Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Wii - 1st completion)
I didn't have high expectations from Kirby's Return to Dream Land and had a feeling it wouldn't be quite as good as Kirby's Epic Yarn. While Yarn is a little better, Return to Dream Land was a fun romp and it was great for the game to go back to the classic Dream Land style that the series is known for. I beat the game last night with 100% of everything including the main game in Normal Mode and the more difficult Extra Mode in around 12 hours of gametime, I guess. I didn't bother to get platinum medals in the challenge rooms so I went for gold in Normal Mode and silvers and bronzes in Extra Mode. Both Arenas and minigames were completed too.
The story begins with Kirby carrying a cake, while King Dedede and Waddle Dee chase him. They run past Meta Knight, who is reading a book under a tree. Kirby and the gang sees a ship flying out of a wormhole, and they go to investigate. They enter the ship and encounter Magolor, a creature who discovers that the five vital pieces of his ship, the Lor Starcutter, along with 120 energy spheres, have been scattered across the planet. With Magolor offering them a trip to his homeworld of Halcandra should they help fix his ship, Kirby and his friends set off to recover the lost pieces of his ship.
To see the game's opening movie and the first levels, go here or below:
Click to view
Graphics/Art-9
+ Nice, colourful, and vibrant.
+ Game runs at a constant 60fps. Nice animation.
+ Similar graphic style to certain other Kirby games. A nice return to form. Generally good level design.
Sound/Music-8
+ At first I thought the soundtrack was all right but after my second playthrough on Extra Mode, I found it to be quite well done.
+ Some of the new songs are pretty good and there are a few remixes from past games.
+ Classic sound effects.
- I found Epic Yarn to have the better soundtrack of these two Wii Kirby games.
Music Samples:
Title Theme
File Select
Cookie Country
Forest Area
Peaceful Place
Boss Battle
Desert Area
Oasis Area
Exotic Pyramid
Rainy Area
White Wafers
Key Challenge
Sky Waltz
Sky Tower
Grape Garden
King Dedede's Theme
Egg Engines
Techno Factory
Green Greens
Final Battle EX
Control-9
+ You play using the Wiimote on its side so it's relatively easy. Up to four players can join in for co-op.
+ Similar to Kirby Super Star, your copy abilities have different moves depending on your control pad movements.
+ Shaking the Wiimote while Kirby is inhaling will cause him to inhale even harder and he can take in more things into his mouth. With lots of objects being inhaled, he can exhale a powerful star shot in return.
- You can't play with different controllers as an option.
Gameplay-8
+ Kirby retains his signature ability to inhale indefinitely, allowing him to suck in nearby objects and enemies. The inhaled objects can either be propelled back out as projectiles or swallowed. Certain enemies, when swallowed, allow Kirby to extract their special qualities, giving Kirby access to a wide variety of different powers, called "copy abilities." Copy abilities are used to defeat stronger enemies and clear special environmental obstacles, though Kirby can only possess one copy ability at a time. Similar to Kirby Super Star, each copy ability has multiple forms of attack that are summoned depending on your button-presses. New powers introduced to this game are the Whip (kinky! LOL!), which lets Kirby grab out of reach items, Water, which allows Kirby to cool fiery areas, and Leaf, which lets Kirby fire leaves. By shaking the Wii Remote whilst inhaling, Kirby can perform a Super Inhale, which allows him to swallow larger enemies and blocks or multiple small ones.
+ The game introduces more powerful, though temporary copy abilities called "Super Abilities," which are able to destroy multiple enemies at once as well as parts of the environment.
+ Throughout the game Kirby can collect food items which recover health and earn extra lives by collection of 1UP items, or by collecting 100 stars. There are also various items Kirby can use, such as keys used to unlock hidden areas, a cannon which automatically fires, a trumpet that produces a protective barrier overhead and a large boot that lets Kirby hop across enemies and spiked areas (similar to the Kuribo's Shoe in Super Mario Bros. 3). Like in other games, at the end of each stage a bonus game is played in which you time a button press to jump as high as possible to earn additional stars.
+ The game features drop-in cooperative multiplayer for up to three individual players. These players can either play as a differently colored Kirby or as one of three unique characters; Waddle Dee, Meta Knight, and King Dedede. Each of these characters possess traits from multiple Copy Abilities, though only Kirbys are able to inhale enemies and use Copy Abilities. Players are able to ride on top of each other and share health items. Unlike most multiplayer games, all players share from a pool of lives, with each player requiring one life to enter the game. If one of the three additional players loses all of their health, they can spend an extra life to rejoin the game. However, if player one dies, gameplay resumes at the last checkpoint.
+ Throughout the game, you can seek out Energy Spheres used to power up the Lor Starcutter, which serves as the game's hubworld. Finding these spheres often requires keen exploration, wits or skill, or the use of a specific ability or item. There are also challenging warp areas that are found whilst using Super Abilities, requiring you to escape a fast approaching black void before facing off against a miniboss to earn additional Energy Spheres. Collecting enough of these spheres unlock Challenge Rooms, which test Kirby's mastery of a specific ability, Copy Ability Rooms, which let Kirby choose Copy Abilities, and two minigames; Ninja Dojo and Scope Shot. Ninja Dojo tasks you and other players with shaking the Wii Remote to fire ninja stars at targets whilst Scope Shot tasks you and other players with defeating a large robot within a time limit.
+ Clearing the game unlocks Extra Mode, a more challenging remix of the main game, and The Arena, which sees you fighting all the bosses in a random order. Clearing the Extra Mode unlocks The True Arena, where you fight the harder versions of bosses and the return of an extra boss character...
- While the game is short, the levels are a little too long. I like the smaller levels of previous games.
Gameplay videos are here and here.
Fun/Story/Misc-8
+ Another simple Kirby-based story. Nothing complicated.
+ The game is pretty fun and more so if you can get one to three more people to play with you.
+ Using the Super Abilities in certain levels is awesome! Always fun to destroy things and make Kirby so badass!
+ Beating the game opens up music and a theater to watch the game's movies.
- Some more unlockable content would have been nice.
Total: 42/50 (Grade Level: B)
The main Kirby's Return to Dream Land website is here. The Wikipedia article is here and the Gametrailers.com video review is here.
Next Game: Mass Effect 3 (PS3)
Currently playing: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS) & Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
