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A celebration of all the fun we've had over Kirby's first two decades. Here's to many more!
— Summary • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition

Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition[2] (sometimes written as Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition[3] or Kirby's Dream Collection for short) is a Kirby game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in Japan on July 19, 2012, and in North America on September 16, 2012. Perhaps due to it being a late release for the Wii, and the additional manufacturing costs of the book, it was not released in Europe or Australia.

General Information[]

Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition is a compilation title released to commemorate the Kirby series' 20th anniversary. The playable content in the compilation consists of six past mainline games referred to as "Classic Titles" and 13 previously unreleased Challenge stages on one Wii disc, and it comes with a complimentary soundtrack CD and a collectible 48-page celebration book.

Classic Titles[]

KDCol Past Games logo

Classic Titles

The included games are:

Basic Actions[]

Move Game
Kirby's Dream Land
Kirby's Adventure
Kirby's Dream Land 2
Kirby Super Star
Kirby's Dream Land 3
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Move Directional Pad
Dash N/A Press Directional Pad twice N/A Press Directional Pad twice
Duck Directional Pad Down
Slide N/A Directional Pad Down+1/2 N/A Directional Pad Down+2
Start Game +
Pause
Inhale 1
Spit
Swallow Directional Pad Down after inhaling an object
Copy N/A Directional Pad Down after inhaling an Ability-bearing object
Use Copy Ability 1 with a Copy Ability equipped
Jump 2
Hover Directional Pad Up Press 2 repeatedly
Discard Copy Ability N/A - N/A - A
Part with Friend N/A - N/A
Check Treasure (The Great Cave Offensive) N/A - N/A
Easy Select (Milky Way Wishes)
Open Treasure Box Directional Pad Up
Guard B
Bring out Helper A
Normal Beam
Call Up Gooey N/A A N/A
Team Up with Friend B
Detatch
Lift Up Object N/A A
Throw Object Upward
Throw Object 1
Display HOME Menu Home
Set Frame + + -
Return to the title screen 1 + 2 + A + B (Wii Remote)
A + B + L + R (Wii Classic Controller)

New Challenge Stages[]

KDCol Challenge logo 2

New Challenge Stages

The Challenge mode opens in the interior of the Lor Starcutter for new challenge stages. The camera pans slowly down to reveal Magolor typing on the Starcutter's main computer board. He turns around and greets the player directly. He introduces himself by saying that he's from Another Dimension and that he loves Popstar. Magolor states that, to make up for his actions in the previous game, he created an amusement park for Kirby to enjoy. The player then proceeds to go through these levels:

Happiness
Sword Challenge Parasol Challenge Spark Challenge Magolor Race 1
Atrium
Whip Challenge Fighter Combat Chamber Wing Challenge Magolor Race 2
Last Icon
Smash Combat Chamber Normal Challenge Magolor Race 3
Smash Combat Chamber EX* Magolor Race EX*

After the player beats Magolor Race 3, the credits start to roll. Kirby then walks (with Magolor trailing along behind him) through all the levels of Planet Popstar in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and ends in Cookie Country. Magolor leaves Popstar on the Lor Starcutter, but not before giving Kirby a final wave goodbye. As Kirby nears the end of the walk, the music changes from the 20th anniversary theme to the original ending theme of Kirby's Dream Land, and he is greeted by King Dedede, Meta Knight, Bandana Waddle Dee and a number of classic enemies from Kirby's Return to Dream Land. This will also unlock the option to watch the ending again via the file select screen. The player may now also play the Smash Combat Chamber EX and Magolor Race EX.

Basic Actions[]

Move Game
Wii Remote Wii Classic Controller/Wii Classic Controller Pro Nintendo GameCube Controller
Move Directional Pad Right Directional Pad Right/Tilt Left Stick left twice Press Directional Pad Right twice/Control Stick Right twice
Dash Press Directional Pad Right twice Press Directional Pad Right twice/Tilt Left Stick left twice Press Directional Pad Right twice/Tilt Control Stick Right twice
Slide Directional Pad Down + 2 Directional Pad Down/Tilt Left Stick down + A/X Directional Pad Down/Control Stick Down + A/X
Guard A L/R L/R
Start Game + Start
Pause
Inhale 1 B/Y B/Y
Spit
Swallow Directional Pad Down after inhaling an object Directional Pad Down/Tilt Left Stick down after inhaling an object Directional Pad Down/Control Stick Down after inhaling an object
Copy Directional Pad Down after inhaling Ability-bearing an object Directional Pad Down/Tilt Left Stick down after inhaling an Ability-bearing object Directional Pad Down/Control Stick Down after inhaling an Ability-bearing object
Use Copy Ability 1 with a Copy Ability equipped B/Y with a Copy Ability equipped B/Y with a Copy Ability equipped
Jump 2 A/X A/X
Hover 2 repeatedly A/X repeatedly A/X repeatedly
Display HOME Menu Home N/A

Kirby's History[]

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: Kirby's History
KDCol Kirby's History logo

Kirby's History

Kirby's History is an interactive calendar documenting the Kirby series history both in the games and in the world. The games span Kirby's Dream Land to the very disc the player is using, Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition. The games are represented by their box arts. At the end of the "History Hall" is a bright light, which may represent HAL's hopes for Kirby to have a bright future. There are numerous statues of characters from the Kirby franchise (Kirby himself, Rick, Coo, Kine and Waddle Dee) that are standing on pillars.

When in Kirby's History, when the player selects a game, a track from that game will play. An example is if the player selects Kirby Super Star Ultra from the list, Masked Dedede's theme, "The Masked King", will play. If the game is included in the collection (such as Kirby's Dream Land or Kirby Super Star), then there is an option on its menu to play it. Kirby selects a game to view by inhaling its box and swallowing it.

Three episodes of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! can be watched by viewing them on the Kirby history. These episodes are "Kirby Comes to Cappy Town", "Crusade for the Blade", and "Waddle While You Work".

If Kirby attempts to inhale any of the golden statues, he will get tired, similarly to his super inhale from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and Kirby: Squeak Squad. The golden statues represent years where little or nothing happened related to the Kirby franchise, instead providing just trivia about the real world (usually related to Nintendo or other technology). Kirby starts out the hall at Kirby's Dream Land, but there is a statue of Kirby himself if the player goes left.

The gold statues in order are: Kirby, Lololo & Lalala, King Dedede, Meta Knight and Magolor. All statues are represented in an 8-bit form (even though Magolor never previously appeared this way).

If the player waits long enough without observing any games, the music will shift from Castle Lololo's theme to Cloudy Park's theme from Kirby's Dream Land 2. Also, while waiting, Kirby will get tired and fall asleep in place, much like he does when remaining idle in other Kirby games.

Control Overview[]

Move Control
Select History Directional Pad
Show Front Image of a Game Package A
Rotate the game packages
Confirm 2
Zoom in/out
Close 1

Reception[]

Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition received positive reviews, holding a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic.[4]

Music[]

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition/Music

Unused Content[]

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition/Unused Content

Transcript[]

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition/Transcript

Trivia[]

  • Similarly to how the level names of Kirby's Return to Dream Land spell out "CROWNED," the first letters of the names of the levels in Challenge Mode form an acronym spelling out the abbreviation "HAL," which is a reference to HAL Laboratory, the developers of the Kirby series.
  • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition is one of the few Kirby games that launched in the United States with a price below the usual Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price; where most Wii games sold for $49.99, this game sold for $39.99.
    • The Wii Shop Channel/Nintendo eShop re-releases of the six classic games total $38.94 in price (excluding tax), roughly the same price as Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition.
  • The Paulowina wood-based design of the keep case's cover art is a homage to the Japanese box art of Kirby Super Star. In Japan, this wood is culturally significant, being used to store valuable objects. As such, Nintendo used this packaging to comment on the value of the game.
  • This is the first Kirby game since 2004's Kirby & The Amazing Mirror to be packaged in a cardboard box, primarily because of the keep case's inability to contain both the instruction manual and the commemorative booklet.
  • Much of the classic titles' original artwork was digitally remastered for Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition.
Fire Challenge

Fire's icon in Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition.

  • The game's files mention the Fire ability in the New Challenge Stages section. This suggests that a Fire Challenge was conceived but scrapped.
  • The answer concerning Cupid Kirby on page 28 for the Cavalcade of Kirby's Quiz (located on the back of the celebration book) is incorrect; Cupid is from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, not Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
  • Each level of the New Challenge Stages uses a tune from a previous Kirby game: Happiness Hall uses Butter Building's theme from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land; Apricot Atrium has one of the Ripple Field themes from Kirby's Dream Land 3; Last Land has Shiver Star's level select theme from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards; all training rooms play the theme from the Beginner's Show in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra; the pre-Magolor Race screens in Happiness Hall and Apricot Atrium feature the theme from the Kirby GCN trailer, which was used as the boss theme in The Arena and The True Arena in Kirby's Return to Dream Land; the music for the Fighter Combat Chamber is the music that plays during the battle with Waddle Tank in the Scope Shot subgame from Kirby's Return to Dream Land; the music for the Smash Combat Chamber is Rainbow Run's music from Kirby: Canvas Curse; the music in the Normal Challenge is Paint Panic's music from Kirby: Canvas Curse; and the music in the Smash Combat Chamber EX varies between the music that plays in The True Arena from Kirby Super Star Ultra and Miracle Matter's theme from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Also, the music that plays when selecting a file is reused from Kirby Super Star Ultra where it plays in the rest area of Helper to Hero.
  • When observed closely, the letters of the names Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede and even Waddle Dee can be found on the "Credits" page, which is located in the back of the activity book. "Kirby" is highlighted in pink, "Meta Knight" is in blue, "King Dedede" is in green, and "Waddle Dee" is in orange.
  • Every classic title is modified to significantly reduce the slowdown that results from having an overabundance of sprites/models on-screen at once.
  • This is the only Kirby Wii title to feature the exact logo on the game box's spine.
  • The game's disc features artwork of many characters from the Kirby series. A number of these artworks -- most of them from Kirby Super Star Ultra -- were never officially distributed in North America until the release of Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition.
  • Release dates between the Japanese and international versions of all the games were different throughout the series, due to the gaps caused by their international localizations. Additionally, one title in the series was never released in Japan at all, but rather in NTSC & PAL regions alone. In the Japanese version of Kirby's History, every year is filled with something except 1991, which is filled with an 8-bit Kirby statue. In the international version, the years 1991, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2007, and 2009 are empty; they were filled with 8-bit statues of Kirby, Lololo & Lalala, Waddle Dee, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Magolor, respectively.
  • Being the final Kirby title released for the Wii, Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition is the last game in the series to come with a physical instruction manual; all later entries come with a digital manual only.
  • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition was the final first-party game Nintendo published for the Wii during its lifetime, though this distinction is complicated. Two other games compete for the title but arguably fail to qualify for it:
    • Pandora's Tower was developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo in its Japanese and PAL releases, which were in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The game released in North America in April 2013, making its final release more recent than Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition’s, but was published by Xseed Games in this region. In August 2015, Pandora's Tower was rereleased on the North American Wii U eShop, this time being published by Nintendo.[5]
    • Sin & Punishment: Star Successor was developed by Treasure and published by Nintendo in most regions in 2009 and 2010. The game released in the Australasian market in April 2015, so this single release was Nintendo's final time publishing a Wii game. Its final release is more recent than Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition's, but it was completed and distributed in most regions long before the Kirby game.[6]
  • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition takes up 31 blocks of Wii memory.
  • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse are currently the only games in the series that contain footage and/or photography from the real world.
KirbyCollectionPuzzleSwap

The Kirby's 20th Anniversary puzzle panel.

  • The StreetPass Mii Plaza game Puzzle Swap contains a puzzle panel based on Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition, called "Kirby's 20th Anniversary." When completed, it plays an animation in which Kirby flies on his Warp Star as sprites of various characters from various games float past. There are several special character sprites that can only be seen by moving the camera with the Circle Pad. At the end, Kirby inhales a Warp Star sprite, transforming him into his appearance from Kirby's Adventure. The animation then loops.
  • In the Kirby's 20th Anniversary Celebration Book, one page says that Gooey only appeared in Kirby's Dream Land 3. This is false; his first appearance was in Kirby's Dream Land 2.
  • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition is one of the five Kirby games that has never been released as a permanent digital download, the others are Kirby Air Ride, Kirby Slide, and Kirby Super Star Ultra.
  • The music that plays on the main menu is a rearrangement of Bubbly Clouds's music from Kirby's Dream Land.
  • Along with Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, this is one of the only Kirby series games to be released in North America but not Europe.
  • Notes from the ESRB suggest that the Zero and are partially responsible for Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition's E10+ rating, noting the game's use of animated blood and cartoon violence. An excerpt reads: "One boss character (a giant eyeball) fires red droplets at Kirby; additional red-damage effects appear as its health decreases."[7]
  • This was the second time that a Kirby game was released as the last first-party title for a Nintendo console in North America, the first being Kirby's Dream Land 3 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Artwork[]

Box art[]

Media[]

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Gallery[]

External links[]

References[]

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