PixlBit

Those of you who know me or are familiar with my blogs and articles know that I love Kirby games.  It’s probably my favorite Nintendo franchise.  I like Kirby games better than Metroid, better than Zelda, heck, even more than Mario games!  So in honor of the release of Kirby Triple Deluxe on the 3DS, here’s a Kirby blog to celebrate!  In this one, we’ll look at five Kirby games that I think they should make next!

Kirby is great because when he’s in a regular ol’ 2-D platformer, they’re always made to be easy enough that very young gamers can play through them, but the games are also designed cleverly enough that older, more experienced gamers can find hidden secrets and tricks that are a lot more challenging.  Kirby is also very versatile and has been in many other creative kinds of games, too.  Of course, my ideas for Kirby games aren’t that creative, as most are just sequel ideas to already existing Kirby titles.  But hey, I never said this would be a creative blog!  Well let’s take a look at my game ideas anyway!

Kirby Tilt N Tumble 2

Nintendo is pretty famous for their motion controls, but they didn’t just start out with them right away.  They actually took baby steps and experimented with motion controlled games on portable devices.  Two examples would be GBA WarioWare Twisted and the original Kirby Tilt N Tumble on Game Boy Color.  You know those maze games where you tilt a board around to try and get a marble through a maze?  Well that’s what you did here, but Kirby was the ball!  The motion sensor was in the cartridge itself, and you tilted the whole handheld around to get Kirby rolling.  It was very creative.  Of course, the game had problems, too.  You had to shake the GBC to make Kirby jump, and for a brief second you might not be able to see the screen as well when you did that.  Not to mention that since the GBC had no backlight, it could be hard to see the screen depending on what angle you tilted.  But now Nintendo has two more advanced game systems and both have built in motion controls (Wii U and 3DS), so why not make a Tilt N Tumble sequel on one or both of the systems?  I heard that a Tilt N Tumble sequel was actually planned for either the GameCube or original Wii, too bad we never got that.  The original Tilt N Tumble is also a special game to me because when I reviewed it, I was pretty high on the hog at The Dallas Morning News, and lots of big name companies were sending me review copies of games.  Even Nintendo!  With Tilt N Tumble, they also sent me a Kirby kickball, which I still have!

Kirby’s Pinball Land 2

HAL Laboratory, makers of Kirby, sure do know their way around video pinball, too!  Even back on the NES and MSX, their Rollerball pinball series were fairly decent.  They also made Nintendo’s first “Pin Ball” NES game.  On the Game Boy, they made the surprisingly fun Revenge of the Gator Pinball, and on the GBC they did the first Pokemon Pinball game.  Intelligent Systems made the GBA Pokemon Pinball sequel, but you can tell it was inspired by HAL’s first efforts.  But perhaps HAL’s best pinball game is Kirby’s Pinball Land on Game Boy.  I LOVED that game and could play it for hours.  Sure the ball physics aren’t perfect, but it sure is addicting.  It’s on 3DS Virtual Console, so you should try it out.  So I’d love a sequel to that.  There was a Kirby pinball mini-game on Kirby Mass Attack, and it was pretty good, but not as much as the Game Boy title. 

Speaking of mini-games, several Kirby titles have some really fun ones.  I think the best ones can be found in Kirby Mass Attack, as it has nearly full-fledged pinball, shooter, and RPG games.  Well, actually, the RPG game is just a cleverly disguised timed button press exercise, like Megaton Punch on Super Star, but it’s still fun.  The new game, Kirby Triple Deluxe, has two fun mini-games on it, too.  One is a Smash Bros. style fighter featuring Kirby’s copy abilities, and the other is a music game starring King Dedede and features classic Kirby tunes!  I can’t wait to try them!

Kirby Air Ride 2

Kirby Air Ride for GameCube was SUCH an underrated game.  The guy who created Smash Bros. made it, and just like how he turned fighters on their ear with Smash Bros., he turned racing games on their ear with Kirby’s Air Ride.  I thought Kirby Air Ride was a much better GameCube racer than Mario Kart: Double Dash but I think I’m probably the only one who feels this way.  Anyway, the unique thing about Air Ride is that you only use one button, and you use it to brake.  Otherwise, you’re always moving.  They did this to simplify the game, and also to provide a new way of controlling and mastering the tracks for experts.  There were three main modes; one, regular races were like typical kart style challenges.  Next was Top Ride, which played a lot like Super Sprint.  The last mode was one nearly everyone liked, and that was City Trial.  In this one you and up to three other friends would collect power-ups in a huge city environment for a few minutes, and then use your powered up vehicles in random competitive events.  This mode was so fun that they’re using a variation of it in the next Smash Bros. game for 3DS.  My own little brothers would make up their own games while playing City Trial, like ‘tag’ and ‘hide & seek.’  Any game mode that allows for that much creativity has to be good, right?  I’d love to see a sequel with an improved City Trial mode.  Because while the original’s mode was fun, the graphics looked like a crappy N64 game.  I guess they did this to keep the framerate high, but I’d love to see a better looking one on the 3DS or Wii U.  Preferably Wii U since there are not a lot of games to play on it right now.

Kirby’s Dream Course 2

Believe it or not, I didn’t get hooked on Kirby games right away.  The original Kirby’s Dream Land looked cool, but I was just a kid with a limited income back then, and I didn’t see a reason for me to spend full price on a game that I could probably beat in an hour.  Even when the great Kirby’s Adventure came out on NES, I didn’t get it because I was already knee-deep in SNES territory, focusing more on games like Final Fantasy 2 and Secret of Mana.  It was actually Kirby’s first outing on the SNES that got me into the series, and no it wasn’t Kirby’s Avalanche.  It was the other one: Kirby’s Dream Course.  Ever since I got my SNES, I would always see screens on the back of the box and posters advertising a game called Special Tee Shot, which looked like a mini-golf game mixed with Marble Madness.  I love mini-golf and Marble Madness is one of my favorite arcade games, so I always kept my eye on it.  Years later, when they reworked the game to have Kirby in it, I finally rented it and discovered how cool it was.  It was then that I knew that I shouldn’t pass up any more Kirby games, and I’ve been a fan ever since.  Kirby’s Dream Course plays like a mix of mini-golf and bumper pool.  You have to hit Kirby as the ball into all the enemies on the playfield, and then sink him in the hole.  Some enemies give Kirby copy abilities when you hit them, and they’ll help you bypass obstacles.  The ice power lets Kirby skate over water hazards, for instance.  You can even turn into a UFO and fly and land in the hole if you’re skilled enough!  Anyway, I’d love to see a sequel to this.  It could either be isometric 3-D like the first one, or they could make it be totally 3-D.  But I think it’s a good enough game idea for revisiting.

Kirby RPG

Finally, a totally original idea!  Well, OK, it’s not very original, but at least it’s not a sequel.  I couldn’t think of a good name, maybe Kirby’s Dream Quest or something.  Anyway, I think a Kirby RPG would be cool.  Kirby could be the entire party with his copy ability, or he could make helpers like in Super Star.  And there’s a whole cast of characters who could be friends and enemies, like King Dedede, Meta Knight, Waddle Dee, Bonkers, and more!  Only problem is that RPGs can be kind of complex for little kids, and Kirby games are always designed so little kids can play and beat them.  So they may have to simplify things a bit, but how would they do that in an RPG and keep it interesting for older players?  I’m sure they would model it after the Mario RPG games, so maybe it wouldn’t be such a hard task.  But RPGs are one genre Kirby hasn’t tackled yet, and I think it’s time he does!

Conclusions

I had one more idea, but it’s really not a Kirby game. I think they should make a game that stars Meta Knight.  He’s such a fun character to control in Smash Bros., and there have been modes where you can play as him in games like Nightmare in Dream Land, Super Star Ultra, and Return to Dream Land.  Maybe Meta Knight’s game could be slightly darker and more challenging.  Still suitable for kids of course, but maybe for kids who are ready for games that are a notch harder.  What do you think?  Well, those are my concepts.  In the comments section, let me know what you think of my ideas, and tell me what Kirby games YOU think they should make next.  That’s all for now!  Later!  --Cary