For as long as I can remember, Kirby as a series has always been a part of my life, and the more modern style of 2D games have always been there as some of my favorites of all time. But while games like Planet Robobot I've always had a lot of fondness for, the era of this series' 2D outings on Switch have been... lacking to say the least, and for a while I was concerned that we'd never reach the kind of highs that the 3DS games had reached again.
Throughout all the games in the series however, Return to Dream Land has always been somewhat mysterious to me as I never played it when it originally came out, and got to it MUCH later in my life. So with the prospect of a remake, I was excited but cautiously optimistic based on what I had seen.
That's why I am beyond pleased and happy to say that Deluxe is, in my opinion, the BEST way to play this game now, to the point where I don't think I could ever go back to the original.
While I still like the original game and will always respect it's legacy and the impact it would have on the series moving forward, this remake takes every step to both improve AND add onto the original in ways that I didn't even know I wanted from it.
The visuals are spectacular with a really nice almost cel-shaded visual style that helps add a lot of character, and having a main-line Kirby game on this system that actually runs at 60fps improves fluidity SO much for the gameplay.
The host of new and returning mini-games makes for a really fun time that I've so far found that I've been getting a lot more out of then I thought I would, and the amount of polish and care that's been put into staying faithful to those game's origins is extremely appreciated.
And the epilogue, while not being too long, adds a LOT to the experience, and offers some of the best boss fights not just in this game, but I'd argue in the entire series, and provides great closure to Magolor's character.
Honestly, playing this game really brought me back to when I was younger and played those 3DS games for the first time, and has really allowed me to rekindle what I love about this series so much, as well as make me even more hopeful for where it will go from here.
If you have never played the original game before, this is an absolute must-buy in my opinion, and especially a great way to jump into this series' 2D outings as well. Obviously for those who have played the original, it will really be up to you personally on how much the new additions are worth a re-buy. But as for me, I don't regret it for a second, and will absolutely be coming back to this one for years to come.
Throughout all the games in the series however, Return to Dream Land has always been somewhat mysterious to me as I never played it when it originally came out, and got to it MUCH later in my life. So with the prospect of a remake, I was excited but cautiously optimistic based on what I had seen.
That's why I am beyond pleased and happy to say that Deluxe is, in my opinion, the BEST way to play this game now, to the point where I don't think I could ever go back to the original.
While I still like the original game and will always respect it's legacy and the impact it would have on the series moving forward, this remake takes every step to both improve AND add onto the original in ways that I didn't even know I wanted from it.
The visuals are spectacular with a really nice almost cel-shaded visual style that helps add a lot of character, and having a main-line Kirby game on this system that actually runs at 60fps improves fluidity SO much for the gameplay.
The host of new and returning mini-games makes for a really fun time that I've so far found that I've been getting a lot more out of then I thought I would, and the amount of polish and care that's been put into staying faithful to those game's origins is extremely appreciated.
And the epilogue, while not being too long, adds a LOT to the experience, and offers some of the best boss fights not just in this game, but I'd argue in the entire series, and provides great closure to Magolor's character.
Honestly, playing this game really brought me back to when I was younger and played those 3DS games for the first time, and has really allowed me to rekindle what I love about this series so much, as well as make me even more hopeful for where it will go from here.
If you have never played the original game before, this is an absolute must-buy in my opinion, and especially a great way to jump into this series' 2D outings as well. Obviously for those who have played the original, it will really be up to you personally on how much the new additions are worth a re-buy. But as for me, I don't regret it for a second, and will absolutely be coming back to this one for years to come.