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This platformer is cute and fun | First Impressions - Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe

3K View2023-02-26

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe is a remake and an enhanced edition of the original Wii title from 12 years ago. It takes the exact same story and gameplay, but revamps the graphics to modern standards, and it is beautiful.

The game takes players on a 2.5D platformer adventure through a colorful and whimsical world. The game's updated graphics bring Kirby's world to life like never before, with vibrant colors and detailed environments that create an immersive experience for players. It doesn’t matter if you are playing on an OLED Switch or the OG one, the colors are amazing.

In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, players control Kirby as he embarks on a journey to collect five scattered pieces and Energy Spheres of a crashed spaceship so he can return a stranded alien back to his home planet, with the help of three other characters - Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Waddle Dee, playable up to four players in cooperative mode.

The game's core gameplay is similar to previous Kirby games, with players controlling Kirby as he inhales enemies to gain their abilities (called copy-abilities) and progresses through levels by solving puzzles and defeating bosses.

This core gameplay mechanic is immensely satisfying, with over 25 copy abilities to try out and experiment with. Each of these delightfully animated abilities have their own movesets and effects, keeping the gameplay fresh all the time throughout the campaign, and even throughout re-plays.

Compared to the original game, not only the graphics have been significantly updated, but many gameplay elements and changes have been added as well. Three new copy abilities have been added, and some of the existing ones have been slightly reworked to reflect changes done in newer games.

Additionally, significantly more sub-games (minigames) are now available to play with friends, complete with a new charming amusement park section to house these sub-games instead of a main-menu selection only. All of which provide fun and engaging diversions from the main story, and is almost a game on its own, completely playable with up to four players.

Lastly, after the main campaign, there is a bonus game mode that features another main character in which I am not going to spoil. Again, it is playable with up to four players.

Unfortunately, while there are online social and sharing features integrated into the game, there is no option for online-play, and thus, the 4-player multiplayer aspect is only local. A 4-player online co-op would have been a welcome feature.

The game’s main campaign is easily beatable under 10 hours, but with a plethora of sub-games and fun overall co-op gameplay, it's not exactly hard to replay this game again and accumulate countless hours of fun.

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