4.5/5 ★ – TNGLiam's review of Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe.

Platform: Switch Time Played: <30 hours Status: Completed Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is my favorite title in the Kirby series, not only did I love playing it when I was younger, but it still proved just as excellent when I replayed it just a year ago, with my only actual critiques on how the game could be perfected being updated graphics and a better controller than the D-Pad on the Wiimote, so when Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe was announced for the Switch in the Fall of last year, I was so incredibly excited to receive an official updated version of one the undisputable best games in the entire Kirby franchise. The first thing I noticed when playing the game was how good it feels to finally be able to play it with a control stick compared to the D-Pad. I’ve seen some reviews being disappointed that this remaster doesn’t feature true analog support, but in my mind that doesn’t really matter, as it is still a blast to play and control Kirby running throughout all of these levels, sucking up enemies to gain new Copy Abilities to assist you in finding all of the level’s Energy Spheres. The graphical update is really good, and while a part of me doesn’t entirely like the outline that they’ve given every character, it still looks good and fits the Kirby aesthetic. My only gripes with it are that upon close scrutiny, the outline has a pixelated look to its resolution, as do a few other effects in the game like Sand Kirby’s hat; and I just know that all of the pre-rendered cutscenes would have looked much better without the outlines being present for those as well, which of course are there just for unity in the game’s visual presentation. Besides all of that, as I said, the game is still a blast to play, but I clearly didn’t benefit from technically replaying it almost an exact year after I last played it, but it was still very fun nonetheless. My favorite parts of my playthrough though were getting to play through all of the new additions added to this Deluxe package such as the minigame mode Merry Magoland, and the new story epilogue campaign Magolor Epilogue: The Interdimensional Traveler. The new Magolor Epilogue was so much fun and was an excellent addition to this package overall; getting to play as Magolor for the first time, with his upgradeable moveset and his unique playstyle, was such a blast while also being such an exciting experience for me as a long time fan. Each of the new levels felt fun and fresh, and even the new variations on the pre-existing bosses all felt fun and fresh in their presentation, with harder versions of pre-existing bosses in Kirby games being nothing new, but having their designs changed so drastically really helped them stand out as fun and new experiences. The final boss was also such an insane moment for me, as getting to fight yet brand new Lovecraftian horror final boss, as a Kirby fan, is always such a wonderful experience, and having this one be the Master Crown creating a giant physical form in the shape of a tree was an absolutely perfect idea, as the Master Crown’s appearance in the Magolor Soul boss spawned thorns from the crown itself, so having it be a giant tree was so impressively creative, and the final boss itself was just awesome in general, especially with that final finishing move. I think having Magolor literally having to confront the greed and sins of his past was such a wonderful idea and concept, propelling this boss even more into becoming one of my favorite Kirby final bosses, period. Even all of the extended lore and continuity added via this extra epilogue was so great, knowing that Magolor Soul was the true final fight that took place just before this, and finally getting to see why Magolor became good again in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe and Super Kirby Clash was such a great direction to take the story of this epilogue in. Just so cool. Merry Magoland is also such a great extra mode, being a compilation of subgames from throughout the Kirby series, along with new ones to boot. Attempting to complete all of the missions or achievements in each subgame was a hassle and a half, but boy was it rewarding to finally complete a subgame in full and also getting to use / hear the original chiptune version of the track for that subgame was also a great reward. The subgame selection here is also filled fully with some of the most fun subgames from the entire series, so they truly picked some of the best from the pool that they could have chosen from. Samurai Kirby and Ninja Dojo being were definitely the hardest to complete, but once again, boy were they rewarding to do so. I had such a blast playing through all of these, and they were a nice change of pace from the main game, although I do wish that the Scope Shot subgame from the original could have come back somehow, especially considering that they brought Kirby on the Draw from Kirby Super Star Ultra and used gyro-controller pointer controls for it, but oh well. One thing I’ve forgotten to mention until now is the two new Sand and Mecha Copy Abilities. In my opinion, Sand is the better of the two in terms of practicality, but Mecha is the more original, fun, and creative one. Sand just packs more of a bunch against bigger enemies, and can wipe out large pools of enemies with some of its upward attacks or its sand castle attack, and it's also great against bosses with its attack where you create a large fist of sand. Mecha on the other hand is a lot more fun to move around with, as in it feels more fluid to move around with Mecha, as his run and flutter / jet animation feels very tight and, once again, fluid to control, although his enemy control isn’t always the best, and he isn’t the best to use against bosses, so, all in all, I think Sand is the better of the two, but both are still great inclusions. Also Mecha is just a better Jet if you ask me. One final thing that I’d like to mention is how much they improved and changed The True Arena in this game into being one of the most challenging yet awesome boss rushes in the entire Kirby series. I remember saying to myself when playing Magolor Epilogue, “I hope they add all of these bosses to The True Arena so that you can fight against them as Kirby” and sure enough you can do exactly that, which is just so awesome. And not to mention one of the best changes to the overall game, is that they added a brand new fight against Magolor Soul, only for The True Arena. This new fight against Magolor Soul is not only insanely difficult, but also insanely awesome, with new renditions of the final boss theme, and an entirely new moveset for Magolor Soul, comprised of harder versions of older moves, along with entirely new moves, like him summing Super Ability versions of Sand and Mecha, which both look insanely awesome. Not to mention that they added an entirely new phase to the fight after draining his health bar the first time around, with the Zero-looking eyeball in his mouth taking over, just so awesome. It was so rewarding to finally put the absolute beatdown on this “True Magolor Soul” and was a perfect way to end this amazing game. Overall, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is an absolutely amazing package and a must-play Kirby game for anyone wanting to look into the series, while also being an excellent package for longtime Kirby fans. The game is an absolute treat, and I am so glad that it even exists to begin with. The updates to everything from the original game, and everything added to this new version, are just all so great, and truly make this the definitive Kirby experience. Now if only we could get a Planet Robobot remaster…