Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe - Review
With the release of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, there are now six Kirby games on the Switch, 10 if you count all the games available via Nintendo Switch Online. That number sounds impressive, but there is basically the old style of Kirby, the games released before The Forgotten Land and now all the games post that release. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is an odd duck, as released afterwards, but is a remake of the Wii title. Does this entry keep the series evolution going, or are we regressing once again?
There are two main aspects to the game, the first is the completely remade Wii game, the second being the Magolor Epilogue, an all-new adventure that unlocks once you beat the main game. The basic story of the first game is that Magolor, a being from another part of the very large galaxy that Kirby calls home, comes crashing down onto Planet Popstar, their ship in ruin. Kirby being the helpful little pink ball that they are, offers to help recover the missing pieces and restore the ship to its full working state. From here the story goes radio silent until you collect all the pieces and it makes sense, for the most part story has never been the series strongest suit. Where the series has shined is with its approachable gameplay and the series is keeping that tradition going, at least somewhat.
Anyone who has played the Wii original, released here as Kirby’s Adventure Wii, will understand exactly what is being offered here. Playing solo has you take on the role of Kirby as you jump, float and suck your way across a number of stages, with enemies and bosses to fight. If you opt to play the game with friends or family, then player one is Kirby and the remaining players fill in the other roles. Kirby is the only one with the copy ability, so if you are playing as Meta Knight, King Dedede or Bandana Waddle-Dee, you are somewhat restricted in what you can do. Like I said, this is a remake of the Wii release, which means most of the moves are back, but thankfully with some changes. In the Wii original the Super Inhale required you to shake a Wii remote excessively, here it I has been assigned to a longer hold of the regular inhale button, which is a welcome change.
Where things fall apart for me, however, is that the game is so very, very slow. I don’t mean in terms of framerate, but rather the pacing, mechanics and every other aspect, all of it is slow. Kirby games have never been lightening fast titles, for those faster Nintendo platformers you go for Mario, but this one seems even slower. Now this could be due to Kirby and the Forgotten Land finally moving the series forward, but going back more than a decade, nothing works. Controlling Kirby is fairly straightforward, but there is no speed in any of the actions he can undertake, even when you get him to run, he is slow. Another area where things feel slow or I suppose here antiquated is a better term, is with the games Super Inhale, there were countless times where I would trigger it and then not be able to stop it. Most of the time it would eventually stop on its own, but when you venture into the rifts to collect special gears and a giant wall approaches from behind, triggering that Super Inhale almost always led to me being pushed into a hole.
That is in fact how I died most often, pits, enemies are a joke here, I mean it is a Kirby game and while some bosses could be a challenge, it were the giant holes that caused me more problems. Kirby’s access to copied abilities is fun and can really make levels play out differently, should you need to re-enter them, but with the general slowness of everything, they don’t improve Kirby’s ability to move. The game is fairly liberal with its showering of food, which restores health, should you need it and before you even start the game, it offers to let you bring Magolor into the game as a support character. This is something that younger gamers will likely need in order to enjoy the game without any issues, but those more experienced gamers, may opt to leave him on the ship. There are two new copy abilities here, the mechsuit being one of them and you can tell its new as it moves very quickly. From attacking to dashing, everything about that suit pushes forth the notion of speed and it just highlights how slow the rest are.
Once you have beaten the main storyline, the game unlocks the Magolor Epilogue, but also a more difficult version of the main game. This additional challenge isn’t done by remixing levels or adding in more challenging enemies, just makes the health pool smaller, so its not so much a challenge as just there. The Magolor Epilogue, however, is all-new and as such, it was more exciting to me. In it, you play as Magolor, specifically after the events of the main story and as he wakes up in an unknown space, without any of his more powerful abilities, so the start of it is very slow. But the more you play and the more pieces of crystal fruit you recover, the more abilities are restored and the more interesting the game becomes. The problem is that it takes a bit to long to get to that point and as Magolor moves even slower than Kirby, younger gamers may struggle to stay with it.
There are also challenge rooms and minigames that you can unlock and your milage on those is going to depend exactly on what you want from them. Challenge rooms are exactly what you think, a target is given with some restrictions and a timer and you go for it, basic stuff that most games offer. The minigames are minigames, they are not the reason to get this game, however if you want to change things up, they are fun little diversions. Across the game there is much to enjoy, the problem is it has been done before, not only by the original Wii game but almost every other Kirby title. Younger gamers are surely to enjoy what is being offered, but those seeking a challenge or more modern gameplay, may find themselves being let down by the game.
On the presentation side of things, the game looks fairly good, there are some bright and welcoming scenes, but also a few darker elements that help keep the sense of dread happening. What is interesting is that the main visual look, at first glance, is very much a replica of the Wii release, but look a little deeper and you will see more going on. One of the bigger modifications is that the Deluxe version has thick black lines around all of the characters and by all I mean enemies included. This helps make the characters stand out from the backgrounds, which are as detailed here as the Wii release and will likely help out gamers who need visual assistance. The outline isn’t a glaringly obvious element, but it also helps the storybook design choice that the folks have opted for, something you will see in the cutscenes. On the audio side, there is the familiar Kirby tunes, sound effects and cheerful little cries, nothing within the main game feels especially new, but still nice to hear.
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a solid game, there is nothing inherently wrong with it, I just found it to be slow in almost every aspect. Younger gamers will no doubt enjoy the more sedate pace that is presented, but if you are coming in having played Forgotten Land or any other Kirby game and hoping for more, you may be let down. If you are a die hard Kirby fan, you will likely enjoy the consistency on offer, but if you are someone that wants more from the series, this is not going to be the game for you.
The Score
8.0
Review code provided by Nintendo
The Pros
+Enhanced visual touches, help make the characters pop more on the screen, keeping things easier to track
+The additional Magolor Epilogue is a welcome addition, as it feels new and fresh for the series…
The Cons
-… however it and the main game are so slow across the board, that the lack of speed will likely hurt more seasoned gamers
-This is a remake in the most direct sense of the term and those who have beaten the original Wii release may not like the lack of big changes here
