June2016
News Kirby: Planet Robobot Passes 300,000 Sales in Japan's Media Create Results
It was a quiet week in Japan
We're a little later than normal with the Media Create chart results this week, for elaborate reasons. Well, ok, we were distracted and forgot them, and the results reflect a rather unremarkable period in Japan regardless. Dragon Quest Heroes II remains at numbers one, two and three, which is just greedy. On the plus...
May2016
Video Gear Up for Kirby: Planet Robobot With This Extended Overview Trailer
See more of the abilities, minigames and amiibo features
Kirby: Planet Robobot isn't out in the West until 10th June, but Nintendo is wasting little time in promoting the 3DS sequel to fans. The review embargo was surprisingly early, which gave us a chance to share how much we love it, and the online marketing campaign is picking up pace. Following...
News Kirby: Planet Robobot Continues Its Decent Sales in Japan
A quiet week sees a small gain in Wii U sales
The Japanese Media Create chart results are out, and this week isn't short of new releases - notably, however, some titles that are major names in the West have only made a modest impression in Japan. Kirby: Planet Robobot is still the best-placed game on Nintendo hardware, showing solid momentum in...
Video Get Geared Up for Kirby: Planet Robobot With This Overview Trailer
It has Kirby in a mech, what more could you want?
Kirby: Planet Robobot could, based on our time with it so far, be a bit of a gem for the 3DS this year. Announced rather out of the blue (or pink?) in March, it sees the pink one take on mechanised foes that are disrupting his all-important nap time. Nintendo has been getting to work early with...
Random Solving The Mystery of the Super Smash Bros. Melee Lost Stage
The Game Theorists channel goes down the rabbit hole
Game development produces a lot of code and content that's ultimately left unused, eagerly found by fans that are determined enough to uncover such secrets. One example is a 'lost' - or test - stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee, which is hidden away in the game's code and features a crude set of...
Video Fans Recreate Super Smash Bros. Melee's Opening
Retuning the nostalgia chords
It's often touted that the opening video to Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube is one of the greatest video game intros that Nintendo has produced. It was a video that set the scene for the excitement to come, all the while showcasing the all-star cast that Nintendo had to offer. It's even often used as a...
April2016
Preview Mechanised Cuteness in Kirby: Planet Robobot
A gem from HAL
Occasionally Nintendo reveals a game out of the blue with a nearby release date, reminding us of the company's ability to deliver delightful spontaneity. Kirby: Planet Robobot is one such release, announced in the early March Nintendo Direct and all set for an early June release in the West. Having sampled what it's offering over a...
March2016
News Kirby Is Taking A Trip To Planet Robobot This June
Complete with amiibo support
During today's Nintendo Direct broadcast it was confirmed that Kirby is getting another outing on 3DS in the shape of Kirby: Planet Robobot. The title retains the 2.5D look of Kirby: Triple Deluxe, but adds mechs to the mix. It also comes with a special Team Kirby Clash mode: Invaders have mechanized Dream Land. To...
January2016
News BOXBOY! is Getting a Sequel
It's time for round two
Many of you will no doubt remember BOXBOY!, a quirky puzzle platformer from HAL Laboratories that came out last spring. We gave it a 6/10, noting that it's a solid game, but it plays things a little too safe. Nonetheless, it apparently was a fairly popular title, as Nintendo has just announced a sequel. The new game will be...
December2015
Feature A Celebration of HAL Laboratory - Forever Focused on Fun
Kirby, Pokemon, Smash Bros., and Box Boy...
From now until the start of the new year we're going to be republishing some of what we feel are our best features of 2015. Hopefully this will offer the chance for newer readers to catch up on content they might have missed and allow long-time fans to reacquaint themselves with features they enjoyed the...
News Shinya Kumazaki Commemorates Kirby's 23rd Birthday on Miiverse
Claims his favorite spin-off game is Kirby Air Ride
Kirby is one of Nintendo's most beloved characters, having appeared in numerous games since his debut in 1992. While the super tough pink puff stars in his own series of mainstream platformers, Kirby is arguably most notable for how much experimentation he's been subject to. Kirby games are known...
November2015
News 1993 Kirby's Adventure Interview Reveals Cut Content, Alternative Names And Why Kirby Is Pink
"Normally a character like Kirby would have been yellow"
Kirby is now a firmly-established member in Nintendo's vast catalogue of intellectual properties, but back in 1993 he was very much a newcomer looking to prove himself - as this fascinating interview from the period attests. Freshly translated by Shumplations.com, the feature originally...
August2015
Mario History Super Smash Bros. - 1999
The start of a long fight
In this series of articles we'll write about one Mario game every day for 30 days, each representing a different year as part of our Super Mario 30th Anniversary celebrations. In our final entry for Mario in the 20th Century we reach the beginnings of one of Nintendo's most vital franchises. While not strictly a 'Mario'...
May2015
Out Now Kirby And The Rainbow Paintbrush
The drawn out release is here!
As you may have noticed we've been going kooky for Kirby this week, as the round, pink protagonist's latest adventure, Kirby And The Rainbow Paintbrush, has finally come to European shores. It's been a few months since the game's North American release, so you may already know quite a bit about it, a game we called "a...
Video Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush Launch Trailer Brings a Colourful Clay Overload
Finally arrives in PAL territories this week
Gamers in North America have been able to tackle Kirby and the Rainbow Curse on the Wii U for some time, wearing out GamePad touch screens in the latest HAL title starring the pink puffball. Its journey to PAL regions - as Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush - has taken longer, but it's finally due this week...
Feature Here Are Our Fondest Kirby Memories
Rainbow Paintbrush finally launches in Europe this week, so we talk Kirby
This week sees the release of Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush (Rainbow Curse to you North Americans) in Europe, and we thought it would be the ideal time to share some of our most treasured Kirby-related memories with you, our dear readers. Since he bounded into our lives in...
April2015
Weirdness Care for Your Own Virtual King Dedede
And pick up his royal poops
Remember Tamagotchi, the virtual pet on a keychain you could take care of until it died either through neglect or being sent through the wash? Artist Paperbeatsscissors has brought back all the fun in browser-based form, and with everybody's favourite stretchy, penguinny dictator! It's enough to fill that King Dedede...
Interview Bringing Together the 3DS and Game Boy in BOXBOY!
Thinking outside of the box
HAL Laborary Inc has been busy of late, bringing Kirby into the HD era with Kirby and the Rainbow Curse but also, on a much smaller scale, developing BOXBOY! for the 3DS eShop. With a Game Boy style and retro approach to puzzle solving it's charmed plenty of portable gamers, and also showed that the house of Kirby is more...
News HAL's 3DS Puzzle Platformer BOXBOY! Will Be Available To Download Today
Announced during yesterday's Nintendo Direct
HAL Laboratory's retro-themed puzzle platformer BOXBOY! will be available for download on the North American and European 3DS eShops today. Announced during yesterday's Nintendo Direct, the game tasks you with guiding a box-like character through increasingly tricky levels, using his ability to generate...
March2015
News Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush to Roll Into Europe on 8th May
A little earlier than expected
Update: Also arrives in Australia and New Zealand on 9th May. Original Article: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse has been out in North America since 20th February, providing Wii U gamers in the region with their first major retail release on the home console of 2015. Until now gamers in Europe were simply told it was...
February2015
News Kirby and the Rainbow Curse Developers Discuss the Art Style and Sources of Inspiration
Blessing or a curse?
Just this Friday, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse released in North America to general critical acclaim. We awarded it a 7/10; while praising the excellent art style, we felt there were underutilized gameplay applications of the clay theme. As part of the buzz surrounding the game's release, GameSpot recently conducted an interview...
Video Check Out Kirby's Adventure Wii on the Wii U eShop
You'll need shades with all those colours!
Nintendo's latest Wii digital re-release for Wii U in Europe is Kirby's Adventure Wii - AKA Kirby's Return To Dream Land. This Wii title from 2011 is a back-to-basics adventure that puts Kirby into familiar territory - there's no need to complain if you're in North America, you get the brand new Kirby and...
November2014
News Masahiro Sakurai Explains Why Mewtwo Isn't Paid DLC in Smash Bros.
Mewtwo intended as an "experiment", no paid DLC in development
With only a few days left until the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, series creator Masahiro Sakurai has sought to clarify, in an interview with IGN, his reasoning for not including Mewtwo as payable downloadable content for the upcoming title. Mewtwo, whose last series...
July2014
News Stand-Alone Kirby Fighters And DeDeDe's Drum Dash Headed To The Japanese 3DS eShop
Both feature new content, both out this month
Those of you wise enough to have purchased the rather excellent Kirby: Triple Deluxe will be aware that the mini-games included with the title — Kirby Fighters and DeDeDe's Drum Dash — are jolly good fun, and stand-out releases in their own right. It would appear that Nintendo agrees, because the...
May2014
News Nintendo Confirms Kirby: Triple Deluxe eShop Deal, Get Kirby's Dream Land 2 Free
Suck that up, Europe
Update: Nintendo of Europe has corrected the dates from the original announcement below. To qualify Kirby: Triple Deluxe must be downloaded by 12th June following its release, and the Dream Land 2 code must then be redeemed by 13th July. Original Article: With Kirby: Triple Deluxe around the corner in Europe — it's already...
