Nintendo is a company defined by its mascot characters, and whether it’s Mario or Link, what makes a mascot character is an iconic look. Coming late to Nintendo’s repertoire in 1992 the creators of Kirby’s Dream Land for the Game Boy were under pressure to match the iconic nature of Nintendo’s other characters. Settling on a sphere with feet and a face, later to be colored bright pink, Kirby immediately became one of the most recognizable characters in all of video games.
Kirby was one of Nintendo’s many gaming icons in the 90s evident by his appearance in the original Super Smash Brothers game on the Nintendo 64, which was also created by Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai. Although, unlike all of Nintendo’s other famous titles that made the leap to 3D in the late 90s, Kirby has remained in 2D. That is, until the latest game, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, coming March 25.
A new overview trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land has revealed a lot about the game and how Kirby is going to play translated to 3D. The trailer shows off a multitude of locations and game modes to play. Also, a co-op component with one player playing as Kirby and the other as Bandana Waddle Dee, who is one of the characters players will spend the game saving, but of course distinguished with a bandana.
The game appears to be closer to the Super Mario 3D World brand of 3D levels than the 3D levels of, say, Super Mario Odyssey, with a high and often fixed camera position above the level rather than an over-the-shoulder third-person view. This brand of 3D more closely captures the feeling of a 2D game in a 3D space, and so should work well for Kirby’s first 3D game. Players will have to fight enemies, look for secrets, and find the path through the level.
Kirby’s unique copy mechanic is back for regular enemies, where Kirby takes on a characteristic of the enemy just inhaled. This is coupled with a new Mouthful Mode where Kirby can now attempt to inhale non-living objects like cars and traffic cones, stretching around the object and taking on some new ability based on his new shape. This is mostly used to find secrets in the environment not accessible otherwise.
The “Forgotten Land” of the title is rather concerning as it’s clearly some earth-like planet that has been reclaimed by nature in an almost cartoony Last of Us aesthetic. It has long been a popular fan theory that Kirby takes place in a far future post human civilization.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is coming March 25 to the Nintendo Switch
