The Good: Very fun platforming, excellent presentation, awesome super abilities, superb multiplayer co-op, every character feels and plays differently.
The Bad: Not as much fun by yourself, level design could be better, use of mind levels become repetitive, easy difficulty.
Ah, Kirby. You're so awesome! Having the ability to eat anything and be able to have superpowers is just cool! The only Kirby game that I've played before this one is Kirby Super Star Ultra. It was pretty good, but there's a level that I've never been able to pass (It's the treasure hunt one. I've been stuck on that level for over three years). I played Kirby's Return to Dreamland with my friends, and let me tell you, this is one of the best Nintendo games I've ever played.
In this game, Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee are up to their usual shenanigans as usual until all of a sudden, a flying pirate ship crashes into the ground. They go inside and meet the captain, Magolor. He asks them, the first people he sees pass by of course, get the pieces of the ship that fell off in the crash. That's a Nintendo plot for you. I can't bash the story that much because… Nintendo made the game…
The platforming in this game is pitch perfect. The controls are simple and very responsive. You move with the control pad and use the number buttons to jump and attack. It's a very simple control scheme. It's also something else, what is it? Oh yeah. FUN. I have not had this much fun playing a platform game since Little Big Planet 2 (Which I last played over a year ago)! It has some of the most satisfying platforming and gameplay I've ever experienced on the Wii!
The presentation of this game is so good. Everything, from the levels to the characters to the music, is charming and rather cute. The graphics are beautiful, with vibrant colors and so much charm. It looks and sounds great.
What helps this game be great is the fact that it's four player co-op. You play as Kirby, King Dedede, Waddle Dee, and Meta Knight. It's a game where teamwork thrives and it's awesome! Sure, playing alone is alright, but with three friends playing different characters, you are going to have a blast in the face of good times.
What also helps the co-op is that every character plays so differently. Every character feels fresh and has a different way of going out. They all have their own weapons, powers, and attacks, which gives them quite a bit of variety. Their stats are also varied and different from each other. There aren't any stats that I know of in the game, but here's how I thought of them: Kirby has low attack (until he gets a power, in which it matches his defense) and high defense, King Dedede has high attack and high defense, Meta Knight has high attack and low defense, and Waddle Dee is neutral. Okay, the stats may not be completely balanced, but he, this is a Nintendo game. Since when has Nintendo ever thought of "balancing their character's stats"?
Like all other Kirby games, you can steal the powers of your enemies by eating them. They're still really fun to use, but none of them compare to the sheer awesomeness of the super moves. Once you steal the powers of these special beings, you have the ability to wreck absolute carnage. You can get a super sword, a super beam, and much more. Not only are they fun to use, but they also react to the environment. You can use them to destroy obstacles, activate switches, etc. They make the platforming so exciting!
Now, despite all that rush of positivity towards the game, there are some things that I wish could be better. For example; the level design. As much as I love the visuals, I feel like they missed a big opportunity with the stage design. Every level feels like just point A to point B without a whole lot of variety in obstacles. Some of them even feel very similar with each other, just different settings (like on a water level and one a desert level). I just feel they could've been more creative with the level design.
A level design that did work for me was the mind level. When I first got into one I thought it was so cool! You're running away from this wave thing, going through obstacles in a dream like setting. Then you fight a fun mini boss. It's so awesome! Then there was another one a few levels later, which was pretty cool… then another… then another… then another… yeah. The mind levels get very repetitive. They seem so similar to each other, with the examples of the slight obstacle or the direction in where you're running. The bosses get tiresome too. They all play out the same, except they have slightly different methods of attacking. The level design overall didn't impress me too much.
The worst part of the game is the difficulty. It's much easier than it could be. There are challenging spurts here and there, mainly with the bosses, but as long as you have a full team and Kirby is kept alive, it's nothing. They could've made the game just a little bit harder.
I may not be a huge platform game fan, but I had a lot of fun with Kirby Return to Dreamland. Sure, the level design isn't great, the mind worlds are repetitively used, and it's on the easy side, but there's so much good in the game, you overlook most of the negativity. Next time you go to Gamestop or Vintage Stock, pick this up. It's a whole lot of fun.