Kirby's Return To Dreamland: As the title suggests, Kirby's latest adventure from HAL Laboratory has him not only returning to his home in Dreamland, but it also sees Kirby's return to form factor with oldschool platforming mechanics that made Kirby the adorable pink puff ball many love today. Today we're here to ask: Has Kirby managed to remain as fun and charming as we remember on his journey back to his roots in this 2.5D side-scrolling adventure, or have his mechanics grown stale over the years?
Before we delve into Kirby's return to Dreamland, and since this game is supposedly Kirby's return to his roots, let us first recap how Kirby got his start in Dreamland. If you've ever played a Kirby game before you have an idea as to what to expect. For those who haven't, however, prepare to fall in love with the cutest, most adorable ball with a face and ferocious appetite to ever exist.
Kirby romps, stomps, and chomps his way through Dreamland, which is on planet Pop Star. It really is quite quirky, and that's why so many people love it. While Kirby has appeared in a few different franchises, such as the hugely popular Smash Bros. series, his original and arguably best genre was also his first; a platformer.
Kirby as a platformer has always taken a different route than that of a Mario or Donkey Kong platformer, and rightfully so as I don't think he would be as successful as he is today if his mechanics and play structure were similar to that of Mario or DK.
You see, Kirby can eat...pretty much everything, and he does. Kirby inhales in enemies like a vacuum cleaner and absorbs their abilities. This has always been essentially the bread and butter of a Kirby game. Another of a few other things that make him different from most is that Kirby can float infinitely wherever he pleases.
All these awesome abilities can make him feel slightly over powered at times, and consequently make the game seem a little easier than other platformers. If that's the Kirby you've come to know and love then you're in for a real treat, as that is precisely what Kirby's Return to Dreamland is all about.
The story in Kirby's Return to Dreamland is pretty straightforward. Weird little blue guy crashes his viking spaceship on Dreamland while you and maybe a few friends go searching for the missing pieces that broke off of it to help piece it back together. Nothing too special, but then again, whoever plays Kirby for the story is probably stranger than Dreamland itself.
Many of Kirby's oldschool power ups make their return as well as a few new ones (Such as the whip). I won't spoil anymore of them here, but for the most part they feel right at home with the old ones.
Another of the few new additions to the game's core mechanics, however, is the addition of super power-ups. Super power-up items act like normal items except in two ways. 1- They are finite, lasting only for a set period of time, much like Mario's Starman power-up, and 2- They are much, MUCH more powerful than normal power-ups. I'm talking about screen filled chaos that annihlates anything in site.
Ultimately they mostly just add to the overall feeling of Kirby being overpowered that perpetuates itself throughout the game, but they are a real treat for the eyes and never become boring to pull off.
The overworld is broken up between 7 worlds, with each world ranging from 4 to 5 levels. The final two worlds only have 3 and 1 level respectively. I know that doesn't sound like much, but let me say this- without giving away any spoilers, the final bits of the game will be a real treat for veterans of the series.
While not being the longest game, Kirby's Return to Dreamland has immense replayability. Again, while not wanting to spoil anything, rest assured that perfectionists will have many reasons to go back and replay previous levels in hopes to unlock one of the game's many mini games.
There are loads of mini-games to be unlocked, which will keep the hardcore coming back for more
Graphically Kirby's Return to Dreamland is smooth and polished. While I don't think we'll be seeing any surprises graphically coming from the Wii during the rest of it's lifetime it's certainly not sore on the eyes. I hardly noticed any aliasing during my time with the game, and the textures were never muddy or blurry.
The audio is what you'd come to expect from a Kirby game; cutesy, whimsicle sounds throughout. The soundtrack is comprised of a handful of remixed classics as well as a couple new additions. While it doesn't have me wanting to pop the OST into my CD mixer when not playing, I found most of the tunes to be quite catchy.
By far the biggest new addition to the game, however, is the up to 4 player co-op. You and up to three friends can huff and puff your way throughout the game, with your friends either taking on the role of a different coloured Kirby, or Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and even Meta Knight, each with their own special move set.
I feel almost like there should be more to talk about in this review but there's really nothing more worth pointing out whether it be bad or great. Kirby's Return to Dreamland is everything it sets out to be- Great fun that can be enjoyed by players of all walks of life.
By no means is Kirby's Return to Dreamland franchise changing, but it is the most definitive Kirby experience to date. If you've never been a fan of the pink marshmallow before, then Kirby's latest outing will do little to change your opinion of him. However, if you're a returning fan whose gaming appetite can never be sated, and especially if you're craving a serving of Kirby's classic gaming goodness after Return to Dreamland's hipster cousin, 2010's Epic Yarn, Kirby's Return to Dreamland will be just what the player ordered.
Kirby's Return to Dreamland gets an 8 out of 10
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