List of Kirby media

The Kirby series' logo as of 2022

The Kirby video game series is a franchise of platform games and other genres (including puzzle and racing games) published and produced by Nintendo. The games have been developed by Japan-based HAL Laboratory, a Nintendo second-party developer.[1] All Kirby video games have been developed exclusively for Nintendo video game consoles and handhelds dating from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the 8th generation of video game consoles. The series debuted in Japan on April 27, 1992, with Hoshi no Kirby,[a] which later was released in the North American and PAL regions in August 1992 as Kirby's Dream Land.[2]

The series revolves around Kirby, the series' protagonist, and his adventures in the fictional world of Pop Star. A common gameplay element is Kirby's ability to copy enemy skills, allowing him to use them to progress through levels. This and other changes in gameplay from traditional platform games distinguish the series from other entries in the genre.[3][4][5] Currently, the series contains thirty-nine games. A one-hundred episode anime series based on the video games, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, was created in Japan and formerly distributed by 4Kids TV in North America. A special 101st episode was created for the now retired Nintendo Video service, and was not in the anime style of the original 100 episodes.[6] The Kirby series is among the best-selling video game franchises with over twenty million games sold worldwide.[7] The franchise was conceived by Masahiro Sakurai as a game series for beginners, for which he partially attributes the series' success.[8]

  1. ^ "HAL Laboratory". IGN. Archived from the original on April 14, 2002. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  2. ^ "Kirby's Dream Land for Game Boy - Release Summary". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 26, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
  3. ^ Harris, Craig (September 22, 2008). "Kirby Super Star Ultra Review". IGN. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  4. ^ Navarro, Alex (December 5, 2006). "Kirby Squeak Squad Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  5. ^ Harris, Craig (December 5, 2006). "Kirby Squeak Squad Review". IGN. Archived from the original on December 28, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  6. ^ 星のカービィ ストーリー (in Japanese). HICBC. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  7. ^ Nintendo (September 18, 2008). "Nintendo's Kirby Floats Through the Skies (Press Release)". IGN. Archived from the original on October 23, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  8. ^ "Interview with Masahiro Sakurai" (in Japanese). Nintendo. Archived from the original on March 9, 2008. Retrieved November 30, 2008.


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