Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World - Review

Kirby has had a long history in my household. The pink puff essentially taught my daughter how to play video games from an early age. Now as an adult, she has a sizeable Kirby collection in her household. The attraction was that Kirby games have always been easy to play, and offers plenty to explore. Kirby and the Forgotten Land was no different when it released on the Switch, and with the Switch 2 edition, expands upon an already brilliant game that moves into the 3D space, while retaining its accessible nature.

I never originally played Kirby and the Forgotten Land on the Nintendo Switch, but it’s clear from the outset that the Switch 2 edition is the definitive way to play the game. We reviewed it during it’s initial run and you can find that review here. Running at double the framerate of the original release and sitting at 4K docked and 1080p handheld, the game looks delightfully marvellous no matter how you choose to play.

The new content builds upon an already great game. Star-Crossed World runs parallel to the original game. A meteor crashes onto a nearby island near Everbay Coast, shattering a heart-shaped crystal and threatening to unleash all kinds of hell in the Forgotten Land. Kirby is tasked to locate Starries that have been shattered from the main crystal in order to seal away the evil.

The structure of Star-Crossed World is to take the currently existing levels from Forgotten Land, and remix them in a way where Kirby is able to explore levels in ways they weren’t presented originally. The functionality of each level works the same way as the original, where in place of the missing Waddle Dees, Kirby locates the Starries by completing missions and accessing secret areas.

Some levels are expanded versions of the original, and some contain new enemies and twists on the original level. For the most part, each level that makes up Star-Crossed World almost feels like a brand-new level, instead of revisiting and redoing an old level.

Enemies and remixed levels aren’t the only new content added for the Switch 2. Kirby also obtains three new Mouthful Modes to enjoy. Spring Kirby can jump super high, Gear Kirby can climb around on walls, and Sign Kirby lets the pink ball of joy slide down high-speed downhill slopes. As with the original, these abilities don’t appear in every level, but are unique to the situations that the levels present. The additional variety in abilities allow for more variety in the levels, which is a bonus.

Other new modes include some mini-games and a colosseum boss battle mode, on top of the new levels, story and abilities, there’s quite a bit packed into the $20 upgrade.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World is appropriately a mouthful. For people who haven’t played the game before, it’s a delightful platformer that is well worth your time. For those with the original, there is enough high-quality additions to make the upgrade worthwhile and give the game a revisit. It isn’t a genre-definer by any stretch, but it is unique enough to stand on its own.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by Nintendo

The Pros

Upgraded visuals are a feast for the eyes

Kirby’s got more weird things in their mouth

Expansion doesn’t feel tacked on

The Cons

I wish Kirby could run faster