Shacknews Best Nintendo Switch Game of 2022 - Kirby and the Forgotten Land

It was a big year for Nintendo’s omni powerful pink puffball. Nintendo celebrated Kirby’s 30th anniversary in a big way throughout 2022 and it was punctuated by a mainline release: Kirby and the Forgotten Land. This wasn’t just a stellar showing for our pal, Kirby. It was our favorite thing we played on the Nintendo Switch all year long and earned our Shacknews Award for the best game on Nintendo’s hybrid platform in 2022.

Don’t get us wrong because there were some very fun titles on Nintendo Switch this year, not the least of which were Splatoon 3, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Bayonetta 3, just to name a few. However, Kirby and the Forgotten Land was good medicine for a trying year. It was joy and charm incarnate. Beyond just being a Kirby game that did all the things we'd want a mainline Kirby game to do, Forgotten Land also included its own silly twists that pushed it beyond the usual buffet of Kirby goodness.

Mouthful Mode was just silly, in so many good ways. Kirby being able to mostly swallow and operate a number of large objects such as cars, boats, planes, and more made for such amusing levels and gameplay. On top of that, being able to play co-op with Bandanna Waddle Dee, going fishing, managing the Waddle Dee Village, and post-game challenge levels really made Kirby and the Forgotten Land a highly enjoyable and memorable time. On top of that, all of it was presented with the sheer vibrant color and charm we’ve come to expect out of Kirby games through the years.

In a year of good Kirby, The Forgotten Land was a true buffet of gaming goodness for the franchise. For all of that and more, Kirby and the Forgotten Land narrowly edged out the competition and captured our vote for the Shacknews Best Nintendo Switch Game of 2022.

Check out our Year of the Games: 2022 article to see all of the other Shacknews Awards that have been announced so far.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.