
A major discovery has been made on the cancelled Super Nintendo Kirby game, Kid Kirby. This unusual title, which was being developed by DMA Design (who are now Rockstar North — yes, that Rockstar North), the game was meant to use the Super NES Mouse to launch Kirby across the levels, but slow development and poor sales of the mouse caused the project to be cancelled.
Given the scarcity of information on the game, @KidKirbyArchive has been set up by @Meeper12346 (who formerly ran @FactsKirby) to document as much as possible on Kid Kirby. And in creating this account, brand new information, including manual scans and some story details, has been discovered.
Steve Hammond — former DMA Design writer — has shared these new tidbits with Kid Kirby Archive. This game, featuring a much more youthful Kirby, also would've seen King Dedede make a younger appearance. In Kid Kirby, he would've been known as Prince Dedede, and Hammond shared a much cleaner render of the soon-to-be-king, including new artwork of Kirby himself.
Also documented are some sketches of Kirby by Hammond from 1995 which show that this little Kirby would communicate using fruit and vegetables. The doodles also highlight the game's unusual control scheme.
A few pages of the game's manual have also been posted, presumably summarising the events before the game's story. The best part of these scans is on page seven, where "The Dreamland Tribune" can be seen. This mock newspaper spread includes a snarky mention of Hammond ("We interview him and find out just who he thinks he is...) and a cheeky reference to real-world events.
The last thing Hammond sends over to Kid Kirby Archive is a document that contains an outline of the start of the game's plot. The game would start with Kirby sleeping, then he's awoken by something happening at the Dream Spring. The Spring stops working, and Kirby decides that he needs to fix it, so he goes on an adventure to do just that. You can read the text for the intro right here.
Before today, so little was known about the game, and we're hugely grateful to Kid Kirby Archive for sharing these details online, and to Steve Hammond for providing the information.
Cancelled Kirby games have been creeping out of the woodwork lately! Just a few weeks ago, more footage of the cancelled GameCube game was shared on YouTube. So it's an exciting time to be a Kirby fan what with Kirby and the Forgotten Land and all of these new details emerging.
We're excited to see what other details Meeper12346 can find out about Kid Kirby. For now, let us know what you think of this cancelled game in the comments!
[source twitter.com]
Comments 27
Whoof, those renders are... interesting.
Rockstar need to make a Kirby version of GTA now and attacks include super hug which can cause enemies to stop breathing.
Prince dedede looks...off.
@StarPoint lol I think Whoof is the absolute correct expression
We'll never know how this would have turned out but I'm going to shamelessly plug Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It really is an amazing game and best in the series. Buy it!
I love his hair!! We could have had Kirby w hair
It sounds quite interesting, but… Honestly I don’t believe in any control scheme that is unlike the standard one.
It happens rarely when a game is decent if it uses an abnormal control scheme.
I reckon there are lots of people who are crazy about motion schemes and other stuff like that, but usually it’s just a headache when you need to get used to using a mouse or a motion stick. It’s fair if game does not supports any other scheme.
How was the Super NES mouse got poor sales though? It was bundle with Mario Paint was it not and Mario Paint sold over 1 million copies. I don't believe it was due to poor sales, I believe it's cause of not enough games required the Super NES mouse.
it looks like a fan project to me.
@Serpenterror Maybe "poor" isn't the best term. I think in terms of attach rates it makes sense, though. If there are only 1 million SNES mouse owners, then every single one of them would have to buy a copy of Kid Kirby for it to even break a million sales--a very unlikely prospect.
Even as a huge Kirby fan, there are things better left unearthed lol. They made the right call canning this. It's pretty ugly. Kirby is all about cute and should really play into that strength.
Also YES. PLAY Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It's gorgeous and SUPER cute.
Kirby: Canvas Cursor?
I'll see myself out.
Wow I am so glad this game wasn't made.
Yikes. Kirby with hair is wrong. In renders it looks like an extra limb, and prince Dedede; Was that their idea of cute?
@StarPoint if "interesting" you mean "nightmare in dreamland" fuel, then yes.
So does this mean the Kirby we know and love is, in fact, bald? I mean he IS, technically, but it's interesting that he HAD hair and now doesn't.
@StarPoint Buzz your girlfriend…Whoof.
@RubyCarbuncle But he eats his enemies whole, that defiantly stops their breathing
I always have thought about Kirby as a kid! 😁
@Kermit1 LOL don't mind me I was just in a silly mood earlier, too much coffee I think.
@RubyCarbuncle same lol
The screenshots makes it look like it would've had the same pre rendered visuals as Mario RPG. I'm still a bit miffed it isn't included on NSO.
This sounds like it could have been the precursor to Angry Birds, what with flinging Kirby across levels with the mouse. I'm not sure if there were other games that were the prototype of that kind of mechanic in the 90s. Just imagine Kid Kirby being as popular as Angry Birds.
Kill it with fire!
SWEET LEW LORD, THAT DEDEDE IS HORRIFYING
DeDeDe is like, Plucky Duck x Chilly Willy...
I’d play a Kirby with flowing pink locks, why not..
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