Kirby World Of Light

We expect that everyone and their Duck Hunt Duo has now seen the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World of Light trailer (you know, the one where all your favourite cuddly Nintendo characters got obliterated in murderous beams of light, forcing you to snuggle up to your loved ones thanks to the pure stress and heartache of it all). Well, if you have seen it, you might be wondering why Kirby was the only character chosen to survive the Nintendo apocalypse. That conundrum has now been answered.

At first, many assumed it may well be because game director Masahiro Sakurai has an obvious soft spot for the character - he did create the adorable pink blob after all - but it actually has much more to do with the game's playability and common sense (as far as common sense can go in a game about fictional princesses, lizards, and electric rodents smashing each other to bits). Sakurai revealed the true reasoning in his most recent Famitsu magazine column, kindly translated by the folks at Source Gaming:

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"We needed a solid, convincing reason for why said character could outrun Galeem. All fighters possessing “normal” abilities were immediately disqualified. Given that its assault enveloped the ends of the galaxy, only a vehicle that could defy the laws of physics would work. Even short-distance teleportation wouldn’t be enough.

Some of you may have forgotten, but Kirby’s Warp Star has been able to, y’know, warp since his very first game. That alone made him a pretty solid contender. The only other two fighters that could have survived would have been Bayonetta or Palutena. That said, Bayonetta’s enemies from Purgatorio (a hellish other world) were turned into Spirits, so it wouldn’t have made sense for her to escape. Other divine beings like Hades were also turned into Spirits, so there was no way Palutena could have survived, too."

So, as it turns out, being the only one capable of using a Warp Star really has its benefits, but there are others reasons why Kirby was the chosen star, too. As you may be aware, Kirby's survival makes him become the first playable character in the World of Light mode. Sakurai reveals that it was important to make this first character be one that is "simple and easy to use", allowing players to ease their way in to the gameplay. Forcing players to jump right in with Bayonetta or Palutena would have made things unnecessarily difficult so Kirby was the natural choice.

If you'd like to read the rest of the column's English translation, you can find that here.

Are you looking forward to joining Kirby in the World of Light adventure? Feel free to share your current hype levels in the comments below.

[source sourcegaming.info, via famitsu.com]