the absence of online multiplayer is an even more marked lack at this juncture: the decision to relegate online interactions to global rankings and to a single variant of a minigame is a considerable limitation.

What happened to Magolor?

Another fundamental novelty of this Deluxe version is the addition of an unpublished epilogue that sees Magolor as the protagonist. In this addendum, available only after completing the main mode, the gameplay changes significantly: Magolor has none of the abilities of Kirby or his friends but can use powerful magic. The problem is that the interdimensional traveler has lost most of his powers which will be regained by collecting points that can be obtained by defeating enemies.

The epilogue then introduces a combo system that rewards players capable of chaining long sequences of attacks with extra magic points and also a skill tree where you can independently invest the earned currency. It is an interesting reinterpretation of the basic gameplay which, while not distorting the adventure formula, adds a few hours of fun to the overall offer.

Furthermore, thanks to a ranking system and the possibility of being able to face the multiplayer mode for up to four players, the Magolor-epilogue also has a good dose of replayability that will push the most tenacious users to reach the highest evaluation grades in each level and to max out all of Magolor’s abilities. Compared to Kirby’s adventure, however, we noticed a certain repetitiveness in the settings despite the short duration of the epilogue: all that visual variety that characterizes the original game worlds is missing.

Graphic facelift

On an aesthetic level, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is indeed a real feast for the eyes . Thanks to a vibrant color palette and a design full of details and new animations (particular praise goes to the quality of the backgrounds of the levels), the overall graphic rendering marks a clear step forward compared to the Wii title.

In particular on the screen of the OLED Switch Return to Dreamland offers some convincing sequences to say the least. The graphic sector is actually the most immediate factor that highlights how much work and care have been placed in re-proposing one of the most loved episodes by fans. In addition to some redesign of the models, conceived to standardize the look of the protagonists to their most recent appearances, the element of clear break with the art style of the past is the choice to give the characters black outlines in similar cel shading. A decision considered controversial by longtime enthusiasts but which we feel like promoting. On the one hand the black lines give even more detachment and prominence to the beautiful backdrops and on the other it is a pragmatic solution. Considering the possibility of playing in portability,

It should also be noted that unlike Star Allies, Return to Dream Land Deluxe runs at a fixed 60 fps , without any obvious drop in frame rate but with one exception: the Parco Magolandia hub is locked at 30 fps.