A Luxurious Demo: We got a sneak preview of the Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Buffet, and we want more!
We were already hungry at the announcement of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxebut play the demo protagonist of the last shadow drop has allowed the rumbling of our stomach to accompany the drafting of all this preview. We assume that Kirby’s Adventure Wii, in addition to marking the debut of the so-called “modern era” of the pink ball, is also one of his best adventures. Proposing it again in a revised and corrected version on the flagship platform of the Grande N allows it to shine further. And if the bright future points towards the peaks touched by The Lost Land, a side-scrolling farewell party is never denied.
The demo contains a total of three levels, i.e. two plus the boss, as well as a more difficult version of the latter unlockable after the demo and two mini-games. We will review everything calmly in the article, but we can already confirm that visually the (semi-) final result is really enchanting. Choosing to use contour lines on 3D models, identical to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, served in the latter case to make the action easier to follow from a distance; in this case, however, it complements a graphics engine that we assume has remained unchanged.
Early Gameplay – Preview Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe
We don’t need to dwell excessively on the plot of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe: the incipit of the game remained the same even in the trial version with which we tested the preview game. Magolor’s ship crashed on Planet Pop, our hero’s homeland. Who knows, knows. Once you get past the initial pleasantries, we’re given access to a limited portion of the first world. There are three doors that can be opened: level 1, level 2 and level 5 (boss). There access hubs results in something (appropriately) very similar to the NES classic Kirby’s Adventure; in this sense, fidelity to the original remains immaculate until the first stage is passed.
After the latter, in fact, the retroactive influence of La Terra Perduta makes itself felt overbearingly with the definitive abandonment of the menus. Except (if it is a one-off case for today’s demo) for the selection screen reachable after the fight with Whispy Woods, in fact, it is possible to switch from the side-scrolling levels hub to the selection of minigames with free movement ( and vice versa) at any time by pressing the X key. It is also from small things like this that one understands that, in its being the eternal face of childhood, the pink ball of HAL Laboratory has become bigger.
Plenty of Room for Error, But Only for the Player – Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Preview
To watch the level design, we can hardly believe we are talking about a game from 2010. Many small things in which Star Allies, in the initial period of Nintendo Switch, failed are here replaced by an obsessive attention to detail. This, however, without sacrificing anything for the possibility of playing in co-op. In the Switch debut of the rounded hero, the large spaces for the four players took priority over everything. In this game, however, we see a level design that makes the second to fourth players welcome guests, rather than a necessity. A tutorial capable of making us temporarily give up a power-up while simulating the conditions for losing it permanently? Yes, it happened.
For the less accustomed to the series, the dictates of this platformer saga reside in a difficulty curve more focused on wheelies in the post-game than on constant climbs. The protagonist’s flight ability, also extended to all any co-op allies, was born in response to the instant defeat in the event of a fall of the other exponents of the genre, but is exploited by the level design to reward the most curious players. Also, following Super Star on the SNES, Adventure Wii reintroduced fighting game inputs for the skills that can be obtained from enemies, with Return to Dream Land Deluxe introducing new ones such as Sandpeeping into the demo.
You Can’t Spell “OP” Without the P for “Why” – Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Preview
As in the original, the Super Copy Ability. These are power-ups deliberately unbalanced in favor of the player, with a temporary effect, as a prelude to semi-secret sub-sections of the levels. In the latter, a shapeless mass of darkness will approach Kirby inexorably while the latter will have to dodge the various dangers of the entropic chaos between one dimension and another. At the end of these sections, the miniboss Fenix Sferix will attempt to prevent the player from obtaining two or more of the missing gears from the Lor Starship, ship of Magolor.
These collectibles can also be found individually, hidden in increasingly ingenious ways as you progress with the levels (and we remember it well from the original adventure). And this is where the invitation to exploration with which the player must come to terms takes over: the difficulty rate increases more for completionists than for less ambitious players. The level design isn’t linear, but almost every door Kirby will have to go through is inevitably one-way. And having to replay a level after realizing this or that Energy sphere just as the hero is walking through the door… it’s a feeling you’ll learn to make your own.
Magardaland – Anteprima Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe
As we said before, once you pass the second level of the demo, you will be prompted to press X to visit the Magolandia Park. Here the selection of different activities recalls the three-dimensional freedom of movement of The Lost Land, but bringing together mini-games from other adventures as well. In the trailers, to name one of many, we saw Mad Bomb again from Nightmare in the Land of Dreams (ironically, a GBA remake of the original Adventure on the NES). Here we had Dojo Ninja from Adventure Wii and the debuting explosive Blaster available, and we have (good) words to spend for both.
Dojo Ninja has remained unchanged: we must hit the targets the moment they pass in front of our sight. We take the opportunity here to point out how, although the tutorial talks about the Joy-Con, the latter are not expressly required: it’s all usable with the good old buttons. And, if we really want to be honest, we don’t think we’re the only ones who don’t feel nostalgia for the constant use of the Wii Remote, including platforming. Explosive blasters it arises, much more simply, like the deathmatch of a shooter but with a top view: reach the best ammunition and weapons before your opponents to triumph. We already feel the taste of chaos!
Lunga vita a Kirby!
The longevity of the title is already tangible from here. It being understood that in order to better talk about the various novelties we will have to wait to have a review copy in our hands, the Waddle Dee of Magolandia has made no secret of wanting to allow us to use the “souvenir” obtained between one minigame and another also in the main adventure, inextricably linking secondary modes and history just as happened in (and as already mentioned in) The Lost Land. The souvenirs in question can both be power-ups or treatments to carry around, as well as masks for all the characters in use.
We were amazed at the screen listing the collected masks – we counted no less than 86 collectible cosmetics. Counting that Whispy Woods X, a variant of the boss exclusive to the post-game, also appears in the game, the reminders on the duration of the adventure (whose newborn “Magolor-epilogo” will explain what made Magolor an ally of the hero after the events of the original game) there is certainly no shortage. Only that we are still very, very hungry. Who knows, in the review phase we could perhaps define ourselves full. We mean. Not the protagonist, he never is.
Now it’s up to you to tell us yours: are you too hype for the title? Let us know below, and as always, don’t forget to stay on TechGameWorld.com for all the most important news for gamers and more. For your purely gaming needs, you can instead find the best discounts in digital format on Kinguin.