BaD 21: HAL Laboratories turns 35

On 02/21/2015 at 09:01 PM by Captain N

See More From This User »

Linked to Article Series: Blog a Day (BaD) 2015

Happy 35th birthday HAL Labs

Hey Pixlbit, hope you're having a good weekend. I originally had a different post planned, but it wasn't ready and this news presented itself as a perfect opportunity to write about HAL Laboratory.

HAL Laboratory Logo

HAL Laboratories is the company behind many of Nintendo's franchises, like Kirby, Super Smash Bros. and Earthbound (Mother in Japan). But what some don't know is that they have worked on more games than those:

HAL Lab Games

They've even worked on Pokemon games like Pokemon Snap, the Pokemon Stadium games and the first Pokemon Ranger game too. There's even more games that they have worked on or developed, here's a list of them on their wikipedia page.

As for their name, here is the origin of their name:

HAL Laboratory Logo Meaning

But for those wondering the origin of the logo, here's an explanation I found online: "The corporate logo depicts a dog similar to a dachshund incubating several eggs. According to a 2003 Nintendo Power interview about Kirby Air Ride, producer Masayoshi Tanimura notes that the dog is a fictional creation and that the team do not think of the dog as a dachshund. Tanimura explains that the logo represents deep thought into "incubating completely new ideas that eventually hatch into incredibly fun games"

As for the name HAL, can you guess where the name comes from? If you're thinking about a certain movie, then you are correct.

Some pretty important people have worked on HAL too, most noticeable Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Kirby and Super Smash Bros. and Satoru Iwata, Nintendo of Japan's president.

HAL Laboratories is a branch from Nintendo, they work outside of Nintendo but only make games for Nintendo. So they've always made fun and interesting games, so happy 35th anniversary HAL Laboratories, here's hoping you'll still make some fun games.

Kirby Squeak Squad Birthday

So, what's your favorite HAL Lab game(s)? Thanks for reading and later.

Cary Woodham

02/22/2015 at 01:30 AM

HAL Labs has always been one of my favorite game developers. Even before Kirby! Before they made Kirby, one of their most popular game series was Adventures of Lolo, and I loved those on the NES. Lolo was kind of their mascot back then. I don't think HAL has ever made a bad game. Well, Day Dreamin' Davey was awful. And surprisingly, I wasn't big on EarthBound. But otherwise, HAL is awesome!

Back when I was a kid and the NES was king, Nintendo hosted a "Nintendo World Championships." You know those gold cartridges that sell for lots of money now that had bits of Mario, Rad Racer, and Tetris on them? That was from that event. Anyway, I went to the one in Dallas, and it was like a mini-E3 in that there were kiosks where game companies were showing off upcoming games. It was very cool and really impacted me and my decision to write game reviews later. Anyway, one of the companies there was HAL and they were showing off Lolo 2, which was about to come out. The folks running the HAL booth were two Japanese guys who worked for the company: one could speak English, and one couldn't. I hung out with them both days I was there and we all had fun and played jokes and they even bought ice cream for me! Wouldn't it be cool if one of them were a young Sakurai or Iwata? I guess we'll never know.

Anyway, after looking at that list you linked to, I might've played one of HAL's first games! Our first computer was an Apple ][+, and it had many Pac-Man clones. One of my favorites was Tax Man, and it looks like HAL made that game, too! Wow!

Anyway, I'm glad HAL is still around. I'll celebrate their birthday by playing lots of Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.

Alex-C25

02/22/2015 at 02:12 AM

Overall, my favorite game by them has to be Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Though being the only Smash game I own kinda plays a part, I think the game was a huge love letter to Nintendo and its fans and overall, I think it's a very fantastic game.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/22/2015 at 02:34 AM

Would definitely have to say Smash Bros. series with pokemon Snap as a close and very nostalgic (Blockbuster picture printing kiosks) second.

daftman

02/22/2015 at 07:41 PM

Wow, 35 years! HAL has created so many fantastic games. Here's to 35 more! (Man, I'll be old then O_O )

KnightDriver

02/23/2015 at 09:06 AM

Man, they did a lot of games. Pokemon Snap is a favorite of mine.

mothman

02/23/2015 at 01:49 PM

I remember knowing back when 2001 came out about the HAL IBM thing,

PixlBit