The September 2021 Nintendo Direct brought a few major announcements for fans, and one of the biggest was undoubtedly Kirby and the Forgotten Land. This will be the second mainline Kirby game released on the Switch following 2018's Kirby Star Allies, and it will stand out as the first full 3D platformer in the franchise. There have been attempts at the idea, such as Kirby: Planet Robobot's puzzle-based sub-game "Kirby 3D Rumble" and its standalone expansion Kirby's Blowout Blast, but Forgotten Land will take Kirby to the next level.
Not much is known about Kirby and the Forgotten Land based on its reveal trailer alone, which shows the pink puffball wake up on a beach before exploring post-apocalyptic ruins of what appears to be a human society. However, the trailer does confirm Kirby will retain his classic copy abilities, allowing him to absorb certain enemies and make use of their latent powers. While much of this game's development will surely focus on perfecting the series' first outing as a 3D platformer, it would stand to benefit from more complex mechanics such as Kirby 64's ability mixing.
A History of Ability Mixing in Kirby
Kirby was not able to copy abilities in his first appearance on the Game Boy; that idea did not come about until the 1993 NES title Kirby's Adventure. By sucking up the right enemies, Kirby could breath fire, become a ball of sparks, swing a sword, and more. The Kirby series has never been particularly difficult, but these copy abilities added more variety to exploring and puzzle-solving elements - get a sword to cut a rope, and so on.
New copy abilities were added over time, but this system largely stayed the same beyond improved aesthetics in the form of hats and infrequent additions like Kirby Super Star introducing Helpers based on specific abilities. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, coming to Nintendo Switch Online via its N64 Expansion Pack, introduced the mechanic of combining Kirby's abilities by absorbing two enemies or throwing one's ability at another foe. This system allowed for upgraded versions of standalone powers, such as Burn and Burn creating a super fireball; as well as unique blends, such as Burn and Rock creating a Kirby volcano.
Few games beyond that have experimented with the idea of copy ability mixing, and those that do are less expansive. Kirby: Squeak Squad has mostly element and weapon combinations, such as a fire sword or ice bombs. Meanwhile, Kirby Star Allies asks players to have a Helper imbue their weapons with elements, as well as some more unique mixes like Stone and Ice forming an invincible curling stone.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land Should Return to Crystal Shards' Ability Mixing
For as little as the Kirby series has touched ability mixing in its nearly 30 years on the market, the mechanic offers perhaps the most interesting way to approach both combat and puzzle solving. Squeak Squad and Star Allies did have some interesting takes - for example, a puzzle in Star Allies might require a flaming sword to cut a bomb's fuse off the ceiling and light it at the same time. However, Crystal Shards' treatment was the most dynamic and interesting because of how many diverse options it offered.
The reveal trailer for Forgotten Land shows off a number of copy abilities: rolling around as a spikeball and launching any enemies that get stuck, freezing opponents before pushing them into others, lighting lanterns with fire, and more. Its post-apocalyptic Earth-like setting suggests Forgotten Land could be a spiritual successor to Kirby 64, and with that game coming to Switch Online there's no reason not to pay further homage by improving upon its ability mixing mechanic.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land releases in spring 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
