The Kirby franchies has been around for 30 years.
(Picture: HAL Laboratory, Inc)Nintendo’s fluffy pink cloud who hoovers up anything in sight is on a roll. The latest game in the mainline Kirby series, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, is now officially the best-selling in a franchise that has been around for 30 years. By selling more than 5.27 million copies worldwide since March 25, the Nintendo Switch title has officially toppled the previous bestseller Kirby’s Dream Land, which sold 5.13 million copies.
For the uninitiated, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a 3D open-world platformer that sees the doe-eyed fluffball racing through levels to rescue the Waddle-dees; monkey-like creatures that are scattered throughout the Kirby series. Along the way, players can inhale and spit out enemies and copy their characteristics and powers as part of the pink blob’s special abilities. While it lacks online multiplayer, you can grab a friend and play local co-op with the second player controlling Bandana Waddle-Dee.
It’s no surprise that Kirby and the Forgotten Land has become the top-selling Kirby game. It debuted to critical acclaim back in March, with a total score of 85 on video game review aggregator OpenCritic. That puts it at number 20 on the site’s most-praised Switch titles of 2022, behind the likes of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (number 17), Bayonetta 3 (number 8) and Portal: Companion Collection at the helm.
The achievement is music to the ears of Kirby fans who will expect more colourful adventures after the success of the latest game – with Christmas sure to provide a further sales boost for the bestseller. Nintendo would be mad not to release more Kirby titles after the rapturous reception The Forgotten Land has received. Indeed, in a sign of things to come, this year has already seen the release of the online-only title Kirby’s Dream Buffet, with Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe set for February 2023.
