Kirby is a media franchise created by Japanese video game designer and director Masahiro Sakurai. The franchise revolves around the titular protagonist and his adventures on the fictional planet Pop Star and beyond. The franchise is primarily developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo, with both companies jointly owning the property.
The franchise mainly consists of a video game series, which in turn mainly comprises platformers. The first game in the series, Kirby's Dream Land, was released in 1992. The second, Kirby's Adventure (1993), introduced Kirby's signature ability to copy enemy skills, allowing him to use them to progress through levels, distinguishing the series from other entries in the genre. The series also includes games in the puzzle and racing genres. Sakurai conceived the franchise as a game series for beginners, to which he partially attributes the series' success. Currently, the video game series contains thirty-nine games with over 50 million games sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises.
The franchise also includes an anime television series based on the video games, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, which aired from 2001 to 2003 and also includes a special; and several manga series.
Gameplay
The main Kirby games are side-scrolling action platforms. As Kirby, the spherical pink protagonist, the player must run, jump, and attack enemies while traversing a number of areas, solving puzzles, and battling bosses along the way. Kirby possesses the ability to inhale objects and enemies, which he can spit out as a projectile or swallow. Some of these, when swallowed, will grant Kirby a Copy Ability, which allows him to take on a characteristic of that enemy and use it in combat. For example, upon swallowing an enemy that breathes fire, Kirby becomes able to breathe fire or swallowing an enemy with a sword Kirby can use a sword. Kirby can also take in air to inflate himself and fly. In most games, he can do this for as long as he wants, but his attack options become limited to an air bullet.
Kirby games often contain a number of hidden items that unlock more parts of the game or are simple incentives to collect, and are usually required to reach 100% in-game completion. These special items are usually related to the plot of the game, most often used to create a special weapon needed to defeat the final boss such as the rainbow sword. In some games, the special weapon is optional and can be used regularly after defeating the final boss with it. These elements have remained constant in most series, with each game having its own unique twist to affect gameplay.
There are also several spin-off games in the series, which involve a variety of different video game genres such as pinball, puzzle, racing, and motion-sensor-technology-based games.
Characters The series' main protagonist is Kirby, who resides in the kingdom of Dream Land on a five-point-star-shaped Planet Popstar. Much of Dream Land is peaceful, and its people lead laid-back, carefree lives. However, when the peace in Dream Land is shattered by threats both terrestrial and alien, it is up to Kirby to save his home and those who reside there.
Besides Kirby, many characters appear throughout the series as both allies and enemies, such as King Dedede, a gluttonous bird-like creature resembling a blue penguin and self-proclaimed ruler of Dream Land. King Dedede debuted in the first game, Kirby's Dream Land, and his selfish nature or greater forces controlling him often lead him to clash with Kirby, but he mostly teams up with Kirby when a greater threat emerges, that is not controlling him, especially in the more recent games, where he is portrayed more so as a rival to Kirby as opposed to an enemy. King Dedede has appeared in all Kirby games except Kirby & the Amazing Mirror.
Another major character in the series is the enigmatic Meta Knight, a chivalrous masked creature similar in size and shape to Kirby who one day wishes to fight the strongest warrior in the galaxy and leads a group of like-minded warriors. Meta Knight has some kind of code of conduct which is why whenever he and Kirby fight, he will always offer Kirby a sword. While his unmasked face resembles Kirby's, his exact relationship with Kirby remains a mystery.
Popstar is home to a number of common creatures, the most notable of which are called Waddle Dees. They appear in some capacity in every Kirby game and are usually passive or aggressive towards the player, depending on the game. A certain Waddle Dee known as Bandana Waddle Dee, who wears a blue bandana and commonly wields a spear, occasionally assists Kirby and appears as a playable character in some games.
One recurring boss in the series is some variant of Whispy Woods, a tree, and is often the first boss in the game and has appeared in other media as well.
Development
1992–1999: Conception and first games
The Kirby franchise was conceived by Masahiro Sakurai in 1990. He drew a ball-shaped character as a prototype, but it was so well liked that it ended up becoming the final design. The character's name was originally Popopo during development, the game's title being Twinkle Popo, before Kirby's name was chosen as a tribute to the lawyer John Kirby. The first game in the Kirby series, Kirby's Dream Land for the original Game Boy, was released in Japan on April 27, 1992, and in North America, Europe and Australasia in August that year. A simple game, consisting of five levels, it introduced Kirby's ability to inhale enemies and objects, but lacked the power to obtain or use Copy Abilities. The game contains an unlockable hard mode, known as the "Extra Game", which features stronger enemies and more difficult bosses. Sakurai had intended for Kirby to have a pink coloration, but the monochrome color palette of the Game Boy made this unclear; Shigeru Miyamoto initially pictured Kirby as being yellow. While the game's Japanese box art showed Kirby with his correct pink color, the international box art featured a white Kirby, matching the in-game graphics.
The second game, Kirby's Adventure, was released in Japan on March 23, 1993, in North America on May 1, 1993, and Europe on September 12, 1993. Kirby's Adventure gave Kirby the ability to gain special powers when he ate certain enemies, called Copy Abilities; the game contained a total of 25 different ones to use. These powers replaced Kirby's inhale and could be used until Kirby sustained damage causing him to drop the ability, or the player voluntarily discarded it to obtain another one. The game firmly establishes Kirby's pink color, which was also translated to the international box art.
After Kirby's Adventure, the Kirby series received a number of spin-off games. Kirby's Pinball Land, released in November 1993 for the Game Boy, is a pinball game featuring Kirby as the pinball. Kirby's Dream Course, released in Japan on September 21, 1994, North America on February 1, 1995, and Europe on August 24, 1995, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, is a golf-based game which features an isometric graphic design. Kirby's Avalanche, released in Europe on February 1, 1995, and in North America on April 25, 1995, also for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, is a puzzle game, a westernized version of the Japanese game Puyo Puyo.
Kirby's Dream Land 2, released in Japan on March 21, 1995, in North America on May 1, 1995, in Europe on July 31, 1995, and Australasia on November 22, 1995, for the Game Boy, brought the Copy Abilities from Kirby's Adventure to a handheld system, but due to system limitations lowered the number of abilities to seven. The game introduced three rideable animal companions: Rick the hamster, Coo the owl, and Kine the ocean sunfish. Pairing up with any of these three alters how Kirby's abilities work. It also introduced Dark Matter, a reoccurring antagonist in the Kirby series.
Kirby's Block Ball, released for the Game Boy on December 14, 1995, in Japan, on March 13, 1996, in North America and on August 29, 1996, in Europe, is a variation of the game Breakout, featuring multiple levels, some of Kirby's Copy Abilities, and various enemies in unique boss battles. In 1996, a Kirby minigame series, was released via the St.GIGA satellite broadcasting system for the Satellaview. These minigames were given a unique broadcast date. Minigames included Arrange Ball, Ball Rally, Baseball, Cannonball, Guru Guru Ball, Hoshi Kuzushi, Pachinko, and Pinball.Andou, N. スーパーファミコン タイトル . Famicom House. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
Kirby Super Star (also known as Hoshi no Kirby Super Deluxe in Japan and Kirby's Fun Pak in Europe) was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan on March 21, 1996, in North America on September 20, 1996, and in Europe on January 23, 1997. Kirby Super Star is composed of seven separate games and two sub-games, with four games in the beginning and three games that would be unlocked after beating certain games. It features several characters and abilities which have not appeared since in the series. The game features "Helpers", which can be created by sacrificing the ability in use, to help the player dispatch enemies.
Released for the Game Boy in 1997, Kirby's Star Stacker is a puzzle game which involves touching two or more similar blocks together that have Kirby's animal friends on them. The game received a sequel on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1998 in Japan titled Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu (known in English as Kirby's Super Star Stacker). 26 years after its release, the game would be internationally via the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Kirby's Dream Land 3, released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on November 27, 1997, in North America and on March 27, 1998, in Japan, is a direct sequel to Kirby's Dream Land 2, as it featured the return of Kirby's animal friends. Similar to Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby's Dream Land 3 features a few Copy Abilities which were modified when Kirby paired up with one of his six animal friends. The game had a multiplayer option with the second player controlling Gooey, a recurring character. The antagonist is Dark Matter, and if certain conditions are met, Zero was fought as the true final boss. The game had a unique pastel-drawing art style and used dithering to improve visual performance.
There was also a planned game called Kid Kirby that was to be released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game would have served as a prequel to the series and would have utilized the SNES Mouse. The game was developed by DMA Design and was scheduled for release in 1995, but was canceled due to the declining sales of the mouse; however, early screenshots of the canceled game have been posted online.
2000–2004: Introduction of 3D graphics and further spin-offs
The first game to have 3D graphics in the Kirby series, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, was released on the Nintendo 64 in Japan on March 24, 2000, in North America on June 26, 2000, and in Europe on June 22, 2001. The game features a compound ability system that allows two of the seven abilities in the game to be combined, making a new compound ability. It also marked the first playable instance of King Dedede, where sections of some stages had Kirby riding piggyback while King Dedede attacked enemies and obstacles with his hammer. A Waddle Dee is also playable, by helping Kirby with certain sections in the game. It is considered a direct follow-up to Kirby's Dream Land 3 due to the reemergence of Dark Matter and the final boss, albeit in a different form, called 02 (Zero Two). It also included three four-player minigames.