In the months leading up to its release,Kirby and the Forgotten Landsaw plenty of excitement from fans as the pink puffball geared up forhis first fully 3D adventure. Between new features like the game’s “Mouthful Mode” allowing Kirby to take on huge transformations into cars and vending machines and new gameplay mechanics with the upgradable hub area in Waddle Dee Town, Kirby’s newest outing has seen positive reception from both long-time fans of the series and newcomers alike, success that reportedly has translated into the game’s sales numbers.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s long-awaited release marked several firsts for the franchise celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year.Forgotten Landwas the first fully 3D main-series game for the character, with 3D environments previously being limited to spin-offs or overworld maps, while also introducing new copy abilities like the Ranger and Drill tailor-made for the game’s 3D perspective.Kirby and the Forgotten Landset out to bring the franchise to new frontiers, and now Famitsu reportedForgotten Landwas the best-selling game in its release week.
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Famitsu’s weekly software sales report posted Thursday shows Kirby topping its release week class in Japan withKirby and the Forgotten Landselling a total of 380,000 copies in its first week. Famitsu’s data from the March 21 to March 27 week showsForgotten Landfollowed by a Nintendo staple inMario Kart 8 Deluxe, fresh off the launch ofthe first Booster Course Pass releases, and January’sPokemon Legends: Arceusfollowing not far behind at third. Other recent games likeElden Ring,Ghostwire: Tokyo, andStranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Originalso finished in the Top 10.
While sales numbers for other regions will likely be slower to release, HAL Laboratory and Nintendo have spared no expense in celebrating Kirby’s 30th anniversary with the official anniversary date coming late next month, marking three decades sinceKirby’s Dream Landfirst released for the Game Boy.Kirbysocial media channels previously announced the"Kirby30th Anniversary Music Fest"online concert for August of this year, and Nintendo has previously confirmed several other anniversary projects to come throughout the course of the year.
With the success ofKirby’s first fully 3D outing, many fans have turned their attentions towards the future of the franchise. HAL Laboratory’s Shinya Kumazaki has stated in the past thatthe future ofKirbymay not necessarily be a full shift to 3D games, with the developer instead looking at ways to innovate on the time-testedKirbyformula in future games.Forgotten Landsaw Nintendo and HAL Laboratory taking a big step outside the traditionalKirbyformula and early sales are showing the gamble has paid off.
Kirby and the Forgotten Landis available now for Nintendo Switch.
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