With the release of Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe I knew I had two options: drop about sixty dollars on the rerelease that adds big garish black outlines to the characters as if something about the original's presentation made the action inscrutable, or put the iso of the original on my Wii's hard drive and play a much better looking game... With the Wiimote sideways. Well shit, that was a pretty easy call all the way to the end.

Frankly, I've found a lot of Nintendo's rereleases on Switch to be pretty uncompelling and settled on discomfort. I should get a pro controller if I'm going to play more Wii games, holding the Wiimote sideways might be the single worst way to experience any Nintendo game. What a garbage setup, with its prank D-pad and hard edges digging into your palm... At least Return to Dream Land plays well and is so enjoyable that even despite this horrid controller setup, I often found myself thinking "damn, this might be as good as The Crystal Shards."

Return to Dream Land is about as straight-forward a Kirby game as it gets. At least in single player. I get the feeling one of the big draws to this one is playing with friends, but nobody is willing to come over and watch Kirby and Meta Knight smooch with me. Tragic, I know. On some level, Return feels antiquated, with only Super Abilities and a very minimal amount of Wiimote waggling offering anything new to the typical Kirby formula, but I think adhering to tradition makes Return comfortably nostalgic.

That adherence to expected gameplay and inclusion of co-op makes this a friendly entry point, too. Not that most people reading a Backloggd review will struggle with Kirby's notoriously easy brand of gameplay, but I grabbed a copy of Deluxe for my niece after learning about how much she adores Kirby, and she's had a great time playing it with her mom. I'm 36 and had just as good of a time playing this hunched in front of a CRT. That's uh, the power of Kirby.

With Kirby's 32nd anniversary being right around the corner, I have decided to return to this sweet trip of a game! Kirby's original debut on the Gameboy! How has it held up after all these years?

Starting off with the controls of the game, Kirby's Dream Land's controls hold up rather well! Although unlike future entries in the series it lacks a run button, therefore Kirby is a little slower than he usually is nowadays, however in a way it helps this game! As it's already rather short, the game likely beaten in under half an hour if you know it well enough. Since this is the first game in the series it's roots stem from here, unlike every other mainline game in the series, Kirby's Dream Land lacks copy abilities! Which have been a major part of the series ever since their debut in Kirby's Adventure. However Kirby inhaling enemies and objects before spitting them out works just as well back here as it does now, which is good since you'll be using that to your advantage for most of the game. Lastly about the controls are the items! Such as the mint leaf changing up the gameplay to a shoot 'em up style of game within Kabula's boss fight in the skies. The spicy curry which lets you spit out flames to attack enemies with a blaze. Alongside food items to regenerate Kirby's health, allowing Kirby to take just a few more hits once more. Plus a few extras like the bomb. They all together spice up the gameplay just a bit more, making the general experience a bit more varied. With all of this in mind, the controls of this game are pretty decent!

Before we even tackle the levels themselves, there is also the intro cards! They all together give the game some extra packed-in personality. For example in Green Greens, Kirby chases after a butterfly before suddenly being chased off by multiple at once. Or in Float Islands where Kirby fishes up a fish, only to inhale it and get the fishing rod stuck in his mouth! Things like this make the game much more charming! And for such a small package on the Gameboy it really fits in a lot of charm.

As for the levels themselves, they're all rather unique from each-other! From the classic Green Greens to Mt. Dedede, something I appreciate about these levels are their backgrounds, which all end up standing out from eachother with their fun pixel-filled fun. Sometimes they even change mid level! Take this example in Green Greens, the first level in the game. One moment Kirby is standing in a grassy, hill filled landscape, before taking a trip on a warpstar to a nearby forest! It feels like you've genuinely made progress! Moving onto the level designs themselves, they're alright. They work for a first game but they're nothing too ground breaking, it's a Gameboy platformer alright!

The last main thing to mention is the end-game, Mt. Dedede! Which has a banger soundtrack, just like this game does in general! Each theme memorable, fitting their theming well. The final level's intro starting with Kirby crashing into the king's castle, as a short retour of all previous levels are replayed! Among all four bosses brought with them, Whispy Woods is first and is short and simple overall, avoid getting hit by the apples and spit them back out, working well for the first boss of the game. Next up is Lololo and Lalala who push boxes around a more enclosed environment, making it a little harder for Kirby to attack, this expanding more on Whispy's fight and generally teaching the player to be more precise with their movement. This is followed by Kabula within the sky! Definitely being the most unique fight in the game, which is appreciated! Kracko then being the last one fought before the end-game, yet is cleared if you're careful enough, they're personally the one I typically struggle myself with most out of all the bosses in the game! Once all four original bosses are fought, it's time for the king himself!

King Dedede! With a total of ten health points total, ends up being the longest and most gruelling fight in the game, fitting for the final boss you'll fight here. Once you recognise his patterns his fight ends up being short yet sweet as for the first time of many, the king falls to the pink puffball as he is blown out of his castle. The credits then beginning to roll, kick-starting the two's rivalry in future games as my favourite music track in the game plays. As Kirby carries the castle, bringing back all the stolen food to the residents of Dream Land as he flies off in the sunset, before one final bye-bye. Closing off the main game and unlocking extra mode! Which is an extra challenge for real veterans, I myself didn't really check it out but if you want one final tough challenge, there's your cue.

Overall even though the Kirby series has massively expanded in quality since, this game is very charming! While very short and quickly beaten. It's an experience well-played. With five levels total with fun and chirpy music alongside them, it's a solid foundation that brought the pink puff to fruition. Certainly one of the best experiences of the Gameboy library!