Compared with his colleagues in Nintendo's franchise stable, the evolution of Kirby has been wildly uneven. In some cases, the pink puff's games have gone way out into game design's most left of left fields, such as making him a ball steered by touch screen drawings, a sentient piece of yarn, or a hive-mind of ten clones. In other cases, the games adhere fastidiously to the cheery 2D platforming formula established in titles like Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Super Star. Kirby: Return to Dreamland, a title that's been in development since 2005 (back when it was scheduled for the GameCube), falls square in the latter category, but it does so to its own detriment. It's not a bad game by any means, but it's not great either.

Anyone who's played a traditional Kirby game should know exactly what to expect from Return to Dreamland, as the very title expresses the nostalgic appeal. Players control the pink puff as he runs, jumps, floats, and eats his way from one end of a level to the next. Kirby's main weapon is his copy ability, allowing him to absorb the powers of the enemies he eats. These copy powers don't only give Kirby formidable combat prowess, but they can also be used to open new paths in the levels that lead to extra content like bonus stages, mini-games, and more. Unfortunately, Return to Dream Land does not go beyond these parameters, and the flaws with the formula are all too apparent.

Kirby games have often been criticized for being too easy, with short levels and simple enemies limiting their depth. Return to Dream Land is a particularly egregious offender, and even its few improvements end up making the game less challenging. For one thing, Kirby can now use Super Abilities, incredibly enhanced versions of his normal copy powers (for example, the Super Sword is a blade ten times Kirby's size). These absolutely demolish enemies that were not particularly resilient in the first place. For another, the game supports drop-on multiplayer, so a single player can call upon a willing friend for assistance if they end up finding any part of the game too challenging. The levels are very straightforward, and Kirby's flying ability allows him to completely evade the bottomless pits key to the platforming genre's challenge.

While the low difficulty makes Return to Dreamland a good introductory video game for children who might get frustrated by more complex titles, there are better titles that serve this role. The Wii has several of Kirby's classic games on the Virtual Console download service, which are cheaper and feature more creative level designs. The system also has Mario and Donkey Kong Country titles past and present, which offer more value for older gamers looking for a difficult game. To top it off, most of these options come at a much cheaper cost than Return to Dreamland's full retail price. This game's main value is for Kirby completists who want to see the pink puff rendered in high-definition (for the Wii, anyway) 3D graphics (visuals are one of the best aspects of the game). Everyone else can find better alternatives.

GameDynamo's Score for Kirby's Return to Dreamland (Wii)

	Score	Description
Graphics	91	Beautiful graphics with a lot of bright colors and vibrant effects. The papery finish over the cutscenes is a particularly nice touch.
Sound	78	The upbeat music and bouncy sound effects suit Kirby well, though the score is less memorable than previous titles.
Gameplay	69	Not only is this a very easy game, but it's actually less difficult than previous Kirby titles, and the secrets aren't particularly well-hidden.
Play Value	65	It's a short game, and the extra sub-games earned with 100% completion don't go beyond an amusing diversion.
Final Score	72	If anything, Return to Dreamland represents a step backwards for Kirby, because classic Kirby titles like Adventure and Super Star at least had challenging parts for gamers. It stills has its charms, but that's mainly on the strength of what it borrows from those older games.

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