KIRBY AND THE FORGOTTEN LAND: THE PINK BALL GOES 3D
8.5 of 10 bananas. Kirby finally gets a full 3D adventure, and swallowing a car to become a car is as good as it sounds. Easy, but charming from first gulp to last.
By the Alpha. Switch game listing. Updated Oct 19 2026.
Honest note: This is not a fresh hands-on playtest. I built this verdict from launch reviews, critic consensus, update history, and what is known about the game today. If I put real hours in on stream, I will update the score and say so.
Platforms: The Amazon button is the US Nintendo Switch game card, Standard (Nintendo and HAL Laboratory, released March 25 2022). It also plays on Nintendo Switch 2. At my Oct 19 check the offer came from a third-party seller, shipped by Amazon, at 49.99 dollars, so check the seller before you pay. Nintendo also sells a separate Nintendo Switch 2 Edition with the Star-Crossed World expansion; this button is not that product. No PC, PlayStation, or Xbox version.
Get Kirby and the Forgotten Land for Switch on AmazonSit with me a moment. Kirby has eaten everything in thirty years of games. Swords, fire, stones, enemies three times his size. It took HAL Laboratory until 2022 to let him eat a car and drive away inside it. Some ideas are worth the wait.
What It Wants To Be
Forgotten Land is the first mainline 3D Kirby platformer. Kirby falls through a vortex into an abandoned, overgrown human world of malls, highways, and theme parks, and sets out to rescue the captured Waddle Dees. Copy abilities return and can be evolved into stronger versions with blueprints. The new trick is Mouthful Mode: Kirby swallows real objects like a car, a vending machine, or a traffic cone and takes on their shape. A second player can join as Bandana Waddle Dee.
What Works
Mouthful Mode is a delight, and the game builds whole stages around it without overusing any one form. Levels are compact, linear 3D courses packed with hidden Waddle Dees and small challenges, so the pace stays brisk. Waddle Dee Town grows as you rescue the troop, adding minigames, a café, and a colosseum. The post-apocalyptic setting, overgrown but never grim, gives the series its most distinct look ever. Critics landed it in the mid eighties on aggregate.
What Breaks
Listen well. It is easy, as Kirby always is, and the default mode barely threatens adults. The colosseum and the post-game add real challenge, but you have to go looking. Co-op is limited: player two is always Bandana Waddle Dee with a spear, not a second Kirby. The camera is mostly fixed, which keeps things simple but limits exploration compared with Mario. And the base game is sold by third parties on Amazon at my check, so watch the price.
Who Should Play
Play it if you want a warm, inventive 3D platformer for a weekend, or a game a young player can finish with a little help. Skip it if you need a hard challenge or a big open world.
STRENGTHS
- Mouthful Mode is endlessly funny
- Brisk, secret-packed levels
- A distinct overgrown world
- Waddle Dee Town grows as you play
HONEST COSTS
- Easy by default
- Player two is always Waddle Dee
- Mostly fixed camera
- Third-party seller at my check
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