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Expansion Pass 2 Game #2/Blog a Day #26

Hello everyone, how are you?

Today we are going back to the days of the Wii. The Wii was a great system, it was easy to use, anyone could play, and it was home to a number of great games. It was a success. By 2011 the Wii was already on its way out to make way for 2012's Wii U. But Nintendo still had a few more games up its sleeve for the Wii. One of them was a game that released in 2011 and it was what I consider the best Wii game of that year. That's right everyone, you guessed it, that game is none other than Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

 

 

                                       Kirby is like "How can I help you, King Dedede?"

Kirby. Kirby, Kirby! That's a name you should know. Apparently not many people did since I really didn't see much fanfare when this game was shown. I mean I can kinda see why since it looked like another 2D Kirby game and everyone expected something different after Epic Yarn. Who can blame them? But you might be wondering how is this game?

Kirby's Return to Dream Land, it's still an interesting name since Kirby never leaves Dream Land to begin with, anyway, one day a mysterious spaceship appears in the skies of Dream Land and crashes into the ground. Kirby, along with Waddle Dee, Meta Knight, and King Dedede go to investigate the crash only to find and meet an alien named Magalor. He's in trouble and cannot go back home since 5 crucial pieces of his ship, along with 120 energy spheres, have scattered across Pop Star. Kirby and his friends decide to help him recover the missing parts and thus Kirby's newest adventure begins.

Return to Dream Land is a 2.5D sidescrolling platformer that you play with the Wiimote held sideways. The game reminds me a lot of Kirby 64 as in all the characters and models are in 3D but the game is played in a 2D perspective and to be fair, this is Kirby's bread and butter and naturally feels right at home. 

 

 

                                           The story is quite basic but it's still fun

Kirby also returns with some new abilites as well, such as Whip Kirby that gives Kirby a whip to grab out-of-reach items. I call that one Cowboy Kirby. Kirby also has access to the Super Inhale,that is basically a stronger version of his inhale ability that you use by shaking the Wiimote. Also new to the game are Super Abiities, with these abilities it gives Kirby a powered up version of a copy ability that allows you to destroy parts of the environment as well as inflicting a huge amount of damage to every enemy on screen. They are really cool and it's always a spectacle to see.

This game supports 4-player co-operative play so this time you don't have to adventure alone. The other players can play as Waddle Dee, Meta Knoght, or King Dedede and each of them have their own unique moves and abilities. Or you can play as a different colored Kirby if you wish. One thing that is really neat is how easy it it is to drop-in or out of the game so seamlessly without halting the progress for everyone else.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" On the Wii but there's no chance in finding a new copy at a decent price, I have seen some used cpies at a decent price. Alternatively if you don't mind digital you can get it off the eShop on the Wii U. But I'd hurry if I were you since the eShop on the system won't allow you to purchase games next year and they'll be removing the ability to add funds later this year.

 

                         "Hey Kurbeh, remembah when you said if I needed help?"

Final Thoughts: Kirby's Return to Dream Land is definitely one of the best Kirby games I've ever played. The game is really colorful and it's a very detailed game. The music is great,but to be fair I love Kirby soundtracks a lot. But the best part is the gameplay itself, it's really fun. Think Smash Bros. but Kirby instead. It definitely feels like that. This game also became a blueprint for many Kirby games that followed like Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot on the 3DS.

One thing I will say is that they absolutely nailed the 4-player co-op. Like the 4-player co-op in New Super Mario Bros. Wii was fun but it was really frantic that you can get in everyone's way. But here it fully lives up to the name. If you get this game and you can get more people to play with you, definitely do as this will be the most fun you'll have with co-op in a game. I played the game with my brothers from beginning to end and it was so much fun . 

One thing I have noticed and something that everyone probably has as well is that Kirby has a habit of showing up late into a console's lifecycle. But when Kirby does, HAL Laboratory seems to go all out with their games and they love pushing what the console can do. Kirby doesn't need to innovate or reinvent the wheel, as long as I get a fun Kirby game then that's all that matters to me. I have yet to play a Kirby game where I didn't have any fun and I've yet to play a bad Kirby game. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is releasing next month and it will be Kirby's first 3D game outside of Air Ride. Will it be any good? I don't know but everything I've seen points that it will definitely be good. But we'll see.

 

                                                   How can you not like that face?

Remember that no matter what, no matter the odds, you can do it. And it doesn't hurt to ask others for help as well.

That's it for game #2, game #1 will be here soon. Oh and a reminder, I will be closing the Q/A questions thing tomorrow, so if you have any questions and whatnot, you still have time as of this post. Thanks for reading and...