Try Kirby and the Forgotten Land early with its new demo

A Kirby and the Forgotten Land demo is now available, letting you try the pink protagonist's next adventure ahead of its March 25 release date. 

The demo is free to download on Switch, no Nintendo Switch Online membership required. It's a limited vertical slice of the game, but it should make the three-week wait feel a little shorter. 

The demo launched on the heels of a new trailer from Nintendo UK, and beyond showing off a range of environments and enemies, this overview also delivers a bit more detail on Kirby's new power-ups and the game's co-op support. 

Several classic Kirby abilities are returning in the Forgotten Land, including the sword, needle, and bomb powers, and new options include a burrowing drill and a musket-like ranged attack. Familiar favorites can also be evolved via blueprints hidden around the world. The old hammer ability, for instance, can be evolved into a toy hammer with more range and damage. Evolved abilities also change the look of Kirby's power-up form, often pretty dramatically. 

The heavily-memed mouthful mode which, among other things, straight-up turns Kirby into a car, gets some screen time as well. Kirby can gobble cars, cones, rings, light bulbs, giant arcs, staircases, domes, pipes – seemingly anything that isn't nailed down, and probably some stuff that is. Some mouthful mode powers also play into co-op; another player can ride Kirby as he sails around as a giant arch, for example. Your player two can also help out in combat or minigames, which is a lot more involved than the co-op in the likes of, say, Super Mario Odyssey.  

Thanks to this bizarre limited-edition bonus, Kirby can now consume your backpack in real life.