TheKirbyfranchise entered a new era withKirby and the Forgotten Land, its first true 3D platformer. WhileHAL Laboratory said 3D games might not be the series' future, its success means plenty moreKirbygames are sure to come. The series has a long history of releasing not only mainline platformers, but also spin-offs — many of which are fleshed-out versions of other sub-games.
One such spin-off wasKirby’s Blowout Blastin 2017, an expansion of the “Kirby 3D Rumble” puzzler sub-game fromPlanet Robobot. Many embody different genres, from theparty-fighting gameKirby Fightersto the rhythm gameDedede’s Drum Dash Deluxe. A particularly basic concept with potential is “Kirby Quest,” a mock RPG sub-game from 2011’sKirby Mass Attackon DS. While it wasn’t a true RPG, it shows how Kirby could thrive with a similar treatment to AlphaDream’sMario & Luigifranchise.
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How the Mario & Luigi RPGs Evolve Their Source Material
AlphaDream filed for bankruptcy in 2019, having become well-known for its RPG spin onSuper Mariothat carried forward the legacy of Square’sSuper Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. WhileSuper Mario RPGgave players a cycling team of Mario, Peach, Bowser, Mallow, and Geno, AlphaDream’sMario & Luigi: Superstar Sagacut things down to just the titular brothers. Yet it still used the action command system Square implemented to make combat more engaging than traditional turn-based RPGs.
The now-defunct studio also developed games includingTomato AdventureandHamtaro: Rainbow Rescue, butMario & Luigiis its main legacy. Part of that comes from how it redefined elements of the original series to develop RPG elements.Superstar Saga,Partners in Time,Bowser’s Inside Story,Paper Jam, andDream Teameach had their own gimmicks, like teaming up with baby versions of major characters; but the brothers' typical skills range from jumping, hammer strikes, and fire (or thunder) attacks to using items like Koopa Shells. Characters like Bowser and Peach also see deeper development because RPGs are stuffed with dialog by their nature.
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Where a Kirby RPG Could Thrive
Kirby Quest fromMass Attackis more about timing. Players encounter a succession of enemies across four chapters, and the power of Kirby’s attacks against them is determined by players stopping an oscillating gauge on the DS' bottom screen. These attacks range from moves utilizing various copy abilities like wheel to full-on “summons” like Dyna Blade fromKirby Super Star.
Players may not have direct agency in their attacks or stats, but the game’s presentation is steeped in RPG fanfare. Not only is the combat screen clearly inspired by classic turn-basedFinal Fantasygames, with each level up adding an extra Kirby to the party for more damage-dealing, its title screen is also a reference to HAL’s 1992 dungeon-crawler RPGArcana. This also isn’t the first timeKirbyhas referenced RPGs, as one notable boss fromSuper Starnamed Computer Virus imitated turn-based battles against enemies like slimes, mages, knights, and dragons.
A legitimateKirbyRPG could go further than Kirby Quest, offering the pink puffball another genre to conquer rather than simply using its aesthetics as set dressing.Super Kirby Clashhad RPG elements with upgradeable gear and stats, but a turn-based combat system akin toMario & Luigi— with action commands or not — could recontextualize Kirby’s copy abilities as different classes or jobs that level up. As in AlphaDream’s popular franchise, verbal characters likeKing Dedede or Meta Knightcould be secondary party members with more to say about the dangers around every corner.
HAL Laboratory is also no stranger to introducingcosmic horrors into theKirbyuniverse, from Dark Matter inDream Land 2to Void Termina inKirby Star Allies, as well as themed villains like the Squeak Squad or mirror dimension Meta Knight. Any one of these could serve as the big bad in an intergalactic RPG, and it’s easy to imagine HAL pulling out all the stops for an apocalyptic climax featuring a new threat. With the series as successful as ever, it would be interesting to see whatKirby’s developers would do with a full RPG.
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