Review: Kirby's Return to Dream Land

System: Wii
Genre: Platformer
Developer: Hal Laboratory, Inc.
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-4
Release: Oct 24, 2011 USA / Nov 25, 2011 EUR / Oct 27 2011 JPN
Rated: E 10+ for Everyone 10 and Up
Controllers Supported: Wii Remote


It really has been an awesome time to be a Kirby fan. 2010 saw the release of the excellent Kirby's Epic Yarn and this year, the pink cream puff stars in two fantastic games, Kirby Mass Attack on the DS, another non-traditional Kirby game and Kirby's Return to Dream Land on the Wii. Unlike Epic Yarn and Mass Attack, Return to Dream Land returms Kirby to his classic gameplay style of floating, inhaling foes and copying abilities.

On the planet Pop Star, Kirby, King Dedede, Waddle Dee and Meta Knight are enjoying a carefree day when a massive starship, the Starcutter, crash-lands. Kirby and the gang take a look inside the ship. The lone crew member, Magolor is unharmed but five vital pieces of the ship have been scattered across Pop Star along with 120 energy spheres. Without these five parts, the Starcutter is earthbound and Magolor is stranded. Rather than leave Magolor in a pinch, Kirby and company set off to find the missing ship componets because otherwise, they'd have stuck to chasing after cake and reading books and that would have made for a pretty dull game.

In less than 2 seconds, these mooks will be very, very dead.

The return to more familiar territory in Kirby's Return to Dream Land is surprisingly refreshing when one has been away from it for so long. Kirby floats, slides and inhales enemies to copy their powers just as he's done in games like Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Super Star. However, you don't have to run across Pop Star alone if you don't feel like. At any time up to three friends selecting from the likes of King Dedede, Meta Knight and a bandanna-wearing, spear touting Waddle Dee can jump to Kirby's aid. If those chaps aren't your cup of tea, you can also play as multi-colored Kirbys. While Kirby may be the most all around character since he can use the Copy skill, Meta Knight, Waddle Dee and King Dedede have weapons on them at all times. King Dedede swings that huge mallet like nobody's business. Anyone that's played a Kirby game knows how good Meta Knight is with a sword. Waddle Dee is the best Waddle Dee ever, demonstrating some ever-useful moves with his spear. It's a game that works well playing alone or with pals.

You can't see it in this screen, but an entire group
of players can be hop on top of each other's head and
travel via piggyback.

The game's multiplayer set-up is similar to that of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but with some differences. Less-skilled players can ride atop the head of a more adept player, but each player does not have his or her own set of lives. It actually deducts from Kirby's life counter whenever someone else joins in, something to keep in mind if not-so-adequate players are on your team because you could find yourself burning through lives. While other players can still join even if you're down to your last life, whenever pink Kirby bites it, everyone suffers. Just like Kirby Super Star's multiplayer, the main Kirby must be kept alive at all times. Another key difference is that the camera stays locked on to the central pink Kirby. So if someone is straggling behind while pink Kirby is advancing, they'll automatically shoot to his side as a star, so long as they aren't in the middle of being killed by some cute baddie or squished by a wall.

Anyone carrying an item loses the ability to float, something to
keep in mind when making jumps over bottomless pits.

Kirby's ability to Copy the powers from inhaled enemies has been a series staple since 1993's Kirby's Adventure and it's back in full force with Return to Dream Land. There are up to twenty different powers that Kirby can Copy from old favorites like the Sword, Fire, Ice, Beam, the Cutter along with new ones like the Whip, Water and Spear. Play around with each power and you'll discover that they have multiple attacks, making them an absolute riot to use. The weapon usage doesn't end there, though. From time to time, you'll gain access to Super Abilities, amped up Copy abilities. The Ultra Sword gives Kirby a massive blade strong enough to clear out any enemies in the path of it's strike along with bits of the environment. The Flare Beam is a large ball of energy that can be moved around the screen with the control pad. There aren't as many Super Abilities as there are regular powers and their usage is temporary, but whenever you come across them, mass destruction is sure to follow.

Collecting enough Energy Spheres and you can unlock two mini-games, Ninja Dojo, a game that has you tossing throwing stars at targets, and Scope Shot, a game that has you point the Wii Remote at the screen and fire away. However, the real reason you should hunt down all the Energy Spheres (aside from 100% completion) is to unlock all seven Copy Room Challenges. These rooms test your profiency with a select Copy Ability and require absolute mastery of the selected power. Even highly skilled players will have to make numerous attempts to get the best medal. It makes for some splendid bonus material in what is an already fine game.

Black & white dimensions mean two things: an advancing wall of doom
and guarded Energy Spheres. Failure means doing the whole
section all over again.

One could argue that Kirby and friends have never looked cuter in Return to Dream Land. It may not have the same standout visuals of Kirby's Epic Yarn, but this is still an amazing-looking Wii game. Being a Kirby game, you can expect bright, colorful, (mostly) cheery graphics, but the Wii makes it one of the most eye-catching Kirby games in the series. The bulk of the music in Return to Dream Land is new material with very few remixes and arranged tunes of classic Kirby melodies. Don't fret, though, because the new songs are fine additions to nearly twenty years worth of Kirby music. With Kirby returning to his old stomping grounds, it's only natural that veteran Kirby composers Hirokazu Ando and Jun Ishikawa were brought on board to write the game's score. There's plenty of upbeat music with a few more sinister tracks to go along with some epic boss battles.

Return to Dream Land's four player mode avoids the
chaos found in New Super Mario Bros. Wii multiplayer.

It may have been a long time coming (this game was originally in development for more than 10 years) but Kirby's Return to Dream Land was worth waiting for. The main quest is a blast alone or with friends and the Copy Room Challenges offer very welcome replay value. And if that wasn't enough, the EX mode, a tougher version of the main adventure can be unlocked upon finishing the game once. Don't pass on this one just because The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is getting all the hype. Kirby's Return to Dream Land is hands down one of the best Kirby games that's ever been crafted and one of the best titles you can own for the Wii. Welcome back, traditional, classic Kirby. You were greatly missed.