After Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, home console Kirby games started taking a less traditional direction, such as the Gamecube racer Kirby's Air Ride and the Wii title Kirby's Epic Yarn. It wasn't until 11 years after Kirby 64 was released that HAL Laboratory would make another traditional title for a home console, which is Kirby's Return to Dreamland for the Wii. The game was originally planned for the Gamecube in 2005, but it was delayed and moved to the Wii, and was finally released in 2011. The game was popular enough to earn it's way onto the North American Wii U EShop last month. How does this game compare to previous titles in the series? I'll tell you by making this review.

Graphics: 9/10 As far as visuals go, Kirby's Return to Dreamland looks as good as any other major Wii title. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous, everything from the grassy stages in Cookie Country to the snowy levels of White Wafers, and even the volcanic stages of Dangerous Dinner show just how great Wii games can look. Along with the visually appealing stages, the character models are some of the best that the series has had. All of Kirby's powerups look better than they had in the past, and some of the new powerups such as Kirby's Super Abilities look absolutely stunning. From the Monster Flame (which looks like a dragon), to the Ultra Sword, all of these new powerups are wonderful to look at, and so much better to use. Overall, the graphics may not be as revolutionary as Super Mario Galaxy or as unbelievable as Xenoblade Chronicles, but the visuals are great enough for me to give the graphics a 9.

Sound: 8/10 Kirby's Return to Dreamland offers a good soundtrack that has a good mix of cheery music, as well as some intense music towards the end, pretty much what you'd expect a Kirby game to have. The Final Boss themes and the Galacta Knight theme are the 2 best tracks in the game, both are perfect for the parts where they are played, and are some of the best music in the Kirby series. The rest of the soundtrack is nice to listen to as well, but it's not as dynamic as the Super Mario Galaxy, Xenoblade Chronicles, or Super Smash Bros Brawl. The soundtrack is still good enough to get an 8 from me though.

Addictiveness: 8/10 Kirby's Return to Dreamland is as fun to play as any other game in the Kirby series. There's 28 different abilities that Kirby can use, from classics like Sword Kirby to some new ones such as Water Kirby, which allows Kirby to surf on water and is also helpful when you're underwater. Some other new abilities are Whip, Spear, and Leaf Kirby. Those abilities don't do much to separate it from previous titles. Fortunately, 4 of Kirby's new abilities are what are known as Super abilities, which are enhanced versions of some of Kirby's classic abilities that can be used to take out many enemies at once, and to progress through certain stages. These super abilities are the only new feature that truly separates Kirby's Return to Dream Land from previous games in the series. Kirby 64's combining abilities feature was a far more innovative feature than this game's super abilities. Overall, Kirby's Return to Dream Land provides some entertaining gameplay, but the lack of innovation is a big reason why I'm not giving the addictiveness score a higher score than 8.

Story: 6/10 The storyline begins when a mysterious ship called the Lor crashlands on Dream Land. Kirby along with King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee investigate, and they find a guy named Magalor inside. He tells them that he needs their help to find the pieces of his ship that got scattered across Dreamland, and Kirby agrees to help him. So Kirby and his friends must now travel through Dreamland to find the missing ship parts so that Magalor's ship can get fixed and they can all travel to his world. The plot is ok, but there have been better storylines in the Kirby series, such as in Kirby 64. There is a plot twist towards the end, which gives me a good reason to give the story a 6 instead of a 5.

Depth: 5/10 Kirby's Return to Dreamland offers a good amount of content to unlock and to play. Story mode has 7 worlds, each world has somewhere between 3-5 levels each and a boss at the end of each world. There's also an 8th world with 1 level and a boss as well. There are over 120 collectibles spread across each level called energy spheres. Collecting them will unlock certain minigames, such as Ninja Dojo and Scope Shot. Besides the story mode and minigames, there's the arena mode. Overall, this game doesn't have the amount of levels that other platforming games such as Super Mario Galaxy have, but it does have more extra content than Kirby 64 did. For that reason, I'm giving the depth a 5.

Difficulty: 2/10 Kirby's Return to Dreamland is one of the easier Wii titles out there. The levels for the most part are pretty easy to beat, and the energy spheres found throughout the game aren't hard to find and are easy to get to. Out of the 120 energy spheres found throughout the game, there was only about 3 that gave me any kind of trouble whatsoever. The bosses aren't very difficult either. Even the final boss isn't challenging if you're using Fighter Kirby. If you're looking for a challenging Wii platformer, then Kirby's Return to Dreamland won't satisfy your cravings. For these reasons, I'm giving the difficulty a 2.

Overall Score: 8/10 Kirby's Return to Dreamland is one of the better platforming games on the Wii. It offers great visuals, a great soundtrack, and gameplay that all platforming fans can enjoy. If it wasn't for the lack of innovative features to set this game apart from previous games in the series, and the fact that the game barely provides a challenge, especially boss battles I'd give this game a higher score. Overall though, Kirby's Return to Dream Land is one of the better platforming games you'll find on the Wii. For these reasons, I'm giving this game an 8 out of 10.

I loved your review. Your introduction shows the history surrouding the game, you give ample comparisons to other games of the era and give ample details about the game's metrics. However, you could have used a few more details: what kind of orchestration do you favorite tracks have? How would you compare the difficulty level with other Kirby games?

janus : thanks man! I'm glad you liked my review. I wanted to make sure that I gave enough information about the game's background to make a great introduction, and I'm glad you saw that.