It was September 23, 2022, around 6:15 P.M. I was one of the many people in the world tuning in for the 9.23.21 Nintendo Direct presentation. Sitting there, in my chair, glued to the computer screen. Then comes a new spotlight trailer. Ooh, this must be good. First, we see a n abandoned mall. Then, a bridge into a deserted city covered in weeds and plant life. At first, I thought it was Splatoon 3. But then, the scene cuts to palm trees and a pink ball lying in the sand. But that wasn’t any pink ball – it was Kirby. For someone who just recently got into Kirby at that time, I was very excited. A brand-new Kirby game – but 3D!
So now after six months, the new 3D Kirby game called Kirby & the Forgotten Land has been released on Nintendo Switch. I pre-ordered it and started playing Friday morning. Over the weekend, I played a ton of Forgotten Land; in fact, I’ve probably been on my Nintendo Switch more at one time since when I first got Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. But I couldn’t stop playing Forgotten Land. It was so fun. Kirby’s Adventure on the NES is currently my favorite NES title, better than Mario Bros. 3 in my opinion, and Forgotten Land was like that but in 3D. Since I’ve only played a couple of the Kirby games, I haven’t had a big experience with Kirby throughout the entire series. Heck, I don’t even have 2018’s Kirby: Star Allies! But I was in love with Forgotten Land. It was Kirby like I’d never seen before. This is my complete review on the game. Just by the way, I haven’t played many Kirby games, and some things about Forgotten Land I mention might have been in other games prior. Also, this review is only about the first story mode, the first 50% of the game.
THE GOOD
I mostly enjoyed Kirby and the Forgotten Land. The game was great fun, and the level structure was superb. Each level is a different part of this “forgotten land” in which you walk through abandoned areas to reach the end. What I also love about the levels is the 100% challenge. Each stage has many secrets hidden, and a list of conditions to complete to get 100% of the level. It felt like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker completing the unique condition in each stage. One of these conditions is finding the hidden Waddle-Dees, which were taken and are what Kirby is on his adventure for. While you find Waddle-Dees at the end of a stage, there are also hidden ones around the level. While they aren’t too difficult to locate, it is a fun addition. Plus, finding more Waddle-Dees in levels grows the “hub”, Waddle-Dee Town. You first come by this town all demolished, but as you find more Waddle-Dees, they start rebuilding shops around the town.
Speaking of the hub, the layout of the game is a world map, in which you move around a 3D space via a Warp Star and go to the level you’d like to play, including bonus minigame levels. There are 7 worlds, all with very unique themes: an abandoned city, a beach, a theme park, a snowed-over town, an area in a sandstorm, a volcano, and that leads to the final level – technically its own world called Lab Discovera, but it’s one level connected directly to the lava world. Anyway, each world has about 5-6 levels. Speaking of the levels, they are long. While not the size of a Mario Odyssey kingdom, they are definitely a lot bigger than a 3D World level by a big margin. Also, by clicking Y on the world map, you can see the progress you’ve made with each world/level, seeing how many Waddle-Dees you’ve found. You can even click on a level and it will take you to that world immediately. Now that’s convenient. For me, my favorite levels were the mall and rollercoaster levels. For someone who loves visiting malls, this was a cool bunch of stages. And I also love rollercoasters a ton, so Wondaria Remains was a cool world to explore.
Another thing I liked was the logos for each world. Whenever you go from Waddle-Dee Town to a specific world, it will show a circle with the inside including what seems like a little logo of that world. The first world, Natural Plains for example features buildings and trees with the buildings covered in green as nature has taken the structures over. Speaking of Waddle-Dee Town, this was a neat place to be. As you find more Waddle-Dees around levels, they work together to build stores, including a weapons shop, a restaurant to buy items that bring up your health, a colosseum where you can fight past bosses such as Meta Knight, and even a house for Kirby to sleep in and regain all of his health. The Weapons Shop can be useful if you need a specific ability or you can even upgrade abilities to be stronger. The abilities I liked the most were sword and fire, but they all work fine. There’s also a new Mouthful Mode in which you suck up bigger objects like a car or cone. With the town, I was really interested in the theater, in which you can rewatch cutscenes you experienced. Reliving the moment. Speaking of reliving, you can even revisit the introductory level you play before even getting to Waddle-Dee Town. Then there’s the Waddle Dee Band outside the theater, which is how you listen to the game’s incredible music tracks throughout the adventure.
Another interesting aspect is the Gotcha Machines. Around the game you’ll find collectibles in which you can unlock little figurines of Kirby characters and items. And that’s not even all to Waddle-Dee Town, but probably my favorite parts. Now, the biggest new edition to Kirby in Forgotten Land is of course the 3D. The 3D gameplay works fine. It felt like a Kirby game just now with 3D levels. No difference in gameplay. It’s not like how Mario 64 changed the gameplay of Mario games with 3D coming in. Forgotten Land is basically the same gameplay as a 2D Kirby game. One aspect of Kirby & the Forgotten Land I liked was the difficulty. You can choose between a Wild Mode or a Spring-Breeze Mode, which is good for skilled and casual players. Next is the minigames. To evolve an ability, you need Red Stars obtainable by playing minigames called “treasure roads” around the world map that utilize a certain ability or Mouthful Mode in order to complete tasks. All of this makes for an interesting and fun experience on Switch.
THE BAD
Honestly, this game is pretty great, so there aren’t many downsides to the game. Saying that, there are a few small cons about Forgotten Land. My main gripe with the game was just the gameplay structure. I expected a huge, Mario-Odyssey-like adventure bringing Kirby into 3D with huge levels filled with hidden areas, secret collectibles, and memorable bosses. However, that’s not at all what the game was. It’s basically Super Mario 3D World with twice big levels and a bunch of challenges to complete. And the bosses? All a joke. While they were somewhat fun to take on, their lack of difficulty and unmemorable personalities make them seem to be just there waiting. However, I did really enjoy fighting Gorimondo. Fighting a giant gorilla outside a mall was pretty intriguing, despite his easy battle and predictable attacks. Then there’s the level-based challenges in order to save all the Waddle-Dees. Like I said in the “good” portion, they were fun to complete, but when you start a level, you only know two challenges: finishing the stage and finding the hidden Waddle-Dees. There’s still three unknown ones! And when you beat the level, the game only reveals one! Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t find them on your own. If the unknown challenge is to break open three nuts at the beach and you break one, the challenge will be revealed. I just wish we knew them all from the get-go or at least had them all revealed to you after finishing the stage.
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Overall, Kirby and the Forgotten Land was a fun 3D adventure. While I expected more, the game was still pretty great. I give it about an 85% on my rating board.
