Kirby's Return to Dream Land

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Kirby's Adventure Wii in Europe) is a game in the Kirby series for Nintendo's Wii system, developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. While initially believed to be the cancelled GameCube title, Return to Dream Land, is, in fact, HAL Laboratory's fourth attempt at making a home console game for Kirby since Kirby's Air Ride.

A trailer for the game was released on January 28, 2011, revealing new abilities, including enhanced versions of Sword Kirby (officially known as Ultra Sword Kirby) and Fire Kirby (officially known as Monster Flame Kirby) that can each use a Final Smash-like attack. See the first trailer here.

On June 7, 2011, Nintendo released a second trailer of the game at E3, which shows off more features the game would contain, such as more new abilities, and co-op multi-player alongside Meta Knight, King Dedede and the Bandana Dee.[1] Also, the plot of the game is revealed: while greedy King Dedede is chasing Kirby for his cake, a gateway suddenly opens up in the sky, and a ship known as the Lor Starcutter emerges. It crashes, and Kirby and his allies must help Magolor, the ship's captain, recover its parts and get it working again. See that trailer here.

The game was released in America on October 24, 2011. Europe got the game on November 25, 2011.

Tropes used in Kirby's Return to Dream Land include:
  • 2½D: The first game since Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards to contain 2D gameplay among 3D graphics. Unlike in Kirby 64, however, there are no bends or curves in Kirby's path.
  • Advancing Wall of Doom: The Sphere Doomer areas have you running away from one each time.
  • Alliteration: All the levels but the last one, Another Dimension.
  • Alternate World Map: Planet Halcandra, Magolor's home planet.
  • Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: Where you fight Magolor's final forms.
  • American Kirby Is Hardcore: After a brief break in the trend with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Kirby Super Star and Kirby's Epic Yarn, Kirby once again dons angry eyebrows for North American releases.
  • Another Dimension: Where you fight Magolor. Apparently, this world uses the Trope Name.
  • Ascended Extra: Bandana Dee, a minor character from Kirby Super Star Ultra, is now a playable character.
  • Batman Gambit: Magolor gets Kirby, Dedede, Bandana Waddle Dee and Meta Knight to defeat the dragon Landia and take the Master Crown that it guards so he can rule the universe.
  • Beat Them At Their Own Game: Magolor's second form imitates the Super Abilities in the fight against him.
  • Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Goriath appears to be a Yeti.
  • Blackout Basement: Several areas have you traverse through a dark room, with lit candles to help you out (not only as a light source).
  • Blade Lock: Kirby delivers the final blow with his Ultra Sword to Magolor's first One-Winged Angel after the two do this.
  • Blade of Fearsome Size:
  • Blade on a Stick: Bandana Dee wields one to attack with.
  • Bonus Boss: Galacta Knight makes a reappearance in the True Arena. To a lesser extent, HR-D3 can only be fought in Extra Mode and the True Arena, not in the normal story mode or the Arena.
  • Boss Remix: The Super Ability theme is remixed into something more upbeat when used in the Grand Doomer battle and at the end of Stage 7-3.
  • Boss Rush: Two of them. There's The Arena, which is a rush through all bosses in main mode, and The True Arena, which is a rush through all bosses in Extra Mode (plus a fight against Galacta Knight). There's also the last level of Dangerous Dinner, the final segment of which is multiple copies of every miniboss in the game... which you face after getting the Ultra Sword ability for a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. The last level of Nutty Noon, on the other hand, is a tower filled with minibosses from the game (no Sphere Doomers though), much like Kirby's Adventure. The tower holds Gigant Edge, Moundo, Water Galboros and Dubior.
  • But Thou Must!: The very first Energy Sphere is just floating in a wide open room, but you can't proceed in the level without collecting it. It also applies in the Extra Mode.
  • Call Back: HR-D3 refers to two bosses form earlier in the series: the HR-H/E, the boss of Shiver Star in Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards (hence the HR part), and the robot Dedede at the end of Kirby's Dream Course (hence the D3 part). HR-D3 also appeared earlier in the series at the end of the second stage of the Kirby Mass Attack sub game Kirby Master. Apparently, this is a completed form of the latter, but with HR-H's methods of attacking, which makes sense considering Dedede helped Kirby in Kirby 64. All of its attacks in its first form are modified versions of HR-H's attacks. Also, the way it Turns Red is in itself a Call Back: While other bosses in the game Turn Red at 50-60% Health remaining, HR-D3 has two full health bars, much like many of the bosses from Kirby 64.
  • The Cameo:
    • One of Stone's forms is a statue of three of the "Dark Matter Trilogy" Animal Friends: Rick, Coo and Kine.
    • Stone in general is chock full of cameos. Wham Bam Rock from Kirby Super Star, the Dragoon from Kirby Air Ride, Meta Knight and Galacta Knight's wings and masks, the HAL Labs logo, Kirby's original 8-bit sprite, and a few others.
    • The UFO enemy appears to reward Kirby during end-of-level bonus games despite UFO being absent from the game.
  • Color-Coded Multiplayer: If having your multi-player partners as characters with predetermined abilities just isn't your thing, then here you go.
  • Continuity Nod: Loads, mostly to Kirby Super Star and its remake. In this installment of the series, the developers have referenced nearly everything Kirby-related. Now has its own page.
  • Cool Crown: The Master Crown that Magolor wants to rule the universe with. He says that it is a source of infinite power.
  • Difficulty Spike: Both worlds of Halcandra.
  • Disc One Final Boss: Grand Doomer and Landia.
  • Disc One Final Dungeon: Nutty Noon. Did you really think you were done with the game?
  • Disney Villain Death: Happens to Goriath, albeit coming before the Disc One Final Boss Grand Doomer.
  • Dub Name Change: Magolor is referred to as 'Mahoroa' in the Japanese release.
  • Dummied Out: There is data in the game for a Cutter super ability hat, but it was never used.
  • Edible Theme Naming: Each of the levels.
  • Eldritch Abomination: The Sphere Doomers have this vibe to them. Magolor's second One-Winged Angel definitely counts.
  • The End - or Is It?: After beating Main Mode, you'll see a text saying "THE END?". Beating Extra Mode will cause "THE END" without a question mark.
  • Enemy Mine: King Dedede (again), Meta Knight (again), and Bandana Dee are helping Kirby on his quest. Downplayed with Dedede, as he was never really evil, just sometimes mischievous, or more often, possessed by something. And no one's really sure what side Meta Knight is on.
  • Everything's Better with Spinning: Abilities that make use of weapons can often let Kirby spin them. In particular, the Sword can now do a Spin Attack and the Spear can be spun around like a helicopter blade, making Kirby fly upward and hit enemies in the way.
  • Evil All Along: Magolor, who executed a Batman Gambit to get Kirby and the crew to beat Landia and take the Master Crown so he could take over the universe.
  • Evil Makeover: The Lor Starcutter gets one when Magolor powers it up to face Kirby and the others while riding on Landia.
  • Expy:
    • Magolor, plot-wise, of Marx. Like Marx, Magolor tricks Kirby into fulfilling his evil plan and betrays him in the end. He also shares a few attacks with Marx, like the black hole and the huge laser.
    • This is cemented in EX mode, where Magolor's second form is called Magolor Soul.
  • Extreme Omnivore: Kirby was already a Big Eater, but now he can inhale other players, even (for the second time) King Dedede, to spit out more powerful stars.
  • Final Boss, New Dimension: Kirby and his crew give chase to Magolor in Another Dimension while riding on the parts of Landia and eventually fight Magolor there.
  • Fire, Ice, Lightning: The elemental variations of Sphere Doomers represent Fire, Spark and Ice.
    • The three elemental Super Abilities are Monster Flame, Flare Beam and Snow Bowl.
  • Five-Man Band:
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble:
    • Kirby is sanguine.
    • King Dedede is choleric.
    • Meta Knight is melancholic.
    • Bandanna Dee is phlegmatic.
  • Friendly Enemy: In the secret Kirby Master video, Magolor, Galacta Knight and Marx are inexplicably among the audience enjoying a very special Kirby Dance.
  • Fun with Acronyms: If you take the first letters of each level [2], you get 'Crowned', which foreshadows Magolor's possession of the Master Crown. This is alluded to in the way that the game shows the alliterative letter in a colour.
  • Golden Super Mode: When Goriath, the boss of White Wafers, Turns Red, his hair stands up and glows yellow.
  • Goomba Stomp: This game allows Kirby to control a giant cleat to perform this trope on enemies. It's highly reminiscent of Super Mario Bros 3's Kuribo/Goomba's Shoe.
  • Hailfire Peaks: Nutty Noon appears to be Bubbly Clouds mixed with Floating Continent.
  • Heel Face Turn: Landia gives you a ride during the Unexpected Shmup Level, though it was really Good All Along.
  • Hidden Depths: If you talk to Magolor...
    • ...after all the Energy Spheres are collected, he reveals to you that he acquired the Lor Starcutter by excavating it from the volcano where Landia lives, and that the ship is said to have a mind of its own, making it on par with legendary weapons like Kirby's Star Rod and Meta Knight's sword Galaxia. He also reveals that he was told everything he knew about Kirby by a friend, long before they even met. Some fans have theorized that said friend is Marx, Ribbon, or someone else entirely. Maybe even Galacta Knight.
    • ...in Extra Mode, he outright tells you that Landia guards a crown that allows the wearer to rule the universe, and that Landia will not part with it easily, and that therefore you should defeat Landia post-haste, with a cheerful expression that could not possibly be sinister in any way. Of course, this is after you already beat Main Mode, so nothing is truly spoilt.
    • Furthermore, if you have all the Energy Spheres in EX mode, Magolor gives more information. He adds that the Lor Starcutter was made by the same people who built the clockwork suns (most likely a reference to NOVA from Milky Way Wishes). He also mentions that some enemies Kirby fought before came from world where he comes from. And on top of that, Magolor states that the Lor Starcutter, 'the clockwork suns' and the Master Crown were created by use of an incredible power.
  • Hub Level: Returning from Kirby's Adventure, though this time they're accessed through a World Map. The Lor Starcutter is designed similarly, though it's more of a sandbox in that you can check in on Magolor and use the Energy Spheres you've collected throughout the game to get abilities for convenience, enter challenge rooms, or play Mini Games.
  • Humongous Mecha:
    • When compared to Kirby, HR-D3, who is only fought on the Extra mode as phases 2 and 3 of Metal General.
    • Your objective is to shoot these down in the Scope Shot Mini Game.
  • Infinity-1 Sword: The Game Breaker Copy Abilities, such as Tornado.
  • Infinity+1 Sword: The Super Abilities.
  • Interface Screw: White Sphere Doomer EXs and Magolor EX/Soul have the ability to flip the screen upside-down during battle.
  • Interface Spoiler:
    • "Gee, I beat Stage 5-5 and I DON'T have all the Energy Spheres yet?"
    • Also the fact that the overworld screen specifically has a spot reserved telling you you're on Planet Pop Star. Pretty much a given considering Magolor even said he'd take you to visit his planet after fixing the ship.
  • Jaw Drop: King Dedede becomes like this when Magolor goes One-Winged Angel for the first time after putting on the Master Crown.
  • King Mook: Several of the minibosses are these, for example, King Doo (a large, yellow Waddle Doo), Water Galboros (a large Water Galbo), and Kibble Blade (a Sir Kibble with a more knight-like helmet).
    • And later, the boss of Nutty Noon is the "Grand Doomer", a mega Sphere Doomer guarding the last Lor part.
  • Letting the Air Out of the Band: Did you really think you were gonna get the Lor Starcutter's mast without a fight?
  • Limit Break: Large, glowing enemies, which when consumed will give Kirby larger, more destructive versions of their normal powers. (i.e. Sword becomes Ultra Sword, Fire becomes Monster Flame). Ultra Sword Kirby cuts massive ropes with his big freaking sword, and Monster Flame can use a dragon to burn down trees.
  • Make My Monster Grow: Whispy, Mr. Dooter and Fatty Puffer grow in size when they turn red.
  • Market-Based Title: The game is called Kirby's Adventure Wii in PAL countries. The title used here is the North American one.
  • Medley: The first miniboss theme (this one is used for miniboss battles on Pop Star) is a medley of the Egg Catcher/Arena and Boss themes from Kirby's Adventure. The second one (this one is used for miniboss battles on Planet Halcandra) is based on the miniboss theme from Kirby 64, which was also previously used for battles with Meta Knight's troops in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, as well as Kirby 64's boss theme.
    • The music used for the Item Challenge and secret HAL rooms is a medley of various versions of Green Greens.
  • Power Copying: Returning abilities include:
New abilities include:
Super abilities include:
  • Mordor: Apparently, Planet Halcandra is this.
  • New Game+: Beating the game once unlocks Extra Mode (a throwback to the original Kirby's Dream Land), where your Life Meter is reduced by about half, the enemies now come in various sizes, Phanto-esque foes are now added to every area with a key, and the bosses are harder. Also, Magolor's One-Winged Angel form is now more powerful than ever, especially when you finally encounter Magolor Soul.
  • Nice Hat: A staple in the Kirby series. The Bomb, Stone and Ninja abilities have brand new hats, the Fighter, Ice and Mike abilities have extra features added to their hats, and the Crash ability has now gained a hat.
  • Nintendo Hard:
    • The Copy Ability Challenge Rooms are as well if you want to get the best score (though just beating them for the sake of getting the file selection screen to display 100% after the game is completed isn't nearly as hard). They can take a decent amount of tries to get a gold medal. Then you learn there's a medal better than gold...
    • There are also hidden rooms in some levels that qualify, which have an Advancing Wall of Doom, and the farther you get in the game the more additional obstacles you have to avoid and the faster the wall advances.
    • The entire Extra mode is Nintendo Hard. Especially the boss fights. The constant Sphere Doomer battles that you need to do to get all the Energy Spheres might get on your nerves when they're all the EX version. And there's also Metal General, who literally Turns Red, and then does it again figuratively, twice.
  • No OSHA Compliance: The Eternal Engine levels of Egg Engines are dangerous enough to give the factory level of Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards a run for its money.
  • Notice This: Objects that can be destroyed with a Super Ability are marked with glowing stars. The enemies that give the abilities themselves glow brightly and the first time per level they spawn, the camera zooms in on them.
  • One-Winged Angel: Magolor, once he picks up the Master Crown, and again after being defeated once with an Ultra Sword.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: The Monster Flame ability, as seen in this trailer.
    • Also, Landia, the four-headed dragon who attacked Magolor. It can split into four smaller one-headed dragons.
  • Outrun the Fireball: A dark void of some sort that's consuming everything in at least one of the pocket dimensions.
  • Paper Fan of Doom: Ultra Sword becomes a large fan or a large tuna on rare occasions.
  • Plot Coupons: The five parts of the Lor Starcutter, obtained after defeating each level's boss, and the Energy Spheres, many missing in each level. There are 120 in all.
  • Pocket Dimension: There appears to be many of them throughout the game, where a good portion of the gears can be found. The final battle against Magolor also takes place here.
  • Powerup Mount: In Co-op, anyone can be this to eachother. You can even stack up all four characters to create a giant totem pole.
  • Recurring Riff: Several, including the file select/Lor Starcutter theme, the music from the GCN Kirby trailer, the Recurring Riff from Kirby Super Star, and the menu music.
  • Retraux:
    • The BGM for the Item Challenge is a retro-style remix of Green Greens, sounding very similar to the arrangement used in Kirby Super Star.
    • In terms of gameplay, the entire game may qualify.
  • Rubber Band AI: The Advancing Wall of Doom mentioned above will always be just offscreen, slowly coming into view, no matter how much you think you've distanced yourself from it. But if you are close enough to it, it clearly slows down, and it gets exponentially faster the further away you are from it.
    • You can actually make the wall reel back by spitting stars at it. This is practically essential to know in later parts of the New Game+, where the wall is faster.
  • Sad Battle Music: Used for Landia, HR-D3's second phase and Galacta Knight's first phase.
  • Same Content, Different Rating: Although it's the first Kirby game to garner an E10+ ESRB rating, it's hardly more violent than any other entry in the series.
  • Sarcastic Clapping: Magolor, complete with stock "bravo", right before he picks up the Master Crown and goes One-Winged Angel.
  • Scenery Porn: True to Kirby form, the backgrounds of this game are vivid, detailed and colorful.
    • The backgrounds in the "Looming Darkness" sections shown after you defeat the Sphere Doomers are hauntingly beautiful.
  • Scoring Points: Present in the challenge rooms.
  • Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: You can tell American Kirby Is Hardcore when he has his Blade of Fearsome Size aimed right in the face of anyone looking at the (American) cover.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Whip Kirby wears a fedora.
    • Not only does Sword Kirby regain the Sword Beam at full health, it now has a chargeable Spin Attack! In this game, the Spin Attack hits targets more than once instead of a single time that simply does more damage at once like in its inspiration series, often making it useful for shaving off enemies' health, especially for enemies that are more durable.
    • The shoe powerup: invincible, can walk on spikes, and only available in certain parts of the game. Sound familiar?
    • Ninja Kirby has traded in his old hat for a dark blue headband with an engraved metal plate (in a shuriken-throwing minigame, Dedede and Waddle Dee sport them too; Meta Knight doesn't appear to have one; more of a Bleach;; man, perhaps?).
    • Just in case HAL Labs didn't make Fighter's fireball move a direct shout-out to a certain fighting game obvious enough, one of the inputs to perform an instant powered-up version of the standard fireball is down, forward, 1 button.
    • Meta Knight keeps his Shuttle Loop and jab attack from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
    • Also from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, both the Hammer ability and Dedede have a downwards drilling attack that comes from Dedede's down-air in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
    • The factory world is called Egg Engines, and, in some places, has orange and brown checkerboard walls. Hmmmm...
      • Also, the Needle Ability gives you a new, vaguely familiar rolling wheel attack.
      • After completing the Egg Engine level, Magolor mentions his home being a hop, skip, and a jump away.
    • One of the snow levels features multiple cannons (somewhat standard Kirby fare), although one cannon path features a trail of banana bunches.
    • Halcandra is named after HAL Laboratory, the company that made this game.
    • Landia EX is purple. This gets even more obvious when it Turns Red and splits itself into four smaller dragons.
    • Goriath's hair turns gold and stands up when he Turns Red. And if that's not enough, he's got Kamehame Hadouken attacks, too! And when Goriath EX goes Super Saiyan, he gets a Spirit Bomb.
    • The Grand Doomer's second phase has a method of attack that is remarkably similar to a particular shrieking ball of paint...
    • The name of Magolor's home planet, Halcandra, sounds remarkably similar to the names of the planets from The Space Trilogy.
  • Stealth Pun: Sometimes Kirby's Ultra Sword ability has him use a fish as a weapon. Get it? Swordfish.
  • Sticks to the Back: Whenever someone with a weapon needs to use both their hands or play the goal game, they resort to this.
  • Storm of Blades: Galacta Knight can create one after he Turns Red.
  • Super Title 64 Advance: The European release of the game is named Kirby's Adventure Wii. It is not a port of the NES game.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Since Meta Knight is an ally and playable character for this game, Galacta Knight was used as a boss.
  • Teleport Spam: The Grand Doomer, Ice Sphere Doomers, and Magolor's One-Winged Angel forms all do this.
  • The Tetris Effect: If one plays through the ability stages enough, they might have the tendency to have to do everything with precision and on the first try.
  • Theme Music Power-Up:
    • Galacta Knight's fight starts out with Landia's boss theme, but when his health drops by half, his theme from Kirby Super Star Ultra starts up and he fights more seriously.
    • Whenever Kirby gets a Super Ability.
  • Totally Radical: Magolor's speech. Pre-Evil Plan reveal.
    • "The Lor is a beast!"
  • Transformation Is a Free Action:
    • Bosses cannot be hurt when they're in the middle of turning red when their health bars drop by half. Their health bars glow to signify that they're temporarily invincible.
    • The action freezes while Kirby does his elaborate Super Ability transformations.
  • True Final Boss: Magolor Soul.
  • Turns Red: Every boss does this when their health bars fall by half.
    • In Extra Mode, Mr. Dooter and Fatty Puffer are all mainly recolored red (from light blue and purple, respectively).
    • Also, the last series of bosses from Landia EX onwards (including Galacta Knight) turn red when their health hits about 60%.
  • Unexpected Shmup Level: In Kirby tradition. After Magolor goes One-Winged Angel, Kirby and the gang each ride on a part of Landia into another dimension where this trope takes place. Most Kirby games take the mystical item that Kirby was assembling over the course of the game, and use it against the final boss, who's usually a One-Winged Angel version of the penultimate boss. This time, you ride the penultimate boss, who's revealed to have been heroic the entire time, and the item you've been assembling the whole game ends up being turned against you as the Shmup stage boss battle.
  • Video Game Settings:
  • Villainous Harlequin: Magolor's One-Winged Angel forms, even going as far as to give him a juggling attack and various uses of magical symbols.
  • Walking Spoiler: Magolor.
  • Wall of Weapons: Ultra Sword pulls out an assortment of large swords and sharp objects to cut with, like a standard Kirby sword, Meta Knight's Galaxia sword, a scimitar/cutlass, a butcher's knife and a kendo sword. If you're lucky, there's also a giant paper fan. And a fish.
  • Warmup Boss: Whispy Woods, naturally.
  • Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: "The masked knight cometh!"
  1. ↑ The Waddle Dee from the "Megaton Punch" part of Kirby Super Star and "Revenge of the King" in Kirby Super Star Ultra.
  2. ↑ Cookie Country, Raisin Ruins, Onion Ocean, White Wafers, Nutty Noon, Egg Engines and Dangerous Dinner.
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