Kirby and the Forgotten Land was one of the most exciting reveals from the September 2021 Nintendo Direct. It marks the first true 3D platforming experience in main series Kirby games. For a series that was beginning to feel formulaic, I sensed that Forgotten Land would be what Kirby needed to regain some momentum.
The game feels quite reminiscent of Super Mario 3D World, as if they have lifted the 2D Kirby formula and applied it to the 3D platformer format. Periodic mini-bosses and challenge rooms are maintained and these are a great way to vary the pacing of each level. The mini-bosses also demonstrate the 3D combat well as the extra dimension creates opportunities for more creative attack patterns. Several bosses have spin attacks that send them around the entire arena, or attacks where they swing at you from afar. As a result I really enjoyed the boss fight portions of the game. However, Kirby's side of the combat feels emptier than previous 2D entries. The expansive set of attacks for several copy abilities have been removed, so I felt quite limited. In previous entries I enjoyed the array of attacks each ability had so I think it is a shame that they are not in Forgotten Land. Hopefully if another 3D entry is released, this is a new route they could take. On top of this, there are not many copy abilities in general. There are only 12 copy abilities, excluding the upgraded versions. The upgrades are a great addition though. I just found it somewhat boring to run into the same copy abilities over and over again. Although, I can appreciate that this might be because it is the first 3D game in the main series. Overall, I think it lays a great foundation for them to expand in the future.
The way the levels a structured feels like a natural progression between 2D and 3D and as such, Forgotten Land feels at home in the series. As is tradition, Forgotten Land introduces a new mechanic into Kirby's arsenal; Mouthful Mode. This allows Kirby to take a mouthful of specific objects and take control of them. I think this is a clever mechanic that creates platforming and level design implications that the series has never seen before. It feels like it got the right amount of screen time and adds a little more variety to the platforming and challenges. There is even a full level dedicated to the Car Mouth, as well as Treasure Road challenges for the rest. Achieving target times on Treasure Road stages was another good element of variety and specific Treasure Roads had a good level of difficulty to them. Furthermore there are plenty of minigames in the Hub World, Waddle Dee Town with plenty of rewards varying in significance. Last but not least, this game features a post-game that continues the main narrative and I think that's quite neat. I am excited for the future of the Kirby series and hope they continue experimenting. I think it mostly paid off this time.
The game feels quite reminiscent of Super Mario 3D World, as if they have lifted the 2D Kirby formula and applied it to the 3D platformer format. Periodic mini-bosses and challenge rooms are maintained and these are a great way to vary the pacing of each level. The mini-bosses also demonstrate the 3D combat well as the extra dimension creates opportunities for more creative attack patterns. Several bosses have spin attacks that send them around the entire arena, or attacks where they swing at you from afar. As a result I really enjoyed the boss fight portions of the game. However, Kirby's side of the combat feels emptier than previous 2D entries. The expansive set of attacks for several copy abilities have been removed, so I felt quite limited. In previous entries I enjoyed the array of attacks each ability had so I think it is a shame that they are not in Forgotten Land. Hopefully if another 3D entry is released, this is a new route they could take. On top of this, there are not many copy abilities in general. There are only 12 copy abilities, excluding the upgraded versions. The upgrades are a great addition though. I just found it somewhat boring to run into the same copy abilities over and over again. Although, I can appreciate that this might be because it is the first 3D game in the main series. Overall, I think it lays a great foundation for them to expand in the future.
The way the levels a structured feels like a natural progression between 2D and 3D and as such, Forgotten Land feels at home in the series. As is tradition, Forgotten Land introduces a new mechanic into Kirby's arsenal; Mouthful Mode. This allows Kirby to take a mouthful of specific objects and take control of them. I think this is a clever mechanic that creates platforming and level design implications that the series has never seen before. It feels like it got the right amount of screen time and adds a little more variety to the platforming and challenges. There is even a full level dedicated to the Car Mouth, as well as Treasure Road challenges for the rest. Achieving target times on Treasure Road stages was another good element of variety and specific Treasure Roads had a good level of difficulty to them. Furthermore there are plenty of minigames in the Hub World, Waddle Dee Town with plenty of rewards varying in significance. Last but not least, this game features a post-game that continues the main narrative and I think that's quite neat. I am excited for the future of the Kirby series and hope they continue experimenting. I think it mostly paid off this time.