Another year, another Kirby game. There may be a lot of these games, but this one stands out from the pack as the first truly 3D Kirby game. It’s only about 20 years behind the competition, but better late than never I guess. For the longest time, I figured a truly great 3D Kirby game just wasn’t possible and that’s why they never bothered to make one beyond that one minigame in Robobot. Obviously I was wrong!
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a great Kirby game with solid level design, fun powerups, and hype bosses. Despite being the first truly 3-Dimensional Kirby game, it feels like the formula was deciphered decades ago. As a single-player game, I can honestly say this is one of the best Kirby games ever made, however, having played through the entire game with my little sister as player 2, I can say that little thought was put into the 2-player experience which is a shame thinking about how great it could have been.
Remember, this review reflects my experience and therefore everyone else’s as well. If you disagree with any point I bring in this post, then you should reflect on your opinion until you agree with me as I am correct and you are wrong. Thank you for reading!
Copy Abilities
This game features very few abilities compared to other Kirby titles. Only 12 make it into the game. This is okay however, because all of the abilities are well polished, and each one has multiple upgrades which significantly change how they can be used. My personal favorite is probably Dragon Fire, an upgraded version of fire which gives you wings. It’s not the best for combat, but it gives you a whole new epic way of traveling. My least favorite is certainly Drill. To me, it felt clunky and none of the upgrades for this ability made it feel any better. But that was not a problem, the game almost always provides enemies with multiple abilities, so you are almost never forced to use an ability you dislike.
However, I do think some abilities get more love than others. It seemed like ranger appeared in every other level while I don’t remember a single area in the main game which required cutter.
I was pleased to see Tornado make a return. I still remember using tornado to beat Kracko in Kirby Squeak Squad 15 years ago (feel old yet?). While tornado has been in games since then, the designers seemed to realize how long its been. Tornado’s inclusion is kept as a surprise until pretty deep in the second world when you fight Fleurina for the first time, making you wonder what her ability is as you fight her. A very welcome surprise to be sure.
Player 2
The 2-player mode in this game is underwhelming. The second player plays as Bandana Dee who wields a spear. Waddle Dee cannot get copy abilities or do mouthful mode, which severely limits what all player 2 can do. During sections which require a certain copy abilities, player 2 basically has nothing to do. Bandana Dee can ride on Kirby during some of the Mouthful mode segments, but his actions are as simple as ‘press a button to throw a spear,’ which is pretty insignificant since all the mouthful modes can one-shot just about anything within a 5-mile radius.
The camera always follows Kirby with no thought of the second player at all, so they will end up off-screen and teleport back to Kirby constantly. I think the 2-player would have been better if it had splitscreen and player 2 played as another Kirby, or at least could use copy abilities and enter the mouthful modes. This could have been great as some rooms are pretty open with an emphasis on exploring every corner. These rooms would have encouraged the 2 players to split up to find everything.
Even though the 2-player is so tacked-on, it isn’t all bad. 2-player during the bosses and minibosses works well. One player can wail on the boss as it targets the other player, which makes for some fun cooperation. Still, the camera always follows Kirby, so whenever Kirby rolls (which is a lot on the Sillydillo boss), Bandana Dee gets teleported back.
Lab Discovera
(Spoilers Ahead)
The final area of the main game is my favorite part. When you first get to the lab and start walking forwards, a human voice over starts talking from the PA system which was utterly surreal. Then, Fecto Forgo, the boss in the long hallway, is very different from any other fight in the game. Constantly having to hold down to escape the boss was a cool concept. The boss with Fecto Elfilis is solid. I thought the boss spent a bit too much time high in the air, making us have to wait to get any hits in, which was frustrating. But, the very very final boss where Kirby swallows a Truck to chase down Fecto Elfilis was hype as hell.
Problems
- I wish you had more ways to use the figures you collect. Just the 3 tucked away on the fireplace in your room doesn’t feel like enough given how many you end up collecting.
- The minigames, while good, do not hold a lot of replay value.
- Kirby is not angry on the box art. As a North American, I would never buy this game.
Highlights
- The level in Wondaria Remains where you mouthful mode a roller coaster is really fun.
- I wasn’t expecting to spend much time on the Treasure Road missions, but I ended up playing all of them. They did a great job of showing off some of the copy abilities’ lesser know properties such as Time Crash getting more time after hitting an enemy or Buzz-Saw Cutter’s blades being able to bounce off walls. Some of them are very puzzly, which I like.
Score
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is one of the best transitions to 3D that a game series could ask for. This game utterly nails the Kirby formula. Outside of its lackluster 2-player implementation, I can’t find a single major flaw with the game. It looks great, we never encountered any glitches, the levels and bosses are well-designed (for one player), the abilities are fun. Heck, it’s a great game!