This review contains spoilers
Return to Dreamland but like, it returns again.
I'll be honest, I'm really glad I sat down to 100% THIS version of the game, because of a lot of the new stuff that was added to make the game that much better to exprience. Because without it, it's a little dreadful.
I say that mainly because the base RtD stuff is hindered by the extra mode. It's an unlockable mode you get after beating the main story that lets you play it again, but harder because of it introducing EX Bosses, your health being halved, and healing items being much MUCH more scarce than the main game. It kind of sucks, because it is a boring and more annoying way of presenting the side content as you just go and collect everything, but now you have less chances to make mistakes, especially in the more annoying stages. Other games, hell even this remake, would find better ways of presenting those fights and new things without overstaying it's welcome, like pretty much every game after this one.
That said though, ignoring the extra mode, the main story is still as good as I remember it being, alongside the little changes they added throughout. Firstly, they added two new abilities in Sand and Mecha that both have something really cool about them, like sand castles or laser beams, like hiding in sand piles that are invincible to dropping fire mortars. It's all really cool. They touched up the game's looks quite a bit, making the game look prettier than it has any right to, and they added a lot of small mechanical stuff that expands the moveset a bit. Kirby and co. can quickfall, dodge and quickstep, shoot bubbles diagonally, dash from a standstill, and certain copy abilities keep moves they got after RtD's release. All of these are greatly appreciated, as they help make fights and levels feel a bit better to play. The one change I don't super get though about abilities specifically is why Festival is here? It was added alongside Mecha and Sand, and it's fine, it's a screen nuke, but they had it replace a lot of spots Crash was in, and that's weird. Festival already felt kind of pointless in Star Allies, so retroactively making it something in RtD is weird. It might be like a "we have these characters so it would make sense to put them here" kind of deal, but it is a little jarring.
They also added a few things regarding Magolor aside from his own epilogue. First Merry Magoland, a theme park opened by him in another time that houses all the mini-game (of which there are 9 or 10 and bomb rally and checkerboard chase are the best), that also houses items you can carry in an inventory for any mode of the game (which admittedly strips some of the challenge from arena and true arena if you use them), as well a wearable masks of other characters you unlock throughout the side mode and main modes. They also added Magolor helper, where he will give you health items and pull you out of pits if you fall in them. I didn't have it on past the first level, but it's a nice touch.
The star of the show however is the Magolor Epilogue, and uhh, i'll be honest, this mode was main reason I wanted this game, because everything about Magolor in this story, from his role, to his design, to his abilities all just click with me.
First thing that caught my eye was the new redesign for Magolor. It's his original outfit, but sapped of color now being light greys and whites, but also torn and tattered after everything with the Master Crown and Kirby happened. While I think it captures his vibe in the story very well, as a ragged survivor having to rebuild his strength and use it to atone for his past, but it also just aesthetically clicks with me more. I think it's a nice transitionary outfit between his original blue/yellow outfit, and the simpler green/white outfit from Team Kirby Clash, but I like this one more partially because the color scheme weirdly works better simplifying it to black and white with grey and yellow bits (via accents and the eye colors) looks really nice. Plus it's adorable (like a lot of kirby designs), and Magolor's design vaguely reminds me of a kitty.
Because Magolor's put as the star of the show here, we also get a lot of chances to see his personality shine through, not just through animations (which especially at the beginning are excellent due to it being RIGHT after waking up from the fight, so he is understandable shaken and still exhausted), but also in the upgrade descriptions. Presented as brainstorming new ways to take advantage of his abilities slowly coming back to him, we get a honest depiction of Magolor's traits from his own thoughts. His silliness, intelligence, his trickery and love of pranks, and his ego are all given some spotlight in smaller ways, which get a bit more emphasized as he starts regaining his stride, which can be fun to read through.
Inspeaking of upgrading however, the gameplay is similar to normal gameplay, but shifted in some key ways, where not only does Magolor start with a weak moveset that has to be upgraded, much different than the other characters and especially the copy abilities Kirby gets, but now there is a combo meter that encourages long strings and careful positioning to reap the most benefits. By the start, keeping a combo of 5 or 10 is impressive. By the end, combos of 100 to 200 are well in the cards depending on how you use your moves. There's also a lot you can end up doing to fight with that all pull from Magolor's boss moveset and his moveset in Star Allies.
Revolution Flames, Bombs, Levitation, Deadly Needles, Dash Attacks, and his huge fucking laser. He can vanish into another plane of dimension to slip through walls, his shield is similar to the star shield at the end of the first boss fight with him that can counter, and he can even summon a black hole to suck everything in. He ends up getting a lot of cool moves and handy upgrades that extends his health, combo time, movement, etc.
It's really fun slowly building Magolor back up as you progress through main levels or the smaller ordeal challenges that take advantage of a certain upgrade to play it. You even get ranked on levels after beating them with enough time and combos, making coming back to get any platinums you missed early one a really fun way to compare and contrast. The bosses are also pretty good. Most of them are reworkings of Mr. Dooter, Fatty Puffer, Goriath, the Sphere Doomer fights now made into 1 new fight, and version of the Grand Doomer with the Master Crown. However the final boss is against the Crown itself, possessing the Gem Apple you've been repairing all game, and that is Magolor's final challenge, to attone for his past by putting down the very thing he sought after before it can threaten to destroy the universe once more.
This epilogue isn't very long, about as long as any other of the side modes in other games but it's one of my favorites of the side modes for how it shook up the gameplay, and how it got me to like Magolor a lot more than I ever did in the past. It's probably my favorite part of the game honestly.
Overall though, this game is good. I might find it a bit hard to care as much about the main story nowadays, and the extra mode kind sours things and makes this one of the worst to 100%, I appreciate a lot of things this remake added. I love a lot of the little changes to smoothen the gameplay and make it feel just as good as other games do. I appreciate the Magoland recontextualization of the mini-games and Magolor getting more time to shine both as a supporting cast member and as a playable member, and I love the abilities added in this game and some of the unique moves certain abilities have only here.
There's a lot of goodwill added into this remake, and I can't knock it for that. So yeah, good game.
I'll be honest, I'm really glad I sat down to 100% THIS version of the game, because of a lot of the new stuff that was added to make the game that much better to exprience. Because without it, it's a little dreadful.
I say that mainly because the base RtD stuff is hindered by the extra mode. It's an unlockable mode you get after beating the main story that lets you play it again, but harder because of it introducing EX Bosses, your health being halved, and healing items being much MUCH more scarce than the main game. It kind of sucks, because it is a boring and more annoying way of presenting the side content as you just go and collect everything, but now you have less chances to make mistakes, especially in the more annoying stages. Other games, hell even this remake, would find better ways of presenting those fights and new things without overstaying it's welcome, like pretty much every game after this one.
That said though, ignoring the extra mode, the main story is still as good as I remember it being, alongside the little changes they added throughout. Firstly, they added two new abilities in Sand and Mecha that both have something really cool about them, like sand castles or laser beams, like hiding in sand piles that are invincible to dropping fire mortars. It's all really cool. They touched up the game's looks quite a bit, making the game look prettier than it has any right to, and they added a lot of small mechanical stuff that expands the moveset a bit. Kirby and co. can quickfall, dodge and quickstep, shoot bubbles diagonally, dash from a standstill, and certain copy abilities keep moves they got after RtD's release. All of these are greatly appreciated, as they help make fights and levels feel a bit better to play. The one change I don't super get though about abilities specifically is why Festival is here? It was added alongside Mecha and Sand, and it's fine, it's a screen nuke, but they had it replace a lot of spots Crash was in, and that's weird. Festival already felt kind of pointless in Star Allies, so retroactively making it something in RtD is weird. It might be like a "we have these characters so it would make sense to put them here" kind of deal, but it is a little jarring.
They also added a few things regarding Magolor aside from his own epilogue. First Merry Magoland, a theme park opened by him in another time that houses all the mini-game (of which there are 9 or 10 and bomb rally and checkerboard chase are the best), that also houses items you can carry in an inventory for any mode of the game (which admittedly strips some of the challenge from arena and true arena if you use them), as well a wearable masks of other characters you unlock throughout the side mode and main modes. They also added Magolor helper, where he will give you health items and pull you out of pits if you fall in them. I didn't have it on past the first level, but it's a nice touch.
The star of the show however is the Magolor Epilogue, and uhh, i'll be honest, this mode was main reason I wanted this game, because everything about Magolor in this story, from his role, to his design, to his abilities all just click with me.
First thing that caught my eye was the new redesign for Magolor. It's his original outfit, but sapped of color now being light greys and whites, but also torn and tattered after everything with the Master Crown and Kirby happened. While I think it captures his vibe in the story very well, as a ragged survivor having to rebuild his strength and use it to atone for his past, but it also just aesthetically clicks with me more. I think it's a nice transitionary outfit between his original blue/yellow outfit, and the simpler green/white outfit from Team Kirby Clash, but I like this one more partially because the color scheme weirdly works better simplifying it to black and white with grey and yellow bits (via accents and the eye colors) looks really nice. Plus it's adorable (like a lot of kirby designs), and Magolor's design vaguely reminds me of a kitty.
Because Magolor's put as the star of the show here, we also get a lot of chances to see his personality shine through, not just through animations (which especially at the beginning are excellent due to it being RIGHT after waking up from the fight, so he is understandable shaken and still exhausted), but also in the upgrade descriptions. Presented as brainstorming new ways to take advantage of his abilities slowly coming back to him, we get a honest depiction of Magolor's traits from his own thoughts. His silliness, intelligence, his trickery and love of pranks, and his ego are all given some spotlight in smaller ways, which get a bit more emphasized as he starts regaining his stride, which can be fun to read through.
Inspeaking of upgrading however, the gameplay is similar to normal gameplay, but shifted in some key ways, where not only does Magolor start with a weak moveset that has to be upgraded, much different than the other characters and especially the copy abilities Kirby gets, but now there is a combo meter that encourages long strings and careful positioning to reap the most benefits. By the start, keeping a combo of 5 or 10 is impressive. By the end, combos of 100 to 200 are well in the cards depending on how you use your moves. There's also a lot you can end up doing to fight with that all pull from Magolor's boss moveset and his moveset in Star Allies.
Revolution Flames, Bombs, Levitation, Deadly Needles, Dash Attacks, and his huge fucking laser. He can vanish into another plane of dimension to slip through walls, his shield is similar to the star shield at the end of the first boss fight with him that can counter, and he can even summon a black hole to suck everything in. He ends up getting a lot of cool moves and handy upgrades that extends his health, combo time, movement, etc.
It's really fun slowly building Magolor back up as you progress through main levels or the smaller ordeal challenges that take advantage of a certain upgrade to play it. You even get ranked on levels after beating them with enough time and combos, making coming back to get any platinums you missed early one a really fun way to compare and contrast. The bosses are also pretty good. Most of them are reworkings of Mr. Dooter, Fatty Puffer, Goriath, the Sphere Doomer fights now made into 1 new fight, and version of the Grand Doomer with the Master Crown. However the final boss is against the Crown itself, possessing the Gem Apple you've been repairing all game, and that is Magolor's final challenge, to attone for his past by putting down the very thing he sought after before it can threaten to destroy the universe once more.
This epilogue isn't very long, about as long as any other of the side modes in other games but it's one of my favorites of the side modes for how it shook up the gameplay, and how it got me to like Magolor a lot more than I ever did in the past. It's probably my favorite part of the game honestly.
Overall though, this game is good. I might find it a bit hard to care as much about the main story nowadays, and the extra mode kind sours things and makes this one of the worst to 100%, I appreciate a lot of things this remake added. I love a lot of the little changes to smoothen the gameplay and make it feel just as good as other games do. I appreciate the Magoland recontextualization of the mini-games and Magolor getting more time to shine both as a supporting cast member and as a playable member, and I love the abilities added in this game and some of the unique moves certain abilities have only here.
There's a lot of goodwill added into this remake, and I can't knock it for that. So yeah, good game.