Ever sinceKirby’s Dream Landlaunched in 1992,Kirbyhas been an extremely popular franchise. Fans around the world love the pink puffball and his diverse range of adventures. WhileMarioandThe Legend of Zeldaare regarded as some of Nintendo’s biggest game franchises,Kirbyhas always quietly been in the background steadily pumping out high-quality titles. The last major game released in the franchise wasKirby: Star Alliesin 2018, which received a somewhat mixed reception at launch but proved worthwhile through its many free content updates.Kirby’s star-studded history of 2D platformers is still going strong to this very day, with more than 30Kirbytitles released.
Indeed, next year marksKirby’s 30th anniversary. The fan base expects a big celebration forKirby, with a big new game to boot.Kirby Fighters 2was a nice distraction, but it’s beginning to look like something much larger is in the works. Earlier this year, a newKirbyart book was released. It contained art fromKirby: Star Allies, as well as a message from The game’s director Shinya Kumazaki. Apparently, HAL Laboratory felt accomplished due toStar Alliesending an “11-year drought of side-scrolling titles on consoles,” and for fully implementing cooperative multiplayer. Now, Kumazaki stated, the staff was ready to move on toKirby’s “next stage.” What this means is currently unclear, but there have been some hints over the years that could shed some light on whatKirby’s next game might be.
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Hints For Kirby’s Future
A few developer statements over the past couple of years have been telling regarding the intended direction forKirby. Kumazaki followed up his previous statements by saying that he tries new things at work every day and discusses with his coworkers where theKirbyseries should go next. According to him, the current plan is a sort of combination of the best aspects of theKirbyfranchise. Kumazaki was not the only person to discuss the future ofKirby,however. A couple other members of the development team have spoken out in the recent past regarding the future ofKirby.In an interview with Famitsu magazine, lead action programmer Katsuyoshi Sumitomo made it clear that he wanted the nextKirbyproject to be the pinnacle of the series. Design director Riki Fuhrmann has also gone on record saying that he would like to create anon-actionKirbyspin-offat some point.
However, the nextKirbygame is not likely to be a spin-off. What is likely is the game the fandom has been hearing about for quite some time now thanks to rumors and leaks. Supposedly, there isa 3DKirbygame in the works, and it could be announced this year. Earlier rumors speculated that it was going to release late this year, but there was no sign ofKirbyat E3 2021. However, dataminers searching through the code of the 2020Kirby Fighters 2spin-off found some interesting tidbits that may be related to an upcomingKirby3d platformer. TheFighters 2files contain test code called “Kirby3d,” which appears to be brand new. It seems irrelevant to the 2.5D platform fighter, so it could be leftover code from another project.
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What A 3D Kirby Could Be Like
While this is by no means a confirmation of an upcoming 3DKirbygame, it certainly would be a “next stage” title in the series.Kirbyhas dabbled in 3D a couple of times before. However, none ofKirby’s previous 3D games have been what fans were looking for. The beloved GameCube classicKirby Air Ridewasdeveloped by Masahiro Sakuraias a kart racing game that also had a wide variety of alternate modes. Players could direct Kirby to walk around on foot and fly in the City Trial mode, but it was far from a 3D platformer. The same could be said for the 3DS spin-offKirby’s Blowout Blast. That game offered a top-down, score attack spin on the franchise, but once again did not properly replicate the normalKirbygameplay of inhaling and copying enemies.
At this point, the fan consensus is that a 3D platformer fully adaptingKirby’s trademark mechanics will beKirby’s next big game. This would involve Kirby platforming and flying through a 3d environment and copying enemies like he always has. This could have set camera angles liketheSuper Mario 3Dgames, or it could have a free camera likeMario Odyssey. It could even contain a mixture of 3D and 2.5D segments. It’s also possible that this could be the end, at least for now, of cooperative multiplayer.
What Else The Next Stage Kirby Game Could Mean
For the past fewKirbygames, it’s felt like the series has been building up to some sort of climax. Progressively stronger opponents have been faced, and more elements of the series' past have been brought back to the forefront. There have even been heavy hints regarding the true nature of the cosmology ofKirby’s world.Kirby: Star Allies' revelations about Void, the presence of the Morpho butterfly, and perhaps even what Kirby seems to be building up some kind of epic narrative that’s about to take a massive swerve. Even if the next game doesn’t do something as significant as switching to full 3D gameplay, it can still feel like a “next stage"Kirbytitle by blowing the lid off the series' lore.
No matter what the end result is, fans are hopeful that thenextKirbyplatforming gamewill be worth the wait. Those who were disappointed byStar Allies' level design want to see a return to form for the series, and others want to see the running narrative reach some sort of climax. Still more wish forKirbyto take a dramatic new direction, perhaps expanding into 3D or radically altering its basic copy mechanics. Whatever one’s desire for the nextKirbygame, it’s likely that HAL Laboratory understands that this is a crucial moment in the series' history. Whenever the currentKirbyproject is ready to be shown, it’s probably going to be spectacular.
