Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Released for the Nintendo Switch on March 25, 2022 by Nintendo and developed by HAL Laboratory, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the first game in the series to unleash the world's most famous pink puff ball on a fully 3D world

My wife and kid gave me Kirby and the Forgotten Land for my birthday in 2022, the year it was released, but my Switch has unfortunately languished on the dock a bit the last couple of years, and also, there's was a Zelda game in that time period. However, at some point I remembered why I asked for the game in the first place. I've always wanted to love a Kirby game, but everything that's come out post-Super Nintendo featuring the starving, ability-stealing pink ball has disappointed me a bit. This game, though, looked right up my alley. A Kirby game I might love rather than just like? Time to dust off the Switch and give it a go.

Someone needs to dust this town off...

Kirby and the Forgotten Land has a great hook that may not be wholly original for video games in general, but feels so for the Kirby franchise, at least as far as setting goes. Kirby and his little buddies, the Waddle Dees, have gotten sucked into a post-apocalyptic realm, and now Kirby has to rescue his friends as they've become trapped and hidden across this strange...Forgotten Land. Never before has Kirby been given the freedom to roam in a fully 3D world like this, and especially one full of abandoned buildings, and cars, and shopping malls, and desert cities. It all feels very unique for this series. However, I did have one false expectation going into this game: I thought it featured huge 3D worlds to explore ala a Super Mario Odyssey, and it simply does not. This is a level-based game, ala a Super Mario 3D World, even down to the perspective generally being a bit isometric, and Kirby having to travel from point A to point B, as opposed to roaming an open world with the intent to complete a specific goal.

The camera is generally only directly behind Kirby at the start of a level...or at this case the start of the game

There are no enormous worlds like this to explore...

...but Kirby seems happy anyway.

Despite the change in setting and perspective, most of Forgotten Land still revolves around Kirby floating around, eating his foes, and copying their powers. However, it's clear HAL Laboratories wanted to create the most all-encompassing and action-packed Kirby game yet, as Forgotten Land is chock full of action, gameplay twists, and collectables. Kirby doesn't just eat his foes to steal their powers, either. He can also eat random objects, like a car, or a plane, or a...traffic cone, and move around parts of levels as those as well. The levels themselves are fun playgrounds for experimentation and exploration. Waddle Dees are hidden everywhere, as are coins, which are used to buy things from the game's central village, and also health pickups. Each level even features several secret goals--yes, I know I mentioned that the player doesn't have to complete goals to complete levels, but the player does receive secret Waddle Dees for completing these secret goals (often revealed after a level has been beaten).

Anybody seen the Triforce?

But what do you do with all these Waddle Dees? For one, the more Waddle Dees saved, the more that settle in the game's central hub, Waddle Dee Town. This area is what really sets Forgotten Land apart, and why I'm giving this game a higher score than any of its Kirby predecessors I've played and reviewed. As more rescued Waddle Dees settle in Waddle Dee Town, they begin to open up new shops and establishments. Most prominently, at least for this player, is the Weapon's Shop. Once this is unlocked, the player can begin to upgrade and evolve each of the abilities they've copied from foes, like the Cutter, the Drill, the Sword, or my personal favorite...FIRE!!! To do this, the player will need to spend some of the coins they've accumulated, as well as Rare Stones, which are earned when the player defeats the numerous short challenge stages strewn across the overworld. They'll also need the blueprints for the wanted upgrade, which are found in hidden treasure chests in levels, by beating bosses, or even just lying about. Evolving my plain old Fire ability into devastating magenta Dragon Fire and immolating my foes into ashes is my favorite Kirby and the Forgotten Land activity.

The intro screens for each level are imaginative and beautiful

Waddle Dee Town also expands to include an item store, a fishing pond, a movie theater, a home for Kirby, a battle colosseum, gotcha machines, and many other locations, just an absolute avalanche of fun content, including lots of mini-games. This diversifies the gameplay, and as if that wasn't enough, the game even includes an extra optional quest after the final credits roll. Player's definitely get their money's worth. But does all this content make for an overall good game?

You must be cut-in-half tall to ride this rollercoaster

Well, I had fun with it. As said, the levels are well designed and full of secrets, graphically attractive, and feature all your normal adventure game environments, from lush jungles, to fiery volcanos, to wind-swept deserts, to icy hills, along with the aforementioned apocalyptic cities and towns. They're also full of bosses, many of which aren't necessarily that difficult, but are fun to fight. I say "many" and not "all" because the bosses in the latter part of the game actually get a bit tricky, shocking me by actually causing me to die several times in a Kirby game. Forgotten Land's music is quite good, active and complex, and there's quite a bit of it. The overworld map connecting all of the levels together is large, but easily and quickly traversed, and the player can always retreat back to Waddle Dee Town with the push of a couple buttons. The game isn't perfect, though. 

Dragon Fire covers a multitude of sins

Kirby's floaty controls are less enjoyable in this 3D setting than they are in a 2D one. Being a poofy fluffball, Kirby doesn't run incredibly fast, either, so movement in the game isn't ideal. The movement issues don't kill the game, though--I just wish the controls could have been tightened a bit. The levels themselves can also feel a little repetitive at moments, though it doesn't happen often. Likewise, a few of the bosses are repeated just a few too many times. However, while these frustrations aren't quite negligible, they certainly aren't deal-breakers. I did indeed love playing Forgotten Land overall, to the point that completing the optional extra quest at the end was a no brainer, and something I had a blast doing. I haven't quite unlocked every single thing in Waddle Dee Town, and that's gnawing on me, as well.

Need something to gnaw on this fishing lure...

So, if you're a Kirby fan, Forgotten Land is a must play. If you're a fan of 3D platforming games, you should give Forgotten Land a hard look. It's a rewarding adventure, and like a rusty convertible through Kirby's miraculous digestive system, won't give you heartburn afterward.

Review ending tangent: what about a Kirby on Earth game where he eats various Earth animals and copies their abilities? Rhino Kirby with a big horn on his nose? Shark Kirby with giant teeth? I'm in!

SCORE: 8.2/10