Kirby and the Forgotten Land Review: ‘Neither Sucks nor Blows’

The horror of watching Kirby’s mouth contort over the chassis of a car cannot be overstated. We’ve watched the carnivorous pink puffball consume things many times his size before, but this is pushed to the extreme in Kirby and the Forgotten Land. The latest Nintendo Switch exclusive, Forgotten Land uses body horror as a mechanic; developer HAL Laboratory calls it ‘Mouthful Mode.’ And there are many mouthfuls to be had for Kirbz in his proper 3D platforming debut, from vending machines, to supply containers, to entire sets of stairs. Fortunately, while the mascot’s appetite may be insatiable, this new adventure is more than satisfying, and it neither sucks nor blows. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Kirby wasn’t someone we expected to see traversing through a desolate, post-apocalyptic wasteland, but that’s exactly where he finds himself in Forgotten Land. After being transported from his homeworld of Planet Popstar to the ‘New World’ through a vortex, Kirby’s tasked with saving the hapless Waddle Dees from the villainous Beast Pack. Some of the levels contained within are a far cry from the aggressive vibrance of Planet Popstar, but this opens the door for Kirby to take control of a variety of inanimate objects with his newfound Mouthful power. We doubt many Waddle Dees are making use of coupe cars or vending machines in Popstar; placing Forgotten Land in a location not too dissimilar from our own world lets Kirby wrap his mouth around things he’s never experienced before. Ahem.

This apocalypse doesn’t suck

At their best, Forgotten Land’s seven worlds make excellent use of its apocalyptic aesthetic with admirable attention to detail. In the theme park of Wondaria Remains, Kirby navigates its crumbling attractions and activates the lights to power up its long-abandoned parade, while Natural Plains turns moss-covered skyscrapers and a disused shopping mall into platforming levels. Seeing Kirby joyfully inhale an enemy in front of a furniture store provides a wonderfully strange juxtaposition we wouldn’t have got with another Planet Popstar outing.

Unfortunately, the more realistic environments don’t play to the Switch’s strengths. Its arbitrary ice and fire worlds, which take out much of the color the series is known for, appear grim and drab by comparison. The Switch looks its best when its graphical shortcomings are glossed over with a vibrant art direction, not when it’s handling a limited color palette. Still, there’s definitely an appeal in watching Kirby fight baddies in what looks like a scene from Day Out of Tomorrow.

Mouthful Mode might have been pushed by HAL as Forgotten Land’s most prominent feature, but it’s typically used as a means of puzzle solving. Kirby will suck in a traffic cone to break through the cracked ground beneath him, or fill up like a water balloon in order to put out a fire leading to the next area. Kirby’s iconic copy abilities continue to make up the vast majority of your attacks, with these abilities now completely upgradeable and more varied than ever.

Enter the Dragon (Fire)

As usual, Kirby can suck in an enemy and then copy their unique abilities. However, now he can also obtain Blueprints that allow him to upgrade these abilities in Waddle Dee Town, the game’s hub world. For instance, his ability to throw out fireballs can eventually be upgraded all the way to Dragon Fire, in which he not only deals tons of damage with flame breath, but he can also swoop along each stage with his dragon wings.

The upgrades for each of these abilities increase Kirby’s power dramatically, which is particularly noticeable during boss fights. Each world concludes with a boss stage against a variety of suitably wacky anthropomorphic animals — a personal favorite is Sillydillo, an overgrown armadillo with a lot going on mentally. Depending on the upgrades you’ve chosen, you can outright melt these opponents without a single bead of sweat rolling down the puffball.

Aside from reaching the end of each level to get to the end-of-world boss fight, every stage has a selection of unique alternate goals aside from rescuing the kidnapped Waddle Dees. You might be asked to return ducks to their mother, or to beat a boss with a particular weapon or in a time limit — you won’t know of these secrets until you’ve unlocked them or at the end of each stage, meaning that there’s a good incentive to return to each location for completionists.

However, you shouldn’t expect to spend an ungodly amount of time unearthing every nook and cranny Forgotten Land has to offer even if you’re going on a completionist run. Unlike, say, Super Mario Odyssey, with its sprawling open worlds to explore containing a huge selection of secret Power Moons, the majority of “hidden” secrets in Kirby’s latest outing are within arm’s reach. Puzzles don’t take too much brainpower, and all hidden paths are simple to unearth if you spend even a short amount of time exploring. This is ideal for younger players, with it made even more accessible by its co-op mode, as the camera focus remains on Kirby while an inexperienced place can control a spear-wielding Waddle Dee who helps out with proceedings.

Waddle Dee, Waddle you, there’s nothing we can’t do

It also helps that, even though this is a 3D platforming game, it’s still a simple linear sprint from the beginning to the end of each level. Despite the post-apocalyptic setting usually being fertile ground for an open-world, Kirby’s still a series of levels linked together by an overworld, where you travel between stages and also special Treasure Road levels, brief ability-based courses where you race against the clock to unlock Rare Stones that are used in tandem with Blueprints to upgrade your skills.

While Kirby and the Forgotten Land rarely presents enough of a challenge to warrant players needing a moment of respite from the main adventure, the option is there in the excellent and active Waddle Dee Town hub world. The more Waddle Dees you rescue, the livelier the hub becomes, with the townsfolk erecting new buildings that each present new activities. These range from a reaction-based restauranteur mini-game where you’ll swiftly select the right food for the correct customer, to a Colloseum boss rush mode with some special guests, and even a spot of fishing. A good hub world in a 3D platformer is essential, and in terms of sheer things to do, the Forgotten Lands’ is up there with the best of them.

Kirby and the Forgotten Lands Review: The final verdict

Truth be told, Kirby has lacked an essential game throughout his entire history, despite being one of the most recognizable video game mascots around. While Kirby and the Forgotten Lands may not quite be up there with the greats of the genre, it’s an incredibly pleasant experience with a great degree of thoughtfulness put into it, from the charming touches littered throughout its overgrown and unkempt world, through to its unabashed emphasis on fun as best evidenced in its hub world. This is a great Switch exclusive for players of all skill levels.