Smash Bros. Countdown - #6 - Kirby Series

The Kirby games are great because Nintendo FINALLY addressed the one concern that had been plaguing gamers for so long. We liked video games a medium, but there weren't enough games where the main character ate everything that existed. Nintendo decided that, yes, this was a very valid concern and gave us the Kirby games.

Named after a lawyer who defended Nintendo during a case against Universal Studios over the use of Donkey Kong, Kirby's claim to fame is the ability to inhale next to anything around him, swallow it, and absorb it's powers. He's like if X-Men's Rogue was not southern,  not a woman, and was Kirby. The games were simple platformers in which you made your way from point A to point B, avoiding death and eating only everything. The games were set in a dream land, called Dream Land, so not only was Kirby the sole insane concept in the game, pretty much everything you saw was equally weird.

Even the boxes tell you that you're about to see some shit.

The first game in the series, Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy, saw the pink puff take his first steps towards fame, and his first leap into our hearts. Despite being designed as a pink character, the promotional artwork for the game portrayed Kirby as white, even though the director of the game Masahiro Sakurai, wanted him to be pink. Sakurai, by the way, also directed the Smash Bros. series, so, yeah, you could say he makes good games.

This was Sakurai's first game that he directed. Compared to the rest of the series, and the other game's he's directed, this game is very simple. you can almost feel him taking it safe in order to solidify his position at work. This is the only game to lack his ability to steal powers, there are only 5 levels, and the entire game can be finished in roughly 30 minutes. Kirby's Dream Land almost felt like a test to see if we could handle the hodgepodge that was Dream Land.

nerdbacon

Jesus Christ, what IS THIS!?

The game introduced us to the core concepts of the games to come. Kirby can fill himself with air and float, he cant eat things forever, and Dream Land is filled with equally weird enemies. One of the more important enemies of the series was the lazy King Dedede. No, there's no fancy way to pronounce that, he just has a goofy ass name. King Triple De usually found himself as the primary antagonist of the series despite the fact that his actions were usually due to the influence of some greater evil, but in Kirby's first outing, he was just there to steal food and be a dick.

  I straight murdered Santa for this robe.

Dedede never really does anything truly evil, but regardless you usually end up fighting him for one reason or another.

The second game, Kirby's Adventure for the original Nintendo, introduced Kirby's, now famous, ability to absorb powers and abilities by eating enemies. So if you ate a guy made of fire, Kirby could now turn into a fireball. If you ate a guy with a razor edged boomerang, you could throw them yourself. If you ate a guy who just sleeping, minding his own business, you would fall asleep.

kirby.wikia

Aww, he looks so cute after devouring the innocent.

The second game also introduced us to Kirby's other reoccurring rival, Meta Knight. He shows up during Kirby's quest to give Kirby helpful items. Other times showing up to fight Kirby in an effort to test his skills and make sure he is the right man for the job of defeating evil.

kirby.wikia

     He was also the first Nintendo character to try and bridge the gap between badass and adorable.

In a later game, Kirby Super Star, for the Super Nintendo, Meta Knight attempts to take over Dream Land and put an end to it's lazy attitude. This marks the only time a Nintendo villain ever resembled your dad.

The game also introduced Meta Knight's ship, the Halberd, and helped solidify his place as one of Nintendo's more memorable characters.

Later installments of the franchise would introduce concepts such as multiple players, touch screen antics, and the ability to combine two enemy powers into unique attacks.

For this one, he turns into fridge, leaves his door open, and raises your electric bill by a lot.

Kirby also gave another genre a shot with Kirby's Air Ride for the Nintendo Gamecube. This time Kirby hopped on various dreamy vehicles and raced other Kirbys for fun and profit. There were three modes to choose from. Air Ride, was your typical racing game fare, Top Ride was a top town racer in which characters controlled like an RC car, and City Trial had players gather power ups to be used in one competitive event. Being a Kirby game, players could also inhale enemies and use them to attack other racers.

Awwwww, now he's being negligent by sleeping while operating a vehicle.

Aside from the one racer, the series stuck with its adventure formula up to this day, every new game providing new challenges and mechanics to help get from point A to point B. Every game also introducing new characters, new powers to absorb, and new evil to destroy.

The series kept gaining popularity and in 2001, the pink puffball got his own Saturday morning cartoon. Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Followed Kirby as he fought various baddies all over Dream Land. King Dedede would get jealous of Kirby's popularity amongst the townspeople and would order a monster over the internet to try and get rid of Kirby. Being a cartoon, things didn't usually go well for Dedede, and I'd be lying if I said hi-jinx did not ensue. 

Also, jazz.

The show lasted for one 100 episode long season before reaching it's conclusion and going away forever.

The Kirby series is straight forward and fun. Every game has a very easy goal, and makes it fun to accomplish. Discovering all of the different abilities that Kirby can absorb makes every enemy encounter exciting, especially to first time players. The music and setting of Dream Land also add to the games' charm.

As the games progress, you see Sakurai trying more and more things and working harder on his games, something he was very transparent about during the development of Smash Bros. 3DS.

For Smash Bros. 3DS, the Kirby series is represented by the pink ball himself, Meta Knight, and King Dedede as playable characters, and features, Dream Land, as it was seen on the Game Boy, as a stage.

serebii.net

Just in case you needed more beeping and booping in your life.

The Kirby games are filled with cute, likable characters that go on little adventures and eat stuff. The next series has a lot in common with this one, but with more of an emphasis on breakfast.