Nintendo has always been great at reinventing their most famous franchises, giving us new ways to experience classic series.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey and Pokémon Legends: Arceus are great examples of Nintendo challenging their tradition within those games, which lead to amazing results.
Kirby is the latest in the series to find itself in uncharted territory, with the pink hero's first fully 3D adventure soaring its way to the Nintendo Switch.
Now, this isn’t the first time Kirby has forged his 2D side-scrolling formula, with the likes of Kirby's Blowout Blast and Kirby 3D Rumble teasing the concept in short action games.
But Kirby and the Forgotten Land goes that extra mile giving fans the first fully 3D Kirby platformer, unlike anything the series has seen before.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land plot begins when Kirby gets whisked away from Dream Land through a mysterious vortex while taking a ride on his Warp Star.
At the same time, Bandana Waddle Dee and the Waddle Dees helplessly sucked in too. Kirby awakens in a mysterious world that's filled with remnants of what could be a lost civilisation.
Soon after he meets the mystical Elfilin who explains the current situation, revealing the exploits of the Beast Pack who have also captured the Waddle Dees.
This thrusts Kirby into an epic adventure to rescue the Waddle Dees and return home.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a comical adventure filled with plenty of epic moments that really take the series to new heights.
The fun storytelling is matched by Kirby's charming reactions to the pivotal moments in the story. Fans will be left astonished by the strong narrative and creative cutscenes.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the best looking game in the series with each area boasting a charismatic colour palette and character designs that keeps pushing the boundaries of imagination.
The developers have done a fantastic job at retaining what made the Kirby series so charming whilst throwing in new elements from the mysterious world.
From desolate cities filled with luscious greens to brazen circuses, illuminated with dazzling neon lights, this game never stopped surprising me with its beautiful world.
This level of creativity extends to the bosses, who feature wondrous designs that still feel right at home with the series.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land has a great soundtrack that's very reminiscent of the standard seen in the Super Mario games.
I just adore the big orchestra pieces that kept evolving to match each location. One of the best parts of the anime-inspired theme song which was a fantastic addition.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land will see players tackling a collection of levels situated in different worlds. He will need to complete a set of objectives in order to rescue the Waddle Dees hidden on each level.
Each level is broken up into different sections that normally have a puzzle to theme around its location.
The puzzles are clever and challenging but not too over complex to take the fun out of them.
The mission objective reminds me a lot of Super Mario Odyssey in the sense that players will have to explore the level to decipher what they are.
If you are familiar with Nintendo’s platformers then you will already have an advantage with what to look out for. But the game kept me guessing and exploring everywhere to find all the secrets.
Some levels will feature mid-boss battles allowing Kirby to gain a new power, but I have to say there was a huge difficulty disparity, with some presenting great attack patterns whilst others fell flat.
The Boss battles at the end of each world offer a great degree of competitive action whilst remaining fun.
They boast excellent attack patterns that will keep players on their toes throughout or wishing they had picked a different copy ability.
There are a ton of hidden secrets on the world map, but the most exciting is the Treasure Road stages. These are time-based platforming challenges that focus on a specific copy ability.
They are one of the highlights of the game that are a good change of pace for players wanting that little bit of extra platforming challenge.
All the Waddle Dees that Kirby rescues will head back to Waddle Dee Town town which functions as a hub world. Kirby can take part in numerous activities with more becoming available as the population increases.
Kirby comes fully equipped with his signature copy ability and loads of past foes return granting Kirby to use his famed sword, cutter and even fire ability from the start.
There are famous enemies who have also been dragged into this new world like Bronto Burt and Bouncy. A great new addition is that Kirby can upgrade his abilities by collecting blueprints and returning them to Waddle Dee Town.
These abilities drastically elevate the game's already great gameplay adding an extra dimension.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land introduces a new ability called Mouthful Mode. This grants Kirby the power to swallow objects scattered throughout each level.
He can eat cars, vending machines and even stairs. This new hilarious power comes with a diverse range of skills to defeat enemies and access new areas.
My favourite at the moment is the Stair Mouth ability because Kirby simply flattens everything in sight.
The game will allow players to choose the difficulty of the game at any time but platforming veterans will only notice a slight difference.
Unusually Kirby and the Forgotten Land does not use a life system like other Nintendo platformers, instead, he loses coins.
But I will say the game is a bit too generous with the number of items to refill health. I always seemed to be able to refill my health at the right time, so I rarely had to use up any coins.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land also features a local co-op mode where the second player will control Kirby’s frenemy Bandana Waddle Dee.
He comes complete with fierce combat skills and great traversing abilities. It’s really fun to see how he and Kirby work together, especially during the mouth mode moments.
Verdict
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is another great platforming epic from Nintendo that will constantly challenge the player.
There’s a good balance between combat and platforming that keeps the game fresh and compelling throughout.
There are tons of secrets and replay value that will keep players coming back for a long time.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is out for the Nintendo Switch on 25 March
