Test Kirby and the Forgotten World: a rambling platformer?

Almost 30 years after its first appearance, the legendary smiling pink ball returns in an all-new adventure on Nintendo Switch. With Kirby and the Forgotten World, the Japanese publisher seemed to have the ambition to offer us a slightly “more realistic” opus with post-apocalyptic decors. However, the title should not upset the saga so far since it is indeed a traditional platform game. But does our dear Kirby manage to stand out in this overrepresented genre? The answer is in this test!

Test Kirby and the Forgotten World: a rambling platformer? See the priceRead the conclusionKirby and the Forgotten World

The numerous and friendly powers to use
A Kirby that responds to the finger and the eye
The Waddle Dee village and its mini-games
Possibility to do everything in cooperation

Pickup technique with horrible blur effect
A too simple and dirigiste adventure
Underexploited transmorphism
A bit repetitive after a while

Announced last September, Kirby and the Forgotten World is the 19th opus in the saga (not counting the spin-offs) which debuted in 1992. From the first trailer, Nintendo promised us a colorful 3D universe with ever wackier powers for our adorable hero. But as we mentioned in the introduction, the aesthetics of this new episode was surprising with its gigantic ruined city or its disused shopping center. Does this episode try something new by being a bit more grounded in reality? The answer will not surprise you.

Test carried out on Nintendo Switch OLED from a code provided by the publisher. Kirby and the Forgotten World will be released on March 25, 2022.

Come to the land of the Waddle Dees!

The story begins when our poor Kirby is sucked into a vortex that appeared on planet Pop. He then finds himself sucked into another world that has probably been abandoned. After a painful awakening on a sunny beach, the player sinks into a lush forest before coming to a partially destroyed and seemingly deserted town. Alas, our rounded hero is not welcomed very warmly by the enemies who inhabit these places. We then learn fairly quickly that all the local Waddle Dees have been captured. Accompanied by his friend named Elfilin, Kirby will have to save all these beautiful people by crossing each level until the final fight. Some prisoners being well hidden, it will logically be necessary to keep an eye open to free these little beings who will then come to repopulate their village.

The interest of this Kirby and the Forgotten World clearly does not lie in its rather classic scenario and without any real twist to keep us in suspense. The structure of the game is also rather banal since we are content to chain the courses by selecting them from a map. Thus, the only small originality is finally this dear village of the Waddle Dees. This one will develop by flying to the rescue of its inhabitants. New buildings, but also mini-games will flourish there over the course of the adventure. Kirby can, for example, fish, participate in fights in the Coliseum, play waiter in a fast food restaurant or even buy capsules to collect. This allows you to vary the pleasures a bit, to win star coins (the game's currency) or even temporary boosts.

For surprises, we'll come back!

When starting a new game, the game asks us to choose between two difficulty levels. Breeze mode (easy) allows you to benefit from a larger life bar and hurricane mode reduces it, but brings in additional coins as compensation. Overall, we quickly see that this Kirby and the Forgotten World offers little challenge. The average enemies impose practically no resistance and only the ultimate bosses of the adventure require a minimum of concentration. Nintendo's software is accessible to say the least and can even be fully played in two-player cooperation. The option can be selected at any time from the menu. We are therefore dealing with a family game in the vein of previous games.

Admittedly, this production is struggling to stand out from the countless platformers that abound on the Nintendo console. The progression is relatively linear and the structure of the levels a bit agreed. We generally advance in a straight line despite some barely hidden secret passages. Each stage offers its share of missions to accomplish (like opening nuts, eating donuts, getting wanted notices, etc.) in order to save even more Waddle Dees. Repeating an internship is therefore sometimes necessary to complete it 100%. Also, special levels called Treasure Road require Kirby to use a specific power in order to complete a challenge within a given time. We repeat it, it is quite classic in form and content.

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Challenges are quite easy to complete

More than one trick up his sleeve!

Like his previous epics, Kirby is obviously able to suck in his opponents in order to grant himself their skill. For example, the explorer lets him fire a gun, the sword comes in handy for slicing enemies (à la Link), bombs come in handy for blowing things up, and the drill is useful for sneaking under. earth. There are about a dozen distinct powers, and Kirby can only use one at a time. In addition, it may be necessary to have the right ability to overcome a specific obstacle. But rest assured, the game will always place the right enemy nearby to make your life easier. These transformations have always been the great strength of the saga and that does not change with this episode. By recovering the blueprints hidden in the levels and paying for star coins, it is even possible to improve these powers in order to make them more effective. A little appreciable RPG side then!

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Enemies don't resist Kirby's powers for long

And that's not all, because transmorphism is also on the program. At certain well-defined moments in his journey, Kirby can take control of everyday objects such as a car, a soda dispenser, a tank or even a construction cone. This usually leads to sequences with slightly different gameplay. Again, it's a nice addition that brings a bit of variety, but does not spice up the progression too much. These moments remain rare and probably too framed to really amaze the player... And the bosses don't really raise the level of intensity with their predictable attacks as well as their relative weakness.

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Free drinks!

A truly forgotten technique...

By taking a quick look at this new Kirby, we can say that it will offer us beautiful, ultra-colorful decors with a pleasant artistic touch. But on closer inspection, both technical and graphical flaws jump out at us violently. Thus, the blur effect so dear to the Nintendo Switch is making a most sensational return here. Everything seems vaporous just a few meters (or even centimeters) from Kirby. It is then not easy to take advantage of the panoramas that the game sometimes wants to highlight. Everything is constantly ruined by this horrible blur, omnipresent in the background... Looking away is simply useless! Fortunately, if we confine ourselves to the area surrounding Kirby, the rendering is convincing and the graphics quite clean despite a sometimes pronounced flicker.

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A nice decor a little blurry

Another black point, the animations of the characters in the background all run in slow motion. A deliberate choice by the developers which normally saves resources in order to improve overall fluidity. It is nonetheless blatant and disturbing during the first minutes. Only Kirby has benefited from some tweaking with his ultra cute smiles that can be triggered at will using the directional pad. As for the soundtrack, it turns out to be anecdotal apart from a handful of pleasant music to listen to.

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Kirby and the Forgotten World, the opinion of JVFR

You get it, Kirby and the Forgotten World doesn't get too wet by relying exclusively on a threadbare formula. But let it be said, the game remains as a whole pleasant to browse. Kirby lets himself be controlled without any problem, the powers are pleasant to use and the missions to be completed during a level come to inflate the lifespan. Special mention to the Waddle Dee village which acts as a welcoming hub while offering mini-games without the fuss.

Alas, everything is much too classic and linear. It is more than recommended to browse the game in cooperation in order to add conviviality to an adventure that is too dirigiste and banal. On the other hand, it is impossible to ignore the calamitous technique of the title which bathes in an incessant vagueness. Kirby and the Forgotten World doesn't even try to cover up its aesthetic imperfections. In short, it's an entertaining platformer, but it lacks finishing and new ideas to make a lasting impression.

Kirby and the Forgotten World

Kirby and the Forgotten World is a game without the slightest surprise that is content to reuse the usual strings of platformers. It still allows itself to be browsed with a certain pleasure despite its lackluster plastic. A platform game among many others in short...