The story picks up with Kirby hanging out with his friends, when a spaceship crashes near them. From there Kirby decides he is going to help this stranger repair their ship and live happily ever after. Not a super deep storyline. In fact, compared to last year’s Epic Yarn, this story is weak. The good news is that with the excellent gameplay the story is completely unnecessary.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is a perfect 2D platformer. Kirby utilizes his copy abilities to defeat bad guys as he traverses through seven worlds. The copy abilities seem to have new layers as all of them have secondary abilities based on direction buttons and some even require fighter style combos.  None of these are overly complex and even if you can’t remember them all, the basic move for each power is perfectly usable. Seasoned gamers might be a little turned off by how easy the initial play through is, though some of the energy spheres can be hard to find. The energy spheres are hidden extras that can unlock bonuses. Collecting all the energy spheres also allows you to battle the final boss.

On top of a few new copy abilities Return to Dream Land introduces super abilities. These five abilities have a set time limited use and for the most part attack a large portion of the screen.  They are also usually used in levels to destroy parts of the level that unlock secret areas. I really wish there were more chances to use these abilities but you would be basically unstoppable and the game would be done in about 10 minutes.

Multiplayer options are available in this game similar to Epic Yarn, however this time around you can have a full four players. Player one must play as Kirby. However, each additional player can play as a different coloured Kirby or one of three other characters.  The other characters are Meta Knight, Waddle Dee, and King Dedede. Each has their own attack: King Dedede swings his trademark hammer, Meta Knight wields a sword, and Waddle Dee totes spear. The multiplayer mode is actually a lot of fun and can be started at anytime. All an additional player needs to do is push a button on their controller. The drawbacks to this are that only one player can have a super ability at a time. So even if you have four Kirbys only one of them can have a super ability. The next issue is that player one acts as an anchor on the screen, where if the other players fall to far behind they get dragged to player ones position without taking any damage. This can be beneficial at times but at other times such as bosses this can be deadly. The final problem is how lives are handled. Lives are shared so the additional players could use all of them quickly, since even their initial opting in takes a life.  The other life issue is that only if player one dies does the level end. This is why the other players could accidentally run through the lives without realising it. This is somewhat balanced out by health items being something you can share. This is done by running into another character face-to-face, at which point it looks like the two are making out. This keeps the players on more friendly terms since you don’t need to compete for health.

Graphics are simple and beautiful. The updated style is exactly how I would envision the original Kirby games being updated for the Wii. The system isn’t being pushed by this game and yet the game is stunning and reminds me why I love traditional platform games. There are too many games to mention that are supposedly graphic masterpieces that I would trade for more games like this one.

The game is a wonderful call back to what games use to be. The co-op is one of the friendliest I’ve seen for this style of game, though getting everyone to have their preferred power can be hard at times. Yes, the game will visually appeal to younger gamers but if you judge this game on that, you are missing out. If you don’t own a Wii, I can’t in good conscience say this is the game to buy a Wii for even with how delightful it is; but if you own a Wii, make sure to add this to your Christmas list or go buy it now. Seriously. Go. Buy. Now.

Massive sandbox style games have become progressively more and more common. We have ones set in the old west, fantasy lands, inner cities, and probably just about anywhere else. This game style leads to some problems, such as getting absorbed in the free exploration to the point that the story is lost or forgotten. Kirby’s Epic Yarn doesn’t worry about these issues as the gameplay harkens back to a classic game style of 2D platforming.

The first thing that stands out with the game is the art style. All the textures, backgrounds, and even characters are made of fabric. This is one of those times when just by looking at something in a game I can envision exactly how everything feels. Besides weather related scenes in games, I’m not sure I’ve ever really been compelled to think of any tactile response just from visuals. This style of background also lends itself well to being a 2D platformer. Now in fairness, the game is not completely 2D as there are times that you can go behind bits of fabric so it’s more like you are playing on a true fabric map. This kind of 3D aspect lends well to the idea this fabric world is real. Kirby is interacting with fabrics as if he really did move behind it or something causes a ripple in the fabric.

The story mainly unfolds at the beginning and between levels. It’s not really a complex story as all there is to it is the idea that Kirby has been pulled into a yarn world and is trying to get back. Taking a page from Yoshi’s Story the game is presented in a storybook fashion. During the cutscenes that movie the story along there is actually a narrator. The guy they got to do this is one of those guys you envision reading to kids. Any character he reads for he gives a different voice and the entire time he talks with a very soothing tone. Compared to Yoshi’s Story the narrator really adds that extra touch to the storybook theme.

Now the gameplay is fun and easy. This really does play out like an old school platformer. You can pickup the controls in no time. Because of this the first level being a tutorial on how to move around was pretty insulting to older gamers. Later levels when the controls would come up made sense however as these were specialized control schemes. Another part that makes the game way too easy is the inability to die. If you fall down a hole or are attacked you can lose the gems you collected but that’s all you’ll lose. This does tie into the replay value though as each level has three hidden items to find and based on the number of jewels you collect there are medals awarded.

The replay value of this game relies on the idea that you did not take the time to collect everything. The further into the game you get the harder this actually is. On top of this there are five types of mini-games to play through that count toward the 100%. This ranges from 13 to like 20 levels per type. The racing mini-game was my favourite but by far the easiest. The other opportunity for replay value is in the two player mode. It is far more likely you went through this in one player so playing again with a friend might be some fun. I say might because it may be frustrating for some people.

The more mature gamer is probably going to be put off by the childish graphics. If the case is that the graphics keep you from playing a game then you either are probably not good at platformers or you’re not secure with yourself. Just get over that attitude though because this game is divine and one that you can come back to just for a good time.

– Jasmine, founder of Super Happy Sparkle Onigiri Brigade.