Kirby and the Forgotten Land Gameplay

What you get with the Kirby games is pretty simple: fun, unadulterated platforming in a colorful, charming package. Kirby games are never overly difficult, but they are massively entertaining. They invite you into a cake-colored world of sheer joy and cool platforming. Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Nintendo Switch dares to take the series in a slightly different direction, but it does so without sacrificing all of those great elements that make the franchise shine.

Kirby titles have mostly been 2D platforming affairs since pretty much the series’ debut on the Game Boy with Kirby’s Dream Land. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards toyed with some 2.5D elements, and it altered how power-ups worked, but it functioned mostly the same way as the games that came before it.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land changes things up by giving you fully 3D environments to explore. The cool thing is that this still totally feels like Kirby. The platforming is simple but wholesome. The Copy Abilities are cool and give you a bunch of ways to defeat enemies and solve simple environmental puzzles. The boss battles are big brawls against huge foes. And the adventure overall is just really awesome.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land 3D Levels

The 3D world makes this Kirby game feel even more like a big playground compared to its predecessors. Those games have all been jolly, cheerful adventures. This one feels that way, too, but the 3D stage designs help create an even more immersive world. And to add to the fun, you can take a buddy along for the ride in local co-op!

Kirby has access to all sorts of Copy Abilities once again. By inhaling and gobbling up most enemies, he’ll be able to imitate their attacks. You can throw boomerangs to hit baddies from afar, cut enemies down to size with a sword, or whack those suckers with a big ol’ hammer.

New to this installment are Mouthful Mode abilities. These ridiculous power-ups turn Kirby into large staircases, vending machines, and even cars. They’re temporary abilities that allow you to perform some crazy actions and clear specific environments. They’re dumb fun, for sure, but the game just feels all the richer for it.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land Co-Op Gameplay

There was a lot of talk about whether or not Kirby and the Forgotten Land was this series’ Super Mario Odyssey. It’s definitely easy to draw those parallels considering Kirby entered a world that kinda/sorta resembles our own instead of once again exploring the infamous Dream Land. But truly, Forgotten Land feels more like the Kirby series is having its Super Mario 64 moment. It jumps into the third dimension and takes that great familiar feeling and then builds a 3D universe around it.

Admittedly, Kirby and the Forgotten Land doesn’t entirely reinvent the wheel for the series. What it does is create a revamped type of Kirby experience that’s as fun as these games have always been. Being able to run around, float across, and inhale enemies in 3D environments feels different enough to inject a shot of newness to how Kirby plays.

Nintendo properties are interesting in that they’re at their most fun when they experiment with wacky new ideas. But there’s also a deal of comfort in the familiarity that something like Donkey Kong or The Legend of Zelda can deliver, even if they’re doing new things. Kirby and the Forgotten Land walks that fine line, too — this is, for all intents and purposes, the Kirby that fans know and love. But that novelty of being able to take the pink hero through 3D stages is just super enticing and makes for some of the best platforming in all of 2022.

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