Kirby and The Forgotten Land is one of the most innovative games in the franchise to date bringing the pink puffball to the third dimension. Developers at HAL Laboratory say, however, that 3D won't necessarily be the standard for Kirby games going forward.

The newest game in the franchise, Kirby and The Forgotten Land brings Kirby into a 3D world not seen in the series before. Kirby and the Waddle Dees have been sucked through a wormhole to an abandoned city. Kirby must save all the Waddle Dees so they can rebuild their new town that had been destroyed.

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HAL Laboratory's general director Shinya Kumazaki said in an interview with the Washington Post that 3D Kirby games won't necessarily be the standard in the future. He goes on to say that Nintendo is on the same page with HAL on this subject and "We hope to go beyond what is currently imaginable and challenge ourselves to create new and innovative Kirby games". He also considered the newest Kirby game one of those challenges that have come into fruition and that the developers will continue to explore the trials and errors of other ideas and not limit games to only 3D.

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Kirby and The Forgotten Land follows in the footsteps of Super Mario Odyssey with the experimentation of bringing the franchises to a 3D world outside the original worlds of the games, with Super Mario 64 being Mario's first real foray into the 3D gaming world. Kirby on the other hand has become slightly three-dimensional in most previous games but still kept to the traditional 2D platforming standard the games were known for, with a slight exception being Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards. Kirby and The Forgotten Land with its major potential is a step towards a whole new era of innovative games for the franchise going forward.

It's great to hear the optimism from HAL to keep wanting to try new things with Kirby games as it always has in the past. Kirby 64, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse are some of the most notable examples of HAL experimenting with different, innovative art styles in past games. Kirby and the Forgotten Land takes fans back to Kirby 64 with more freeform movement for Kirby that hasn't been seen in the series before.

HAL Laboratory has always been known for its trial and error in regard to any Kirby game it makes and Kirby and the Forgotten Land is just another trial of a new kind of game for the franchise. Who knows what HAL will come up next for the adorable pink puffball, especially with Kirby's 30th Anniversary on the horizon.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is out now on Nintendo Switch.

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Source: Washington Post