Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Gameplay. "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" is the first platform game in the series with full 3D gameplay, where the player must guide Kirby through various different stages to save the Waddle Dees at the end. As in most Kirby games, Kirby can jump and slide as well as inhale enemies and objects which he can either spit out like projectiles or swallow to gain a copy ability. Alongside returning copy abilities, this game introduced two new copy abilities in the form of Drill and Ranger, as well as an upgrade system for copy abilities  and a new "Mouthful Mode" where Kirby can swallow and control larger objects, such as cars and vending machines. Similar to "Kirby Battle Royale" and "Kirby and the Rainbow Curse", a second player can join in and play as Bandana Waddle Dee, who uses a spear as his main form of attack. The goal of each stage is to rescue the Waddle Dees, who are freed by finding them trapped in cages, as well as by accomplishing certain goals specific to each stage. Once rescued, they are returned to Waddle Dee Town, the main hub of the game. As the  player rescues more Waddle Dees, the town size increases as well as unlocks minigames that the player can compete with others online for the top score. The game also supports amiibo functionality. Plot. One day, on the planet Popstar, a dark vortex appears over Dream Land, sucking up everything in its path into an abandoned civilization called the New World. Kirby is among those sucked into the vortex and also finds himself in the New World, where he discovers that the Waddle Dees from Dream Land are being kidnapped by the native wildlife, the Beast Pack. Eventually, he finds the  destroyed Waddle Dee Town and a chinchilla-like creature called Elfilin, who helped the Waddle Dees settle within Waddle Dee Town. After being rescued from the Beast Pack, Elfilin explains to Kirby that he and the Waddle Dees attempted to fight back, but were overwhelmed. Kirby offers to help Elfilin rescue the missing Waddle Dees, and the two set off together. Kirby and Elfilin make their way through the New World, saving Waddle Dees and confronting the Beast Pack's high council. Eventually, the two confront Kirby's longtime frenemy King Dedede, who is helping the Beast Pack for unknown  reasons. After being defeated, King Dedede captures Elfilin and escapes, with Kirby in pursuit. Eventually, Kirby follows the captured Elifilin to Lab Discovera. The lab's pre-recorded narration explains that a powerful extradimensional being named Fecto Forgo tried to invade the New World, but was captured by its inhabitants and placed in the lab, where its ability to create space-time rifts was researched. Thirty years after research began, Elfilin broke off from this being, and Fecto Forgo was placed in permanent suspended animation within Lab Discovera's Eternal Capsule. Kirby then meets the leader of the Beast Pack , a lion named Leongar, who is holding Elfilin captive. Leongar explains that the previous inhabitants of the New World used Fecto Forgo's power to depart for "a land of dreams," and that he intends to do the same by reuniting them with Elfilin. After Leongar is defeated, Fecto Forgo awakens; speaking through Leongar, they reveal that they had formed the Beast Pack, possessed King Dedede, and kidnapped the Waddle Dees in order to resume their invasion. They break free from the Eternal Capsule and absorb Elfilin, causing them to become their complete form, Fecto Elfilis. Kirby manages to weaken  Fecto Elfilis enough to free Elfilin, but Fecto Elfilis creates a large portal back to Popstar, planning to crash the two planets into each other. Kirby narrowly defeats Fecto Elfilis by ramming a semi-trailer truck into them. Using all his power, Elfilin seals the rift between the two worlds, with himself in the New World. In the credits, it is revealed that Elfilin is able to travel to Planet Popstar, and the inhabitants of the New World have become friends with Popstar's inhabitants. However, Leongar's soul is still trapped in an alternate dimension called Forgo Dreams, created  by Fecto Forgo's lingering soul and populated by phantoms generated by their memories of the Beast Pack. Kirby and Elfilin travel to this dimension and rescue Leongar, who is possessed by Soul Forgo. Kirby defeats the possessed Leongar, separating Soul Forgo from his body. Before they can attack Kirby, a scarlet butterfly flies into the lab and lands on their nose, absorbs them, and transforms into Morpho Knight, a valkyrie-like warrior who delivers souls to the afterlife. Kirby defeats the knight, and Leongar is properly freed, though Soul Forgo absorbs Morpho Knight's power and vanishes. A mysterious  portal opens within Waddle Dee Town's colosseum, and in an optional final encounter, Kirby combats the phantoms of Forgo Dreams before confronting the newly-formed Chaos Elfilis. He defeats Chaos Elfilis in a final battle, and a lingering remnant of their soul approaches Elfilin. He accepts it into his heart, allowing his two halves to finally become whole for good. Development. The game was produced as a part of "Kirby"'s 30th anniversary. HAL Laboratory had begun teasing a new "Kirby" game since 2020 in preparation for the anniversary. General director Shinya Kumazaki described it as the "new phase  for the series and that it will culminate the best aspects of "Kirby"". Game director Tatsuya Kamiyama explained how the team focused on making the game approachable even with change of perspective to 3D, while at the same time making it satisfying to play to the player. The 3D transition was described as very challenging, with Kamiyama being the one who made the pitch for a 3D game — which HAL struggled with for years, resulting in many cancelled projects — while also presenting solutions on how to make the transition to 3D, including character design, gameplay and many other aspects, finally  allowing for development to begin on a 3D title after several failed attempts since the 2000s. A month before the September 2021 Nintendo Direct, the official "Kirby" website updated with placeholder text, further implying there was a new game coming soon. The game was first officially revealed in the Nintendo Direct on September 23, 2021, having been prematurely shown off on the Nintendo website six hours beforehand. A second, more in-depth trailer was shown on January 12, 2022, which announced more features of the game as well as the release date of March 25, 2022. A free-to-play  demo was made available on March 3, 2022. Reception. "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Critics hailed it as one of the best Kirby games ever made. Several reviewers gave high praise to the exploration-based level design, citing the optional challenges, collectibles, and Treasure Road as elements that gave each level a substantial feel. The upgradable copy abilities and Mouthful Mode were also heavily praised for the gameplay variety they provided while remaining a part of the game's core design, making the combat and platforming consistently interesting as a result . Boss fights were also lauded for requiring the utilization of copy abilities, with several praising the increased difficulty of "Forgotten Land" in comparison to previous entries in the franchise. The game's visuals and level themes were similarly commended, with the post-apocalyptic aesthetic of the game being cited as creative. Local co-op was praised for being fun and seamless while accommodating younger players. The Waddle Dee Town hub was praised for encouraging player exploration and was deemed a substantially rewarding experience. Minor criticism was directed towards the sluggish movement, limited vertical movement, grounded environments, and the stale nature  of recurring mini-bosses. Sales. "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" launched at #1 in the UK, becoming both the series' first chart-topping debut and fourth best-selling "Kirby" game in the region. The game also launched at #1 in Japan with the series' best physical debut, at 380,060 copies sold in two days.