Kirby and the Forgotten Land review - almost a mouthful

i am not one Kirby fan.This isn’t a disparagement of the puff – I just haven’t played a Kirby game until star ally exist change, most of which I played with my son. To be honest, I never understood what an appeal was. A blob that can eat and fly around at incredible speeds. Of course, I haven’t experienced Kirby properly yet.I’m giving it my all right now and absolutely mouthful of Kirby’s kindness Kirby and the Forgotten Land switch. Kirby has finally launched a fully 3D platformer, and Nintendo has provided a pretty tasty treat.

Just like the way it was in Kirby games before you were born (if you were under 30), Kirby is a pink blob that eats to “copy” their abilities. Eat/suck an enemy with a sword and you’ll become a Sword Kirby; eat a Snowman and you’ll be an Ice Kirby; knock down a Fire Enemy and you’ll become… yes, Fire Kirby. It’s a simple mechanic, but it works, and gives you plenty of options to spin or light puzzles to solve where you need to use the right copy ability to reach hidden objects or areas.

Now, Kirby fans (Kirbians?), you can do all of this in full 3D – not 2.5D side scrolling with 3D backgrounds, or isometric grid areas to explore, but full 3D levels. As I first thought from the trailer, this isn’t a sprawling adventure involving a huge area like Mario Odyssey, but a massive 3D platformer more like a stage in the Super Mario 3D world. Everyone has plenty to find off the beaten track, multiple collectibles, and to-do lists to complete — some of which were initially kept secret.

Kirby can fly around (and, as mentioned, fly slowly), but the core gameplay here is combat and platforming. Spit fire at enemies, dodge some lava, freeze some burning blocks to destroy them, jump over some platforms. There’s nothing revolutionary about it, but it’s so connected to characters and worlds so captivating that you don’t mind it at all. There are lots of neat touches, stumbled upon areas, and a brand new game mechanic that always makes people smile: Mouth-full mode.

As we’ve seen over the past 30 years, Kirby has gained a big advantage, but in the Forgotten Lands he’s a step further than we’ve seen before. Here, he is able to wrap large objects and gain special abilities. Get those lips (does Kirby have lips?) around the car, and rumble – you’re driving the car, propelling through obstacles, and jumping over holes. Feast on traffic cones where you can slam the spikes, traverse fragile ground or take out enemies. Sip on some steps and become… a way to reach higher places.

There are many more, like rings that power the boat through air blasts (which I agree are fragile), arches that turn into gliders, and huge pipes that go through the water to take out everything that gets in its way. With the addition of a water hose, you can’t eat as much as you drink. Fill Kirby with water and he’ll transform into a wobbly water balloon capable of squirting water to clear his way and dispatch enemies immune to other attacks. These mouth-filling moments are signposted at first, but as you progress, there are a lot of things that could go by if you’re not paying attention.

Collecting Waddle Dees (where Kirby’s friends are imprisoned and randomly placed in unreachable locations) from each level increases the total number of Waddle Dees, which then unlocks new areas of Waddle Dee town. These areas are home to shops, fishing minigames, boss battle modes, movie viewers, and cloning power-up stations—and more later in the game. Upgrades such as turning your wooden hammer into larger and more powerful stone axe-like monsters cost coins (easy to get) and special stars through the treasure path.

These Treasure Paths are special stages scattered across the game world map, each testing your ability to use some copy power (or mouthful of items) to reach the end, preferably within a certain amount of time. These all share the same stripped-down demo, can usually be completed in under two minutes, and are essential if you want to play the game with anything other than swamp-standard copy abilities.

Forgotten Lands isn’t a particularly tricky game. It wasn’t until near the end that I actually failed a level and had to start over – if you get stuck at any point, the game suggests lowering the difficulty, but if you don’t want to, there are other options for that. Unlockable shops sell items that increase your speed, max health, or attack power. On one of the last bosses I struggled with, I bought a health multiplier, and finished the fight with a breeze with an upgraded hammer.

I want to be clear, I really like Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but some parts of it leave me a little stunned – going through the levels just to finish them, not the whole thing. The world is a real mix-off design, and I definitely prefer some of the early stage look and feel to the later world, and the tone shifts from pure joy to emo-grunge, not better. There’s a lot more to these stages, but I feel about them the way I feel about Mario Odyssey’s lunch kingdom – I’m sure some people will like them, but I don’t like them at all.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a bit safe in some ways to make it a proper all-rounder, but I’m not sure if that’s on purpose. It’s an easy game to love, everyone can play, and it pairs well with Nintendo’s other Switch exclusives. If Kirby being a car is everything you want in your life, good for you, welcome to your new favorite game. For me, Kirby is still below A, which is still a great place. It’s usually where some of the tastiest snacks are.