4.5/5 ★ – TNGLiam's review of Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition.

Platform: Nintendo Wii Total Time Played: ~22.5 hours Status: Beaten* Off the bat, this is the best anniversary collection, or just game collection in general, that I've ever played or seen. This is truly the best "bang for your buck", "for the fans" collection out there. It doesn't just have the first six Kirby games in the series, but it also has the New Challenge Stages sub-game made in Return to Dream Land's engine for people who liked those in that game, along with a comprehensive history section within Kirby's History. Not to mention the soundtrack CD that comes with the game, and the awesome pamphlet that comes with it filled with developer commentary on each of the games in the Kirby franchise. To begin, the emulation for the six games are pretty much identical to the emulation used within Wii Virtual Console games, which isn't too bad, as they optimized all games to be able to be played with the basic Wiimote, a great and thoughtful edition as most other Wii Virtual Console titles only let you use the Wii Classic Controller or GameCube controller. The game's have borders around them by default, but a certain button combination removes it for a basic black border. One thing I wish could be improved was an in-game showcase of the new controller layout, instead of having them listed in the manual, although there might be an electronic manual that I didn't check. I only played Kirby's Dream Land 1, 2, and Kirby 64 in this collection, but each of them played great, with no complaints from my experience. Besides that, the New Challenge Stages were a welcomed edition to the collection. They added tutorials seemingly for younger players, but I cannot see how they would be able to do much in this mode, as it was quite the challenge to get Gold Medals, to the point where I didn't even bother to get any Platinum Medals. Each challenge level is designed really well and are fun to complete, but a complaint that transfers over from Return to Dream Land is that sometimes the moves you're supposed to use are unclear, specifically with the Parasol stage. I also liked the inclusion of the Magolor Races as they proved quite the challenge themselves but also added a nice balance to the normal challenge stages so that they didn't become repetitive. I also didn't think that the fighting arena levels were the greatest, but it let wat for the Smash ability from Kirby and The Amazing Mirror to triumphantly return, only to never be seen again. Of course the Smash ability is a large reference to Kirby's moveset from Super Smash Bros. and I wish it was included more in games, but having it added to the 20th anniversary collection was a smart inclusion and piece of fan service. Moving onto Kirby's History, it is quite a good way to catch up on some Kirby history in my opinion, although there are some aspects that could be improved. When going through each year in the timeline, some facts for each year show up next to said year, which feel really random. Like why do they always have a fact dedicated to when a new president of the United States got elected, or where the Olympics were held that year, just odd. I really like the inclusion of the ability to look at detailed models of the boxes for each game, and the ability to watch short gameplay videos of each and every game in the franchise. The only nitpick with that is that in my opinion, the trivia/summary text at the bottom scrolls too slow, and I wish I could speed it up. My personal favorite inclusion in Kirby History is that they included Kirby: Right Back at Ya! in the timeline, along with adding three episodes from the series, specifically Episode 1 "Kirby Comes to Cappy Town", Episode 60 "Crusade for the Blade", and Episode 72 "Waddle While You Work", which as a kid were all great episodes to watch on repeat over and over again, and really adds to the "history" aspect of "Kirby History". The only other nitpick I have with Kirby History is that I wish they included the Japanese only games Kirby Super Star Stacker along with Kirby's Toy Box to the timeline, because they did include the North American exclusive Kirby Avalanche. To conclude, Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition is truly the best there is when it comes to anniversary collections, as the amount of content included here for long time fans was truly amazing, and better than anything else Nintendo has ever done. Don't forget to check this out if you're a fan of Kirby!!