The First Review For Kirby's Return To Dream Land Deluxe Is Now In

Planning to get the game but don't think it's going to be at launch. Kind of trying to decide if I'd rather prioritize it or Pikmin to do the voucher thing with TotK plus I'm buying WWE 2K23 a couple of weeks later so not really going to be dying for new stuff to play.

hmm, less than the original, that's not encouraging.

Those masks are terrifying!

@Uncle_Franklin I'd agree with you if the difference wasn't so negligible - it's less than the original by one point. Something tells me we probably won't have to worry about a one point score difference.

I'm getting this on launch day!

35 seems low for Famitsu lol

Tried the demo, and this game is actually so much fun to play. I’m not normally a massive Kirby fan, but think I will get this day one.

@MH4

but if I buy a remake of a game from over 10 years ago at full price, I want it to either be something I can't easily get now (like Advance Wars, the original Monkey Balls, and such; there is already a 2D Kirby platformer on Switch) or better than the original, not the same or marginally worse.

will keep an eye on other reviews.

@Uncle_Franklin all fair points, although I’d say that Star Allies is… a bit rubbish (pains me as a Kirby lover). Btw, there’s a demo of this remake up on eshop, maybe give it a try? Just installed it myself and played for an hour, and I’m enjoying it so far ☺️

@handyboots

yeah I enjoyed it enough.

Please put the word 'Famitsu' in the title of these articles so I know not to click on them.

@handyboots : I concur about Star Allies. So very underwhelming. I would have preferred a HD port of Planet Robobot instead (and I thought likewise of Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon when Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee were announced).

Thanks Nintendo Life. Great at keeping us up to date on all the important Nintendo news as usual. I am excited for this game. Even though it is a port of a 10 year old game. Am also looking forward to the coming year to see what new surprises Nintendo has in store for the faithful. I played the demo of this and really enjoyed the gameplay. Day one physical edition for me.

Played the demo and enjoyed it a lot. Way better than what I played of Star Allies. I’ll be picking it up once I finish a few more games.

@Sisilly_G planet Robobot would be awesome to play on the switch. I wonder if there is much chance of that happening. Fingers crossed I guess.

It looks like a fairly bare-bones remake/rerelease of a ten year old game. I think we all know what we’re expecting.

@Uncle_Franklin If you review any game ten years apart you will get different results. It doesn't mean a thing. I guarantee it is not a worse version

@Uncle_Franklin Thats cause the reviews are getting more stupidly stricter every year, and if the game isn't a 9/10 or higher, the game is considered trash by internet standarts.

It could also be that different people reviewed this newer version. But if that's the case, I think it's safe to assume both teams think the game in general (whether it's the Wii original or the Switch version) is pretty good.

Somewhat off-topic, but I was reading that Amazon Mexico supposedly has Metroid Prime Remastered physical listed as being released on March 31st.
If this is true, it's way perfect for me. I'm planning to get the physical version and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe (also physical) at the same time on April, right after the past eShops close. By then they will be closed and I would've gotten everything I had the chance to get, so I could get those 2 Switch games without any issues or remorse.

I have the Wii original, but I enjoyed the demo as if it were the first time playing the game. And I haven't even played the Magoland part of the demo.

Ill wait. While I enjoy Kirby lately I find myself less interested. I think it's too easy even on hard mode and boring at times.

Shame on Nintendo Life for using a Psychedelic Furs song title as a subheading.

For those talking about possibly using a voucher for this game, do not do that. This game will definitely be dropping down 10 or $20 in about 3 months. These minor remakes of older games in my opinion or not worth $60. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for this game and I already pre-ordered it but I truly think it'll be 50 or $40 really soon. Kirby games usually drop a whole lot faster than other games. I would say vouchers for Zelda or Mario games.

No one trusts or cares about Famitsu's review scores. Come on, guys.

Will get it but not on the first day

Getting this day one, I love me some Kirby!

@Synplex

you reckon? I think Star Allies is slightly discounted right now, but hasn't been often.

Famitsu gave Nintendogs a 40/40. Fifa 12 got a 39/40. They also gave Skyward sword a 40/40. Pokemon SV got a 38/40.

Metroid Prime? 33/40

I'm not saying they're wrong. But they are wrong.

As if Kirby Star Allies scored a 35 !!

I love Kirby games, but even I know Star Allies was a rubbish game!

Looking forward to this one at the weekend.

Good score, so it's an instabuy for me.

I loved the original Wii game and I greatly enjoyed Star Allies and Forgotten Land on Switch, so more (mainline) Kirby on Switch is always welcome to me!

@Uncle_Franklin at least in the US, Star Allies and the newer Kirby and the Forgotten Land has seen discounts. Up to $10-20 off during flash sales like during Black Friday.

I will try the demo out. I had this game years ago on my wii, it was a good Kirby game, I just don’t have to have a Kirby game.

Good enough. I'm getting it. Like the original and love the new visuals.

I liked this game, but I played the heck out of Kirby’s Epic Yarn for the Wii. I completed it many times and hope that we can get it as an HD remake at some point.

Kirby Star Allies was so awful. The difficulty was a joke. Good game for little ones but has no flexibility to please a wider audience. I really hope Return to Dream Land is different.

@John_Deacon you will love it. It’s one of the best Kirby games.

@FishyS enjoy it! It’s a great game.

@Bobb totally! I've never expected a Kirby game to give me a huge challenge, but found Star Allies was designed in such a way that the mechanics strip out almost all of the challenge 😢. It was a lovely looking game with some novel ideas and beautiful environments, just fell short of what I was after... that special Kirby magic, ya know? ☺️

@Synplex @Uncle_Franklin hey fellow gamers! not sure if you're talking about eshop or physical retail sales, but Nintendo published titles very rarely have eshop sales, which might be relevant to your voucher convo. For instance, Star Allies has only ever been discounted twice since release in Australia (where I am), and only a 3 or 4 times in the US and UK (https://www.dekudeals.com/items/kirby-star-allies for reference, a great site btw!) ~ hope that helps with saving some money!

And damn, after looking at different regions I realised we only have the eshop for digital purchases in Aus, other regions have so many options 😅

@Midna The only part of Star Allies I found "awful" was the mini games and the fixed boss orders in The Ultimate Choice. Everything else, I had a blast with and though it is far from my favorite Kirby game in the series (that's the original Return to Dream Land), I don't regret any of it.

And I've played all of the mainline Kirby games.

@Octane oh wow... I mean, maybe Famitsu = take with a grain of salt? 😂

Also, just gonna put this out there ~ applying a numerical figure to a creative work is an inherently flawed way of measuring value, as value as a construct is inherently subjective and contextual, influenced by your ontology, epistemology (beliefs, values, worldview), experience and interests (my PhD comes in handy in weird places, haha!).

Sure, numbers can capture consensus, sentiment etc but I can emphatically say that numbers cannot measure 'worth' in a qualitative sense, and we human beans experience the world qualitatively. Some food for thought ☺️

(eg: I've enjoyed many games that scored a bunch of low scores, i'm sure we all have, made me re-think what I take away from reading reviews!)

Yeesh, all this Star Allies hate. I personally loved the game
Anyways I'm very much looking for to RTDL Deluxe. I preordered the Japanese version months ago, hopefully it gets here near launch

@Sora181 Agreed. It's far from my favorite Kirby game in the series and it may be "underwhelming" in some areas, but I did have a blast with it still.

@Uncle_Franklin a conterpoint is they score with that in mind

Why is this game $60??

I would have purchased if it wasn’t a full price game. Seems rather limited compared to last year’s wonderful Kirby offering. Oh well

I just recently bought Star Allies and I am very satisfied. It played a lot like the older 2D Kirby Games and comes with great Copying abilities and Combinations. It is very easy as most of them were back then so I am fine. I just understood from the comment section that Return to Dreamland is a remake, which I did not knew and I am glad I pre ordered it as I never played the original. Regarding scores and ratings: they can be good for orientation but I would not overstate their use as they are also a representation of the reviewers opinions and don't necessarily need to reflect what you think is good in a game and what not. Who did pre order the F4F Metal Kirby Figure?

I downloaded the demo but my switch takes low priority lately, so I haven’t even tried it out yet. I kind of doubt I’m gonna get this unless I’m buying it on heavy discount from some local seller cuz I just don’t find Kirby games that good of a value.

@StephenYap3 @Sora181 not hate at all from me, apologies if that’s the takeaway. Maybe, just not my cup of tea is a gentler way of putting it? So stoked you both enjoyed it! Please don’t let my lack of enjoyment take away from yours at all ☺️

@Smug43 capitalism 😅

Yeah, I'll get this somewhere down the line. There's too much games at present to replay a classic

@Sora181 Its a 2D Kirby game that runs at 30fps, hard pass after I tried it out. 2D 30fps games have been no nos for me for over 25 years now. I only bought Metroid Return of Samus to support the series, but won't play it.

Return to Dreamland looks better than Allies, runs at 60fps, and I skipped the original on the Wii. Easy easy buy for me!

I really enjoyed the Wii version but didn't like having to play it with the Wii remote sideways so the Switch version will be better for me. Am not getting it right away though because I've already pre-ordered Metroid Prime Remastered physical.

@handyboots I'm a big Kirby fan since the original game and I totally get the flack around Star Allies. LOL It's like eating food that looks great, has everything you love, but you bite into it and it's missing... something. I thought it was FINE. Competently made with stunning music and graphics. Just hard to say I loved it nearly as much as any of the other recent titles.

@TurboTEF I take it you skipped a lot of 2d platfromers during the 5th Gen of consoles then? Lots of fun games there, 30fps too.

@handyboots I'm still of the belief that everybody deserves their own pizza slices, so I apologize if I was being antagonistic around this site in any way.

Yes, I can't turn away from Star Allies in terms of its bland level designs and lower difficulty...but my main wants from any mainline Kirby game is having "Super Star" mechanics and being able to go on rampages in the most zaniest ways possible as the Pop Star hero, and Star Allies (and heck, all of the "Return to Dream Land" games) checks off those boxes for me.

All of this may sound like Star Allies or Return to Dream Land is my first Kirby game in the series, but I've gotten into this series since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and while I've only experienced that game as a rental at the time (before owning it via Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition), the first true Kirby game I owned was Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (when's that coming to Game Boy Advance NSO, Nintendo!?). I've tried and gone back to playing the other mainline games since, but Kirby's Return to Dream Land is when my fanaticism for this series is solidified.

@Sora181 Not at all, almost all the 2D platformers I owned on the PSX and Saturn were 60fps:

Rayman
Clockwork Knight 1 & 2
Astal
Hermie Hopperhead
Mega Man 8 (both console versions)
Mega Man X4
Tomba
Klonoa
Yoshi's Story
Mischief Makers
Silhouette Mirage (owned both the import Saturn and PSX versions)
Castlevania: SotN (PSX and Saturn import versions)

Many more

Not really the gotcha you think it was, man. I avoided 30fps 2D games on the SNES and Genesis too and only got a couple by mistake without renting first.

@TurboTEF So stuff like Kirby 64, Metal Slug, Crash(can definitely argue the trilogy is mostly 2d), and Skullmonkies were never played? This isn’t supposed to be some “hehe gotcha!”, I just wanted to tell you that there are good 2d games out there that I think are worth playing regardless of their framerate. If you choose not to play them though, then so be it