Kirby's Return to Dream Land available now at retail

The recent flurry of releases featuring Kirby, Nintendo and Hal Laboratory's famous pink puffball, continues today with the release of Kirby's Return to Dream Land for Wii. Unlike a lot of the other recent titles in the franchise, though, this one doesn't rely on a gimmick. For better of for worse, Kirby is back as you know him.

There will be no wrangling yarn critters here. Kirby once again has substance, suction power and a steel stomach. To complete his newest adventure, you'll run and jump and fly through familiar lush environments, inhale enemies, gulp them down and inherit a number of new abilities. Perhaps most promising is a four-player mode that allows anyone with a Wii Remote to join in on the action.

"Kirby's Return to Dream Land is a must-play for new and experienced fans, and it's only available on the Wii console," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "As friends and family gather together this holiday season, they'll have a blast discovering Kirby's new Super Abilities and teaming up to defeat enemies."

The game features only one control scheme. Players hold the Wii Remote sideways, like an old NES controller, and for the most part that's all there is to it. While there's some Wii Remote shaking necessary in a few instances, for the most part Kirby's Return to Dream Land is designed to play out like an old school Kirby adventure but with the polished presentation and features of a 2011 release. For those who have been waiting for a release just like it (a lot of people, it seems), that's terrific news. Perhaps it will even make the wait for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword easier to bear.

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Staff article by Jason Venter (October 24, 2011) Jason Venter has been playing games for 30 years, since discovering the Apple IIe version of Mario Bros. in his elementary school days. Now he writes about them, here at HonestGamers and also at other sites that agree to pay him for his words.