Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores, but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, all whilst including some lengthy gameplay, to give you, the reader, the chance to form your own impressions and views while reading and watching. In this explanatory review, we’re covering Kirby And The Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World Nintendo Switch 2 Edition by developer, HAL Laboratory:
Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World Nintendo Switch 2 Edition:
It has been about three years since Kirby and the Forgotten Land released on Nintendo Switch, but now the game is making a return with a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition! Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition brings additional content in the form of remixed stages with new paths to discover, enemies to defeat, mouthful modes to utilize, and collectibles to find.Â
Now, seeing as we have already covered the base game of Kirby and the Forgotten World when it originally released and our opinions have not changed (it is still an incredible game), we will be concentrating on what is new in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and the Star-Crossed World content. If you would like to read our review on the base game content that will also cover controls and the like, please check it out the link below.
So, let’s jump into our Explain & Play review of the additional content in Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. The Star-Crossed World content adds a new short story where a mysterious meteor crashes into a nearby island. Kirby and Elfilin go to investigate and learn from a traveller called Astronomer Waddle Dee that the meteor possesses a star of darkness capable of devouring everything. To stop the star of darkness from coming alive and doing just that, it must be contained by the stars of light known as Starries. Kirby and Elfilin set off around the Forgotten Land to find the Starries that have fallen into various areas around the land.
The Star-Crossed World content adds 12 new levels to the game with two new stages being added into the six different areas of the Forgotten Land. The stages actually appear alongside already existing stages and feature remixed environments with all-new areas to explore. Each stage has around nine or ten Starries to find and follows the same objective pattern as the main game. There are three Starries to be found at the end of the stage and multiple starries hidden throughout with additional secret objectives that will reveal their requirements after you have already met them or have beaten the stage at least once.
The new stages introduce new crystal-laden enemies for kirby to fight and the environments have also been partially encrusted with crystals. Special crystal flowers can be interacted with to make them change the nearby environment. This opens up pathways to otherwise unreachable areas and can even negate hazards like poison pools or lava as it covers over them. Although you will find most areas in a stage through casual exploration, there are some out of the way areas that take a more perceptive eye to find them. They can hide some Starries or even Gotchapon capules that contain figurines for Kirby to collect. These figurines can also be collected by trading special star coins found in the Star-Crossed World stages with Astronomer Waddle Dee who can be found in the central plaza of Waddle Dee Town.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition adds a couple of new Mouthful Mode Transformations as well as make use of some of the other Mouthful Modes from the base game. One new transformation is the spring that allows Kirby to jump really high and then come crashing down to break certain surfaces or to squash enemies. The stairs and the pipe make a return and the Star-Crossed Worlds make quite good use of them in certain sections of some stages.
This pretty much wraps up all that is worth talking about for the Star-Crossed World portion of Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. It is essentially glorified DLC that adds a few extra stages to the game by recycling some of the already established stages and giving them a new and refreshing take. The visuals and the performance has been upgraded for the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, but while I do appreciate the improvements, I don’t know whether they are really worth it for players to purchase the whole game again with the extra content or simply go for the upgrade pack.
If I’m being honest, if you already own Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Nintendo Switch and are a big Kirby fan, the $19.99 upgrade may be more enticing to you. On the other hand, if you don’t own the Switch version of the game, $79.99 is definitely a bitter pill to swallow. You may be better off purchasing the game on sale and then pick up the upgrade pack once you have beaten the main game.
Game Specifications:
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2
Category: Action, Adventure
No. of Players: up to 2Â players
Release Date: August 28, 2025 (Worldwide)
Price: $79.99
File Size: 16.7 GB
Nintendo.com Listing
