25 years . A quarter century. It’s said early, but that’s the number of years that have passed since Kirby’s first Game Boy video game was released in 1992. Since then, the mythical pink Nintendo character has accompanied us in many great moments throughout the history of video games.
There are many video games that he has starred in and the special moments that he has made us live. It is precisely for the same reason that we wanted to pay him a special tribute by reviewing 25 of those events or curiosities that Kirby has left us for its 25th anniversary and that we hope to repeat in another 25 years.
Nintendo’s pink bag
The nickname by which Kirby is best known is probably that, Nintendo’s pink ball , something that seeing its physical appearance does not need to ask where it comes from. Of all the characters in the company that had existed up to that moment, it was probably the most “strange” of all because it was not a human or an animal. Of course, he has always been charming and that is undeniable.
Its color change
On his first Game Boy adventure Kirby was white . The reason for this curious fact is due to the fact that the power of the console did not allow the graphics to be seen in any color other than black and white. Therefore, its true color was unknown. Later it was its creator, Masahiro Sakurai, who assured that it was pink , although Shigeru Miyamoto wanted it yellow. It goes without saying who got away with it in the end.
A skill feature
Despite his tiny size, Kirby has a powerful ability that allows him to inhale everything in his path , from food to enemies, through all kinds of blocks that he can then spit or even swallow, but where does he store everything? that? In addition, it can also take in air in this way and thus move through the air at any time .
The dozens of powers
It was not until his second adventure that Kirby was granted the possibility of obtaining new powers from the enemies he swallowed. Since then we have seen him take the form of dozens of them , being able to launch fireballs, ice, laser beams, transforming into a wheel, using a sword, a hammer or the wings of a bird, among many more.
King Dedede
Every hero has his rival and King Dedede is undoubtedly the most popular in the Kirby universe. This species of penguin is equipped with a giant hammer , but it does not always use it to cause evil, since it could be said that it is actually not that evil. In fact, they have not wanted to lose the vast majority of games in the saga and on more than one occasion they have lent a hand to Kirby if necessary.
Metaknight
Something similar happens with Metaknight , which we have seen in some titles being Kirby’s main enemy and in others helping him during his adventure. This star warrior bears a great resemblance to that of our protagonist and is always equipped with a mask to hide his identity, a powerful sword and a cape with which he can modify his shape to turn it into a kind of bat wings and thus plan for the air.
Whispy Woods, Kracko and so many others
In general, Kirby’s final bosses are not known for their variety. The pink ball has had to face some of them on numerous occasions, as is the case especially with Whispy Woods , a giant tree, or Kracko , a spiky cloud. It also highlights the presence of Lolo and Lala , two characters who debuted precisely with their own video game trilogy on the NES in the late 80s.
A great friend of animals
If there are some allies who have never failed Kirby, those have come out the animals . Their presence is not one of the most popular in the saga, but they were a key piece in the gameplay of ‘Kirby’s Dream Land 2’ and in other installments.
It has always been present on Nintendo consoles
Not all the characters in the big N can boast of having visited every Nintendo console that has been published. Kirby is along with Mario or Link one of the few who has had his own video game in all of them, beginning his career on the Game Boy and so on until he starred in more than 20 different titles .
And it has even had a compilation of 10
Among all of them there is a very special one because of how varied and extensive it is. ‘ Kirby’s Fun Pack ‘ is perhaps one of the best compilations that Nintendo has released of one of its games, with eight different titles inside , including a remake of ‘Kirby’s Dream Land’. Will we get to see it in the supposed Super NES Mini?
In his spare time he plays golf
His physical appearance has allowed Kirby to star in such curious spin-offs as ‘ Kirby’s Dream Course ‘ on the Super Nintendo. Its rounded shape made it look like a golf ball , having to guide you through numerous tracks full of traps and iconic enemies of the saga.
He also plays pinball
Again Nintendo wanted to take advantage of the round shape of Kirby with ‘ Kirby’s Pinball Land ‘ on the Game Boy to turn it into a pinball . On the boards he had to face enemies and final bosses while the player tried to get the highest possible score, as is often the case in these types of games.
And he even had his own Arkanoid
You can see that Nintendo wanted to squeeze out all the ideas that came to mind when developing games that took advantage of Kirby’s round shape, hence they also published this ‘ Kirby’s Block Ball ‘ on Game Boy, a kind of Arkanoid in which our protagonist could get special powers to destroy the blocks and enemies on each screen.
At full speed with his star
To move around the world or space Kirby has always used a star, but it was not until Game Cube when Nintendo wanted to give a special use to this “vehicle”, developing a racing game called ‘Kirby Air Ride’ , which went to turn the last one in which its creator participated, Masahiro Sakurai.
A great talent for puzzles
Among all these spin-offs Kirby also had another one for Super Nintendo that had the gameplay of ‘Puyo Puyo’ . The mechanics were exactly the same, but changing the parts and characters for those of the Kirby universe. The funny thing is that this ‘ Kirby’s Ghost Trap ‘ is a North American adaptation of the Japanese game ‘Super Puyo Puyo’, where Kirby did not appear anywhere.
Making the most of the touch screen
It must be admitted that Kirby has been one of the characters that has best used the functions of the touch screen of Nintendo consoles. We have some of these examples with ‘ Kirby: The Power Brush ‘ on Nintendo DS or ‘ Kirby and the Rainbow Brush ‘ on Wii U. If when we say that its round shape has been taken advantage of for something …
Small but bully
Kirby has also been another of the characters who has known how to defend himself perfectly in the ‘ Smash Bros ‘ saga. He has never missed a date since Nintendo 64, making use of his ability to adopt new powers by extracting them from his rivals. So we could see him with Mario’s hat, Link’s hat, Captain Falcon’s helmet or hair and Falco’s beak.
But not all of his games saw the light
It is seen that not all the ideas ended up obtaining a good result, some stayed by the wayside , while others did not even have a name. One of these canceled projects was for example ‘ Kirby Tilt’ n ‘Tumble 2 ‘ for Game Cube or the version of ‘Kirby’s Air Ride’ for Nintendo 64 , although, as we have seen previously, it was finally published on Game Cube.
Characters you’ve invited
Kirby has encountered some mythical Nintendo characters on some of his adventures. Sometimes they were so hidden that you had to look closely to locate them, but in ‘Kirby’s Dream Land 3’ ROB, Samus Aran appeared or in the Megaton Punch minigame from ‘Kirby’s Fun Pack’ you could see Mario, Luigi or Birdo .
And characters that have invited him
The opposite case to the latter has also been experienced in some Nintendo titles. In ‘ Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga ‘ the promotional poster of a Kirby movie appeared and curiously in ‘ The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening ‘ he was an enemy that lived in the seventh dungeon of the game.
A soundtrack to remember
The musical themes of Nintendo games are generally very special, with easily recognizable melodies and with Kirby it was not going to be an exception. The music of Green Greens or that of Gourmet Race are probably two of the themes that everyone who is fond of the saga will know for sure. What are your favorites?
What better than to have a coffee in the company of Kirby
In Japan they have a very special affection for Kirby. So great is the fondness for Nintendo’s pink ball that until a few months ago there was the Kirby Café , a cafeteria dedicated to the characters of this universe with drinks and food based on the saga.
Merchandising to give and take
But the cafeteria hasn’t been the only thing we’ve seen Kirby in the real world. During all these years, countless products have been manufactured: t-shirts, caps, mugs, cakes, dolls, costumes and practically any item you can imagine.
He starred in his own television series
It’s been more than a decade of all this, but Kirby also had his own animated series that consisted of a hundred chapters . It was a children’s adventure and comedy series in which all the important characters of the saga appeared, such as Metaknight, King Dedede and of course Kirby himself.
A 25th anniversary to remember
Nintendo already made it clear a few weeks ago that it wanted to celebrate Kirby’s 25th anniversary in style. For this reason, he announced the free launch of ‘ Team Kirby Clash Deluxe ‘ for Nintendo 3DS, another one that will arrive in summer with the name of ‘ Kirby’s Blowout Blast ‘ and a third pending to be confirmed , although it is known that it will go on sale in winter. . What more surprises await us between now and December?
