Kirby and the Forgotten Land

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There’s a lot of heroic video game characters with traits that we might want to emulate. Mario’s dedication to Princess Peach, for instance, and his unflappable determination are both solid traits. Doomguy is passionate about ripping and tearing. We can certainly learn from Link’s ingenuity and motivation. However, perhaps the best video game role model is Kirby. The dude just likes eating. He eats all the time. He’s insatiable and totally fine with that.

Would that we could all be more like Kirby. Since we can’t, though, we’ll have to content ourselves with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the pink puffball’s latest Switch adventure that arrives just in time to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary.

via YouTube

Would you believe Kirby’s found himself in an unusual situation, with his friends in a bad spot, and it’s up to him to save everyone? Yeah, that’s pretty much how most of these games go, and Forgotten Land is no exception. This time, Kirby gets sucked through a mysterious vortex and finds himself in a strange, dilapidated world. He’ll have to team up with adorable new friend Elfilin and explore this abandoned land, all the while seeking his many Waddle Dee pals that were scattered all over the place by the vortex.

Kirby’s here in fine form, of course – he’s got his jumping, flying and sliding abilities so you can easily platform your way around whatever’s holding you back. Of course, that’s all secondary compared to the pink powerhouse’s gullet. Just hold a button to suck in nearby baddies, then tap it again to spit your hapless meals back out at their former pals. What’s more, if Kirby eats an enemy with a copyable power, he’ll claim that power for himself, allowing you to use it to your heart’s content.

The powers are, as always, the stars of the show here. There’s plenty of classics ready and waiting, including the Cutter boomerang blades and a mighty Sword, so you’re bound to find something that suits your needs. Forgotten Land allows you to take these powers to the next level with upgrades. By searching out blueprints, currency and materials, you can convert, say, the Cutter’s typical boomerangs into a much faster set of Xena-style chakram. While Forgotten Land doesn’t have as many powers as some of Kirby’s other adventures, these upgrades do a lot to make the more limited selection go further than you might expect.

Powers and projectiles aren’t all that Kirby’s amazing mouth can do, though. These days, he’s got one more special trick up his uvula – the Mouthful technique, allowing him to swallow giant objects and control them. See a car? You can (mostly) eat that car, giving you car abilities like driving quickly and, er, jumping. Try shooting cans with a vending machine or smashing baddies as some stairs. The world is your oyster, especially if you like eating oysters, because you’re going to be eating a lot of the world.

As for what you’ll do with this near-omnipotence? Well, you’ll run around and battle cute enemies while exploring expansive levels, searching for Kirby’s captured Waddle Dee friends. Clearing each level is pretty straightforward, but the real challenge lies in finding all the captured Dees. This can involve a variety of challenges from simply finding hidden Dees to beating bosses without taking damage to collecting items throughout a stage.

It’s got a lot in common with something like Kirby’s Dream Land 3, though the hidden objectives are a bit less obscure here, and there’s a lot of replay value based around fully clearing every stage. Oh, and if that’s not enough, there’s hidden Treasure Road stages that push your finesse with a given power or Mouthful ability to the test.

Another one of Forgotten Land’s selling points is its unusual setting, of course. Nobody really expected we’d see a post-apocalyptic Kirby game, but here we are in 2022 playing exactly that. It’s nice, mixing in just enough colorful Kirby charm to keep the setting from seeming especially bleak. Certainly everything looks great and the game runs well considering it’s on the Switch, so there’s little to complain about. Even the game’s soundtrack is suitably epic, with themes that wouldn’t sound out of place in a modern Mario game.

Another thing that’s hard to complain about: the presence of Kirby’s classic cooperative play, allowing you to grab a pal and take on the world together.

With plenty of content and a difficulty level perfect for both new players and experienced Kirbsters alike, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is an easy recommendation and a way way to celebrate three decades of HAL Laboratory’s iconic puffster. No doubt, Nintendo’s late Iwata-san would have been proud of this one. It’s the kind of 3D Kirby adventure we’ve always wanted and it doesn’t disappoint. With such a great showing, we can only hope that the next Kirby game is an open-world collectathon. I’m kidding. Mostly.

About the Author: Cory Galliher