Kirby and the Forgotten Land & Star-Crossed World Review: A Gobbling Good Time
It’s been over three long years since the original Kirby and the Forgotten Land, well, landed on the base Nintendo Switch; that’s a long time to keep fans waiting for follow-up DLC content. It’s to my delight though that I can say that Star-Crossed World is exactly the expansion so many of us have been yearning for. The base game’s charming formula returns, this time bringing with it new Mouthful Modes, levels to explore, enemies to fend off, and adorable beings to save. And, of course, for those new to the base game, faster loading times and improved framerates easily make this the definitive way to experience the must-play that is Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
To bring you up to speed, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a 3D action-platformer that sees the titular pink blob whisked away to a crumbling civilisation where, alongside trusty new sidekick Elfilin, he’ll set about saving Waddle Dees kidnapped by a villainous group known as the Beast Pack. In Star-Crossed World, a meteor collides with the Forgotten Lands, unleashing trapped ‘Starries’ who must be collected as the species is key to stopping the impending danger the meteor’s arrival poses.
I’m not here to sell you on why the base game excels; plentiful reviews convincing you so have been around for several years. In our own original review, GAMINGbible had this to say about Kirby’s 2022 outing: “Kirby and the Forgotten Land is an absolute delight of a game, from its opening moments until the credits roll. HAL Laboratory's first mainline 3D entry [...] puffs its perfectly cute cheeks out with near-endless imagination, swells its chest with entirely earned pride at being so special, and floats on a breeze of cool calm that fully takes the player away from the brutal realities of the everyday and into enthralling fantasy landscapes.”
That much remains true but naturally, the new Nintendo Switch 2 Edition also boasts some additional bells and whistles. This new-gen upgrade benefits from both higher framerates and faster loading times and, certainly, while those upgrades are subtleties that the untrained eye may overlook, it’s hard to argue that Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is anything other than the best way to experience this modern classic. The real selling point here, though, is the accompanying DLC, Star-Crossed World. While it unlocks after completion of the game’s opening area, Natural Plains, it is in fact a post-game story. Star-Crossed World ticks every box on my own personal wishlist but it’s those new levels that I want to touch upon first.
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I’ll admit, I was dubious when the first trailer for Star-Crossed World dropped. The gimmick here is that the meteor has transformed familiar levels; my concern being that the DLC may feel too much as if it was retreading old ground. I can safely say that is not at all the case. These transformations are almost unrecognisable, completely opening up new areas and allowing you to experience locales from entirely unique points of view. While I’m not allowed to tell you exact case studies of what that looks like in practice, let’s just say that a level previously set upon the ocean’s surface may now see you traverse its depths. That’s the kind of reimagining you can expect to encounter.
Within these levels, known as Starry Stages, Kirby’s pre-existing copy abilities return with the base game’s Mouthful Modes also being nicely incorporated. Star-Crossed World has some great new additions regarding the latter to add into the mix though. This time around, Kirby is able to transform into a spring, a cog, and a sign. The spring, perhaps rather expectedly, allows Kirby to bounce to great heights or make use of a ground pound attack. The cog can latch onto walls, while the sign mechanic acts as somewhat of a sled or skateboard, adding several sliding-based platforming segments into the DLC. Each is used on several occasions, so nothing here feels too fleeting. In fact, I’d argue the new Mouthful Modes tie into the various DLC levels better than those in the base game. Yes, they once again function to help you traverse certain obstacles, but there’s some really fun skill-based challenges utilising these mechanics this time around for those seeking to save all of the hidden Starries.
One level, for example, tasked me with climbing a tower as the cog, attempting to reach the cannon atop it before the fuse I had lit burnt out. In another, I had to use the spring to survive an onslaught of incoming walls, each with a sole designated spot to jump through. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is such an incredibly inventive and creative game that it’s easy to assume that developers may have run out of steam in the DLC, but to make such an assumption would be totally wrong. It’s perhaps not a spoiler to mention that the revisited levels are amongst the base game’s very best and yet, devs have managed to uncover ways to make them shine that much brighter.
They’ve done so with a great respect for the player. Star-Crossed World acknowledges the skillset you’ve acquired in the base game, offering an experience that isn’t merely more of the same, but a step up. I’ll admit, this DLC can be challenging. While I’m prohibited from talking about its culmination, it’s by far the most difficult aspect of the wider Kirby and the Forgotten Land experience. While it’s not inaccessibly impossible to overcome, it’s certainly a test of players’ skill. The final sequence is one that had me yelling out loud following a couple of failed attempts but upon completion a short while after, I realised that I’m not sure I would have wanted anything else. Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s surprisingly adept combat system sets it apart from so many other 3D platformers, so it would have been an insult to have had this experience’s finale be a walk in the park. Will everybody enjoy testing their combat skills and patience? Perhaps not, but I’d argue that saving a dimension should never be easy.
If I had one gripe with the base game, it’s that Kirby and the Forgotten Land reused enemies a tad too much. That’s excusable when it comes to the low-level grunts, but facing off against the same handful of minibosses umpteen times didn't exactly feel like the pinnacle of game design. Unfortunately, it’s also the one area where Star-Crossed World falls short. The DLC does introduce one new low-level enemy type which you’ll encounter several times, but otherwise, it’s the foes you already know with crystals on their heads. Yes, that includes facing off against Fleurina, Wild Bonkers, Wild Edge, and Wild Frosty again, and again, and again. The crystals supposedly make these pre-existing enemies more powerful but I’ve got to admit, it’s hard to tell. A crystallised Awoofy, for example, could be seen off in four hits or so instead of the usual two. It’s the only area of the DLC that felt creatively stagnant.
Of course, I should also mention that the DLC content is reflected via the available activities in Waddle Dee Town. The band will unlock new songs to play, while the cinema will add the expansion’s cutscenes into the mix. There’s also a new gacha machine too with plenty of new figures to purchase, with Kirby also picking some up during levels as he did in the base game. While also being something I can’t particularly touch upon, so too does the DLC boast secrets for those with a keen eye for exploration.
There are 12 Starry Stages to tackle in total set across all of the base game’s main zones, each level boasting up to 10 Starries to save. While I don’t have my exact completion time, you’re getting quite a number of hours worth of content here and for £16.99 for the upgrade, my firm assertion is that Star-Crossed World offers plenty of bang for your buck. Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World takes an already stellar experience and expands upon almost every aspect that you know and love. A tad more enemy variety would have been nice but it’s hard to see Star-Crossed World as anything other than a must-play experience.
Pros: DLC is a good length, introduces fun new mechanics and ups the ante when it comes to the challenge level
Cons: Would like to have seen more new enemy types introduced
For fans of: Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Donkey Kong Bananza, Astro Bot, Crash Bandicoot, Sackboy: A Big Adventure
9/10: Exceptional
Kirby and the Forgotten Land - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World is set to release on 28 August on Nintendo Switch 2 (version tested). An upgrade can be purchased by owners of the base Nintendo Switch version. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.
Topics: Nintendo, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, Kirby, Reviews