Ever since buying a copy of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror in Spain on a whim, the pink puffball has always been one of my favourite Nintendo series. You can keep your Fire Emblems and Zeldas, I want to float around without a care after swallowing enemies and fight eldritch horrors in the final act.
As great as Kirby is, he’s gone stale over the last few entries. Whether you want to blame the endless spin-off games like Kirby Clash or the lack of innovation in games like Star Allies, the idea of another 2D Kirby just wasn’t exciting anymore - he needed to evolve.
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Thankfully, with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the poyo protagonist has jumped into 3D for the first time. I’ve played the first hour of the game and it’s shaping up to be the spark that Kirby fans have been seeking for a really long time.
My preview took me through the first world of the game, Natural Plains, which consisted of four main levels and a boss fight, as well as a handful of optional challenges called Treasure Roads. The structure is very similar to Super Mario 3D World, with an explorable world map split into sections and a bunch of challenges along the way.
In fact, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is essentially Super Kirby 3D World - praise of the highest order. Each level sees Kirby making his way through a new location in a fairly linear fashion, all the while finding hidden Waddles Dees and completing secret objectives to rescue even more. They’re essentially the Green Stars of the Kirby universe here.
What surprised me the most while playing The Forgotten Land is how well Kirby translates to 3D. As a fan of the series, I’ve wondered how the floating ability would be handled, but it’s done cleverly
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