Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe Review: Switch Gameplay Impressions and Videos

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a brilliant follow-up release by Nintendo after last year's successful Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

For gamers who may have experienced Kirby's gameplay for the first time last year, Return to Dream Land Deluxe is an awesome remake that allows gamers to experience Kirby's gameplay roots. Compared to Forgotten Land that featured more open-ended levels, Deluxe focuses on more confined, 2D levels that are still packed with amazing details and secrets.

Gamers are currently being treated to high-quality remasters and remakes across the industry, including the recently-released Dead Space and Metroid Prime Remastered. Nintendo goes beyond expectations with Return to Dream Land Deluxe by including necessary extras highlighted by Magolor Epilogue.

For those who may have experienced this beloved game already on Wii in 2011, Deluxe is absolutely a game worth revisiting to experience it on the Switch to play in handheld mode, play with friends and especially dive into the epilogue.

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Gameplay Impressions and Accessibility

The staple and most fun feature of any Kirby game is swallowing enemies to copy their abilities. It is still a thrill seeing how Kirby transforms and how the abilities are utilized from Kirby's perspective with the gameplay. There's fun little details that may go unnoticed, like Kirby automatically donning goggles when underwater. These details can be seen throughout the several diverse and distinct locations during Kirby's adventure. Beyond the normal abilities that Kirby can copy, there's also eye-popping super-powered abilities, where players can truly feel the difference in power and wonder.

It's impressive how many different animations there are and how they impact enemies differently. It's truly amazing how many variables there are for the development team to take into account. Everything works flawlessly and is easy to understand. The controls are extremely easy to use and intuitive no matter the situation. Nintendo's general seal of quality is all over this game, as it is polished and doesn't have any glitches.

Magolor is a phenomenal accessibility addition to assist players, whether that be newcomers to the series or especially children. This is one of the best games to introduce a young gamer so they can adjust to different mechanics before embarking on games that may require a higher skill level, such as Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

Although Kirby games are on the easier side of the difficulty scale, there's so much packed in that makes it a worthwhile experience for all types of gamers. The beauty of Kirby games is the variety throughout the experience. The different abilities play a major role in this, but also the levels themselves with different types of enemies, creative platforming sequences, combat encounters, bosses and exploration for hidden items. For those who may be on the fence, Nintendo released a demo on Feb. 8 for gamers to test out the game.

Deluxe rewards players for venturing off the beaten path to figure out where there might be secrets packed away to be found. The art style shines throughout the game as it feels like playing a children's book in the best way possible. Animations and levels are vibrant with excellent design choices that should hold up when returning in the future. The music and sound effects are also on point, led by the charming and joyful music.

For additional modes, Merry Magoland is an amusement park outside of the Story Mode where players might eventually spend the most time because it allows for multiplayer, including online multiplayer for infinite replay value. Here, players can unlock rewards, but of course nothing beats out simply playing for pride against other people. Deluxe will be a fun party game as four people can play. People can share Joy-Cons, which at times may seem like a lost art of the Switch, but can also simply drop out of play if they choose to do so without impacting the rest of the players.

After completing the Story Mode there's more modes to discover, highlighted by the Magolor Epilogue. This is a fantastic addition to the game, similar to the inclusion of Bowser's Fury with Super Mario 3D World when that released on Switch in 2021. It's awesome to see Nintendo continue to include this type of additive content to provide more incentive to returning players and allow all gamers to experience something new at the same time upon release.

Beyond those modes, there's also challenge rooms that open up for collecting a certain amount of energy spheres, which allows the player to test out different copy abilities to try to achieve high scores on various difficulties. There's other unlockables to explore that provide gamers with more insight into Kirby, which will likely have gamers wishing so many other previous Kirby games were available to dive into immediately on Switch because of how enjoyable Return to Dream Land Deluxe is as follow up to Forgotten Land.

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Conclusion

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a welcomed addition to the Switch's library to allow gamers to play one of the most enjoyable and accessible games in the Kirby franchise. Many gamers can now experience one of the best Kirby games that may have been overlooked when it was released toward the end of the Wii's lifecycle before the introduction of the Wii U.

Deluxe benefits from the enhancements of Switch compared to the Wii because of its high-definition graphics, portability and ease of multiplayer with the Joy-Cons. This is a game that isn't bloated with anything unnecessary. It feels like everything in the game is for the purpose to have fun and not detract from the experience like so many games include in recent years. Deluxe is certainly a game that prides itself on being "more than meets the eye" and exceeds expectations as it features immense creativity and variety.

Deluxe enhances the original with its unlockables and post-story content to make it worthwhile for returning gamers, in addition to gamers who have never played before. It wouldn't be a surprise to see Deluxe among the nominees for Best Family Game at The Game Awards this year, and perhaps even win it just like Kirby and the Forgotten Land did in 2022.