Kirby And The Forgotten Land Switch Review
Honestly, Masahiro Sakurai's baby always deserved a game that steered full bore into what was always a healthy set of gameplay possibilities, and here they're bolstered by Mouth Mode, a range of actually-kinda-creepy animations that see Kirby stretch himself - complete with wincing eyes halfway through - over everything from staircases to water towers, pipework that makes him into a giant water balloon, a can-spitting vending machine, a curved gateway complete with sheet of flappy flesh to take flight, and more.
It's here where I think the game could've done more with this wider array of "set-piece" one-offs, but we'll get to that in a moment. Because thankfully, underneath the body horror and kitchen sink direction, is still very much a stellar platformer for the majority.
Choose the game's Wild mode difficulty (the one that doesn't give you more health and an easier time), and you'll enjoy delightfully addictive level design. Nothing too long, nothing too short - just that perfected sense of "okay, ONE more, then I'm done" drive, backed by challenging time trials awarding rare gems to upgrade your costumes, the next time you swallow one up.
It's worth saying that the "hardcore" wing of the Kirby fandom are more than catered for here, as time trial requirements for maximum payout are ludicrously tight.
Alongside base platforming, gorgeously smooth animation, charm in BUCKETLOADS and Kirby's moveset is a whole village of Waddle Dees to find and unlock. At various increments you'll unlock a combat arena complete with boss gauntlet, a fishing minigame, even a wooden maze carnival game where joy-con gyroscopes guide a tiny Kirby marble to the finish, and more.
As a set of gameplay loops I just didn't see coming, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is at any time a 3D action platformer, an addicting collect-a-thon of adorable gacha figures, a drop-in co-op experience, a set of tight time trials and a bevy of upgradeable abilities worth investing in to beat everything else.
Even in here is a gorgeous orchestral score, a full-on Dark Souls-inspired boss area and fight, and that final sequence which is hands down the craziest thing Nintendo have ever let one of their first-party characters do.
With so much gushing praise, it's worth highlighting that despite so much on offer, Kirby's latest doesn't knit everything together in a way that elevates the experience into five star territory.
It gets VERY close, and I had a stupid grin across my face for the 10 hours it took to see everything, but for the vast majority of levels - and there are a lot of them - you'll be using the same set of Mouth Mode powers, with zero incentive to upgrade your costumes, outside of sheer curiosity.
You can level these with rare gems acquired from time trial challenges, but very little per area requires you actually upgrade at all, and the wider Mouth Mode transformations just don't have enough variety.
When optional level paths are contingent on arbitrary Mouth Mode drops and not on any of the high level costume variants you could've spent hours completing challenges to unlock, it points to HAL playing things safe at the apex of the project's parameters - likely for the sake of how many youngsters will be coming in - when that could've elevated the whole thing.
Still, Kirby SHOULD be someone's first platformer, just as much as it can be a celebration of everything the character has achieved so far, whilst pushing the envelope.
When Forgotten Land is a blur of OTT full body transformations, enemy copy abilities and delightfully PLAYABLE level design, it's every bit the blast you expected going in. That extra layer can't fully enhance the core experience, but like 2021's Metroid Dread, this is another pristine release perfect for Nintendo Switch.
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Rating: ★★★★½ (Review copy provided by Nintendo)