I’m an enormous Kirby enthusiast, mainly because it was one of the first IPs I played on my old NES, one of the first consoles I owned (next to my CDi). I played Kirby’s Dreamland for hours, next to the Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt games. So whenever a new Kirby game gets announced, I go into hyper-invincibility mode and rush towards the date I can get my hands on it. But, you’re not here to reminisce; you want to read about the new Kirby game. Well, hop on my warp star then and dive in!
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Most Kirby games have a pretty neat plot casually woven into the game’s fabric (like they did with Kirby’s Epic Yarn – ha, wooly pun). Kirby and the Forgotten Land is no exception to this formula and features a great backstory with many nudges to the older games. The game starts on an ordinarily peaceful day, when suddenly a dark vortex appears in Dream Land, sucking up everything in its path into a collapsed civilization called the Forgotten Land. Kirby wakes up and finds himself in the Forgotten Land; when he arrives at the destroyed Waddle Dee Town, he finds that the animal-like Beast Pack is kidnapping Waddle Dees. A chinchilla-like creature called Elfilin, who aided the Waddle Dees once they landed, attempts to find a place to hide but is cornered by the Beast Pack and trapped in a cage. Kirby defeats the Beast Pack and frees Elfilin. Elfilin explains to Kirby that he and the Waddle Dees attempted to fight back but were overwhelmed and that he must save them. Kirby offers to help Elfilin and sets off to rescue the Waddle Dees.
Gameplay
That’s it for the story – I won’t go further than this since I want you to enjoy the story of Kirby on your own (or with someone else). Kirby and the Forgotten Land is unique in terms of gameplay in that it’s the first platform game in the series with complete 3D gameplay. Think of it as a combination between Kirby’s Nightmare in Dreamland/Amazing Mirror meets Super Mario Odyssey (light). The main goal of every stage is that you guide Kirby through various stages to save the Waddle Dees at the end.
As in most Kirby games, Kirby can jump and slide and inhale enemies and objects, which he can either spit out like projectiles or swallow to gain a copy ability. Alongside the returning copy abilities, this game introduced two new copy abilities in the form of Drill and Ranger, which are both great additions to the range of copy-abilities our little pink friend controls. Another returning feature is the upgraded system for copy abilities, which makes standard abilities much more powerful—upgrading the normal fire ability into a volcano. Many of these upgraded powers are references to older Kirby games, including Kirby and the Crystal Shards, which is due to drop on Nintendo Switch Online anytime soon.
Mouthful!
Another addition and one of my favorite additions so far is the new “Mouthful Mode,” where Kirby can swallow and control larger objects, such as cars and vending machines. This is usually tied in with a particular aspect of the map, like a racetrack or opening a hole in the wall. It’s a great and creative addition to the standard Kirby gameplay and offers fascinating new ways of toying with the themed worlds the game offers. Like Kirby Battle Royale and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, a second player can join in and play as Bandana Waddle Dee, who uses a spear as his main form of attack. This co-op mode can be enabled and disabled and is very child-friendly since even my daughter of two-and-a-half could play a bit.
“Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the best Kirby I have played since Kirby’s Nightmare in Dreamland or Kirby and the Amazing Mirror”
Each world represents a theme, ranging from a lush meadow to an amusement park, wasteland, etc. In each world, you will find hubs to the levels inside said world, plus so-called treasure road levels, which offer additional challenges for skilled players. The goal of each regular stage is to rescue the Waddle Dees at the end of the level. Once saved, they are returned to Waddle Dee Town, the game’s main hub. As the player rescues more Waddle Dees, the town size increases and unlocks minigames that the player can compete with others online for the top score. In Waddle Dee Town, you will also find the Waddle Dee blacksmith that upgrades your abilities if you bring him the right blueprint and a rare stone, obtained by completing the Treasure Road stages. Next to these challenge levels, each normal level features a set of sidequests to gain extra Waddle Dees for your town. They can range from searching specific aspects of a level or beating a particular enemy with copy ability ‘x.’ These challenges, combined with the Treasure Road, keep the game fresh and challenge the player to the maximum.
Child’s Play
An often-heard criticism is that Kirby games are only meant for children, and I can see why. There’s a whole generation that can see this as one of their first big games; look at my daughter(s), and I’m excited that I’m able to show my girls this kind of game since there are a lot of opportunities here for parents to play alongside their kids, or for kids to mess around with Kirby’s abilities in practice areas until they’re good enough to take on levels alone. But really, there’s a surprising amount of fun to be had for adults here, too. They’ve nailed that balance and upped their game from Kirby Superstars, which was way too easy. Bosses feel like a challenge, and the learning curve went up with every world I completed. This game is bright, polished, and clean, and though it isn’t perfect, it’s an awe-inspiring feat.
Conclusion
So to conclude! It’s evident is how much love has been put into this game, with the team wanting to pack as much as possible in their first attempt to create Mario and the Forgotten Odyesses Light version, and they succeeded. I fell in love with Waddle Dee Town and its many areas you unlock. I spent a reasonable amount of time in the Cinemas, a Gotcha Machine (ugh), a Cafe where you can buy items to use in levels, Kirby’s house, a Colosseum that acts as a boss rush mode including the likes of Meta Knight and even minigames such as Waddle Dee Cafe: Help Wanted. While these often feel a little bit separated from the primary gameplay experience, they provide a pause in the level-to-level gameplay and are too cute not to look at. To summarize, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the best Kirby I have played since Kirby’s Nightmare in Dreamland or Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. A must-play for fans and newcomers to Kirby’s world. Oh, and there’s a demo you can try if you’re still on the fence.
