The presentation of this new Kirby game has several new elements that will delight those who love Kirby’s pleasant aesthetic. Chief among these is Waddle Dee Town, a hub Kirby can return to between levels to rest and spend time with the Waddle Dees he has been saving. There’s also a generally more cinematic approach to cutscenes and gameplay, owing to the new 3D perspective. One of the most interesting new aesthetic touches, however, is something that comes right near the beginning of the game. Kirby and the Forgotten Land emulates an anime opening midway through its first level, and the ramifications of this echo all the way to the ending.
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How Kirby and the Forgotten Land Opens
After the opening scene where Kirby and a portion of Dreamland get sucked into the Forgotten Land, players are given some time to get their bearings in a tutorial level that introduces the basic controls and several Copy Abilities. After some progress into a ruined city, Kirby and the player are introduced to Mouthful Mode. A tutorial section plays out for the Car Mouth, ending with the player knocking down a bridge to enter the rest of the city. The shock from this bridge jolts an old radio back to life, which then begins playing the Kirby games’ first vocal song, “the New World!”
Though this song is sung in the Forgotten Land’s made-up language, it still functions identically to an anime opening theme. It’s a relaxed number that emphasizes how much fun Kirby could have exploring this new world, and Kirby takes a moment to enjoy it before driving onward. It takes a little over a minute to wrap up, but in that time, the player is treated to Kirby stopping for some ducks, getting chased by the Beast Pack, and cruising along a highway beside a flock of seagulls.
While less rock-infused than some Shonen Jump anime openings, it definitely calls them to mind. The tone is set for an action-packed, yet chill, Kirby adventure, the likes of which fans both have and have not seen before. What players won’t realize on their first playthrough, however, is how deliberately it channels that specific style.
The Ending Pays Off Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s Anime Parallels
Several hours later, Kirby comes across Lab Discovera, the place where Kirby’s friend Elfilin is being held. It turns out that Elfilin is the good half of the powerful psychic alien Fecto Forgo, which has been controlling the Beast Pack the entire time. After fighting off Leongar and the horrific, G-Birkin-esque Fecto Forgo, Elfilin is absorbed and Forgo assumes its true form as Fecto Elfilis. Elfilis’ formation and abilities bring Dragon Ball’s Cell to mind, and those comparisons are made even more apt once Kirby drags Elfilin back out of Elfilis.
Like how Perfect Cell reacted when he regurgitated Android 18, a ragged Elfilis pulls one final gambit to spite Kirby. It opens a massive portal to Pop Star and attempts to crash the planet into the Forgotten Land, destroying everything. This sort of immediate apocalyptic threat is a surprising sight in a Kirby game, but Kirby and Elfilin are not deterred. Kirby uses Big-Rig Mouth with a nearby sixteen-wheeler, and Elfilin speeds him up enough to crash through Elfilis’ defenses and defeat it for good. The game concludes with Elfilin sacrificing itself to close the yawning portal between the two worlds.
The plot isn’t quite over yet, but as the New World! begins playing over the credits, Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s anime parallels come full circle The fact that the final quick time event sequence is accompanied by screaming straight out of Dragon Ball Z is too precise to be anything but a shonen homage, and it works surprisingly well in Kirby. Ironically, the same method of ramming a delivery truck into an otherworldly being was also used during the climax of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which feels apt for a Kirby title. At any rate, a shonen story aimed at a younger audience is a good fit for Kirby, and, if nothing else, another good reason for Nintendo to keep adding vocal songs to its games.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is available now on Nintendo Switch.
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