What are Kirby and the Forgotten Land modes and their abilities?

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is getting a lot of attention for its switch to 3D platforming, and for good reason. It’s a very different angle of traversal and exploration from the usual Kirby fare. It isn’t the only new feature that HAL Laboratory has in store for Kirby fans, though; not only does Kirby and the Forgotten Land have new Copy Abilities, but it has a Copy Ability upgrade system that lets fans customize each of Kirby’s special powers, as revealed by the latest trailer for the game. That same trailer spotlighted another odd Kirby ability that seems themed around manipulating Kirby’s environment: Mouthful Mode.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land: All Mouthful Mode Abilities Revealed

Every Kirby fan knows that Kirby gets his powers by inhaling enemies and imitating their abilities, but Kirby and the Forgotten Land has a secondary take on Kirby’s absorption powers. At the start of the new Kirby and the Forgotten Land trailer, Kirby inhales a car while trying to absorb some enemies. As a result, he has his mouth stretched over the car and realizes he can control the vehicle. The trailer shows off quite a few extraordinary abilities that Kirby can pick up in this way, all of which highlight Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s emphasis on roaming freely and finding unique ways to interact with the world around Kirby.

Kirby’s Known Mouthful Modes

The new Kirby and the Forgotten Land trailer suggests that, while he’s roaming the game’s various areas, he’ll occasionally come across objects that sparkle to distinguish themselves from the rest of the environment. Kirby can try to inhale them, but he can’t absorb them completely. Instead, he’ll enter Mouthful Mode stretching over the object in one way or another, making him much bigger than usual while still granting him unique abilities based on the object. The trailer showcases the following Mouthful Modes:

Car Mouth
Vending Mouth
Cone Mouth
Scissor-Lift Mouth
Ring Mouth
Light-Bulb Mouth
Arch Mouth
Water Balloon Mouth

The trailer doesn’t go into detail about the length and breadth of each Mouthful Mode’s effects on Kirby, but it’s clear that they all contribute different things to gameplay. Some simply give Kirby new forms of attack; Kirby gains the rectangular Vending Mouth when he absorbs a vending machine, which allows him to spit canned drinks at enemies as projectiles. Others have huge impacts on exploring the game world. With the Water Balloon Mouth, Kirby can apparently spit water to clear hazards off the ground, while the Cone Mouth helps Kirby break cracked objects open to reveal new paths.

The Potential of Mouthful Modes

The majority of Kirby’s new Mouthful Modes seem to lean towards helping Kirby explore, whether it’s by gliding long distances, illuminating dark areas, or propelling himself with blasts of air. It’s possible that these new alternatives to Copy Abilities have a litany of other uses, but even the mere glimpses offered so far seem invaluable. Mouthful Modes seem invaluable for Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s environmental puzzles, encouraging fans to search for unorthodox ways to progress. Mouthful Modes that focus on giving Kirby more mobility are invaluable too since Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s 3D levels promise to sprawl more than the franchise’s traditional 2D worlds.

Little by little, Nintendo and HAL keep revealing ways that Kirby and the Forgotten Land experiments with Kirby’s core concepts to change the series for the better. Kirby has spent decades inhaling enemies and objects on his adventures, but this new angle of Kirby’s inhalation power proves that there’s still a lot of unexplored potential in Kirby’s core concept. Regardless of whether Mouthful Mode becomes a staple Kirby mechanic, it’s a valuable sign of creative use of the IP from HAL. Kirby and the Forgotten Land may only be the first in a series of highly clever Kirby games

All Kirby Mouthful Modes

Click through the slideshow below to see plenty of screenshots of Kirby Mouthful Modes in action, or scroll below for a quick look at each of them.

Vending Mouth Kirby

Vending Mouth Kirby uses Soda Shot to break steel boxes and other usually unbreakable objects, like steel walls with cracks in them. The sodas left behind by Vending Mouth Kirby can also be picked up and heal Kirby, just like any other food item.

Cone Mouth Kirby

Cone Mouth Kirby breaks cracks on the floor with a pointed “Spike Downward” attack. These cracks can reveal holes in the floor hiding secrets. Break pipes to create pressurized water “elevators” for Cone Mouth Kirby.

Dome Mouth Kirby

Dome Mouth Kirby is a short-lived Mouthful Mode, used on domed containers like this. Find Waddle Dees, Maxim Tomatoes, or even switches inside Domes wobbled loose by Dome Mouth Kirby.

Stairs Mouth Kirby

Kirby can inhale a whole set of construction stairs and become… stairs. Stairs Mouth Kirby can literally fall over to smash enemies, usually unbreakable boxes, walls with cracks, and more. Kirby can also spit out the stairs and climb up them to reach high-up places.

Storage Mouth Kirby

Kirby can engulf storage containers like this one to become Storage Mouth Kirby. Wiggle Storage Mouth Kirby free from the wall to reveal secrets behind it.

Water-Balloon Mouth Kirby

Kirby can swallow mass amounts of water from a pipe to become Water-Balloon Mouth Kirby. Water-Balloon Mouth Kirby is slow and wobbly. Water-Balloon Mouth Kirby is slow and wobbly. Water-Balloon Mouth Kirby can also spray enemies, pushing them into breakable objects, or outright defeating them.

Light-Bulb Mouth Kirby

Engulf a Light Bulb to become Light-Bulb Mouth Kirby. Light-Bulb Mouth Kirby can light the way and charge batteries, triggering effects in the stage.

Ring Mouth Kirby

Swallow a large O-shaped object to become Ring Mouth Kirby. Ring Mouth Kirby blows shockwaves of air. These shockwaves can defeat enemies and destroy objects. Ring Mouth Kirby can also activate windmills with its Windblast, or propel boats with Blast Boost.

Scissor-Lift Mouth Kirby

Scissor-Lift Mouth Kirby is generally stuck to tracks, but can move up and down. This lets Kirby reach high places otherwise out of reach.

Arch Mouth Kirby

Arch-shapes inside Kirby turn Kirby into a glider of sorts – Arch Mouth Kirby! Arch Mouth Kirby is generally restricted to certain parts of a stage which challenge you with gliding through rings. Use Arch Mouth Kirby’s Spin Tackle to take out enemies while gliding.

Coaster Mouth Kirby

Swallow a roller coaster cart to become Coaster Mouth Kirby. Coaster Mouth Kirby is stuck on rails, but can turn to collect items, trigger switches, and avoid enemies.

Pipe Mouth Kirby

Pipe Mouth Kirby doesn’t have much control, and generally is fated to roll down a path at high speeds, flattening everything it encounters. It can, however, jump on its own accord and break through steel boxes.

Is Kirby and the Forgotten Land open world?

No, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is not an open-world game. The first adventure for Kirby in the 3D realm does expand on the typical 2D format that we’ve seen the character in, but it doesn’t switch up the style of level that players will need to conquer to progress.

Is Kirby and the Forgotten Land free?

Players can access a free demo for Kirby and the Forgotten Land from the eShop. Within this sample, players can test out some of the games’ Mouthful Modes and Copy Abilities along with the two-player co-op.

Is Kirby a boy or girl?

Since 1999, he has been voiced by Makiko Ohmoto. Kirby is well known for his ability to inhale objects and creatures to gain their powers, as well as his ability to float by expanding his body.

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

How long does it take to beat Kirby and the Forgotten Land? When it comes to the overall length of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, our playthrough lasted about 15 hours in total.