What parents need to know
Float into a new adventure as Kirby, the pink ball in Kirby Return in Dreamland Deluxe! Explore 2D levels to help Magolor rebuild his spaceship. Kirby Return in Dreamland Deluxe is a remaster of Kirby Return in Dreamland released in 2011 for the Nintendo Wii.
You play as Kirby the pink ball-shaped character who has feet and arms. Kirby has the ability to walk, jump, float in the air, slide, block attacks and dodge. Of course his main ability is back: absorb and swallow or spit out his enemies. When he absorbs certain enemies, he then gains their powers, allowing him to acquire skills of fire, ice, bomb, pistol shooting… Naturally each of the powers has properties in its own right and will sometimes unlock passages and secrets.
Levels
Kirby travels through many levels divided into 6 thematic worlds.
True to Nintendo, here the concept of one idea per level is taken up. Each level will first present safe ways to experiment with an idea, then progress in difficulty until the end of the level.
In order not to tire the players, the game offers to obtain gigantic special powers once per level. After you are focused on completing the level, Kirby gets a super sword, for example, and can then destroy everything in its path for a limited time. This unlocks bonus levels to get more stars (equivalent to Mario coins) and extra lives.
Indeed, in each level, the player has the opportunity to collect gears. These unlock levels, challenges, bonuses and mini-games. The player is constantly reminded that he must collect them.
The game is constantly playable with 4 players. At any time, by pressing a button on another controller, a player can join the game and play as either King Dedede, Waddle Dee, Meta Knight or another Kirby of a different color. However, the game and its camera remain centered on Kirby played by the first player. Only Kirbys can absorb and use powers. The first player can only play Kirby, and has no choice with the other characters.
In this new Deluxe version, more than 10 mini-games are included, as well as a new adventure where the player controls Magolor in a few levels.
Details
Release date: 23 February 2023
Developed by: HAL Laboratory
Published by: Nintendo
Available on: Nintendo Switch
Game Type: Action and platform game
Average game time: 15 minutes
Estimate of the total duration of the game:
About 7 hours.
15 hours if you want to complete everything.
Themes: Kirby universe, cartoon, colorful world, little monsters
Business model: Just need to buy the game once.
Languages available: French and English in particular
Number of players:
1 to 4 players locally
Available:
– in digital format (download on nintendo Switch system)
– or physical format (cartridge)
The game was provided by the publisher for review. It does not influence our opinion.
| Players | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
| Neophytes |  |  | | | |
| Intermediate | | | | | |
| Experienced |  | | | | |
Difficulty
The game has a progressive difficulty but it is not very complicated, when you understand the rules. There are 2 levels of difficulty, intended for neophytes and experienced people. This should make it possible to encompass a good part of the players. Even the “Difficult” mode is not much.
Violence, fear, nudity?
What the ESRB does not find appropriate for children under the age of 10 is that the characters compete with swords, projectiles, pistols, cannons, magic, spears… Kirby can swallow and ingest these enemies, he can also spit them out on other enemies.
There are visual effects of fire, ice, electricity, or impact of blows as animation and that’s it. Everything you can see in a cartoon.
Also you should know that some enemies especially towards the end of the game can be scary for the youngest.
Language level used
No problem. Baby talk.
Minimum reading level required
You have to know how to read in French or English for several years to understand the instructions and action verbs.
Positive message
The theme of the game is adventure and the discovery of an ancient world. Kirby must defeat his enemies in order to return to his world. The game is also playable in cooperation which allows you to accompany your child in the adventure or that he accompanies you.
Additional costs ?
none
Minimum level of execution on the controller required
It’s just a matter of directing a character in 2 dimensions and choosing the menus you want. There is no camera movement by players. Some passages require good coordination of the fingers at the controller and good reflexes. A little patience and perseverance should be able to overcome this.
Local game modes
A single game mode in which you can go through the story. After a few levels covered, you can start unlocking a collection of 10 mini-games.
After finishing the story, you can play a mini adventure of about 2 hours where you play as Magolor. An additional character who will gain skill as he progresses.
The story mode is more calibrated for single players than for multiplayer. Nevertheless, there is plenty to have fun with the mini-games with others.
No online game modes
There is the possibility to participate in online ranked games for the Samurai Kirby mini-game… But strangely this is possible only once a day, and only for this mini-game.
Amiibo
The Amiibo figures of the Kirby universe unlock “useful items” as the description of the official website says. These are stars, food, or sometimes powers. Nothing essential here, we can recover everything already normally in game. This can help to troubleshoot during difficult times.
Our opinion
The game is beautiful, very colorful, very playable, very well animated. It is really ideal for young gamers, their parents, and people who want to start video games. There is a lot of content and fun for several days.
You can get it without any problem, parents and children can find pleasure in it.
For more experienced players, you have to progress for several hours in the story to start seeing a little difficulty. There are 2 new transformations of Kirby: Mecha and Sable, they are pleasant to play, but otherwise, everything else is Kirby classic for 30 years. Even a good number of “new mini-games” are revivals of some of the old games.
While Kirby and the Forgotten Land surprised everyone with its inventiveness, here we return to classic, necessarily with a remaster of an old game.
The series continues to oscillate between audiences, but remains one of the most affordable series for beginners for 30 years.
We recommend testing the demo available on the Nintendo Switch console’s eShop or on the game’s official website.
