Perhaps the strongest compliment one can give Kirby and the Forgotten Land is that it fits seamlessly with the rest of the franchise despite being Kirby's first 3D platformer. Other icons of the 2D platformer era like Sonic the Hedgehog are infamous for their rough transitions into 3D, but HAL Laboratory's late entry means it was able to build established practices into Kirby's tried-and-true formula. Luckily, HAL has suggested Kirby and the Forgotten Land is just the beginning of a more innovative phase.
As much as Kirby and the Forgotten Land has stuck a chord with fans and critics, it does have issues that future titles can address. One major change worth considering relates to the game's Missions; tasks or challenges the player can complete in every level to free more Waddle Dees from the Beast Pack. Though Forgotten Land isn't a difficult game to finish without tackling every Mission, completionists could benefit from better systems to retry levels so that repetitive tasks are less an ordeal.
Missions and Stage Selection in Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Rescuing Waddle Dees will lead to Waddle Dee Town expanding, offering Kirby access to various shops and activities. He also needs to rescue a certain amount before the end of a World to unlock its boss. Every platforming stage offers three Waddle Dee for getting to the end, but there are also optional Missions. The most recurring example is finding hidden Waddle Dee cages (usually gated behind puzzles), but the rest are a grab-bag meant to encourage exploration. The idea is smart, as Forgotten Land's harder difficulty setting mostly affects Kirby's health, making it easy enough for players to dash through a level if they want.
However, some Missions are harder to discern on their own. Easier Missions range from eating specific kinds of food in a stage to discovering a secret room, yet there are others that are obscure to figure out until the player receives a hint if they don't complete it before the end of a stage. For example, World 2's "Scale the Cement Summit" asks Kirby to freeze mid-boss Fleurina with an Ice ability, which could be deduced given enemies appearing earlier but is hard enough to execute that one might overlook the idea.
The issue with specific tasks reliant on reaching a certain area far into the stage is there's no easy way to restart the level. In the case of a stage like World 2's "Fast-Flowing Waterworks," players could accidentally fall during its arena challenge, which includes a Mission to not land in the water. Failing this and wanting to retry requires players to either finish the level or exit the stage, which doesn't save completed progress. With bosses including challenge Missions like taking no damage, it can be even more tedious to manually exit every time.
Treasure Roads Provide a Clear Model
One strange thing about HAL not including a quick retry option in platforming and boss levels, even after players have beaten them once, is that this feature does exist in Treasure Roads. These side-objectives appear throughout the adventure, sometimes after Kirby beats a level, but other times manually uncovered in the world map. Each tests Kirby on a specific Copy Ability or Mouthful Mode in odd pocket dimensions, rewarding him with a Rare Stone needed to pay the Weapon Shop Waddle Dee for ability evolutions.
Kirby can complete Treasure Roads within certain time parameters to receive extra Star Coins (a general currency), and if players find their time slipping they can pause the stage midway through and restart it. This is an improvement over exit-based resets in main levels, but isn't perfect. If players reach the Rare Stone and then find their time to be milliseconds over the goal, they have to exit and restart rather than having a quick retry option carry onto the end-of-level screen.
With Kirby and the Forgotten Land being an easy adventure overall, it's not inherently difficult to reach areas a player wants to go; it is tedious to have to boot up stages repeatedly for the same later objective, though. If nothing else, HAL could patch in the option as part of Forgotten Land's easier "Spring-Breeze Mode," offering easier retries at the cost of extra Star Coins. However, the game's Mission-based structure would benefit from easier retrying on all fronts.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is available now on Nintendo Switch.