For Switch 2 owners who already own Kirby and the Forgotten Land and are weighing their options while new much-hyped games are being released (I’m looking at you, Silksong and Donkey Kong Bananza), Star-Crossed World is short but sweet, opting to replicate the success of the base game with a glittery new coat of paint. For Switch 2 owners who have not yet played Kirby’s newest adventure, Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World is undoubtedly the definitive iteration and worthy of your time.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land is one of my most favorite Kirby games, and this is coming from someone who has played every Kirby game since the original Game Boy. Its transition from 2D to 3D was comparable in nature to Super Mario 64’s implementation of gameplay innovation within a 3D plane. Don’t get me wrong, I missed the 2D floaty platforming of the original Kirby games, but Kirby and the Forgotten Land was magical, silly, and dumb fun. By the time the credits rolled during my first playthrough, my eyes became misty because of how sad I was that my journey had concluded (or so I thought).
It’s that good of a game, and worthy of any Switch owner and/or Kirby fan even in 2025.
When Nintendo announced that Kirby and the Forgotten Land would get some Switch 2 content, I was trepidatious. On one hand, I wouldn’t mind graphical improvements to make the game load quicker on the Switch 2’s hardware, but on the other, I wasn’t sure what to expect that would make an already fantastic game better. I wasn’t sure what HAL Laboratory could add to the game because I got everything I thought I wanted from the base game.
Let’s get this out of the way now: the Star-Crossed World DLC expansion is less of an expansion pack. It’s more of a booster pack that supplements the main game with a handful of remixed levels, a few new mouthful modes, and some new enemies. That’s it. I was able to complete all of it in around 4 hours during a single flight a few days ago – side objectives and all. Others might take longer – maybe six hours at most. However, you shouldn’t walk into this DLC as an existing Forgotten Land owner and hope for something meatier for a mouthful of gameplay. Instead, you should expect this to be a worthwhile return to the “new world” that can be experienced over a light lunch.
If you have yet to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land, though, Star-Crossed World is the definitive version you should acquire as a Switch 2 owner.
The Star-Crossed World DLC returns Kirby to the “new world,” the setting of the original Forgotten Land title. A gigantic meteor has crashed into the ocean and created a volcano, scattering beautiful blue crystals across each of the biomes of The Forgotten Land. It’s now up to Kirby to complete Starry Stages and find little “Starries” in each of these 12 levels.
It was great to return to The Forgotten Land when reviewing Star-Crossed World, as it follows the same formula as the base game with minute differences that bring it to par with what players expect out of traditional post-game content. Enemies are slightly more difficult and some platforming segments require a smidge more precision than what new players may expect.
The Starry Stages are remixed variants of some of the original levels, incorporating glittery celestial platforms that appear in midair when Kirby strikes colorful flowers. Objectives are nearly the same, too: Instead of seeking hidden Waddle-Dees, Kirby is to seek out hidden “Starryies.” Completing each level results in four Starrys being found, but the remaining six can be found by finding them, completing hidden objectives (like not taking damage from specific hazards or completing difficult platforming segments), or seeking out small Easter Eggs that are thoughtfully tucked away in the celestial nooks and crannies of the Starry levels. It’s a consistent return to The Forgotten Land’s gameplay loop that doesn’t waste player’s time, nor does it add meaningfully new content that pushes Kirby’s power fantasy to a new celestial height. It’s a brisk walk through a new environment.
The three new Mouthful Modes in Star-Crossed World are just as silly as the Mouthful Modes in Forgotten Land. Kirby’s Gear Mouth felt the most fully realized, incorporating combat and traversal in a single form that rewards those who utilize momentum and precision in wall-jumping challenges. The Spring Mouth felt fun for a short while, and the Sign Mouth was used well for small racing segments to hold me off until Air Riders releases this coming November.
Perhaps I was slightly disappointed in the lack of truly new levels where Kirby has not yet visited in the “new world.” Perhaps I was disappointed in the lack of truly new enemies and/or upgradable copy abilities that made Forgotten Land’s combat more unique and inventive than its predecessors. Perhaps I was hoping for new bosses that firmly posed a threat from Kirby’s existing catalogue of enemies.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes too high, as Forgotten Land was a fantastic 14-course meal while Star-Crossed World was but icing on the proverbial cake.
The graphical and processing improvements on the Switch 2 are quite noticeable. Loading screens are mere blips and the remixed Starry Levels look ever so pretty thanks to the glittery crystalline structures that make up the new pathways. Even the crystalline enemies look sharper than their previous models.
When it comes to evaluating this title, I have several thoughts. For Switch 2 owners who already own Kirby and the Forgotten Land and are weighing their options while new much-hyped games are being released (I’m looking at you, Silksong and Donkey Kong Bananza), Star-Crossed World is short but sweet, opting to replicate the success of the base game with a glittery new coat of paint. For Switch 2 owners who have not yet played Kirby’s newest adventure, Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World is undoubtedly the definitive iteration and worthy of your time.
