Kirby and the Forgotten Land is becoming the fastest-selling title in the Kirby franchise. Plenty of gamers knew the pink puffball from appearing in Super Smash Bros., but now they're getting a taste of his excellent blend of platforming, action, and adorableness. His copy ability is still as popular as ever as well!
Forgotten Land does shrink down the total pool of abilities to twelve from the usual upwards of twenty. But Forgotten Land compensates for this with its upgrade system. Every ability has at least one upgraded form, with most having two. (Note: For the purposes of this list, the abilities will be considered categorically instead of by individual upgrades)
Sleep
Sleep has been one of the most common copy abilities in the series. However, that's not because it's useful. Sleep is a punishment. It causes Kirby to fall asleep for a few seconds and then wake up, losing the ability.
The enemy that gives Sleep serves as a beginner trap for the Kirby franchise. Trophies that hand out the ability are frequently placed as obstacles. Upgrading the ability into Deep Sleep in Forgotten Land does let the nap give Kirby a random boon, however. Some fans were hoping it would upgrade into an offensive ability like in the obscure 3DS game Kirby Battle Royale.
Fire
Fire is one of Kirby's staple abilities. It's often used to light fuses and burn enemies. In the earliest days, the fireball dash attack was a separate ability called Burning. Thankfully, this ability is standard issue in the new game. However, it's still not one of the most useful.
Fire has gained the ability to light small patches of burning ground. This can deal continuous damage, but it's not all that good. The upgrades Volcanic and Dragon Fire both help the ability's damage, but it ultimately is too limited. It doesn't deal enough damage and is short-ranged.
Cutter
There are a lot of things to know about Nintendo's Kirby. Some casual fans probably don't realize that his Final Cutter technique from Smash Bros comes from the Cutter ability. This is a deadly combo ending melee attack that all the forms of Cutter have in Forgotten Land. But despite its most famous appearance, Cutter is primarily a ranged ability.
The ability has Kirby throw out a blade that returns to him like a boomerang. When upgraded, it becomes Chakram Cutter. This throws two blades at once. But the final upgrade, Buzzsaw Cutter, lets Kirby fire as many blades as he wants as true projectiles.
Needle
Needle is an ability that's been re-imagined quite substantially for Forgotten Land. While traditionally, Needle would cause Kirby to grow spikes all over himself, it's usually stationary. In this game, it transforms Kirby into a ball of destruction that picks up enemies. It's similar to a snowball ability from previous games.
Speaking of previous games, the first upgrade brings to mind Kirby 64. Clutter Needle resembles that game's Double Needle. But it's ultimately the final upgrade, Crystal Needle, that's the most useful. It does the most damage and fires projectiles upon the end of activation.
Tornado
Tornado is a lot like Needle. Both of these abilities turn Kirby into a giant hitbox. But Needle might seem preferable at first because it's more controllable. Tornado has a tendency to not obey player commands.
But upon upgrading to Fleur Tornado, it becomes a lot more manageable. And despite looking more ferocious, the final form, Storm Tornado, is very controllable. In fact, it actually raises Kirby up so he can cross gaps and water while using the ability. The storm clouds it generates also make it the highest damaging form.
Ice
To the uninformed, Ice would seem like a carbon copy of Fire. Just like Fire's hot breath, Ice's cold breath isn't that far-reaching. But the ability comes with several other boons, like the ability to move on the surface of liquids. Attacking enemies with it freezes them into ice blocks that can be pushed around as projectiles or deal thawing damage in the case of bosses.
With upgrades, the ability becomes more potent. Frosty Ice lets Kirby create ice blocks even without enemies. And the final form, Blizzard Ice, gives it an extremely long range. These two factors make it a much more useful ability than Fire, freezing enemies even colder than the Earth found in Kirby lore.
Crash
Crash would undoubtedly be among the best if not for one thing. This ability is a screen-clearing weapon that decimates enemies. But it's single-use, making it a gimmick that's not even worth bringing into boss battles. It does receive an upgrade that makes it more useful, though.
Its only upgrade is the Time Crash. This ability not only clears the screen but also stops time. Enemies that get too close to Kirby in the stopped time are defeated and add more potency to the time dilation effect. Unfortunately, it can't really be counted on to cheese bosses, or it would be even better.
Ranger
Ranger Kirby has been a long time coming. Despite his cute appearance, Kirby has had a long history with firearms. He takes up a blunderbuss with the Ranger ability, he pulls out a second for the Noble Ranger, and he trades it in for a laser pistol in Space Ranger.
Every version of Ranger has its own advantages and disadvantages. The first form is a good all-rounder. The Noble form requires charging up but does rapid-fire damage. The Space Ranger can deal massive damage to bosses but is slower.
Bomb
It may surprise some to see Bomb among Kirby's better abilities. It doesn't have the greatest damage output, after all. And the Chain and Homing Bomb upgrades can often cause premature detonation, as they link fuses with nearby bombs and enemies. It makes it a sub-optimal choice for dealing with bosses.
But not everything is about boss battles. Bomb is extremely useful on regular enemies. The homing properties of the final upgrade give it unlimited range as the player needn't aim. This makes its utility unmatched during the standard levels.
Drill
Before even the eye-catching Mouthful Mode, one of the first things fans learned about Kirby and the Forgotten Land was its new abilities. It only has two, with Ranger receiving a lot of the initial fan reaction. But it turns out Drill was the ability to keep an eye on.
This ability lets Kirby tunnel underneath the Earth, allowing him to avoid enemies. If he connects his tunnels, it creates a small Earthquake that damages enemies above. The first upgrade, Pencil Drill, fires a projectile when resurfacing. But the Twin Drill has a drill stick above the surface while digging, giving Kirby a lethal approach option.
Hammer
Hammer has always been one of the most useful abilities. It's often time used to defeat some of Kirby's toughest boss battles. And that's no different in Forgotten Land. While formidable in its default form, upgrading it can really scramble some bosses.
Its first upgrade comes in the form of the Toy Hammer. This one hits faster, which actually makes it preferred over its upgrade for some. The final upgrade is the Masked Hammer, received from King Dedede in the postgame. While all forms of the Hammer have a devastating uppercut spin when charged, the dual-wielding Masked Hammer does the most damage.
Sword
Veterans of the Kirby franchise might initially be a bit disappointed when they get their hands on Sword for the first time. It's missing a lot of its iconic moves, like its sword beam attack and slide. The upgraded version, Gigant Sword, gives it a massive hitbox that takes a bit of a sting off the lackluster move-set. But the final two upgrades are where it's at.
The next upgrade is Meta Knight Sword. This ability returns those missing abilities to Kirby's side. But more devastating is the massive damage it does, especially during its spin attack and at full health when the sword beam activates. The final upgrade, Morpho Knight Sword, is a postgame feature that gives it the properties of every ability and lets Kirby fire sword beams at any health percent, creating a true powerhouse ability.