Looking at Nintendo’s (sizeable) repertoire of marketable platforming/action mascots, almost all of them have dabbled in the third dimension in some way or another since the industry took that fateful swerve in the late ’90s. Mario‘s had his 64s, his Sunshines, his Galaxies; DK’s coconut gun has fired in spurts; Samus has Morph-Balled her way through a host of titles, including one we’re inexplicably still waiting on; and I need not remind you what Link‘s been up to in recent years. Oh, only totally rewriting the paradigm of the modern open-world genre. No big deal.
One notable omission from this lineup, however, has been that little pink puffball (maximum pink, specifically): Kirby. Personally, despite the bad rap his games get for being ‘too easy’ or ‘childish’ – stop being insecure, you gits, and sit down in front of Star Allies‘ Ultimate Choice mode, then tell me it’s ‘too easy’ – for my money the K-dog represents some of the best experiences you can have chucking yourself from one precarious ledge to the next on a Nintendo console.
Which is why it’s been an eternal source of disappointment to me for the longest time that he’s never had a proper crack at a 3D outing. Lest I invoke the wrath of wiki dwellers, I’m not counting Crystal Shards, which incidentally is coming to Switch Online, nor any of his racing games. I’m talking about a fully-fledged, non-spinoff entry that marries the traditional Kirby gameplay to a truly explorable environment.
And wouldn’t you know it, that’s precisely what we’re getting. I was more than slightly pleased to hear of the announcement of Kirby and the Forgotten Land last year, which seems to be placing the saviour of Smash Bros. into a mysterious, post-apocalyptic city, while somehow still looking downright adorable. All the familiar tropes, from copy abilities you can use to deter enemies seeking to clobber dat dere Kirby, to block bashing, are present and correct, and it looks marvelous. Now, thanks to GameSpot, we have a new trailer, and a release date: March 25th. This year. Almost feels too good to be true.
Check out the trailer below:
“Kirby and the Forgotten Land is a 3D platformer that takes players to a mysterious world,” states the report, “where they inhale enemies to steal their abilities.” All as per usual, then. Some of the new ones include “the Drill and Ranger,” the latter of which makes me wonder how they’ll differentiate it from the numerous cowboy-themed outfits the series has seen previously.
“Players are trying to save the kidnapped Waddle Dees,” which would explain why none of ’em made it onto the Smash roster, “and the game also supports co-op, with a second player controlling Bandana Waddle Dee.” That… also explains why he didn’t make it onto the Smash roster. Sakurai had bigger plans for his fave.
Based on the trailer, this looks like an instant classic in the making for Kirby fans, and certainly a key moment for the franchise. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one; Kirby, Kirby, Kirby is the name you should know. For he is, after all, the star of the show.
Are you excited for this new Kirby adventure? Let us know!
Via, GameSpot.
