Back inKirby’s Dream Collection, Magolor promised Kirby a theme-park to make up for his evil deeds duringKirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe. While that park was somewhat underwhelming, Merry Magoland more than makes up for attempted universal domination. Set in another time, Merry Magoland features Manager Magolor, sporting a spiffy new outfit, and eleven sub-games from across Kirby’s history to enjoy. And, for the completionists out there, it includes over 100 missions and 90 Dress-Up Masks to collect! You truly can spend hours in Merry Magoland, having fun with friends or grinding out those missions to earn a special Dress-Up Mask.
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The eleven sub-games featured in Merry Magoland have been hand-picked from games across Kirby’s 30+ year history, and they’re quite fun! Some of the games even date all the way back to Kirby’s Adventure on the NES, or were featured in Kirby and the Crystal Shards for the N64. Merry Magoland stands as both a collection of fun mini-games and a museum of Kirby’s history.
11Egg Catcher
Egg Catcher was introduced in Kirby’s Adventure for the NES. A King Dedede robot will toss eggs at you, which you need to catch. However, sometimes the Dededebot will toss a bomb, which you’ll need to block. Press and hold the A button to catch eggs, and release to block. Collect up to 30 eggs or last until the Dededebot runs out of eggs.
On lower difficulties, Egg Catcher isn’t much of a challenge. However, on higher difficulties, Egg Catcher becomes a nightmarish test of your reflexes and can easily become frustrating.
10Kirby On The Draw
Appearing in Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kirby on the Draw is a western-themed shooting gallery. Targets will pop up, and you’ll need to shoot them to earn points — just make sure to watch your ammo. Some targets are worth more than others, and some targets will be replaced by bombs, which deduct points and leave you stunned for a bit. Kirby on the Draw has multiple control methods; stick controls, tilt controls, and touch controls. Touch controls allow for easy reaction times, but can make playing against the AI difficult as they behave similarly.
Keep an eye on your ammo, as running out of ammo can cost you points while you reload. You can reload at any time by pressing X or by tapping Kirby, depending on your control settings. Make sure to target more valuable targets — yellow targets are worth the least points, green targets are worth more, and purple and blue targets are worth the most points.
9Booming Blasters
Booming Blasters is a new sub-game debuting in Return to Dreamland Deluxe, taking the place of Scope Shot from the original. Booming Blasters is a top-down shoot-em-up, with each player having four hit points and a chargeable blaster that can level up with each successful shot. By charging your shots, you can fire overhead shots that can clear obstacles. You do have limited ammo, but ammo pickups spawn regularly, and you won’t run out if you manage your shots. Occasionally, a special power-up will spawn that lets you fire a huge Super Shot that pierces walls.
Though charged shots may seem appealing, don’t forget about your normal shots. Both charged and normal shots deal the same amount of damage, and the quickness of normal shots can reliably hit foes more easily than the overhead shots, which can overshoot the target. Also, make a beeline for the Super Shot power-up whenever it spawns. You’ll know when it spawns — it has special lightning effects surrounding it as it spawns in.
8Ninja Dojo
Ninja Dojo, one of the original sub-games in Return to Dreamland, has you tossing throwing stars at increasingly complex formations of targets. Aim to get a bullseye — getting multiple in a row builds up a ton of points, with even more being added on with each additional bullseye. Just be careful — some of the targets can be tricky and will attempt to fool you or block the targets with moving Gordos.
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As stated above, bullseye streaks can let you run away with the game quite easily. It might be tricky, so familiarizing yourself with the various target formations will help.
7Magolor’s Tome Trackers
New to Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe, Magolor’s Tome Trackers has you and three other players run around a small area collecting Tomes for Librarian Magolor. Magolor will signify which Tome you’ll need to find, and you’ll have a few seconds to find it among the other Tomes and get to it before your opponents. In the last 30 seconds, Magolor will pick up the pace, and you’ll have the opportunity to grab multiple Tomes at once for more points.
A good technique to hone for Magolor’s Tome Trackers is being able to quickly spot Tomes. The Tomes Magolor wants will sometimes be obscured for a moment, and recognizing what Tome it is before it’s fully revealed can get you points before your opponents move.
6Checkerboard Chase
First introduced in Kirby and the Crystal Shards, Checkerboard Chase places four players on a checkerboard arena. Players can hit the ground to highlight a line of tiles, causing them — and maybe your opponents — to fall. When a player falls, they lose some HP, and once they’re out of HP, they’re out of the game. Completing all of Checkerboard Chase’s difficulties unlocks the Highspeed mode, which speeds up the game.
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One thing that can make Checkerboard Chase tricky is your positioning. While the game is largely based around a checkerboard, players can move smoothly and aren’t constrained to the grid. As a result, an attack that looks like it might hit your opponent could miss. It’s somewhat finicky, but mastering it will make this game a breeze.
5Samurai Kirby
The classic Kirby Super Star sub-game returns! Samurai Kirby is a test of your reflexes. Two warriors will gather on a field lit by the setting sun, and ready themselves. Then, a dramatic pause… Be ready, because once a “!!!” appears on screen, you’ll need to tap the A button as quickly as possible. If you did it quick enough, you win. Simple enough, right?
Samurai Kirby might seem simple, but it can easily throw a wrench in things. The dramatic pause can last anywhere from a moment to several seconds, and the anticipation can be your worst enemy. Pressing A before your time will net you a fault. you’re able to try again, but your results will be tarnished by any faults you may have.
4Samurai Kirby 100
Based off of Samurai Kirby, Samurai Kirby 100 is an online sub-game that pits you against 99 other players in a competition to see who has the best reflexes. There really isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said about Samurai Kirby — wait for the “!!!” and put your reflexes to the test. If you’re a true samurai, you’ll easily come out on top.
3Smash Ride
Kirby Squeak Squad’s Smash Ride returns, and it’s as chaotic as ever! You’ll control Kirby on a warp star that you can move by pressing A. Holding A will have you charge up, and different levels of charge have you fly forward at varying speeds. Slamming into your opponents will knock them away, and hopefully off the arena, netting you a point. Joining you and your friends is a member of the Squeak Squad, who can be knocked away for additional points.
Smash Ride is a fast and frantic sub-game. It’s recommended you only do the full-power smashes so you can easily send your foes flying. The real trick of Smash Ride is keeping track of your character — with all the different characters moving around, it can be easy to lose track of Kirby.
2Crackity Hack
First featured in Kirby Super Star as Megaton Punch and reimagined in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Crackity Hack presents a classic test of strength — how hard can you punch a rock? Of course, in classic Kirby fashion, it goes a little deeper than that - a lot deeper, if you’re good at it. To play, time your button presses carefully when meters reach their capacity. After building up strength, you’ll need to line up a reticule to finish things off.
Crackity Hack may seem like it requires good reflexes, but there’s a bit more to it than that. Each meter progresses at the same rate, and getting them to stop at full comes down to a matter of timing and rhythm. Get the timing down, and you’ll easily be able to max out the power of your punch. You can be confident in your results if your character is shrouded in a pink aura. This means you reached the highest level of power — now you just need to hit the mark. If you get the maximum score of 999.9m, you’ll find your punch traveled to the other side of the planet. If you see this, you’re practically guaranteed a victory.
