Kirby games have been no stranger to postgame adventures and alternate characters. Meta Knightmare and Dededetour gave the series’ biggest rivals a chance to shine, but with Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe it’s time for Magolor to be the star of the show. We’ve gone through some of his new hats (literally and figuratively) in a broader Return to Dream Land Deluxe preview, but thanks to the new Magolor Epilogue, this galactic troublemaker can add “main character” to that list.
The Magolor Epilogue sees you attempting to gather up the wizard’s various abilities by exploring another dimension. He seems to play similarly to his Star Allies Dream Friend version, though in this hands-off demo his skillset was limited. This included his appearance changing to a tattered, drab and sad look instead of his typical vibrant blue.
What wasn’t limited was the player count. Just like every other corner of Return to Dream Land Deluxe, the Magolor Epilogue lets you play with up to four people. Here though it appears multiple Magolors are the only option, each one a different color. Unlike Kirby and the Forgotten World’s postgame, the settings and stages also appeared to be brand-new, as were the enemies.
While the main story of RtDL concerns collecting Energy Spheres, the Magolor Epilogue is instead about gaining his wizardly abilities. This comes in two forms: pieces of what may be special green Gem Apples (one was rewarded for completing a stage, seeming rather important) that give Magolor his abilities back, and magic points that’s earned while playing through stages.
How that power is gained is a unique combo system, where continuously defeating enemies and other actions keep your combo going. By building up a high enough combo, you’ll gain more power at the end of stages and higher medal rankings à la the original Return to Dream Land’s Challenges. Your magic points can then be used to upgrade Magolor’s reclaimed abilities.
The idea of an all-new adventure for Magolor is something Kirby fans can all be excited for, and the brief look I was given showed unique ideas for the series and plenty more of the lovable trickster. I was given no indication of how long it’ll be, but as a post-game unlockable it does seem to aim to be a bit more challenging than the main story. Magolor starts with a diminished health bar, for example, and can’t utilize the Helper Magolor feature in this mode. In this way, it’s right in line with other adventures starring different Kirby characters, which often focus more on gameplay than on story.
That said, there could very be deeper Kirby lore at work here. Could this be the origin of Magolor’s affinity for Gem Apples? Does the combo system reflect his affinity for Challenges and races from the Kirby Dream Collection? And all of this is without diving into ramifications within RtDL, which I’m avoiding in the interest of spoilers for the main story.
Whatever the case, I’m more on board than ever with Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe after this preview. You can pre-order the game now, and count down the days until its February 24th release.
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Written by Ricky Berg
When he isn’t writing for Nintendo Wire, Ricky’s anticipating the next Kirby, Fire Emblem, or if the stars ever align, Mother 3 to be released. Till then he’ll have the warm comfort of Super Smash Bros. to keep him going.
