Here comes an unexpected challenger!
When the Nintendo Switch 2 was first announced, Nintendo told us there would be “Switch 2 Upgrade” versions of games already on the Switch (1). And, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you: there is no force on Earth mighty enough to make me care about such an announcement. I am not someone that worries about graphics or frame rates. Or, to be more precise, so long as graphics or frame rates are not noticeable, I do not give a damn. At all. I happily played through Pokémon Violet, and I have been repeatedly informed that that was the most broken monster hunter to ever grace a console-portable hybrid. If you ever hear about me enthusiastically paying an extra twenty bucks so Link can hang-glide in higher definition, contact the authorities, for someone obviously has a gun to my head.
But then I picked up Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. And dear Kirby reminded me that I am an idiot. Just a couple weeks back, I was lamenting how the humble “Advance” version of games no longer exist. Back in the day, we might see a game revived with new graphics, new gameplay options, and (most importantly) new levels and challenges. Nowadays, the best we can hope for is DLC released six months after a game’s launch. Past that, all we get is a “definitive edition” a few years later that maybe includes upgraded graphics with the previously mentioned DLC. But Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World Nintendo Switch 2 Edition broke the mold! This is little more than the previously described “probably some DLC”, but with one vital distinction: it has been over three years since the initial release of Kirby and the Forgotten Land! And that is important! Because I cannot remember the last time I played this game. I forgot the Forgotten Land! That is good, because my memory is bad!
Wait, let me try that one again.
In checking my assessment of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, I noted I would likely play the game again on the condition that we saw some new levels. In fact, here is my statement from 2022:
I really like this game/world, but it does feel a bit short. It needs a little more… even if “a little more” is just “an alternative to seeing Mr. Frosty again”. I am hoping for DLC… …So, yeah, I’ll probably play it again, but I am more hoping for Kirby and the Forgotten Land 1.5 than anything.
So I can safely say that I would have jumped on “Kirby and the Forgotten Land 1.5” three years back. But now, in the hideous future of 2025, after having played over a hundred games in the meanwhile? Well, I may have forgotten this Kirby land existed. I have a replay of Kirby Planet Robobot on my schedule, and I always mean to get around to playing Kirby’s Dream Course “for real” (I played it a bunch in the 90’s… and I don’t think I ever got past the third stage), but revisiting this Nintendo Switch exclusive was never on my mind. It was fun! I liked it! But I found all the collectibles, powered up all the abilities, and called it a day. Book closed, and in 2022 I moved on to (wow, this takes me back) starting the Wild Arms 3 Let’s Play and Stranger of Paradise (not at the same time [okay, kind of at the same time]). Kirby was as easily disregarded as Pac-Land.
Somehow, forgetting about the puffball has enhanced my experience with Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. The first thing I did on the absolute first level of this new content? Got a sword. And that sword was insanely powerful, because I spent the time three years ago to power it up to secret final boss levels. And I genuinely forgot that was possible. I was staring at the screen trying to figure out why a basic sword guy just gave Kirby the Blade of God. And my confusion did not end there! Is this spring thing new, or was that in the previous version? Did Kirby always have bombs that could roll and track his opponents? I know I have fought some of these mini bosses before, but did they always have these patterns? What is new? What is different? I remembered just enough about Kirby and the Forgotten Land to have the basics in my head (I did not lose a life across all these new stages until the final boss), but anything particular to this specific Kirby game was murky and mysterious. Yes, I 100%’ed Kirby and the Forgotten Land a couple years back, but now it may as well have been brand new.
And for a $20 “upgrade fee”, having a brand-new Kirby game is delightful.
So now that I actually care about the concept of Nintendo Switch 2 Upgrade Editions, I am going to rapidly list off a few more games that I would like to revisit for the exclusive reason of “my brain don’t work good no more”.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
When I considered “more games like Kirby and the Forgotten Land”, this was the game that immediately came to mind. Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s biggest selling point was a 2-D Mario title with a new “wonder” gimmick for every stage… And I have forgotten all of them by now! You can reuse some gimmicks for Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch 2 Edition: Bowser’s Big Day, because I cannot remember which gimmicks were overused the first time! There were elephants, right? Did they already get turned into balloons? Or was that a DeviantArt hallucination? Help me find out, Nintendo!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition was announced approximately twenty minutes after this article was published. The system works!
Metroid Dread
This one is cheating a little bit. Metroid Dread was released in 2021, but I did replay the game in 2024 for Even Worse Streams as part of our Metroid-marathon. So Metroid Dread is a lot fresher in my mind than other titles. That said, my brain is a sinking ship that leaks like a sieve. Wait, no. Take two: the essence of a Metroid title is finding innovative abilities that allow you to explore new areas, and ZDR has room enough to give you a… I don’t know… Screw Bomb that could then unlock new corridors and challenges. Maybe we could find Ridley lurking around? Point is that there is room for more game there, and it does not take much effort to get back into the groove of a metroidvania.
Super Mario Bros. 35
Bring back Super Mario Bros. 35 you sons of bitches.
Cruis’n Blast
I’m focusing on a lot of action games because Kirby put me in a mood, but there are other genre options available, too. Settling back into the driver’s seat is always comfortable, right? And Cruis’n Blast would be ideal for an upgrade, as you could crank up that need for speed in all sorts of new and interesting environments. And special bonus? The Cruis’n franchise has a long tail going back to the 90’s. Give us retro stages! Releasing Cruis’n Blast for the Nintendo Switch with Nintendo Switch 2 upgrades based on Nintendo 64 nonsense would be the perfect combination of past, present, and future. Also, I can race as a dinosaur again. Yoshi is just not enough for me.
Mega Man 11
Sorry! I’m back on my action game BS! Look, it is not what we think or feel that makes us who we are, it is what we do. And what I just did is play a Kirby game, so I want to steal powers from enemies to obliterate all opponents. And Mega Man 9 & 10 showed us exactly how to add a few extra levels to a Mega Man game: individual challenges and an endless mode. Yes, Mega Man 11 was released for other game systems, but let us have a Nintendo Switch 2 version that throws in a few Stardroids or something. Oh! Doc Robot! Give us new Doc Robot stages based on other Mega Man challenges! And let us then take a freshly earned Quick Boomerang into the rest of Mega Man 11. It can work! And it will give me an excuse to obliterate Blast Man again for the first time in seven years.
And while I would love to close this out on a deliberate piss-take about getting a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition for ARMS™ or Balan Wonderland (I know what I said), the fact that Mega Man 11 released in 2018 has now thoroughly broken my brain. The Nintendo Switch was the dominant Nintendo system for a (seemingly impossible) eight years, and was the first Nintendo videogame device that was the only Nintendo system available since the Gameboy and Nintendo were concurrent in 1989. No 3DS for competition like in the previous generation of multiple Smash Bros. releases, just Nintendo Switch. And that means there was a Dedede-load of amazing games released for the system. Revisiting even a tenth of the Nintendo Switch library of nearly 13,000 games (said number includes all digital releases… which mean about 9,000 games with “Hentai” in the title) could take another eight years! Nintendo Switch 2 Editions are simply not going to happen for every Nintendo Switch title that deserves it when there is virtually a decade’s worth of games to sort through. Getting a few extra Kirby levels out of the deal is more than we could have ever hoped for.
But maybe we can hope for more. Kirby’s newest adventure does include a wishing star…
FGC #713 Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- System: Playstation 4. Wait, no. Nintendo Switch 2.
- Number of players: There is still a two-player coop option that I have never tried. Some things never change.
- New Favorite Copy Ability: Now that I have all the powered-up abilities from jump street, I am going to lean into the Morpho Sword. Nothing feels better than sending a Mr. Frosty into another dimension with a sword that is three times the size of every character on screen.
- Love/Hate Relationship: I love that the amusement park parade of malevolent parade floats is revisited. I hate that the tension of an entire level of horrible parade monsters that must be dodged at all times makes a return. In conclusion, the Forgotten Land is a land of contrasts.
The Joy of Movement: Whoever is responsible for the physics of this world deserves a medal. The car was always fun, and rolling around with a snowball-needle was great since last time. But now all the new signboard areas really emphasize the delight of plowing through garbage mobs as an unstoppable, pink battering ram. And there are even little stars so you can repeat that particular part of a level! Good show, Kirby!- An end: The game closes with an in-universe song that was composed to keep weary space travelers happy during a trip to the heavens. Or… something. The whole thing gets explained in a random collectible, and I was not paying attention. But! The song has lyrics in English and the Forgotten Lands nonsense language, so it is a catchy Rosetta Stone.
- Did you know? There is not an excuse in this expansion to batter Whispy Woods again. What are we even doing here!? Kirby needs to show that tree who’s boss!
- Would I play again: Nintendo, if you want to release another videogame system in another three years to revisit this adventure again, I’m down. Just saying it’s an option!
What’s next? Random ROB has chosen… Total Carnage! Whoa! Calm down there, robot. Your time will come. Please look forward to that!
