It’s 27 years to the day of the release of Kirby’s Dream Land on the Game Boy, and HAL Labs celebrated the day with a new picture of Kirby with the Festival ability, and one of Kirby’s favorite foods.
Additionally, Qbby from the BoxBoy! series also celebrated Kirby’s birthday with another picture.
In a blog post at HAL Labs’ website, Kirby series general director Shinya Kumazaki talked about how Kirby has become more prolific recently, especially thanks to his 25th anniversary two years back. In these past few years, HAL has tried out various new things with the brand in the real world, organizing events and creating goods that haven’t been made before. He cited this as perhaps the reason Kirby won the Best Character Award at the Famitsu Awards 2018, a category voted by the fans.
Kumazaki also commented on how games are coming out at a more constant pace compared to before, all thanks to better timing and planning. Just in the past two years, there has been Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, Kirby’s Blowout Blast, Kirby Battle Royale, Kirby: Star Allies, and of course, this year’s Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn, all which aren’t limited to just action platforming gameplay.
Once again, he reiterated that HAL Labs will continue to challenge themselves with the series, and that they are the type of company to go all-out with their projects, sometimes to the detriment of the business side. As long as there are fans looking forward to a new Kirby game, he said, they plan to tackle new challenges and grow alongside Kirby, and to look forward to Kirby’s steps towards a yet-unknown future.
Finally, he left off with a picture taken at the Famitsu Awards, featuring from left to right: HAL Labs President Shigefumi Kawase, Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai, and current Kirby series general director Shinya Kumazaki.
Happy birthday, Kirby!
