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[IbizaPocholo]

Nintendo’s Kirby is officially 30-years-old today | VGC

The pink puffball made his debut on April 27…

www.videogameschronicle.com

HAL Laboratory‘s much-loved platformer star made his debut on this day in 1992, when Kirby’s Dream Land was released on the Game Boy in Japan.

Kirby was born out of a fortunate accident, in that he wasn’t originally supposed to look anything like the way he does now.

Initially called Popopo, his debut game was originally going to be called Harukaze Popopo (Popopo of the Spring Breeze) before HAL renamed it Twinkle Popopo.

Because the character design wasn’t yet final, the development team at HAL used a simple round blob as a placeholder until they had time to make something more detailed.

However, as development progressed, they grew fond of the blob, and decided he looked fine the way he was.

Nintendo and HAL decided to change Popopo’s name to make him appeal to western audiences. As confirmed by Shigeru Miyamoto in a Japanese interview from 1993, Kirby was named after a Nintendo of America lawyer.

John Kirby, who passed away in 2019, successfully defended Nintendo when it was sued by Universal Studios, who claimed that Donkey Kong infringed on its copyright for King Kong.

To thank him for helping it win the lawsuit, Nintendo named the Kirby character after him and gave him a $30,000 sailboat named Donkey Kong, along with the exclusive worldwide rights to use the Donkey Kong name for boats.

 

[STARSBarry]

I love Kirby, but everyone I know tells me that he sucks.

 

[Kuranghi]

The new Kirby game is awesome, except that stairs bonus level, that really sucks the big one.

 

[drganon]

Unfortunately, it's all down hill once you turn 30.

 

[NanaMiku]

Don't forget, there will be a free livestream of 30th Anniversary Concert! https://www.kirby.jp/30th-musicfest/eng/

 

[STARSBarry]

The new Kirby game is awesome, except that stairs bonus level, that really sucks the big one.

I 100% the game, can't say I remember any stairs standing out to me. What stage was this?

 

[Foxt3r]

I 100% the game, can't say I remember any stairs standing out to me. What stage was this?

I think he is referring to one where you have to move stairs around in mouthful mode.

 

[STARSBarry]

I think he is referring to one where you have to move stairs around in mouthful mode.

Ahhhhhh yeah that one, took a few attempts to get under the par time.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is super fun to play! Good way to celebrate!

 

[Bragr]

they grew fond of the blob, and decided he looked fine the way he was.

 

[DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy]

I gotta finish this up before I start forgotten land

 

[Punished Miku]

I 100% the game, can't say I remember any stairs standing out to me. What stage was this?

There's a 3 star stairs challenge that took me 10 tries to get the target time lol.

A little secret tip for everyone is that you can repeatedly jump with the stairs to run slightly faster. You still have to nail the puzzle order just right though.

 

[Celcius]

Congrats to Nintendo and Kirby. My first Kirby game was super star on snes and I’ve been a fan ever since.

 

[cireza]

I love Kirby, but everyone I know tells me that he sucks.

Well actually, he doesn't suck, he swallows.

 

[STARSBarry]

Well actually, he doesn't suck, he swallows.

Normally I like them to do both.

 

[RoadHazard]

Good old Nintendo Kirby.

 

[Danjin44]

Forgotten Land was my first Kirby and surpassingly very enjoyable, this game was blast trying to 100% everything.

 

[VN1X]

old bastard!

 

[Sub_Level]

The 30th birthday stings the most.

31st, 32nd, e.t.c. doesn't hurt as much.

 

[AJUMP23]

Nintendo loved that lawyer.

 

[amigastar]

I love Kirby, but everyone I know tells me that he sucks.

They probably confused him with Sonic or something, lol.
Also i loved the Pinball game with Kirby on the og game boy.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I gotta finish this up before I start forgotten land

Is this the Schindler's List of gaming?

Sorry, Druck.

 

[Jeeves]

I think I remember celebrating his 20th anniversary here on GAF, but I could be misremembering. I love to see this franchise enduring the years just by keeping things simple and fun. Great comfort food games. I'm slowly making my way through Forgotten Land and loving it!

 

[Kokoloko85]

And going stronger than ever

 

[Y0ssarian]

Kirby-sama, I kneel

 

[Joelenheimer]

Nintendo loved that lawyer.

they loved Mario Segale, too

 

[OmegaSpirit32X]

I love Kirby, but everyone I know tells me that he sucks.

He does.
It's his main trait.

 

[West Texas CEO]

I love Kirby, but everyone I know tells me that he sucks.

 

[YukiOnna]

Kirby the cutest and best.

 

[Danjin44]

I notice something in opening cutscenes in Forgetting Land. Kirby wasn’t trying to save anyone other than himself.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

I notice something in opening cutscenes in Forgetting Land. Kirby wasn’t trying to save anyone other than himself.

What would you expect of a pink dude that eats everything and everyone that gets in his sight? Even little puppies...

 

[Fbh]

There's a 3 star stairs challenge that took me 10 tries to get the target time lol.

A little secret tip for everyone is that you can repeatedly jump with the stairs to run slightly faster. You still have to nail the puzzle order just right though.

Lol yeah that has been the hardest part of the game so far (just reached the theme park part). Really made me wish there was a "retry" option at the end of these levels

 

[Gamer79]

Got to pick up the newest Kirby at some point. The few I have played have been fun.

 

[Punished Miku]

Lol yeah that has been the hardest part of the game so far (just reached the theme park part). Really made me wish there was a "retry" option at the end of these levels

If you know you're not gonna make it you can retry before it ends. But only on challenge stages!

 

[Fbh]

If you know you're not gonna make it you can retry before it ends. But only on challenge stages!

Yeah I know but I'm usually focused on beating the level as fast as possible and not looking at the clock. And since the game isn't that hard to begin with I'm always cutting it pretty close so I'm not sure if I'll make it until the very end. (the one with the stairs also took me like 10 tries though).

 

[Danjin44]

Yeah I know but I'm usually focused on beating the level as fast as possible and not looking at the clock. And since the game isn't that hard to begin with I'm always cutting it pretty close so I'm not sure if I'll make it until the very end. (the one with the stairs also took me like 10 tries though).

The game is never crushing hard but it has post game stuff that gives nice challenge.