‘Kirby and the Forgotten Land’ Review: The ‘Kirby’ Series Discovers A New World

For the 30th anniversary of the “Kirby” franchise’s debut in 1992, series developer HAL Laboratory released “Kirby and the Forgotten Land”: the first fully 3D mainline entry in the series. Kirby could hardly ask for a better birthday present. “Forgotten Land” effortlessly transitions Kirby into the third dimension and pushes the scope of the series’ traditional ideas, all while maintaining its core identity of accessibility and variety.

The game opens with Kirby taking a relaxing flight over his home planet, Planet Popstar, when a vortex suddenly appears in the sky, sucking in Kirby and inhabitants of Popstar known as the Waddle Dees. When Kirby wakes up, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world, lying on an unfamiliar beach surrounded only by birdsong, and here “Forgotten Land” differentiates itself from the games before it; the player gains control, and without ceremony or any attention drawn to it, Kirby is running around a 3D space.

Like previous mainline entries in the “Kirby” series, “Forgotten Land” is a platformer, where Kirby must run, jump, and fly through linear stages while inhaling enemies to copy their abilities for use in combat and puzzle solving. HAL Laboratory translates these core mechanics so expertly and naturally into a 3D space that players may forget that they’re moving along the z-axis at all. Kirby controls fluidly, and the simple act of running and jumping is satisfying.

While 2D franchises undergoing their first jump into 3D are prone to buggy, generic, and generally subpar results, “Forgotten Land” avoids these pitfalls. In fact, the only indication that HAL Laboratory hasn’t already been producing 3D “Kirby” platformers for years is that the game features a below-average number of Copy Abilities for Kirby to acquire, and those which are available tend to have limited movesets.

This lacking selection of Copy Abilities, however, is made up for by the inclusion of Evolution Abilities, a new mechanic in which Kirby can use blueprints he finds in stages to upgrade his Copy Abilities into stronger versions with special properties. For example, he can evolve his Fire ability into Dragon Fire, increasing the range of his fire breath and allowing him to glide through midair like a dragon.

Evolution Abilities introduce variety into the Copy Ability gameplay, allowing players to choose not only which Copy Ability they want to use but also which evolution of that ability would be best suited for the task. “Forgotten Land” also debuts two entirely new Copy Abilities: Ranger, which lets Kirby wield a blaster gun, and Drill, which takes full advantage of 3D space by allowing Kirby to burrow underground.

The other main mechanic introduced in “Forgotten Land,” and the signature innovation of the game, is Mouthful Mode. When an object is too large to fully inhale, Kirby can instead wrap his elastic body around it, granting him new capabilities. For instance, Car Mouth mode allows Kirby to zoom around as a very pink car, and Vending Mouth mode sees Kirby use the form of a vending machine to assault enemies with a projectile barrage of canned drinks. Mouthful Mode brings Kirby’s trademark inhale and copying abilities into a hilarious direction, and because Kirby can switch into and out of Mouthful Mode quickly, it synergizes and flows perfectly with the traditional “Kirby” gameplay, adding another layer of variety to combat and puzzle solving.

These new mechanics aid Kirby as he battles the Beast Pack, an organization of wild animals which he encounters in the new world. The Beast Pack is kidnapping the Waddle Dees who were sucked into the vortex, and along with his new friend, Elfilin, Kirby sets out on an adventure to rescue them and discover what the beasts are trying to accomplish. Meanwhile, the abandoned city streets, empty amusement parks, and overgrown malls that Kirby ventures through lead the player to wonder what happened to civilization in this world.

As usual for Kirby, the plot of “Forgotten Land” largely remains in the background so as to not overtake other elements of the game however, players will still find a mid-game tone shift characteristic of the series’ identity, along with a high-stakes, dramatic climax and some of the most fascinating “Kirby” lore to date.

On this adventure to save his friends, the stages Kirby explores are filled with a constant stream of new ideas that each receive proper fleshing-out, while mission objectives and collectibles — including captured Waddle Dees, figurines, and blueprints — provide opportunities for exploration and replayability. The player can also try the many Treasure Road short challenge stages that each push a specific Copy Ability or Mouthful Mode to its limit.

Further content gradually becomes available in the Waddle Dee Town hub as well as after beating the game. Throughout the entire playtime, difficulty select options and two-player co-op keep the game accessible for everyone and perfect for relaxing fun, while the late game and postgame will challenge even experienced players.

The stunning art and music direction only further enhance the gameplay. “Forgotten Land” runs at a stable 30 FPS, and although faraway models being rendered at a lower frame rate may occasionally be distracting, the stellar artstyle easily outweighs the slight technical limitations, creating expressive characters and cinematic, painterly vistas.

The catchy, diverse music also highlights the environments and complements the action on screen. Departing from tradition, the soundtrack features very few remixes from previous “Kirby” entries, emphasizing the alien setting while maintaining cohesion with 30 years of “Kirby” musical history through frequent use of iconic “Kirby” leitmotifs and quoted phrases. “Forgotten Land,” overall, is stuffed with a mouthful of charm, joy, and attention to detail; the love that HAL Laboratory put into the game speaks for itself.

Much as Kirby finds himself in a new world, the “Kirby” series finds itself in a realm of new possibilities with “Forgotten Land.” However, it would be a mistake to assume that the game is a vortex-jump apart from the series before it. “Forgotten Land” is a “Kirby” title through and through, with its level design, mechanics, and philosophy of accessibility and variety skillfully adapted and expanded from the 2D titles, such that people who enjoy 2D Kirby will enjoy 3D Kirby, and vice versa.

Undoubtedly, Kirby could hardly ask for a better birthday present. “Forgotten Land” delivers an unforgettable experience that will delight “Kirby” veterans with its innovations and cause a new generation of players to fall in love with the pink puffball and his franchise — and there’s no higher order for an entry in a long-running series to reach.