With the Nintendo Switch 2 now out in the world, everyone’s talking about their deep Nintendo love all over again. As usual, the conversation revolves around the same few iconic characters. Obviously, Mario is basically Nintendo’s mascot, so we always want to know what’s next for the plumber. Then comes Link, which isn’t surprising given the success of The Legend of Zelda series, especially in recent years. Now, with Nintendo’s newest console, everyone’s freaking out about Donkey Kong.
Don’t get me wrong, I love DK and am enjoying Bananza a whole bunch. Likewise, I can’t argue that Mario and Link aren’t iconic in their own right. However, what I can argue is that, through all of this, there’s another character just as deserving to stand as one of Nintendo’s pillars, and everyone continues to ignore him. It’s time for everyone to give Kirby the love he deserves.
The Legend Of Kirby, Our Puffy Balloon-Shaped Boy
Kirby first appeared on the Game Boy in 1992’s Kirby’s Dream Land, which was followed a year later by Kirby’s Adventure on the NES. This was my first exposure to Kirby, and if you haven’t played it, I implore you to do so. It’s even available in the Nintendo Classics app on Switch and Switch 2.
Kirby’s Adventure is not only one of the absolute best examples of a late-in-cycle NES game, but it’s also one of the best NES games released over the console’s entire lifetime. It’s better than Super Mario 3, better than Contra, and even better than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game. It looks excellent, its playstyle is super fun, and this game is so inventive with the myriad powers Kirby can obtain that you’re rarely at a loss for new abilities to master.
The character was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who is definitely better known as the creator of Super Smash Bros. The ball-shaped character with wings and feet is able to suck up his enemies to absorb their power and inflate like a balloon to fly, leading to some awesome platforming moments. To complete the character, he was given the name of a lawyer at Nintendo of America. Thus, Kirby was born. He lives in Dream Land on Planet Popstar and constantly finds himself in the middle of wacky adventures.
The Kirby Library Is Massive
All told, there are 39 Kirby games, if you include the Switch 2 upgrade for Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which includes the new Star-Crossed World campaign. That’s an incredible number of titles over 33 years, with more than one Kirby game arriving each year across a variety of Nintendo consoles. That, alone, puts him in the same rarefied air as Nintendo’s heaviest hitters.
The only reason that I can think of that would keep Kirby from being considered the top-tier hero we all believe him to be is that the majority of his games were released on handheld consoles. While Mario, Link, and DK’s biggest adventures are on Nintendo’s mainline hardware, Kirby debuted on Game Boy and ultimately 21 different games were released on handheld consoles first, ranging from the Game Boy to the Nintendo 3DS – and that’s not including remasters and rereleases.
Many simply don’t think of Kirby when they think of top-tier Nintendo characters, and I might know why. Given that most of his appearances are on handhelds, he could be viewed as less than. After all, before the Switch made handheld gaming cool again, the idea of carrying a console in your pocket always meant lesser graphics than you’d get on a regular console and sometimes very bad ports of games not originally designed to be played on a handheld.
That’s unfortunate because, while Kirby does have a ton of handheld games, so many of the franchise’s mainline console games are absolute bangers. Beyond Kirby’s Adventure on the NES, there’s Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii), Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch and Switch 2), Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64), and even the underrated racing game Kirby Air Ride on the equally underrated GameCube.
Yes, the upcoming Kirby Air Riders is a sequel to this game, which was basically forgotten, as it was released the same year as Mario Kart: Double Dash.
He Already Has The Cool Kid Credentials
While he might not be viewed on an even playing field with Nintendo’s Mount Rushmore of heroes, that hasn’t kept him from being included in their games. For instance, the character has appeared in every single installment of Super Smash Bros. While you could say that’s because his creator also made that game, I choose to believe that Nintendo is sending us a subtle sign to pay him more respect.
He’s also made cameo appearances in Pokemon Stadium (N64), Arcana (SNES), and even The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (GameBoy). Then there’s the anime Kirby: Right Back At Ya! and the multiple mangas the character has starred in.
This all goes to show there is an audience for Kirby out there. I hope the Switch 2 upgrade for Forgotten Land leads to that audience growing, perhaps bringing the character to more prominence. As much as I’d like to think that’ll happen with Kirby Air Riders when it releases later this year, I fear it’ll be another racer that is simply branded as ‘not Mario Kart’. Given Mario Kart World isn’t exactly the most popular version of that franchise, though, maybe 2025 could buck tradition and become what I really want in my heart of hearts: the year of Kirby.
Hey, a man can dream…about a balloon person from Planet Popstar.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World
- Released
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August 28, 2025
- ESRB
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E10+
- Developer(s)
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HAL Laboratory
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo Co., Ltd.
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
