We tried everything, alright?
We baked him a cake, we bought him a present, we even gave him a chainsaw so he could finally
deal with that damn tree.
We did everything we could to wish Kirby a happy birthday...he ate everything we sat
in front of him.
Who eats a chainsaw?
I’ll tell you who.
The adorable pink fatty with the most indestructible stomach in the history of gaming.
It’s Kirby’s 20th anniversary, and since you can’t eat a countdown, this was our
last resort.
These are the top ten Kirby games of all-time.
Eat this, fatso!
It’s only fitting to start things off with the game that started it all.
Released for the original Game Boy in 1992, Dream Land was Kirby’s grand debut...and
its inventive take on traditional platforming was a huge hit with Game Boy fans.
Kirby was still in his formative stages, and he wouldn’t get that ability to steal an
enemy’s powers until his next game, but Dream Land was still a great platformer with
lots of fresh ideas.
This game marked the beginning of a new era for Kirby...as well as its end.
Perhaps polygons were the one thing Kirby couldn’t stomach.
But if you ignore the fact that it’s simple even for Kirby standards and it precipitated
the series’ decade-long absence from home consoles...Kirby 64 isn’t as bad as people
say.
In fact, this is an awesome little 2.5D platformer, and the ability to combine Kirby’s power-ups
into crazy new ones gives the game its own unique hook.
Let’s be honest.
This game had every reason to suck.
Most games with eleven-year development cycles across multiple systems do.
But something crazy happened when Kirby finally returned to Dream Land.
It did not suck.
In fact, it was awesome.
Return to Dream Land was the more traditional counterpoint to the Wii’s Epic Yarn, a sort
of yin and yang that made the Wii the best home console for Kirby games...ever.
Unlike some franchises, Kirby games have always been just as good on handhelds as home consoles.
That’s where he got started, and in fact, that’s where he’s thrived.
One example of the many is Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.
Borrowing Zelda’s Four Swords concept, its mixture of classic Kirby, maze-like level
design and linked-up multiplayer made it an instant favorite on the Game Boy Advance.
Kirby tends to be at his best when he’s innovating and trying new things.
Nintendo knows it, too, as they’ve never been afraid to experiment with him.
Even if it means splitting him into a million tiny pieces a la Mike Teevee.
Kirby would’ve never made it through the chocolate factory.
Kirby Mass Attack was a very late arrival on the Nintendo DS, released about six months
after the launch of the 3DS.
As a result, this one sort of flew under the radar, which only made its surprises more
awesome.
You don’t inhale enemies or take their abilities...instead, you pummel them with the might of ten Kirbys.
It’s a beautiful thing, and its daring design choices represent the Kirby series at its
best.
Speaking of Kirby at his best, come back for part two for his top five and the epic conclusion
of our countdown of the top ten Kirby games of all-time.