Category:Kirby

Kirby (星のカービィ Hoshi no Kābī, "Kirby of the Stars") is a video game series developed by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo, and produced by Nintendo. The majority of the games in the series are action-platformers with light puzzle-solving elements. Kirby has the ability to eat enemies and objects thereby gaining a characteristic ability from them. The series is known for being relatively simple for first time players to pick up and play while offering additional challenges for more experienced players; in addition to its bright and artistic settings, cute characters, and upbeat, cheerful music.

Currently, the Kirby series includes a total of over twenty games, and has sold over 34 million units worldwide, putting it in the top 50 best selling video game franchises of all time.

The main protagonist of the Kirby series is a young, pink, spherical creature named Kirby. Kirby lives on a distant star shaped planet called Pop Star. A relatively carefree child; Kirby eats whenever he is hungry, and sleeps as soon as he gets tired. However, the peace on Pop Star is often shattered by a variety of threats, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial, and Kirby must shift gears into a brave warrior to save his home. Aiding Kirby is his ability to suck objects into his stretchy mouth and then spit them out with incredible force. He can also take on the properties of enemies or objects that he eats, transforming his appearance and gaining new abilities such as breathing fire, wielding a sword, launching sparks in every direction, or attacking enemies with direct hand-to-hand combat.

Many recurring characters appear throughout the series both allies and enemies. The most frequent one being King Dedede, a gluttonous blue bird and self-proclaimed ruler of Dream Land (a region of Pop Star). King Dedede has appeared in every Kirby game except for Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, and while he and Kirby frequently clash, he is not always a villain, appearing as an ally or playable character in some of the games. Another major character of the series is the enigmatic Meta Knight, a chivalrous masked warrior who often assists Kirby, but, depending on his intentions, will fight against Kirby to get things as he desires.

The main Kirby games feature a mixture of basic side-scrolling platform gameplay, unique puzzles, and a number of hidden items that either unlock more parts to the game or are simple incentives to collect, and are usually required to collect to achieve 100% completion in the game. Nearly every platform Kirby game involves traversing through a number of areas, each containing around one to six stages, and defeating the boss enemy of each area along the way. Several of the bosses have a special item, which must be taken from them by defeating them. These special items usually relate to the final boss of the game, most often used to create a special weapon required to defeat it. In some games, the special weapon is optional and can be used in the game regularly after defeating the final boss with it. These elements have remained constant throughout most the series, with each game having its own unique twist to affect gameplay.

The games' fantasy world of Pop Star includes many regions of different climates and terrains, which are home to many different creatures. Each game features uniquely named areas, but all games feature typical locations such as fiery mountains, open meadows, water-filled or submerged areas, icy snowfields, and similar nature-based places.

There are also several spinoff games in the series, which involve a variety of different gaming genres such as pinball, puzzle, racing, even a game based on motion-sensor technology. A number of these side games take advantage of Kirby's round, ball-like appearance.

While a traditional Kirby game can be called a side-scrolling platform game, it cannot really be called a traditional platformer. One of the things that set a Kirby game apart from most of them is Kirby's ability to inflate and fly for as long as he likes—however, in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, he can get tired after a while. Kirby can also land on his enemies to attack them—though, unlike most of them, Kirby must fall from an appropriate altitude to do this.