Pre-order bonuses for games can often range in a pretty wide variety from underwhelming starting equipment, to flashy cosmetics that do little more than prove a player picked up a game early. However, the pre-order forKirby and the Forgotten Landappears to be making use of the incrediblymeme-worthy Mouthful Modethat will be making its debut in the upcoming title.
This particular pre-order is actually a rare one, in that it won’t include anything new for use insideKirby and the Forgotten Land, but is instead a real-life item for players to carry around and show off their appreciation for the game. The item also only appears to be available to players looking to pick up the game in Hong Kong, rather than being a world-wide piece of bonus merchandise.
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Players who order their copies ofKirby and the Forgotten Landearly will also receive a special backpack cover that is designed after the Mouthful Mode that appears in the game. The Mouthful Mode itself is a new gameplay mechanic coming toForgotten Landwhere Kirby will try eating cars, traffic cones, and other large objects, but his mouth gets stuck over it instead of swallowing it whole as he usually does. So, this new design makes the backpack cover look like an oversized version of Kirby that is trying and failing to eat the owner’s backpack, or could even look like he’s trying to eat the owner.
Fans have already quickly begun reacting to this, either hopeful that Nintendo will extend this pre-order offer to other countries and regions, or that these covers might wind up for sale online somewhere. Considering how popular theKirby and the Forgotten Land’s Mouthful Modehas already become, it isn’t a surprise that fans are quick to want to get their hands on a piece of real-world merchandise. However, there doesn’t appear to be any intention on Nintendo’s part to expand the release of this pre-order bonus beyond Hong Kong.
With Nintendo appearing to want to bundle every new game with real-life toys, such as the previously releasedamibos supported byKirby and the Forgotten Land, more of this type of merchandise seems like a great idea to push those sales. Hopefully, Kirby fans in other regions will get some of their own real-life collectables by the time this new title releases. Otherwise, it looks like online second-hand stores might see a spike in traffic as fans look to pick up any of these Mouthful Mode backpack covers they can.
Kirby and the Forgotten Landis set to release March 25 for the Switch.
