Agent Unknown
Member
The Japanese cover of Dreamland:
Selected commercials:
Kirby's Dreamland
U.S. (Watch Kirby who is crudely animated devour some muscle dude who is also crudely animated)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU6cHCkWqy8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Japan (Watch a child get vomited into outer space!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAGDHpNiyZU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Kirby's Dreamland 2
U.S. (NOA's '90s Play it Loud ad campaign of "We're not gonna be out macho'd by Sega!" is in full swing here)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqVVG4FCq7w&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Japan (Uh, they turn into blimps and ruin a volleyball game being played on a skyscraper)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbb_o-KqK9M&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Kirby's Adventure
U.S. ("He's one tough cream puff")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozPkEBhFzuw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Japan (Early concept video for what would become Epic Yarn??!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-8db508yrE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Kirby Superstar
U.S. (Play it Loud style ads strike again, features character actor Earl Boen who played Psych ward Dr. Peter Silberman in the Terminator movies)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUpDHq2vmeo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Japan (Two large, crazy guys jogging, chanting "Kirby Chan! Kirby Chan!" who then get scolded by their mom while playing the game?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oDtxtgqews&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Superstar Ultra
U.S. (in the 2000's he's upgraded from "One Tough Cream Puff" to "Super Tuff Pink Puff!")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7GyaZw61_w&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Japan (Just some good footage of the game and a bit of animation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIvN0kDD1aY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
April 27, 2012 was Kirby's 20th Anniversary, that's right. 20 years since the release of Kirby's Dreamland for the Gameboy. For me personally, it was 20 years ago this summer since I and my brother rented it and played it for the Gameboy. The game was light, cartoony, and well...dreamy. Like no platformer we'd played before and the inhale 'n float mechanics were very innovative for the time. The graphics were lovely for an old B&W Gameboy game.
This thread is meant to discuss your favorite memories of the cutest, toughest 'lil platform hero ever in the lead up to the release.
What do you love most about Kirby?
Which game in the series is your favorite, your least favorite or which one do you think is underrated?
Who is your favorite charcater or villian?
What copy ability is your favorite?
Which title would you like most to see ported to the Eshop/VC that we haven't gotten yet? (me: Kirby's Dreamland 2)
What do you hope to see on the the Anniversary compilation that would make it a huge improvement over the mediocrity of the Mario All Stars disc?
While you're mulling that over, let's start off with some history (some of which you may not be aware of, via Wikipedia):
Kirby's father, Masahiro Sakurai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masahiro_Sakurai
Did you know?
-That Sakurai was only 19 years old when he created Kirby at HAL Laboratory?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_(character)
-That Kirby was originally a "blob placeholder" character named Popopo? His first depiction:
Kirby was originally named Popopo, and his model was created as a blob placeholder sprite during the development of what would be the first Kirby game, originally titled 'Twinkle Popopo' instead of the current Hoshi no Kābī (translated as 'Kirby of the Stars').[3] After a while, creator Masahiro Sakurai started to prefer Kirby's placeholder design over the original concept.
-That Sakurai always intended Kirby be pink but Miyamoto wanted him to be yellow? The real root of the confusion:
As Kirby's first appearance was on the monochrome screen of the Game Boy, his "true" color could not be represented in-game. Sakurai intended Kirby to be pink. However, Shigeru Miyamoto had envisioned him as yellow. Because of this ambiguity, Nintendo of America was left with some confusion when the game was ported to the West. The American box art, cartridge label, instruction booklet, and even the television commercial for Kirby's Dream Land features Kirby entirely white in color. The Japanese box art, however, depicts Kirby as light red.
-That Kirby's name may possibly have a connection to a vacuum cleaner company and/or Nintendo's epic victory over Universal Studios regarding Donkey Kong?
One widespread view is that Kirby adopted his Western name from the Kirby Corporation, a vacuum cleaner manufacturer, leading to the belief the name is a play on Kirby's ability to inhale just about anything. The other possible explanation is that Kirby was named in honor of Nintendo's legal counsel, John Kirby of Latham & Watkins LLP, who represented them in the courtroom during a copyright infringement lawsuit over Donkey Kong filed by Universal Studios. However, Masahiro Sakurai has been quoted as saying he does not remember how Kirby got his name. (if either possible origin have even the slightest bit of truth, you can't blame him for not wanting to comment, especially regarding the Hoover corporation, plus preserving the magic of the character and all. )
Personality and abilities:
Abilities
Kirby's main attack is inhaling enemies (both his mouth and body expand to allow him to inhale things much larger than himself) and swallowing them. He can also attack others by spitting enemies out as star-projectiles. Certain enemies, when swallowed, grant Kirby new powers called Copy Abilities.
In Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby did not have Copy Abilities. He collected power ups, such as a mint leaf, which enabled him to shoot out endless air pellets for a limited amount of time, and curry and chicken(which makes a reappearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as Superspicy Curry), which let Kirby shoot out fireballs from his mouth until the item's effect wore off or he lost a life.
Kirby has a positive attitude, and helps to save Dream Land through the use of his unique powers. His age is never stated, although he is called a "little boy" in the manualfor Kirby's Dream Land, literally acts like a baby in the anime, and is referred to as being a "pretty jolly guy" in Kirby Super Star.[11] This, along with his high-pitched voice, suggests that Kirby is young.
Species
While Kirby is the one most often emphasized, he is not the only member of his kind. His similar kind is evidenced by similar looking characters seen in the ending of Kirby's Dream Land, the remake Spring Breeze in Kirby Super Star, and potentially Meta Knight along with the final boss of Kirby Super Star Ultra's Meta Knightmare Ultra, Galacta Knight, who appears to look nearly identical to Kirby. In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, "Kirby's Return to Dream Land" and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, different colored Kirbys appear as other players in multi-player games. In the case of the latter, they are the result of Kirby being divided into four by Dark Meta Knight. In general, members of the species all look similar, but sometimes have different colored skin, eyes, and feet. They are commonly referred to as Kirbys, just as 'Yoshi' in the Mario series is the name of both the species and character. As a name, however, 'Kirby' refers to only one character. Terms like creampuffs or puffballs are also used to describe the species, referring to their soft, round appearance.
In the English manual of Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, the term Kirbys is used at points, to illustrate the feature of having four differently colored versions of Kirby active in the game simultaneously. Another common term is Dream Landers, a term used in the instruction manual for Kirby's Adventure. This term, however, also refers to anyone who lives in Dream Land, including characters like King Dedede. The biography of Kirby in Super Smash Bros. Brawl says Kirby is a citizen of Dream Land.
In the anime, Kirby has also been called a Star Warrior, along with Meta Knight and other characters that have appeared in the Kirby animated series. It's a common belief that this refers to their species, but this is untrue as there is another person referred to as a Star Warrior who looks nothing like them.
There are countless Kirby sequels and this has been both a boon and a bittersweet motivation for Sakurai to keep trying new ideas. One could theorize this road of experience may have been influential as to why Sakurai indicated recently that he personally has no plans for a sequel to Kid Icarus uprising at this time. The road to founding Sora:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masahiro_Sakurai
Sakurai resigned from his position at HAL Laboratory on August 5, 2003, leading many to believe that the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. series would cease to continue. Reasons for his departure are said to be because he was seeking more freedom and was not happy with the structure that was present at HAL Laboratory. Most of all, however, Sakurai grew tired of the sequelization of the industry and at HAL.
"It was tough for me to see that every time I made a new game, people automatically assumed that a sequel was coming," said Sakurai 21 days later, in an interview with Nintendo Dream, two weeks after his resignation from HAL Laboratory. "Even if it's a sequel (laughs), lots of people have to give their all to make a game, but some people think the sequel process happens naturally." His resignation came just days after an interview where he openly criticized the company for circumstances surrounding the development of the Nintendo GameCube racer Kirby Air Ride. He has publicly stated that he wishes HAL to continue working on the Kirby series. After he left HAL, Sakurai began working with Q Entertainment, along with Tetsuya Mizuguchi. This collaboration resulted in Meteos, a unique puzzle game for the Nintendo DS.
On September 30, 2005, Sakurai announced that he had formed his own company, Sora.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sora_Ltd.
Well, those are some of the best bits I can dig up, enjoy the thread and discussing Kirby!