Nintendo
Nintendo
Advertisement

Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Kirby's Adventure Wii in Europe and Australia) is a 2011 platformer game in the Kirby series for the Wii. The game was developed by HAL Laboratory, and unlike the previous Kirby game for the Wii, Kirby's Epic Yarn, it returns to the series' more traditional gameplay.

A remaster of the game, titled Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, released on Nintendo Switch in February 2023.

Plot[]

The plot remains the same as the original game. An alien from another dimension named Magolor crashes on Pop Star aboard his starship called the Lor Starcutter. Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Waddle Dee are drawn towards the crash site and meet Magolor. After the alien run a check up and notice that his ship lost some of its vital pieces all over the planet while he plummeted from the sky, Kirby and his friend agree to help him repair his ship and go home. In exchange, Magolor promise to take Kirby and his friends on a vacation to his home planet as thanks. Along the way, Magolor talk about multiple topics with Kirby like the existence of The Ancients. A mysterious race that build Magolor's ship as well as many items from past games in the series. Once the ship is rebuilt, Magolor uses the Lor Starcutter to open a portal to Halcandra, a planet in another dimension that was once owned by the Ancients. There the group is confronted by the dragon Landia. Magolor convince the group to dispatch the beast and bring order back to the world. Once Landia is defeated, its crown falls and Magolor congratulate Kirby before taking the crown and using it on itself, revealing that it was a relic containing enough power to allow him to control the universe. Magolor uses its power to open a portal towards Pop Star and gloats as he announce that his first conquest will be Kirby's world. Landia who was in fact the guardian angel protecting the crown from greedy individuals wake up and realize that Kirby and his friends were tricked into defeating them and did not know about the crown. They take the group on their back and team up to chase Magolor across the portal to Another Dimension.

The group catches up to Magolor who attacks them with the rebuilt Lor Starcutter. After dispatching the ship, Magolor escape to a nearby stellar body were the group confronts him. Despite his incredible power, he is unable to use the crown in a proficient enough way to triumph and the crown takes matter into its own hands. The Master Crown was shown to be seemingly sentient during the first fight as it had morphed into a different form and started to slightly move on its own while stucked on Magolor's head. Magolor's form, which was enhanced by the crown is further transformed once the crown take control and he turns into a more monstruous and powerful being. Despite the crown unleashing its full power, it is unable to match the power of Kirby and his friends and it is destroyed. Magolor is returned to his original form and warps away. This version of Another Dimension start to crumble with the loss of the crown. The group is saved by Landia, who brought the previously damaged Lor Starcutter with them to force open a portal to Pop Star. Landia and the ship then departs to Halcandra through another portal after saying goodbye to Kirby and his friends.

Levels[]

Planet Popstar[]

  • Cookie Country
  • Rasin Ruins
  • Onion Ocean
  • White Wafers
  • Nutty Noon

Halcandra[]

  • Egg Engines
  • Dangerous Dinner

Other[]

Gameplay[]

Kirbys Return to Dream Land Wii 2

Kirby inhaling a Waddle Dee.

The game plays like the previous Kirby games. In the game, Kirby can inhale enemies and also copy their abilities. A new feature is the super abilities that Kirby can use. His inhale ability also seems to have received a minor change, with Kirby being able to spit out a greater star if he inhales a lot of enemies.

Copy abilities[]

The game features 23 copy abilities. Classic abilities such as Sword and Fire return and are joined by new ones such as the Leaf and Whip ability. Some of these abilities have advantages over certain enemies.

Super Abilities[]

Kirbys Return to Dream Land Wii 6

Kirby using Ultra Sword.

This game introduced Super Abilities which are supercharged versions of existing abilities. They are usually obtained from glowing powerful enemies. The following is a list of the super abilities in the game:

  • Ultra Sword
  • Monster Flame
  • Flare Beam
  • Grand Hammer
  • Snow Bowl

Multiplayer[]

Kirbys Return to Dream Land Wii 7

Gameplay screenshot of Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Waddle Dee.

This game features four player drop in multiplayer. Player 1 is Kirby, players 2, 3, or 4 can be Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandanna Waddle Dee, or multi-colored Kirbie's. One of the best things to do in multiplayer is to get everyone on top of player one's head and hold down the 1 button. It will send out a big snowball. It is most useful in boss fights.

Development[]

The game has had an extended development cycle of 11 years. It was initially designed for the GameCube to be released soon after Kirby Air Ride. Its concept of a 3D platformer like Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards went through three major iterations before all the ideas were coalesced into the game for the Wii.

Reception[]

Kirby's Return to Dream Land received a 77/100, based on review aggregator Metacritic. According to Nintendo, the game sold 1.31 million copies by the end of 2012.

Multiple critics appreciated the return of traditional Kirby gameplay, compared to unique content such as Kirby's Epic Yarn. The game was called nostalgic and reminiscent of previous games, with Jim Sterling of Destructoid describing the game as "refreshing" and stating that "Kirby doesn't need to innovate, he just needs to be fun; Return to Dream Land brings the fun in spades." The graphics and visuals were praised for being detailed and vibrant.

Credits[]

Gallery[]

  Main article: Kirby's Return to Dream Land/gallery

Soundtrack[]

External links[]

Advertisement