Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World

I went into the Star-Crossed World bundle half-expecting a lazy cash-grab remaster, and walked out having sunk more hours into Kirby than I had in years. The core game, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, is HAL Laboratory's first full 3D platformer in the series, and the transition lands almost without a stumble. Kirby washes up in a post-apocalyptic world where overgrown shopping malls, rusted theme parks, and flooded metro stations replace the usual candy-colored dreamscapes, and the contrast between that melancholy setting and Kirby's relentlessly cheerful energy gives the whole thing an oddly charming atmosphere. Six worlds, 30-plus stages, and a hub settlement called Waddle Dee Town tie the adventure together, with rescued Waddle Dees slowly populating the town and unlocking mini-games and shops along the way. The combat loop is built on copy abilities, inhale an enemy, steal its power, pick from options like Drill, Ranger, or the returning Bomb and Ice, and the Switch 2 edition adds 60fps and enhanced resolution that make every inhale and slam feel noticeably crisper than the original Switch release. The real showpiece is Mouthful Mode, where Kirby stretches around large inanimate objects to become a car, a vending machine, or a plane, each with its own movement rules and puzzle logic. It sounds like a gimmick; it isn't. Ability upgrades, unlocked through blueprints found in levels and crafted back in town, add depth to a combat system that might otherwise feel too breezy, the evolved Bomb chain explosions and homing variants genuinely change how you approach rooms. Treasure Road time-trial challenges offer a harder edge for players who want it, though Wild Mode, the difficulty toggle, doesn't deliver much extra bite. Star-Crossed World, the Switch 2-exclusive DLC, drops a meteor into the existing map and reframes the familiar worlds through a crystalline lens. The stages are remixes rather than fully new builds, blue crystals overlay existing geometry, enemies become tougher and harder to inhale, and three new Mouthful Modes (Spring Mouth for vertical slams, Gear Mouth for wall-climbing, Sign Mouth for ramp launches) change how you move through spaces you already know. Twelve new Starry Stages across the six worlds sounds generous on paper, but the total runtime is short, and the recycled structure has divided opinion. If you want novelty, the DLC is thinner than hoped. If you want a mechanically tighter replay of levels you enjoyed, the crystal overlays and buffed enemies add a layer of tension the base game mostly avoids. The honest caveats: this is a soft game. Unless you chase Treasure Roads or push for full Starry collectible clears, you can coast through most of it without much resistance. The mid-boss roster repeats itself heavily by the back half, and the brief end-of-level cutscenes that lock you out of the next stage wear out their welcome. The camera, mostly fine, occasionally fumbles in enclosed spaces. None of that is new to the series, and none of it is a dealbreaker, but players expecting the tension of a precision platformer should look elsewhere. For everyone else, especially co-op pairs who want Bandana Waddle Dee along for the ride, this is one of the strongest Switch 2 launch-window offerings available.

Alex · Scout Team

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