I’ve been on a bit of a Kirby kick of late. I’ve always had a bit of a moist spot for the pink, spherical, whatever-it-is, and his impressive set of lungs. In terms of core gameplay mechanics, I always felt the franchise deserved more credit than it seems to have received. I’ve never really understood why Kirby – though wildly successful by the metric of most game series – was always relegated to Nintendo’s second-tier brands.
Perhaps the games have always been too easy, and are often dismissed as being aimed at the less-mature end of the market? Perhaps it’s too cute, too pink, too cuddly…? Certainly, I don’t remember ever really being challenged by a Kirby game, but that never stopped me enjoying them. It was the playing that I liked – not the beating.
The reason for choosing to squish my head so deeply inside Kirby’s lipless, salmon-hued maw was receiving Kirby And The Forgotten Land for my birthday this year, and enjoying it so much that I returned to some of the earlier games.
Forgotten Land is the 13th entry in the core Kirby series, but the first to be in full 3D. I mean, it’s not quite go-anywhere 3D – it’s still a pretty linear path through each of the levels – but it’s the first time in the main series that a Kirby game hasn’t been side-on. What struck me after playing Forgotten Land, and then returning to the earlier games, is how well Kirby’s iconic inhalation ability translates to 3D.
I may be in the minority here, but I’ve always felt that most of the iconic 2D platformer franchises have never really recovered from their leap into three dimensions. Or, at least, they’v
