I've played many Kirby games that came out before and after the original Wii release. Was about to try it out but this remaster got announced so I said heck, let's just play this one.
Let's start with the overall main campaign:
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land set the blueprint for future Kirby games. They've improved on many things. Many copy abbilities got brought back and got improved tenfold. Ninja and Wing felt rather lackluster in their debut game but here, they are very fun to use. There aren't too many copy abbilities but the ones we have, provide a vast array of movesets. Very much quality over quantity. The optional abbility challenges are not just fun but also provide a nice tutorial for you to really master your abbilities. I also like the level design. There are collectible macguffins in all stages which require you to use your head a bit, so half-assing stages isn't reccomended. Sometimes stages also include items which Kirby have to carry, like a cannon that shoots repeatedly for example. They provide a nice temporal buff but also hinder your movement abbilities in some ways. I've found these items to be well placed and tied to the stage puzzles in clever ways. Even with these nice little small innovations and overall good design, I've found the main campaign to drag on a little too much. Near the end it kinda runs out of ideas and fails to show much new or exciting. The overall game is also a bit on the more basic side but it makes sense since it was Kirby's big Return (to Dreamland) It crawled so future games could run. The harder extra mode is also nice but not something I'd get to finish right after my first playtrough for the above mentioned reasons.
The other stuff:
This remaster features 2 new copy abbs. Sand and Mecha. Sand is not that hype in my opinion. Has some cool moves but overall, a lesser version of Water. Mecha on the other hand is pretty hype. As a mecha anime lover myself, it has one of the coolest movesets ever. The fireball launching up-attack might be a bit busted tho. You can spam it and it deals a ton of damage. Might be a better boss killer than Hammer but I still have to test it.
You also have the obligatory Arena mode. Never was my thing but I always welcome it. The new Magolor Epilogue however is pretty dope. It provides a completely new, combo and upgrade-buying based gameplay. It's fun and ends before it loses steam. For a small extra thing, It's an excellent addition.
So all in all, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a perfectly fine Kirby experience. One of the best introductory games for the franchise and seemingly the definitive version. Later games are a bit better but there are still many hours of fun provided by this title. Good to play in small bursts and the Switch is just perfect for this.
Let's start with the overall main campaign:
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land set the blueprint for future Kirby games. They've improved on many things. Many copy abbilities got brought back and got improved tenfold. Ninja and Wing felt rather lackluster in their debut game but here, they are very fun to use. There aren't too many copy abbilities but the ones we have, provide a vast array of movesets. Very much quality over quantity. The optional abbility challenges are not just fun but also provide a nice tutorial for you to really master your abbilities. I also like the level design. There are collectible macguffins in all stages which require you to use your head a bit, so half-assing stages isn't reccomended. Sometimes stages also include items which Kirby have to carry, like a cannon that shoots repeatedly for example. They provide a nice temporal buff but also hinder your movement abbilities in some ways. I've found these items to be well placed and tied to the stage puzzles in clever ways. Even with these nice little small innovations and overall good design, I've found the main campaign to drag on a little too much. Near the end it kinda runs out of ideas and fails to show much new or exciting. The overall game is also a bit on the more basic side but it makes sense since it was Kirby's big Return (to Dreamland) It crawled so future games could run. The harder extra mode is also nice but not something I'd get to finish right after my first playtrough for the above mentioned reasons.
The other stuff:
This remaster features 2 new copy abbs. Sand and Mecha. Sand is not that hype in my opinion. Has some cool moves but overall, a lesser version of Water. Mecha on the other hand is pretty hype. As a mecha anime lover myself, it has one of the coolest movesets ever. The fireball launching up-attack might be a bit busted tho. You can spam it and it deals a ton of damage. Might be a better boss killer than Hammer but I still have to test it.
You also have the obligatory Arena mode. Never was my thing but I always welcome it. The new Magolor Epilogue however is pretty dope. It provides a completely new, combo and upgrade-buying based gameplay. It's fun and ends before it loses steam. For a small extra thing, It's an excellent addition.
So all in all, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a perfectly fine Kirby experience. One of the best introductory games for the franchise and seemingly the definitive version. Later games are a bit better but there are still many hours of fun provided by this title. Good to play in small bursts and the Switch is just perfect for this.