Kirby and the Forgotten Land Review: Eating Vending Machines and Cars

The newest adventure for Kirby brings a classic character into a modern feeling game, while maintaining all of the greatest elements that made the franchise what it is today.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is unique and worth getting for mouthful mode alone. A brand new world, complete with one of the longest Kirby campaigns I have played made for a ton of fun. With a pile of replay value, and a good co-op mode, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a game I would recommend.

Let’s jump into gameplay and what really makes Kirby and the Forgotten Land worth the cash.

What is Kirby and the Forgotten Land about?

Kirby and the Forgotten Land follows the usual journey of trying to track down all of the missing Waddle Dees from King Dedede. You are joined by a mystery being named Elfilin, who kind of looks like a blue mouse with quite large ears. You travel from level to level defeating the different animals that have captured the Waddle Dees.

Aside from the actual levels and boss fights, there are side missions that can be completed. These are timed events that focus on one specific copy ability. They start out pretty easy, but by the end of the campaign they are beyond hard.

There is also a roman gladiators type battle arena that gets unlocked in Waddle Dee Town. There you can battle previous foes for a chance at a variety of rewards. This is a mode I could see change and hold limited time events in future updates.

Does Kirby and the Forgotten Land have a Co-op Mode?

Kirby and the Forgotten Land has a co-op mode, but it is a little bit different than games I have played in the past. Your second player is a Spear Waddle Dee instead of a different coloured Kirby. Unlike a game like Kirby: Star Allies, the second player doesn’t get to experience that Kirby magic. It steals from all of the cool copy abilities, and it is super frustrating to play a back seat role.

I love being able to play 2 players without a split screen, but playing as a Waddle Dee eliminates the main reason you are playing Kirby. I would have loved to see scaled up difficulty and the ability to play as a second Kirby instead of a true pure button mashing second player.

What is new to Kirby and the Forgotten Land?

There are 3 new things that I had never encountered in a Kirby game previously that I thought were really cool. The creation of Blueprints made copy abilities much more powerful and strategic. As your progress, you can find and unlock these blueprints that allow for current cop abilities to be upgraded. While they aren’t all great, they all hold their perks. The blueprints were a really smart way to force players to complete the side missions, as there is no way to upgrade copy abilities without the acquired stars.

Mouthful mode is also brand new, and it was one of Nintendo’s largest selling points for Kirby and the Forgotten Land. While the trailer shows a few of the items used, we counted at least 8 different mouthful modes. It was one of the funnier, yet difficult parts to the game. They are beyond entertaining, but goodness are they hard to control at times. Mouthful mode brought a bit of spice and uniqueness to the 17th rendition of Kirby, and I thought it was a hit.

Waddle Dee Village is a great Home Screen/ Area that allows for some special modes to exist. It is fundamentally a menu bar in game form, but it is really cool. The way it develops as you progress is a lot more motivating that just a menu that unlocks as you save Waddle Dees. The arena is a blast, and the black smith area is super cool. Being able to watch your gameplay in the theatre is a nice touch.

Is Kirby and the Forgotten Land worth buying?

The gameplay was a ton of fun, and adding the upgrades to the copy abilities prevented the game from feeling stale. It took me around 8 hours to complete the main gameplay, but that was with a lot of levels at less than 100% and certain side missions uncompleted. It was a pile of fun, and the different areas had their own challenges.

I really enjoyed how the different environments played a factor on Kirby’s journey. It creates different challenges, especially within the side quests. They played on each areas elements, and created different challenged based on the weather. I really enjoyed the side as they required quick thinking and felt more like puzzles than anything else. These puzzles are the exact opposite of my least favourite part of Kirby, which is the button mashing aspect.

Kirby’s downfall will be and always has been the button mashing chaos. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to beat most of this game, just the ability to press buttons fast enough. I didn’t love the lower health bars for a few of the bosses, and I should’t be winning a boss battle in less than 2 minutes.

It felt like the “Wild Mode” wasn’t all that wild at times and a harder mode was needed. At the same time, we had bosses that were incredibly difficult, with some really awesome abilities. We even had a few that required some finesse to defeat. The button mashing is pretty much impossible to get away from, but there are improvements that make that more bearable.

After completing the main game, I can safely say that Kirby and the Forgotten Land is worth the money. It’s a unique look on an endeared franchise, and it brings enough new content to stay engaging. From Mouthful mode, to the upgraded abilities, I really enjoyed playing Kirby and the Forgotten Land.