Okay, so here’s the latest happenings in Dreamland: a strange ship has appeared and suddenly crashes into Dreamland. Kirby and crew set out to explore the remains, only to discover an alien in dismay because 120 of his ship’s precious gears have gone missing. Of course, the every helpful Kirby offers his assistance and thus begins the adventure.

 

That same spaceship also serves as a Hub of sorts for a variety of challenges, which you’ll unlock by finding gears scattered around each level. We were able to try out one of these challenges, which saw us racing through the level as quickly as we could, while getting as many points as possible by killing the enemies. Unfortunately, we’re still not entirely clear as to how completing these challenges fits into the game overall, but they are a fun diversion from the standard platforming levels.

Of course, the biggest addition to Returns to Dreamland is being able to have up to three friends drop in at any time, simply by tapping the “plus” button on their controller (a much more elegant solution than NSMBW’s clumsy menus). And when they do, they have the choice of either playing as another Kirby, or one of three other characters: Meta Knight, King Dedede, and the under-appreciated Waddle Dee. Each comes sporting their own unique abilities, such as Waddle’s ability to fly using his spear as a rotor (which is adorable), or King Dedede’s massive reach thanks to his hammer. As expected, playing with others really brings the adventure to life, though managing to be less chaotic than New Super Mario Bros’s handling of it.

 

Of course, what would a classic Kirby game be without power-ups? And from what we can tell, there seems to be quite a few. Kirby Super Star fans will be pleased to see that most of their favorite powers such as Beam, Stone, and Spark have all returned, each sporting a similarly robust move-set. But it’s the new powers that are even more exciting. Whip has Kirby take on a Cowboy-like appearance, enabling him to use his whip both offensively, as well as to grab items out-of-reach. Perhaps most exciting, however, are the super abilities. These powerful attacks fill almost the entire screen and can be used to destroy otherwise unbreakable barriers, revealing hidden treasure. For example, the Ultra Sword allows Kirby to swing a building-sized sword around the entire destroying any blocks (and enemies) in his path, while Monster Flame summons a giant horizontal blast of fire across whatever elevation Kirby is currently at.

Unfortunately, if you’re playing multiplayer, only one player can have a super power at a time, which becomes particularly tedious when the player who has it abuses its use, as the 2-3 second animation brings everything else to a standstill. Luckily, the power only lasts for a short period of time, preventing it from getting too annoying.

Kirby Returns to Dreamland truly feels like the sequel to Kirby Super Star that never was: a 4-player cooperative experience with a mountain of powers at your disposal. It’s classic Kirby at his finest. Make sure to keep an eye out for this one to drop on October 24th, and stay tuned to GameXplain for more on Kirby as we approach its release.