Played trading off with my partner. I’ve often had my doubts about the Kirby formula - the way powers are structured kind of subverts any attempt at design, where powers blast through enemies and the difficulty ends up being around getting and retaining powers rather than making it through the level. As such, Kirby games tend to live or die on their secrets and extra challenges, and while this doesn’t reach the heights of Forgotten Land in that ground, collecting all the gears is a relatively fun and rather achievable enterprise. It’s also butter-smooth; not sure how much to attribute to the remake, but Kirby feels particularly great (and looks particularly adorable) here. I really like the backgrounds. The music is, unusually for this series, quite bad. The story is fun, underscoring Kirby’s gray morality and potential for evil. Vanpool’s last game (RIP).