Review: A portal to a new dimension

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is an enjoyable adventure

Many old 2D games ranging from Mario to Contra have made their transition into 3D gameplay and Nintendo’s latest Kirby game finally sees him in his first fully 3D adventure.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a 3D platforming adventure title that sees the titular pink puffball exploring a brand-new dimension that he hasn’t ever been to. 

There are 44 levels (boss fights included) and 57 Treasure Road missions (special timed challenges in the overworld map) for the player to experience.

Going on this adventure will see Kirby (and Bandana Waddle Dee if you play with a friend) go through an abandoned civilization under the control of a group known as the Beast Pack. 

You will battle your way through dried up oceans, amusement parks, frozen cities and more in an attempt to rescue all the Waddle Dees you can. Once rescued, they will help build a town with mini games and extras that let the player take a break from the action.

The wormhole that pulled Kirby into this new world had granted him a new power referred to as mouthful mode. This lets Kirby inhale a wider variety of objects like cars, vending machines and light bulbs in order to tackle various challenges that get thrown at the player. 

Each level lets the player experiment with mouthful mode as well as any of Kirby’s 12 copy abilities.

Forgotten Land adds two new copy abilities, Ranger, and Drill, to Kirby’s toolkit. Ranger uses a ranged weapon to shoot targets and Drill lets the player dig circles underground to damage enemies. 

There is still a variety to the gameplay despite the copy ability count being shorter than Kirby’s prior adventures. 

The abilities can be upgraded two-to-four times with the gems you earn through the Treasure Road challenges. 

While the upgrades are straightforward in terms of strength, the player might prefer how a level two version of an ability feels compared to a level three since each level offers different moves.

You are completely free to select any ability and enter any level with the ones you have unlocked.

Within the first couple weeks of Forgotten Land coming out, I had collected and done everything the game had to offer. 

It is not a long and difficult adventure like most games that come out, but it is just as enjoyable if not more so. 

Kirby himself feels wonderful to control and the new mouthful mode never overstays its welcome. 

I wholeheartedly recommend this game since it is an excellent transition into a 3D space for the series on top of being a fun and cute adventure that you can experience with a friend thanks to the two player options.