Kirby And The Forgotten Land: Everything We Know About Mouthful Mode

Nintendo's beloved platformer and everyone's favorite pink power absorber Kirby will be making his return following Nintendo's announcement of "Kirby and the Forgotten Land", which is scheduled to release for the Nintendo Switch on March 25. The 17th installment in the now-legendary "Kirby" series, "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" commemorates the series' 30-year anniversary of the release of its first game — "Kirby's Dream Land" — and will follow the bulbous pink protagonist as he embarks upon a courageous journey in the Forgotten Land to save a group of kidnapped Waddle Dees from the Beast Pack and return them to Waddle Dee Land.

Of course, no "Kirby" game would be complete without featuring the titular character's signature ability — swallowing things! As in past titles, Kirby will have the ability to swallow and inhale enemies and be granted their abilities and powers as a result. However, "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" has added a new twist to this formula that has caught fans' eyes: the all-new Mouthful Mode. But what is this new mode and what will it be used for? Here's everything we currently know about Mouthful Mode in "Kirby and the Forgotten Land."

As shown in its official overview trailer, "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" comes with the new Mouthful Mode, a completely new interpretation of Kirby's classic ability to swallow things and mimic their powers, even if the thing being swallowed is kinda terrible. With this new title, it seems the team at HAL Laboratory has upped the ante and made it even more fun by adding the ability for Kirby to half-swallow specific inanimate objects, taking on both their shape and abilities. 

The abilities granted in Mouthful Mode vary greatly depending on what item Kirby swallows, but each offers unique methods of playing the game, be it in terms of transportation, combat, platforming, terrain manipulation, and even uncovering secrets that would otherwise be hidden to the player. Of course, the image of Kirby wrapping its mouth and body around a car or a traffic cone might be terrifying to some. Overall, Mouthful Mode should be expected to be a useful, fun, and amusing new feature that can only add to "Kirby and the Forgotten Land's" experience.

Mouthful Mode in "Kirby and the Forgotten Land" will grant players an array of powers that will benefit them throughout their playthrough, but what exactly are these powers and how will the be represented in-game? So far, Nintendo has showcased three specific modes as part of the game's overview trailer — Car Mouth, Cone Mouth, and Ring Mouth. Car Mouth is almost exactly as it sounds — Kirby swallows a car and is then able to quickly traverse nearby terrain. Cone Mouth features Kirby imitating the shape of a traffic cone, which allows him to dig into the ground for collectibles. The last mode that is explained in detail is Ring Mouth, which allows Kirby to use his mouth to generate wind, useful for traversing water sections of the game.

Other modes that are only shown in glimpses are Light-bulb Mouth, Arch Mouth, Water-balloon Mouth, Stair Mouth, Dome Mouth, and Pipe Mouth (via Kotaku). Some of these seem self-explanatory while others are a bit vaguer. Regardless, expect many fans to experiment with all of these new abilities as they lead Kirby in his efforts to save the Waddle Dees and bring them back to safety.