A SATISFYING MEAL FOR THOSE HUNGRY FOR KIRBY.

Hey, it’s Kirby and he’s back… BUT HE’S ESCAPED THE SECOND DIMENSION! Sort of…

I think the only place to start is that while it is a breath of fresh air to have Kirby do more than move left to right, ultimately this game is still a Kirby game and likely will do nothing to sway non-Kirby fans to jump aboard the series. Kirby still inhales enemies to take their powers and platforms through linear levels, but this time in 3D and ultimately this isn’t a bad thing for fans of the series. However, anyone expecting a sea change like Nintendo’s own Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey is going to be highly disappointed.

PLATFORMS: SWITCH
MSRP: $59.99
PRICE I’D PAY: $62.45 (THAT’S THE PRICE I PAID IN CANADA CONVERTED TO USD)

But what about Mouthful Mode the people ask? Well it’s funny and gives Kirby access to new powers, but once again it isn’t truly different enough to win anyone over in my opinion. It’s generally used in small bursts to add puzzle solving elements to stages, but it’s only a handful of different items and most of the time in Kirby and the Forgotten Land will be spent with the more traditional power ups. Do not get me wrong, I love Mouthful Mode and I genuinely laughed at some of the concepts the developers came up with, but I would love to see it expanded upon.

The best parts of Forgotten Land are small additions to the Kirby formula that has worked for the last 30 years. The first addition is missions. Each level has multiple missions that once completed free a Waddle Dee, meaning that levels have some replay value. Forgotten Land is by no means a long game, so getting a bit more out of the content that is already there is appreciated. There’s only one problem with this: getting all of the Waddle Dees can be difficult. I had little issue getting most Waddle Dees, however a few missions require fighting bosses without taking a damage and less skilled players (and people playing in multiplayer) are going to have a rough time with this and will likely see an incomplete count on their save file. There is also one mission on a level that takes place on a bridge that is absolutely infuriating as the level is a gauntlet of mini-boss fights and the mission requires no damage in the last battle and if one hit is taken, that’s the whole level over again. Absolutely the only time I found this game to be remotely bad and the fact that it is tied to the main objective of the game is a poor decision.

The second addition is smaller courses that put Kirby either in Mouthful Mode or a power up and have him do small timed challenges to earn Rare Stones. These levels offer some real challenge and beating the record time is palm sweat inducing, however beating the times offers coins as a reward and doesn’t count towards overall completion so that’s disappointing. Why couldn’t that be the case with the bridge level mission is beyond me.

The third big addition is leveling up Kirby’s powers. Finding blueprints in stages and bringing them back to the blacksmith in the main town will allow Kirby to trade coins and Rare Stones for upgraded versions of every power in the game. That means once upgraded, the Bomb power will always be the upgraded Bomb powerup regardless of how it is obtained unless manually switched back to the weaker version. I like this because some of the upgraded powers are insane in almost game breaking ways making those harder missions a breeze.

There’s some smaller changes like Kirby being able to automatically swallow enemies that grant powers that make the game feel better to play as well, but they feel like necessary upgrades and not additions that add more to the game. Also here are the mini games and arena modes from other Kirby titles, trophies akin to the old Smash Bros. trophies, and multiplayer where the second player takes control of Bandana Waddle Dee. I was also impressed with the post story content. There’s also the weird stuff… Kirby fans will know the level of weird I am referring to and those who don’t know: enjoy.

Overall, Forgotten Land is just a great time with a mix of genuine challenge and simple fun. Like most Kirby games, I don’t think Forgotten Land is going to set the world on fire but it’s really good. Like a favorite blanket, Kirby is always a joy to come back to and I’m really glad I played Forgotten Land.