Back in 2011, Kirby’s Return to the Land of Dreams was released for the Nintendo Wii. Years later, Pink Ball is back to his platforming roots. Now, more than a decade later, we’re back with Field of Fantasy, the latest in Nintendo’s long line of remakes for the Switch. However, the question remains whether Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe can live up to the precedent set by its predecessor.
If you played the original Kirby Returns, probably the first thing you noticed when you loaded into the Deluxe Edition was the wonderfully updated visuals. Every environment, character model, and effect exudes familiar, endearing Kirby charm while representing a vast improvement over the original game. There are some dynamic and even breathtaking moments in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, such as when you first enter Merry Magoland and see an alien wizard’s take on Disney World. Nothing is realistic, nor should it be in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, but the nature of the game’s impressive visuals is that it looks like a playable Kirby animated movie, plus that cartoony It’s almost impossible not to find the round pink guy cute. A personal favorite visual element is Kirby’s idle animation where he just swings his arms like he doesn’t care about the world.
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Not too different from the 2011 game is the gameplay in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, which is the best. The game is more traditional than Kirby’s most recent adventure, Kirby and the Forgotten Lands. The levels are based on a sucking mechanic where Kirby can grab enemies, destroy obstacles and gain special replicating abilities. Among the many items are classics such as Cutter, Fighter, and Fire, but there are also some new replicating abilities added, such as the Mech, which proves to be an easy favorite due to its flight ability and numerous remote options. If you’re teaming up with some friends in co-op, the player controlling Kirby will unfortunately be the only one with access to these copy abilities, but King Deed, Meta Knight, and Hooded Valdee all have their uses. Dedede’s hammer can be used to smash stakes into the ground, Meta Knight’s sword can cut vines, and you can use Bandana Waddle Dee’s spear to reach targets from greater distances. Whether you’re playing purely solo or want to play the entire game with friends, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe proves to be a pretty fun experience while running through the game’s main story. The premise of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe has you collecting spaceship parts after the aforementioned alien wizard Magalor crash-lands on the planet Pop Star. In addition to defeating a series of bosses to loot the different parts, you’ll also collect some energy orbs in each stage, which offer a nice amount of replayability should you ever collect them.
While Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe’s gameplay is a lot of fun, it also proves to be pretty simple. You probably don’t expect FromSoftware’s toughness when you pick up a Kirby title, but in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, the difficulty – or lack thereof – is palpable. Especially among bosses, it’s too easy to sit in the corner and blow up their health bars. However, for those who want a more difficult experience, there’s Extra Mode, which essentially acts as New Game+, accessible once you’ve completed the main story.
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There’s a lot to do in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe besides beating the main storyline and bonus modes. You can play the Mario Party-style Happy Margolan minigame, or run your way through bosses in arena mode. That’s a good thing for Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, as the game would be pretty short without these extra options. Likewise, most of what we saw in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe’s secondary mode did appear in the original game, with a few exceptions. This does fill the title with content, but not necessarily something incredibly new or exciting.
If you’re looking for the short answer to whether Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is an appropriate remake of the 2011 platformer, the answer is yes. Overhauling the largely unremarkable visuals of the first game, the remake’s look fits perfectly with the better-looking games of the modern era on the Nintendo Switch. There are a few niggles, like simple boss fights, and maybe there isn’t enough new content to really keep you entertained, but these little gripes are by no means enough to depress Pink Ball’s latest adventure. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a remake of fun that suffers from some of the same problems as its predecessor, but still manages to be an incredibly engaging and captivating platformer.
