50. Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch)
One of the few current gen games on my Top 50, Forgotten Land is Kirby's long awaited jump to 3D, sticking the landing 20+ years after his platforming peers.
Most of what this game has to offer is broadly similar to other post-2010 Kirby games. Fun levels, gameplay variety via copy abilities and the gimmick of the day (Mouthful Mode), cute visuals, surprisingly strong music, a bit of subtle storytelling, etc. What gets this game just barely onto this list is how well much of this transitions to the third dimension. The 3D movement and Waddle Dee collecting mechanic does a good job at incentivizing players to explore levels and experiment with the game's mechanics, while never becoming too obtuse.
A lot of the heavy lifting is handled by Kirby's base mechanics. Kirby has had a Guard ability for years, but dodging an attack and entering Witch Time adds a bit of depth to the 3D combat, with interesting scenarios provided by a strong lineup of boss encounters. On the other hand, Kirby's ability to fly has been somewhat nerfed to make 3D traversal a challenge, though it still puts most platforming heroes to shame.
Forgotten Land is also notably willing to try new things, even during the series's 3D transition. Things like a Hub area, collecting Waddle Dees by completing challenges, Treasure Roads, and so on are new elements to the series, and would be enough to make the game feel fresh if this were a 2D game. The spirit of this creativity also shows in the abundance of briefly used mouthful modes and the odd minigame. This game could have been a simple transition to 3D, but it chooses to build upon its legacy in other ways at the same time.
That said, there are a few flaws that hold this game back from being the ultimate Kirby experience. Most notably, the game's roster of copy abilities is shockingly limited (12), especially compared to the previous Star Allies (28). HAL seems to have had trouble translating many classic abilities to 3D, and although Mouthful Mode does revive some of the ideas of abilities like Wheel, Stone, and Water, it falls short of the extensive movesets available to almost every ability in recent 2D entries. Upgrading abilities is another method used to add variety, but it can result in some latter sections of the game becoming too easy, especially for players who take their time collecting treasures and completing challenges.
Regardless, the foundation laid in Forgotten Land is very strong, and if HAL Laboratory builds on this foundation with a deeper pool of abilities, I'm confident that the next Kirby game will be excellent as well.
(I doubt I'll write this much about most games in my Top 50, just because most of them have already had their praises shouted to the heavens.)
