Kirby's Return to Dream Land

Overview

Kirby's Return to Dream Land (known as Kirby's Adventure Wii in Europe and Australia) is a 2011 platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the ninth mainline installment and the twenty-second game in the Kirby series. The plot follows Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight and Bandana Waddle Dee as they help an alien named Magolor repair his damaged spaceship so he can return home. While Kirby's Epic Yarn was released in 2010, Kirby's Return to Dream Land is the first traditional Kirby platforming home console game since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, which was released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64. The title was released in North America on October 24, 2011, in Japan on October 27, 2011, in Europe on November 25, 2011, in Australia on December 1, 2011, and in South Korea on September 6, 2012.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land features the staple gameplay of traditional Kirby platform games, in which Kirby possesses the ability to inhale and copy enemies to gain a variety of attacks such as breathing fire or swinging a sword. The game supports cooperative multiplayer gameplay, allowing up to four players to control various Kirby characters, including King Dedede, Meta Knight and Bandana Waddle Dee.

The game was announced as a GameCube title to be released in late 2005, but development of the title was later shifted to the successor console, the Wii. The game was presumed to be canceled until it was re-announced in 2011. The game was made available on the Wii U's Nintendo eShop in 2015.

Official trailer

E3 Trailer. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Kirby's Return to Dream Land for Wii ᴴᴰ Full Playthrough (All Energy Spheres, 4 Player), Nintendo Utopia. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Platform, Adventure

Developer

HAL Laboratory

Publisher

Nintendo

Series

Kirby

Platforms

Wii, Wii U

Age rating

ESRB E10+

Modes

Single player

Yes

Co op

Yes

Age ratings

ESRB

E10+

PEGI

7

CLASS IND

L

CERO

A

GRAC

ALL

USK

6

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

The whole game and four-player co-op still play.

Online

Plays offlineYes

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	Wii	77	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	7.5	10
GameSpot	7.5	10
Game Informer	8.5	10
Nintendo Life	9	10
Nintendo World Report	9	10
Destructoid	10	10
Eurogamer	6	10
Famitsu	36	40
GamesRadar+	4.5	5

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Developer	HAL Laboratory
Publisher	Nintendo
Director	Shinya Kumazaki
Producers	Hiroaki Suga, Hitoshi Yamagami, Shigefumi Kawase
Programmer	Hiroaki Nakano
Artist	Tadashi Kamitake
Writer	Shinya Kumazaki
Composers	Hirokazu Ando, Jun Ishikawa

Notes for collectors

• Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight and Bandana Waddle Dee help the alien Magolor repair his spaceship.
• Up to four players can play together, stacking up in a totem carried by the player at the bottom.
• First announced for GameCube in 2005, moved to Wii, and re-announced in 2011.
• 1.31 million copies sold by March 2012.
• Remade for Switch as Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe on 24 February 2023.

Credits

Publisher

Nintendo

Developer

HAL Laboratory

Director

Shinya Kumazaki

Released

2011-10-24

Age rating

ESRB E10+

Region

US

Time to beat

about 6.7 hours