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Kirby: From Dream Land to Epic Yarn…

With Kirby’s Epic Yarn just a few months away, it is time to take a look back at one of the most beloved mascots in Nintendo’s history and see his road to glory. Kirby has starred in over 20 games since his debut, so let’s start listing these off, shall we?

1992

Kirby’s Dream Land
Nintendo Game Boy


Portable gaming is how Kirby made is start on the original Nintendo Game Boy 20 Years ago. Platform games were a huge market due to the success of Mario and Sonic, and one game designer by the name of Masahiro Sakura had an idea for a new game. Sakura first made came up with the idea for Kirby at the age of 19. While working at HAL Labratory just a couple of years later, his first title and claim to fame would be complete, “Kirby’s Dream Land”.

Kirby’s Dream Land was developed for the original Nintendo Game Boy. It ran smoothly and looked very simple. If you didn’t notice, Kirby was white back then, which was mainly due to the fact that the Nintendo Game Boy was a non-color system at the time. The story of the game is that the greedy King Dedede stole all of the food in Dream Land for himself and Kirby had to get it back.

Kirby had many abilities to help him on his way. He could inhale enemies and choose to swallow them or spit them out. Kirby also could fill up with air and fly around the screen, helping him jump to heights otherwise unreachable.

The first bosses introduced were:

Poppy Bros. Sr.
Whispy Woods
Lololo and Lalala
Kaboola
Kracko
King Dedede

Kirby’s Dream Land was extremely easy to pick up and play. With friendly environments and memorable music, Kirby caught on fast and the legend had started.

Fun Fact!
-If you beat the game, you could unlock the code for hard mode, which upped the difficulty quite a bit just by holding the DOWN button on the D-pad, B and SELECT all at once.

1993
Kirby’s Adventure
Nintendo Entertainment System


Known in Japan as “Kirby of the Stars: The Story of the Fountain of Dreams”, Kirby’s Adventure was released on the NES in 1993. This was Kirby’s first non-portable game and the second in the series. Kirby’s Adventure is made up out of 7 Cloudy Worlds. Each time you beat a level within a world, a door opens up to move on. As you reach a boss, the next world’s door will open and you keep going until you reach the final boss.

Kirby’s Adventure also was the first game where Kirby could inhale enemies and take their power by swallowing them, giving Kirby the opponents special ability. It was also in vibrant color and featured one of the most famous characters from the series, Meta Knight.

The story had Dedede breaking the magical Star Rod into 7 pieces and giving a fragment to each boss, including himself. Kirby must retrieve each star fragment so the inhabitants of can dream again in peace in Dream Land.

Bosses in the game include:
Whispy Woods
Paint Roller
Mr. Shine & Mr Bright
Kracko
Heavy Mole
Meta Knight
King Dedede

Fun Fact!
Keep an eye out for Meta Knight, as for when you defeat him, his mask will fall off very briefly, revealing that he looks the same as Kirby, but with dark blue color and yellow eyes.

Kirby’s Pinball Land
Nintendo Game Boy

Just one year after the release of Kirby’s Dream land, Kirby bounced his way back onto the Game Boy with his first of many spin-off titles.
This game played Just like any other pinball game, but had Kirby as the Ball. Each table had three floors Kirby had to bounce himself up to. Waiting for him at the top is a warp star that takes Kirby to the boss. After a table is beaten Kirby would go to the next until he finally meets up with Dedede.

There were also three mini-games as well that can be accessed at the second section of each table.

Bosses in this game include:

Whispy Woods
The Poppy Bros.
Kracko
King Dedede

Fun Fact!
At the menu screen, hold LEFT on the D-Pad, B, and SELECT to unlock a bonus game.

1995
Kirby’s Dream Course
Super Nintendo Entertainment System


Yes, Kirby’s first appearance on the SNES was in a spin-off. This was a fun one though. Kirby’s Dream Course is like a game of golf, you control Kirby as you took aim and shot him into various enemies on each field in a set number of turns. In true Kirby fashion, you could also obtain certain enemies abilities to help complete each level. There are 8 courses and 8 holes in a course. To make the hole for a level appear, you must take out each enemy on the screen.

Dream Course was also had a lot of first time moments for the Kirby series. It was the first 3-D Kirby game as well and the first Kirby to include multi-player.

Fun Fact!
Listen closely to the sound effects, as they are from Earthbound. The games were being developed side by side.

Kirby’s Dream Land 2
Nintendo Game Boy


After nearly 2 years, Kirby returned to star in a new platform game, the follow-up to Kirby’s Dream Land for the Game Boy, Kirby’s Dream Land 2.

This time Kirby was trying to restore the Rainbow Bridge which was stolen by a Dark Matter and possessed King Dedede. Kirby now had 3 animal friends that will help him on his journey. Rick The Hamster, who is ice resistant and runs faster, Coo the Owl, who can carry Kirby over tough situations and breeze through the tough winds, and Kine the Sunfish, who can carry Kirby underwater for much easier swimming. The animals could now use abilities if an enemy is swallowed while Kirby is with one of them.

After selling one million units, Kirby’s Dream Land 2 became a smash hit and also featured Super Game Boy features which would give the unit a special theme and play the game with a new color scheme.

Bosses in the game include:
Whispy Woods
Nruff and Nelly
Sweet Stuff
Ice Dragon
Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright
Kracko
King Dedede
Dark Matter

Fun Fact!
Get the game 100% complete to unlock option mode, which includes a sound test, mini game, and a boss battle game.

Kirby’s Avalanche (Kirby’s Ghost Trap:PAL Region)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System


This game is very special to me. When I was 8, I seen a commercial for Kirby Superstar on TV, I asked for it for Christmas, and by mistake received this title. I did not play many puzzle games at the time so it was a new concept as well as my first Kirby game. Kirby’s Avalanche may have been a Puyo-Pop Clone, but it by far is one of the best puzzle games I have played as well as my introduction to Kirby.

This game was another spin-off in the Kirby series, and is built exactly like “Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine” but with more updated graphics and sound. Each character has their own voice and of course, as mentioned is in fact a puyo-pop clone.

Players would be put up against one enemy at a time, until you reached the final boss in a fast-paced puzzler. The more combos you used on a foe, the bigger the avalanche would be on the other side. Once the third row filled to the top, the game was over. Kirby is in the middle of the stage usually dancing or attempting to break out.
This game had small cut scenes of Kirby talking to opponents before the match would begin which for Kirby to talk was never seen before.

Main Bosses Include:
Heavy Mole
Mr. Shine and Mr Bright
Kracko
Meta Knight
King Dedede

Fun Fact!
For a custom menu, hold down A + B + X + Y on controller 2 and then reset the game. Your custom menu will now be available.


Kirby Super Star
Super Nintendo Entertainment System


Kirby Super Star is argued among gamers of being one of the best games of all time. There is a very good reason for the argument. There are 9 games in total on the cart, graphics have never looked better, and 7 of the 9 games are all platforming levels.

The Games Include
Spring Breeze: This is a remake of the original Kirby’s Dream Land, with power ups added as well as the ability to use and enemy to take with you for assistance.

Dyna-Blade: A giant bird has disturbed the land’s crops, and Kirby must cross four levels to get to and defeat the large bird, Dyna-Blade.

Gourmet Race: Kirby must race Dedede to the finish on three platforming levels. Extra modes include racing Dedede’s ghost and going solo trying to get the fastest time possible.

The Great Cave Offensive: While exploring a forest, Kirby falls in a cave and must collect 60 treasure chests in four worlds to get free. The treasure chests are sometimes shout outs to other Nintendo characters, such as Mr. Saturn, the Tri-Force, Screw Attack and Captain Falcon’s Helmet.

Revenge of Meta Knight: The first appearance of Meta Knight’s ship, the Halberd was in this game. Kirby must fight the crew to eventually destroy the Halberd in a set number of time.

Milky Way Wishes: The Sun and the Moon are fighting, Kirby must defeat all the world’s bosses and reach the giant Comet Nova at the end to make a wish. Marx is the villain behind all of this, so Kirby must also defeat him to regain order with the sun and moon. Abilities are gained through items in Milky Way Wishes, not inhaling enemies like most Kirby games. Kirby collects “Deluxe Ability Pedestals” which allows the player to choose from a list of powers what to use.

The Arena: Enjoy the boss battles? This will be the game for you. Taking control of Kirby, the player must defeat bosses in endurance rounds with pedestals and maxim tomatoes in-between to assist. Marx makes his appearance yet again as the final boss.

Samurai Kirby: There was a mini game called “Quick Draw” on Kirby’s Adventure that is much like this. Players will have to use timing to defeat enemies in a fast samurai quick draw match.

Megaton Punch: This mini was all about using timing, the player would have to knock over a stack of platforms in the right place at the right time attempting to damage the opponent.

Fun Fact!
Knuckle Joe who can also be seen in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an assist trophy made his first appearance in Kirby Super Star.


Kirby’s Block Ball
Nintendo Game Boy


Kirby’s Block Ball is much like Breakout. Well, it is breakout. You must break all the blocks with Kirby as your ball. Each time you finish a level you move up to the next. The game is full of the Kirby style charm, with enemies and abilities to help you beat stages with ease.
Block Ball has 11 full levels and mini-games mixed in.

Fun Fact!
Look for Whispy Woods, he will warp you to a level further in the game!

1996


Kirby’s Star Stacker
Nintendo Game Boy


Star Stacker was a unique puzzle game released in early 1996. This was also the next appearance of Kirby’s animal friends from Kirby’s Dream Land 2. The point to the game was to match up the appropriate tiles with a star in the middle to get the star, which added to the score.With 5 modes of difficulty, It was fun and addictive and also supported linked VS mode as well as a Time Attack mode. A version was also released in Japan for the SNES under the name “Kirby no KiraKira Kizzu”

Fun Fact: Beat every level on each difficulty to unlock King Kirby!

1997


Kirby’s Dream Land 3
Super Nintendo Entertainment System


Near the end of the Super Nintendo’s lifespan, we seen the next sequel Kirby’s Dream Land 3 on the SNES. This title was not very much like the first 2 in the series though.

The trademark standards for a Kirby platformer were back, along with a blue blob that could be summoned at any time by the name of Gooey, Kirby must yet again save the world from the evil Dark Matter.
Rick the Hamster, Coo the Owl and Kine the Sunfish were all back as well as many new friends to help along the 5 new worlds to go through. Each world consisted on the standard 6 levels with a boss at the end.

Bosses in the game include:

Whispy Woods
Acro the Whale
Pon and Con
Ado (Ado drew beasts on his canvas to come to life: Ice beast, Spark Monster, Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright, Kracko and finally Ado himself)
King Dedede
The Dark Matter

The art of Dream Land 3 was done in pastel, much like Yoshi’s Island for the SNES. It is a little harder to find now due to how late it was released the the SNES lifespan, but if you find it, it will be a gem in any gamer’s collection

Fun Fact!
Beat all the mini-games, and the “?” Menu will open, allowing you to see all introductions to world and all 3 endings.

2000
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Nintendo 64


Nearly three years passed without a new title when Kirby 64 released. The game was a side scrolling platformer much like the titles before, but with new power ups and new abilities that would effect game play. This was also a true sequel to Dream Land 3.

The story is “One peaceful day on the planet Ripple Star, a dark cloud covers the planet. The queen of Ripple Star orders a fairy named Ribbon to call for help. She gets one crystal and tries to fly away, but is defeated by the Dark Matter minions. She crashes on a planet called Pop Star, losing 72 crystal pieces in the process. Kirby finds one crystal and gives it to Ribbon, whereupon the two set out to find the others.”

You have allies on your side to help which are King Dedede, Adeleine, and Waddle Dee. There were also 7 worlds to go to to try and collect all of the shards and stop the Dark Matter.

The most innovative new ability was to inhale your enemies and take their power, but this time you could combine two different abilities and make a completely new and more powerful one.

Bosses in the game include:
Whispy Woods
Pix
Acro the Whale
Magman
HR-H
Miracle Matter
Zero Two

Fun Fact!
After appearing in all of the Kirby platform games, this was the first without Kracko as a boss.

2001


Kirby’s Tilt ‘n’ Tumble
Nintendo Game Boy Color

Due to a built an accelerometer, This game was an unusual pink color with a much bigger cartridge than most game boy color titles. You have to move your game boy to make Kirby move, much like a pinball machine. Each level has a secret star you must guide Kirby to at the end. If you jolted the Game Boy, it was the same as a shake in a pinball machine, causing Kirby to jump. To get the full enjoyment of this title, you must use the Game Boy Color as the movement is detected via the cartridge.

There were a total of 8 worlds with 4 levels in each. Collect the stars and beat the game. This was a fun game that really pushed forth movement control in the series. A sequel was planned for the Gamecube but never released.

Fun Fact!
Complete the game once to get free mini-game access!

2002


Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Nintendo Game Boy Advance


Nightmare in Dream Land was a remake with upgraded graphics and gameplay from Kirby’s Adventure of the NES. There is now up to 4 player multi-player via the Game Boy link cable, 32-bit graphics, and many replacements in enemies.

One of the most memorable features was Meta Knightmare, where after you completed the game as Meta Knight. You could not inhale enemies or save the game for this mode.

Fun Fact!
Suck up more than 2 enemies and the game will choose one random ability out of the 24 in game for you to use.

2003


Kirby’s Air Ride
Nintendo Gamecube


This game was originally due to hit the Nintendo 64, but after being pushed back, was released on the Gamecube years later.

Kirby’s Air Ride was a racing title that included the famous ability inhale and many other various power ups while you raced against many other opponents to the finish on 8 different courses using Kirby’s Warp star or 13 other appropriately themed vehicles to glide over the track. The other modes were Top Ride, with only Kirby being playable as well as not being able to glide. The camera was set up from a top-down view as well.
City Trial is where a player would roam to find power-ups and upgrades for their vehicle. This could also be done in Free Mode allowing up to four players to get into the action as well and was also exclusive to use the Dragoon and the Hydra Machines.

Aside from Kirby and his other forms, you could also play as Meta Knight, who used his wings as a way to get around instead of a Vehicle. Dedede was also playable and can attack using his powerful hammer.

I find this title a huge fan service for fans of the series mainly due to all the nostalgic bosses and enemies thrown in, such as Dyna-Blade, Bronto Burt, and many other familiar environments and music from the series.

Fun Fact!
The Dragoon was later added to Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a one hit K.O. attack used after collecting all of it’s pieces.

2004
Kirby and the Amazing Mirror
Nintendo Game Boy Advance


Kirby and the Amazing Mirror was another platform entry with a fresh new story for the GBA. The level set-up is completely different as it was much less linear. I have always thought of the lay-out much like the Metroid series. Several new powers were added, such as Angel, Smash and Missile.

The story is deeper than most other Kirby titles, as a Dark Meta Knight from a mirror world has cut Kirby into 4 differently colored versions of himself. The real Meta Knight shows upto try to save Kirby, but is defeated and cut into 8 different pieces and it is up to Kirby to defeat all of the clones and save the original Meta Knight from this dark force.

Kirby also now has a cell phone where he can call his copies at any time for assistance. Kirby’s inhale ability is also somewhat now more limited as he now needs to exhale.

The bosses in this game include:
King Golem
Moley
Kracko
Mega Titan
Gobbler
Wiz
Dark Meta Knight
Master Hand & Crazy Hand (Yes, from the Super Smash series)
Dark Mind

Fun Fact!
Looking for Dedede? This is one of the very few titles he did not make an appearance in.

2005


Kirby’s Canvas Curse

Nintendo DS


Kirby finally makes it to the Nintendo DS! But there is a big difference. You are now taking control of the Power Paintbrush as the evil Drawcia has turned Dream Land into a paint themed world and left Kirby as a ball.

With full touch-screen controls, you must draw a path for Kirby to roll down and protect him from enemies. You can tap Kirby and make him jump or dash. You can also stun enemies with the same process for Kirby to roll into and destroy. Playable characters also include Waddle Dee, Waddle Doo, King Dedede, and Meta Knight.

Bosses in this game include:
Kracko
Paint Roller
King Dedede
Drawcia (2 Forms)

Fun Fact!
Beat the game 100% to get a new color on your title screen!

2006
Kirby: Squeak Squad
Nintendo DS


New enemies, new techniques, and a whole new original story. Kirby Squeak Squad follows Kirby as he tries to retrieve stolen goods from the infamous Squeak Squad and save the day yet again.

The controls are just like the traditional Kirby games, except for the ability inhaling like previous games. Now the bottom screen is Kirby’s stomach. You can inhale abilities through bubbles, and mix them together in Kirby’s stomach, creating a new ability or using the one you already had. You can also inhale power stars which you can mix into one giant star and spit up at the enemy in one powerful attack.
The game supports multi-card multi-player and single-card download play for 3 special mini-games based on the Squeak Squad. You could also, like Amazing Mirror, change your color with spray-paint.

Bosses in this game include:
King Dedede
Mrs. Moley
Mecha Kracko
Mecha Hermit Crab
Fire Owl
Daroach
Meta Knight
Dark Daroach
Dark Nebula

Fun Fact!
Play this game on your birthday and the game will give you a special “Happy Birthday” message on the menu screen.

2008


Kirby: Super Star Ultra
Nintendo DS


For Nintendo DS owners, this game packs quite the punch. All of the original games are on this new remake of Kirby: Super Star plus many new games and mini-games.

New games are as follows:
Revenge of the King: A much harder version of Spring Breeze. It includes brand new level layouts and small changes to the original as well.

Meta-Knightmare Ultra: Players can now take Meta Knight into Spring Breeze, Dyna Blade, The Great Cave Offensive, Revenge of Meta Knight, and Milky Way Wishes as a playable character. Scores can also be recorded as well.

Helper to Hero: Now you can take your ally into the “Arena” mode.

The True Arena: This game lets you fight all of the bosses from the remake “Revenge of the King”, with four more including Marx Soul, Galacta Knight, Wham Bam Jewel and Masked Dedede. As a reward, it also includes a comedic blooper reel after completion.

Kirby Card Swipe: A quick draw card game where patience and timing will help you win on the touch-screen based game.

Kirby on the Draw: A shooting game that you must use your stylus to hit the targets.

Snack Tracks: Kirby is at the bottom of rows of conveyor belts with food. You must grab the food and miss the bombs while paying attention to sudden change in the conveyor belts.

Fun Fact!
In Spring Breeze, go to the left of the screen when fighting Dedede. You will see Mario characters mixed in the crowd.

I personally thought Kirby: Superstar Ultra may have been Kirby’s final bow as itwas so packed full and the series had been through many stages over time…until E3 of 2010 anyway.

2010


Kirby’s Epic Yarn
Nintendo Wii


This game truly stole the show for many watching including myself. Not a whole lot is known, but we do know  it puts Kirby back at his platforming roots in a new adventure with a world made of fabric and Kirby is made of yarn. Your yarn body seems to come into play on many occasions and gives you special abilities to help you along your way. The game will also feature multi-player and will be using the Wii-mote for some motion controls to throw in.

Kirby has had a long journey, and has re-invented himself just about more than any character out there. I keep going back to the little pink puff because in every reincarnation, he does it right in my opinion. The Kirby series may be simple, but is always solid when it comes to making a fun game. I didn’t even give mention of the 3 Super Smash Bros. games, or the Satellaview attachment for the Super Famicom that Kirby had a game in as well as the series is so strong it can hold it’s own just fine.  Kirby knows how to switch it up and draw gamers in to wherever or whatever he may be. From the looks of it, his newest journeys shall be…”epic”.

Let us know what you thought of this EPIC Journey with Kirby … Leave a comment below and tell us what your favourite KIRBY game is.  One lucky winner will be picked to win a random NINTENDO DS GAME !!  Make sure you let us know what part of the world your from as well 🙂

Hey guys : Our Lucky Winner for the Kirby From Dream Land to Epic Yarn is :

Marvin

Who said :

My favorite Kirby game was of course Kirby’s Dream Land for the Nintendo Gameboy. I was only 7 at the time of it’s release and I remembered being so in love with my NES. I pleaded to my parents to please get me a Nintendo Gameboy and when they did they bought me Kirby’s Land along with the system. Let me tell you, having to walk around wherever you want and play games was euphoric to me, especially playing something as awesome as KDL. I probably played that game from beginning to end 3 or 4 times, and I still have it on my self as part of my collection. Whenever I get the batteries (lots of batteries for the old gameboy XD) I like to play it for nostalgia’s sake. I am definitely looking forward to Kirby Epic Yarn.

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