2022 marked the 30th anniversary of the Kirby franchise, as the original Dream Land came out for the Game Boy in 1992. And in recent years, HAL Labs have been putting Nintendo to shame when it comes to celebrating their flagship franchise’s big milestones. Back on Wii we were treated to the sublime Kirby’s Dream Collection, which blew Mario and Zelda’s 25th anniversary offerings out of the water. And now history seems to repeat itself 10 years later, so let’s see what the pink puffball had to offer us for his 30th birthday:
**[Kirby and the Forgotten Land](https://youtu.be/H3LAkr0ANgw):** It’s been a long time coming, but Kirby has finally made the transition to 3D. Set in an unknown post-apocalyptic cityscape, this game was structured more like Mario 3D World than Odyssey. This was the beginning of what folks at HAL referred to as the “next phase” of the Kirby franchise, and the public response was euphoric. It sold over 5 million copies worldwide and even won Best Family Game at the Game Awards that year.
**[Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards](https://youtu.be/0VfAsbGvXrA):** Back in May, the pink puff’s N64 debut was released to subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. While this game was rendered with full 3D visuals, it was still a 2.5D platformer all things considered. The big difference between this and the rest of the series was that Kirby can fuse two different copy abilities into a single new one, something that was only barely revisited in later entries.
**[Kirby’s Dream Buffet](https://youtu.be/qOGQv0hJNJ8):** Well this was certainly unexpected. In the summer of 2022, Kirby got a new multiplayer focused game out of nowhere. And the goal was to eat as much food as you can and out-fat your opponents across a series of obstacle courses. There have been plenty of comparisons to Fall Guys, but unlike that game this one was a self contained release for $15 USD that only supports up to 4 players max.
**[Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe](https://youtu.be/zAQZY2UVcoQ):** I don’t think this was on anyone’s bingo card any more than Dream Buffet. The 2011 Wii hit Kirby’s Return to Dream Land, also known as Kirby’s Adventure Wii in Europe, is getting a full blown remaster on the Switch in only a few weeks! It’s certainly a much more ambitious remaster job than the basic touch-ups that Mario Galaxy and Skyward Sword got, as this one is actually getting brand new content. We can expect new copy abilities, new sub-games, and online play! Wait… wait what do you mean there’s not gonna be online play for the main game…?
by Asad_Farooqui
6 Comments
Pretty good. Kirby at least got a celebration unlike Zelda
No Kirby game and watch 0/10
But seriously, I have Kirby’s Dream Buffet and it’s one of those games that guarantees a good time when playing
Better than Mario’s 35th anniversary
Better than nothing. Forgotten Land was awesome. I don’t have Dream Buffet but it looks nice. Nintendo online is a scam so forget the 64 game. Return to Dreamland didn’t really need a remake especially one that appears to add so little content but whatever new people will get to play it.
Nintendo doesn’t own Nintendo hal owns kirby Nintendo bailed hal out of debt but they have to make games for Nintendo from what I’ve heard
I’d say it’s the best anniversary any Nintendo franchise has gotten in a long time.
Wish Intelligent Systems gave Fire Emblem that amount of love. It’s recent anniversary was almost non-existant.