Your biggest Kirby and the Forgotten Land questions, answered

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the newest Kirby adventure on the Nintendo Switch. Kirby gets sucked into a world very different from his, where he’s tasked with saving caged Waddle Dees and and figuring out what’s going. The game is a little bit different from past Kirby games, so we compiled a Kirby and the Forgotten Land FAQ to help you navigate and answer any questions you have.

What’s the gameplay loop for Kirby and the Forgotten Land?

Kirby heads off to different areas to find kidnapped Waddle Dees. There are multiple worlds, and each has four or five levels before a boss fight level. (We’d compare this gameplay to something like Super Mario 3D Land.) At the end of each level, you save three Waddle Dees.

However, throughout each level, there are also hidden missions to complete, and they reward even more Waddle Dees. Some of these missions are easy in the beginning, but they do ramp up a bit in difficulty as you get deeper into the game. The more Dees you have, the more your Waddle Dee village fleshes out.

Image: HAL Laboratory/Nintendo via Polygon

What’s new about Kirby and the Forgotten Land?

Notably, the big new feature is Kirby’s Mouthful Mode, which allows him to hold huge objects in his mouth. Rather than swallowing them and gaining a copy ability, he instead just … holds this huge thing in his mouth and adapts its power. Mouthful Mode-ing a car allows Kirby to drive really fast. Using it on a vending machine allows him to spit out cans. It’s a lot.

How long does it take to beat Kirby and the Forgotten Land?

It took around 20 hours to beat the main story of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and this includes sitting back and doing some of the missions as well. (We weren’t able to 100% the game in this time.)

There is also post-game content that involves finding more collectables.

How many levels and areas are there in Kirby and the Forgotten Land?

There are technically seven different areas, but the last one only has one boss fight level. The first five areas have four levels and one boss fight in each. The sixth area has five levels and one boss fight.

Each area also has a bunch of Treasure Roads, optional time trial-type levels that reward you with Rare Stones, which you need to upgrade copy abilities.

How many Waddle Dees are in the game? What do I get for finding every Waddle Dee?

There are 300 Waddle Dees in Kirby and the Forgotten Land. We don’t know what you get for finding them all, because as of this writing this, we only have 293. We’re getting there, though.

Is there multiplayer? What is it like?

Yes, there is couch co-op in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, where your second player will be Bandana Waddle Dee. While he lacks the ability to suck up enemies and gain their abilities, he is very strong and fun to play.

You said some of the missions get harder. How hard are we talking?

Some missions will require you to take a hidden path that you can’t see unless you look closely (which reminded me a lot of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror). Other missions may ask you to beat a boss without ever getting hit, which can be tricky at times.

Image: HAL Laboratory/Nintendo via Polygon

How many copy abilities are in Kirby and the Forgotten Land?

12: Sword, Tornado, Bomb, Sleep, Fire, Ice, Cutter, Drill, Ranger, Hammer, Crash, and Needle.

While this is an obvious decrease from some of the past Kirby titles, each copy ability can be upgraded, making it more powerful and even changing some of the abilities entirely.

Any questions?

Do you have more questions about Kirby and the Forgotten Land that weren’t answered above? Drop them below, and we’ll answer them to the best of our ability.