Use code KING for $5 off your first #Sakuraco box through my link: team.sakura.co/kingk-SC2205 OR your first #TokyoTreat box through my link: team.tokyotreat.com/kingk-TT2205
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for bringing up Jun Ishikawa. He is such a fantastic composer who's music is absolutely integral to the series charm and identity, and I never hear anyone bring him up when Kirby is the subject, even when discussing the music.
He's absolutely a fantastic composer. I love his dubstep (Kirbstep?) and electronic tracks in the newer games. I suppose people don't bring him up as much when it comes to Kirby music because so much attention is given to the final boss tracks in modern Kirby games, all of which are by Hirokazu Ando. Speaking of which, I'm going to assume KingK ignored Ando because he intends to bring him up later. Was a bit disappointed, because Hirokazu Ando's *also* been with the franchise since Kirby's Adventure. He also composed Dream Land 2 and several of those early spinoffs, often with Tadashi Ikegami. The latter holds an upper management position at HAL nowadays, but he composed the vocal tracks for Super Kirby Clash and Forgotten Land.
It really is strange. I love Kirby music to the point where I would consider it the franchise with the greatest overall soundtrack in gaming, but I would not be able to tell you the man's name by heart unlike Kojo Kondo, Yoko Shimomura, Toby Fox or even Yasunori Mitsuda and Jake Kaufmann. Probably because it's not just him working on the franchise's music but rather also Hirokazu Ando and some other composers here and there depending on the game. It's even more Interesting when you consider that you can tell exactly whoch composed which track by looking at the colour of the music notes that appear when listening to each game's sound test. Red notes indicate that Ishikawa composed the piece while blue ones stand for Ando. Another franchise whose soundtrack I hold in very high regard is Ace Attorney, and I know equally little about the composers behind these tracks, mainly because they tend to shift a lot between games, much moreso than with Kirby. Coming from that little tangent back to Kirby, it's especially jarring when you consider how masterful these guys are at incorporating leitmotifs previously established in the series, which ties in perfectly with King's point about the franchise embracing its own legacy. Every final boss theme in the mainline games between Return to Dreamland and now (barring Forgotten Land) has included a portion of Green Greens, and Triple Deluxe is the only one of them to not include Kirby's Triumphant Return, which itself has made its way into Green Greens' modern renditions. It's because these melodies represent Kirby himself, just as Dedede's theme represents him and My Friend and the Setting Sun has become Meta Knight's leitmotif. We hear these familiar bits of music and we immediately know the characters to associate them with. It plays perfectly into the sense of familiarity and cozyness that's described in the conclusion of this video.
The Kirby series gets crazy when you start to factor in the mini games. The Touhou clone they included in Mass Attack ate several 10s of hours of my life. I probably played it more than the actual game and it was so much more fleshed out than the other mini games included in that spin off, it's wild.
Kirby fan and long time viewer here. Really excited that you're doing a long form retrospective on the Kirby series, and I look forward to seeing how the rest of the retrospective plays out Also, massive shoutouts to the Kirby 64 praise as that game is phenomenal
6:14 "Easy to finish, and maddening to fully complete." That's why I love Kirby. It starts off as cute and beginner friendly, but fully completing the game becomes much more of a challenge for those who want to go for it, and it's often got pretty satisfying post-game elements.
I absolutely adore Kirby 64. Whether it's the power up variety, music, the way the story is presented without words like you mentioned, and the overall charm, it's one of my favorites in the series and one N64 game that I'll happily revisit.
That final song is particularly memorable because of a friend. He played Brawl a ton and he was the unfortunate duck to have a Wii that effectively bricked due to the disc. Upon getting it back, he went ham again and one day he got the 4999 achievement. He had no knowledge of it and decided to take a snapshot, paste it into a YT video, and put that music on for the background. As of now it's sitting at 205,000 views, but it was crazy seeing that kind of attention and then YT sending messages asking if he'd like to monetize the thing As to Dreamland 3 I'm more partial to it because I never went for completion. As such most of the animal abilities were neat to experiment with for fun and not for some lengthy "puzzle"
I'm only mildly annoyed you didn't mention what I've always thought was one of the most underrated and underused features of Kirby 64; the fact that you don't have to outright swallow or spit enemies you inhale. You can do all sorts of funny things by pulling enemies out and holding them over your head. Suck up one of those arrowhead shooting fish, and then carry him on your head to shoot at other enemies. Carry a spike guy over your head to have him routinely impale anything above you. Suck up a fish and hold him above your head to zip through water sections, etc. No one ever seems to mention that feature.
To be fair, I don't think a lot of people even know you can do this. I recently learned that while playing the game on NSO and I own the original N64 cartridge!
I'm so glad to see someone giving this series as a whole the praise it really deserves. I'll stay one of Dream Land 3's defenders, but I totally understand where you're coming from. Also, It makes me happy to see that you love Kirby 64 as much as I do. It's easily the best of Kirby's first batch of games.
You always bless the timeline with games I love just when I least expect it. I love all of your videos and your passion for gaming. You’re a legend king.
I have to say, your videos are something else. There's a sense of optimism in your words, it's almost wistful, like you're a professor struggling to stay professional as the happy memories bubble up during a lecture. Thank you for doing these, Mr. KingK.
Kirby's Dreamland 2 and 3 were some of my absolute favorite games when I was younger. I loved the animal companions and how the different abilities could mix and create new paths or let you find additional rewards you wouldn't have discovered had you not been experimenting with the abilities. Back during the time with no broadband Internet, I played those two games a considerable amount and managed to find everything on my own without so much as help from GameFAQs, and I found the final final bosses challenging enough for such easy and lighthearted games, even if they were creepy as hell. Beating the nightmare guy with a sword in Dreamland 2 while the battery light on my Gameboy got weaker and weaker, but I couldn't stop to change batteries because the dude with the sword became a black blob, this time! There was a phase 2 all along! Among Adventure, Super Star, and Dreamland 2 and 3, I really loved Kirby as a kid. I know Dreamland 2 and 3 had flaws, but I can't help but look back on them fondly, and I loved using the fish and cat animal partners and shanking enemies with broken lightbulbs and stuff. Tiers of powers, usefulness, etc., means nothing when you're an 8 year old kid, after all, haha. Edit: Okay, got to listen to the entire points made about DL2 and 3. The criticisms were all fair. I have a special love for these games, but my love comes from a time where I had an entire afternoon to spend doing some of the more especially difficult minigames like the Gordo one mentioned in the video (now easily bypassed with a cell phone, something I didn't have back in 1997 lol). and Kirby 64 absolutely rocked and had one of the best final bosses in the series.
you know, it's funny how I can't stand DL2 but DL3 is probably one of my favorite games even though they more or less play identically I think it's DL2's presentation in comparison to DL3's
My wife is a huge Kirby fan. While I probably can't get her to sit down and watch long-form videos like this as the format just doesnt keep her attention as it does mine, I'm happy to pass along all the trivia that I'm sure she will find very interesting. Also, I love that you spice the videos with old commercials for the games in question. Really is a blast of my childhood that seems to just not exist anymore.
I used to feel the same way about Dreamland 2 and 3, but I realized they're games you're meant to play over weeks or months in short bursts. Dreamland 2 is a game aimed at children who would get time to play one or two levels a day on the bus and tell their friends about the cool secret boss they found near the end of the school year. They're frustrating, but in ways meant to increase long term attachment to the game and give you a satisfying payoff when you stick with them. Assessing them from the perspective of beating your head against the problem until it's solved instead of coming back to the game occasionally to try again -- treating the final boss as locked content instead of a cool bonus for mastering the rest of the game -- is kind of missing the forest for the trees. It's like saying Mario Party isn't fun solo. Like, yeah, obviously, but that's not really what the team that created the game was going for. But also the Cloudy Park Rainbow Drop is the worst thing anyone ever put in a video game.
Much appreciation for keeping Kriby in the conversation as Forgotten Land settles. Kirby hype is as strong as ever and it's great to see more and more content feeding into the longevity.
sucks to hear you give not even 3 minutes to my favorite Dream Land 3, but at the same time my eyes got watery at Kirby 64 (during work no less, lol) I eagerly await the next installments
Editor here! Hope you all enjoy this one! I know almost nothing about Kirby but I did my best to do it justice 🥰 EDIT: Just in case anyone is interested, the green screen Kirby animation was found here: th-cam.com/video/qGbsgwwNaPI/w-d-xo.html
We've gotten used to seeing dark final bosses in Kirby, but since Kirby's Adventure was the first one to do it, the appearance of Nightmare is a genuinely creepy moment, and I love the faces Kirby and King Dedede make when he emerges from the Fountain of Dreams.
Technically, yeah, but Kirby's Dreamland 2 was the first time a final boss was like, ACTUALLY dark. There's a significant jump in creepiness between the two of them. The only thing that's really frightening about Nightmare is his fucking death animation, like, jesus.
Kirby is my absolute favorite franchise of all time, so knowing KingK himself is singing its praises means I'm gonna enjoy this ride for a long time and boy oh boy I can't wait till you get to the Kirby Renaissance
Didn't play much Kirby growing up but my little brother adored his Wii games plus P. Robobot and Star Allies and I often played co-op with him so I did grow some deserved appreciation for this series. Return To Dreamland's multiplayer is simply a lot of fun
I remember the fact that the Kirby game covers of the western versions have Kirby with an "angry" look as opposed to the happy look they have in Japanese covers because they thought that it would appeal more to western kids if it had a rougher look, and it shows with those commercials you showed in this video which portray him tough and with a serious face and all, like a serious fighter. For what I searched, I can't find Dream Land and Adventure USA covers with his angry face, so maybe they didn't do it with those, but almost every Kirby game between the GBA, DS and Wii era have him with an angry face in the western versions while it's happy in Japan (see Nightmare in Dream Land, Return to Dream Land, Squak Squad, Mass Attack, Canvas Curse differences between USA and Japan covers).
The biggest hurdle going back to this era of kirby for me is the control. Modern kirby control is so refined that I find myself getting frustrated, not being able to control my jump height that well, releasing air puffs quickly to maintain height, being helpless when bouncing from a fall. The old games also have many moments where I cry foul because the camera is too zoomed in and I get hit from enemies or hazards that I can't react to, which was really noticeable when I went back to play superstar, which I loved in my childhood.
One of my favorite things about this channel is the commercials in between games and talking points, really brings you back to that time when you used to beg your parents for a game or toy because the commercial made the product look like magic in your hands., and on that note, wow did they make Kirby seem like an actual menace to society in these commercials
I have the fondest memories of the Dreamland 2 100% grind as a pre-teen. Sure, blinded by nostalgia, but even today the idea of "scout the level to find where to go, figure out what companion and ability you need to hit the blocks stopping you from getting the thing, figure out where to get both, actually get to the thing" is one of the things that made me love videogames, back when I couldn't just look everything up on the internet. That and Air Ride's massive achievement grid are in my opinion peak examples of how to do entirely optional completionism. Sad to hear it caused you more frustration than anything else.
13:46 "Now, if you're anything like Kirby, you're probably snacking on something as you watch this very video." I was literally eating spaghetti my mom made me when I heard this line of the video.
The one thing about Kirby’s adventure that I love is the momentum and control, unpopular opinion but I prefer to press up on the D-pad to access the float ability it’s just feels right so that’s great but another thing that I wished that games after adventure followed is the slide momentum, like for example if you slide at the end of a platform kirby will automatically sprint which helps to carry that momentum which games like Kirby’s fun pak or star allies don’t follow and more or less keeps the standard momentum cap that’s been applied since fun pak.
One of the best things about these reviews is seeing the old advertisements. Most of them are a bit nuts or cringey, but they show actual gameplay instead of some rendered high quality scene with "not actual game footage" hidden like a small print. These show how gaming has evolved for better and for worse.
Man, everytime you upload a video I get giddy and excited. I THINK for my brain you're my favourite TH-camr, even if I didn't actively choose you or anything. Your content is just so precious, at an all time quality high and I can't imagine my life anymore without waiting for your next retrospective. Love ya
This was a very cool look at the Dream Land era of the Kirbs. For one, I didn't know you were a big fan of the pink marshmallow, which brings a smile to my face due to my own love for that little weirdo. Secondly, I'm SO happy someone else agrees that Kirby 64's OST is one of the best in the series and recognizes how it evolved the series without losing that charm. I'll agree about your points for Dream Lands 2 and 3, though do enjoy the latter a lot for its soundtrack and gorgeous graphics. I'm looking forward to your future videos about the pink puff. Also, that outro with Kirby and Meta Knight dancing was SO DAMN PRECIOUS!!!! That got a big squeal of joy outta me.
Now this is a series I can inhale into my huge gross mouth. Nightmare in Dreamland was a huge part of my childhood, I’m definitely looking forward to the future videos!
Man, that second commercial (Which I remember... Wow...) Sums up Kirby the best even to this day. "Cute till you cross him. Then he's one tough cream puff." Up to and including bodying eldritch abominations before nap time. I'm all in for this retrospective. Love your work, and look forward to when you get into the... FEETS Kirby has done.
It always fascinated me how the aesthetic of the old games felt. Between the Kirby's Adventure commercial using old black and white movie/TV footage, the original being on a black and white system, and enemies like Poppy Bros (which were phased out in later games) or Shotzos, I used to get a Fleischer Studios vibe from them.
My mistake, sorry! For some reason I mandela effected myself into thinking they weren't present, but you're indeed right. Maybe there's just not as many of them anymore or maybe it's the art style change, particularly the way they draw the eyes on them now. I still sorta get that vibe from the earlier games for some reason.
Not one time has anyone posted anything worth ah shit I tell you what since u like to talk like you know me than come get ah price its real easy to say something when you got clear field beside other winners like yourself, I don't need reassurance from anyone, I'll do this shit without backup, you don't know me
Ever since I found your channel when I got strep throat I’ve been hooked on these retrospectives! I just love these deeper, more substantial and fulfilling type videos! Really feels nice after watching. : )
Great vid my man. Can’t really argue with anything you said about Dreamland 3, but it’s such a comfy experience that to date it’s still my favourite Kirby outing. The art style is gorgeous and the OST is my happy place. Funnily enough I could never get into Kirby 64 even though aesthetically it ticks all the same boxes
Great video as always, I'm also really glad you mentioned how the spin off games have more to them than most think. This is clearer in the more modern spin offs, like kirby clash having weapon upgrades which translated to forgotten land. Even the spinoff 3d rumble kirby or blowout blast experimenting with a 3d style gameplay at a smaller scale allowing for devs to really test out a lot of ideas. There's other examples but I haven't played many of the more modern spinoffs but I hope this made sense
Oh. Oh I'm a bit excited for this, yes. Kirby Super Star was the first game I ever knew was "the best game I've ever played". It was charming, intuitive, clever, honestly decently funny, difficult enough that I could infinitely challenge myself with its mechanics but easy enough that I could overcome it once I achieved a minimum level of competence. My brightest memories come from playing it with my mom, realizing that oh no, I'm the Wheelie Bike who's responsible for getting us out of the crashing Halberd, dying again and again until I was able to carry her to safety like she'd protected little preschool me all through the game. Of accidentally doing the Bomber Heading as Birdon when accidentlly bringing the bird to Arena Marx when Kirby had just a silver of health, my childhood neighborhood all watching and saying DO THAT AGAIN as my 5-year old brain remembered there was a pause menu with special moves, abusing invincibility frames to beat the Arena after dozens of attempts. Of seeing Kirby asleep in bed for the first time, feeling truly sad a game was over, and then seeing the words "there's more" that made me really feel that you can always live in games as long as you want; they never truly end. All wrapped in a package that I legitimately think is as close to perfect as you can get without being Tetris, and even then I think Kirby's a lot more solid of a variety pack and introduces more important concepts to players! It's the game that I've compared every single other game to since I was 4, had to think "okay this game is good, but is it better than Kirby Super Star?" Which probably has been a mistake considering Super Star's still in my Top 3 favorite games of all time, like, way to go exactly two games for beating my hardcore preschool tastes, but I really do feel it stands as a testament to how good the Kirby series is at its core. The sentiment that you leave this video on is probably the most important thing about the Kirby series, it being one of emotion. Qualitatively, it's good and solid, ticks all the boxes, might have an annoying aspect here or there but it's always very technically proficient and relatively cozy, earns its 70-85 Metacritic scores or whatever the average is supposed to be handily. But the feelings its world and music and mechanics combine to evoke always make those adventures memorable. I also think DL2 is kinda mid, feels like a tutorial the entire game and then Dark Castle is an actual good level and then it's over, but I more appreciate the vibe of Dream Land 3 and how hard you have to work in order to make the denizens of Dream Land happy, even if objectively it's really rough hauling Rick and Pitch through levels NOT designed for them. And it's got my boy Nago in it, the only man who can contend with Squitter for the title of "best Animal Buddy" across all games where the term "animal buddy" exists. There is a joy to Kirby that is simultaneously iterated on and played with through every single game, and you capture the ups and downs of that approach so, so nicely here. Always looking forward to the rest. But you didn't once mention Suplex so I'm afraid this video is flawed. 7/10 it has nice music and narration.
Delightfully detailed retrospective video here; looking forward to those eventual future Kirby videos as well. Your calm tone clearly delivered plentiful amounts of information with great visuals and clips backing the narrative! 3:32 - The ease of the games certainly helps a ton; both back then and now. The games are easy to get into and easy to return too, with the series being a remarkable way to introduce my nephews and niece to video games. The simpler design of Kirby also means that, outside of playing the games, they can easily recreate him in fun drawing sessions. 6:11 - "Easy to finish and maddening to fully complete" is a mantra I do adore. There are too many games I haven't finished due to the time it would take; be it the sheer length or how long it would take to overcome the challenge. Kirby games never have that issue but often still provide challenge through extra experiences afterwards. 10:14 - I was not expecting that joke; got a good chuckle out of me. It's even funnier given this segment of the video now reads (commercial removed due to copyright). I do agree that the quick loss of power is annoying. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say the swift loss of powers is to try and encourage the player to try new powers and avoid them relying on just a single power. 18:31 - Nice to see Pinball Land and Dream Course get some love in this video. I think what these spin-offs show is how Kirby can be adapted to other gameplay styles, with quite a few purely working off his simple and round design. Also in regards to Dream Course, perhaps because it's multiplayer component (which has certainly become a major aspect of the Kirby series), I still do hear odd folks talk about the game. 28:32 - I do feel this is an overlooked aspect to a lot of game coverage videos on TH-cam and in particular with the Kirby series. Nothing says inviting and beginner friendly quite as much as being able to assist a new/younger player or having them tag-along on your game journey and as such, the co-op feels a perfect fit for the Kirby series. 39:22 - I was going to come to the defence of Kirby's Dream Land 2 (having characters assist you rather than purely power combinations makes the adventure and world feel larger) but then you reminded me of the absolute torture that is the 6-2 Rainbow Drop. Holy heck was that hard! 46:25 - I had issues with Kirby and the Crystal Shards (sluggish pace, lack of co-op, not being able to play as the other characters) but the story and cast of characters does wonders to boost it's appeal and maintain numerous fond memories. It's telling of the story is also something I really appreciated, demonstrated at times with the unique advantage of video games such as with level design (Shiver Star and Ripple Heart being the most obvious).
11:50 the infamous Kirby's Adventure 7-5 cannon, it's so tight to get it with the Burning ability. But you can also ignite the cannon with Crash. You either get Crash at the start of the stage and keep it until the end (which also involves beating the Wheelie miniboss) or attempt to get Crash from the Mix roulette (inhale 2 enemies that give abilities at the same time)
50:26 you can actually hold the B button to arch it like Bomb, tho it’s still very impractical as it halts you in place much more than bomb’s throw does(even when not holding the button) and the trade off of it lingering tho a bit small is way worse than Bomb’s slightly bigger hit-box imo. Either way, this is still a very incredible and well thought out video and I can’t wait to see what you do for the next era of Kirby games, tho I hope you note how, no matter how you feel about Nightmare in Dreamland, it absolutely butchered Butter Building.
@@geschnitztekiste4111 same, I also hate how the backgrounds look compared to Adventure’s which fun fact, had a ton of work put into them(you can kinda tell), I don’t mind the backgrounds that much in Amazing Mirror tho considering how that’s it’s own game, meanwhile in NiD it completely replaces the OG backgrounds, which I still to this day think are absolutely beautiful.
I'm already stoked for the next two entries in your Kirby retrospective series. But take your time, because whenever there's a long wait between your videos, the next one is sure to be "da bomb"
Dream Land 3's art direction was pretty advanced. Going for this child's crayon drawing style in a perfect understanding of what the games are supposed to make you feel.
Quality of the video aside (which is stellar as usual), I really enjoy when you feel freer to joke a little. Your voice tone is very serious and monotone, and I think it works really well when you insert the casual joke here and there. Comparing your more recent videos to your older ones, I feel you're much more comfortable doing these. Keep up the great work, King!
Fun fact: in Kirby 64 you can hold enemies that you suck but don't swallow above your head like you hold the ability stars to throw away or combine and some give you unique abilities, like holding a Bronto allows you to fly really fast or holding a fish underwater gets you from point A to point B faster, do keep in mind that this only works as long as you hold the enemy above your head, missing on the copy abilities, but it is a neat mechanic nontheless
Kirby is one of my favorite game series ever I’ve played almost all of them now I’m sure. You can never be upset playing Kirby it’s always the series I play if i want to chill or be cheered up this video is great
For me as someone who is generally dogshit at most video games, I really appreciated the feeling of little mastery with every power up that Kirby provided. I can’t crank a sick 90 but I could pick up on the intricacies of each power up quickly and satisfactorily
The commercial transitions you do for these type of videos are always great, it really gives you the sense of going back in time and seeing how advertising portrayed these games. I especially love the Kirby Avalanche one and Kirby striking the fear of god in that one dude.
11:28 to be fair, you dont have to do this specific cannon for 100% completion, it just gives you a few 1-ups (unfortunately i learned that the hard way)
11:42 is SUCH a tone whiplash compared to what you're used to out of a kingk video but DAMN is it hilarious. I want more of those. The soothing monotone voice suddenly going full comedic anger is just too perfect.
This was great, and i totally agree. There's that certain, special coziness and charm that only Kirby games can give you. There are other cozy games, yeah, but Kirby is special because it's Kirby. Kirby himself is perfectly cute, and combined with the visuals and music, general spirit of accessibility and variety (both within an individual game, and the series' ability to experiment while always staying true to itself), Kirby is always fun. I love Kirby 64 a lot, easily the one I played most as a kid AND first game I 100% completed! I'm happy to see you give it the love it rightfully deserves (still possibly my fave), although I'm still surprised they never tried the copy-ability-mixing idea again, it's so much fun.
Kirby Superstar has aged like a fine wine, as one of the few games from the 16-bit era that I could replay over and over. It's colorful, it's imaginative, it feels great to play, and each different game is more iconic than the last. To me, it's still the best Kirby game.
I think this is the first time I’ve actually been on time for one of your retrospectives considering everything else I’ve ever clicked from you was from years ago
Yes thank you, Kirby 64 is my favorite Kirby game and its rare to see someone on the internet discussing it, outside of the obvious communities of course. I still love the idea of combining powers and it is such a shame that didnt became a series standard, i can only dream about a game like the newest Kirby with the combo abilities of 64
Kirby's Dreamland is a bit rough around the edges, but Adventure, Dreamland 2, Dreamland 3, and 64 have some of the best art direction in all of gaming in my opinion. It's so...internally consistent for each game, if that makes sense. I love it!
Bro, honestly, you know me, some days I'm just like "Kirby" and other days, ah ha, I'm like, aha, "KIRBY" all capital letters because it means it's big. I like Kirby, that's what I was trying to get across with this comment. Sorry, I'm really tired, I didn't mean for it to sound so weird.
the thing I like best about the Kirby games is, they are so easy to pick up and just play, have some fun and get on with your day. Thanks for the video.
Glad you decided to talk about the history of one of my favorite Nintendo franchises, and video game franchises in general, King! :D I had no idea that the Kirby Of The Stars sequels had so many problems... I'm so thrilled that you really loved The Crystal Shards! It's pretty much what introduced me to the series if memory serves me right. I was 10 when the game originally came out, and I was so blown away just how crafted it was from the graphics, the character models, the animations, the personalities, the level designs, the music, the story, the gameplay, the mini-games, etc.! At the time, I didn't even know that there such series staples as Star Doors, Meta Knight, Kracko, the Kirby Dance, the Kirby Dance, the 2 Kirby Dance fanfare (outside of the shorter version as Kirby's victory theme in the original Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64, and both fanfares make an appearance in the Sound Test), and so on. Hell, I didn't even know that Waddle Dees were actually multiple enemies in variations, and not a single character, that goes to show just how different Crystal Shards is compared to other games in the main series, and that's why I love it!
About two months ago my sister asked me to take care of his youngest during mornings for a week, since I didn't had any new videogames suited for his age (he's 8) to play with him we ended up beating Kirby Superstar in co-op and it was really fun. Beating the Great Cave Offensive as a team (understanding which power ups we needed and working together to get to where we needed to use them etc) was the best. And I had completely forgotten about the RPG boss fight, genius moment right there.
43:19 Absolutely wrong, the cleaning/broom ability in KD3 is powerful and consistently one of the better ones in the game so it was the right call to make it the focus of many secrets because it's so useful to have and easy to obtain. Nago doesn't even have the best version of it, ChuChu@Broom is not just the best combo for this skill, it's the most OP combo in the game period. I have no idea how you could overlook that this is easily the best method of flight, even better than Coo since it lets you stay firmly in place while in midair which is critical for precise navigation. Just because you have to turn around to attack doesn't mean it's bad because due to the momentum you have during flight a quick turn doesn't halt your movement and you continue moving forward even while doing quick turns to attack. It can't be overstated how Chuchu with Broom SHREDS through most levels and makes short work of most bosses.
DL3 is a very special game to me. I played it as an adult in co-op with my younger brother. I think it's a very special type of platformer that I can't really compare anything else to. Frankly, some of the examples of frustrating gameplay that you gave had the opposite effect on me. I don't think it's your type of game, which is fine. I don't think they can be called objectively bad by any stretch. The aesthetic of the game alone is so unique and well-realized. It's a timeless classic in my eyes. Also the decision to have some ability combinations be bad is a very deliberate choice, and one that I personally really enjoy. It's not trying to be a game that relies on purely engaging gameplay. It's just a fun world with some quirky mechanics for you to mess around with, and enjoy discovering.
I can't wait for the next video. Nightmare in Dreamland was my first Kirby game, and I dropped off in the 3DS era; I have literally only played the 2000-2010 era of Kirby games, and I suspect they represent a large chunk of your love for the series too, as I believe we're roughly the same age.
Your retrospectives are the best! I always look forward to them and rewatch certain ones often. So relaxing to hear someone be so chill and optimistic about a game you have so many memories about
Kirby 64 is definitely one my absolute favourite childhood games. Pretty much everything you said, the levels are great, music is great, the freakin fantastic power combination system. I kinda fell off from Kirby after then but every game I've seen some of hasn't come close to what 64 achieved. I went years waiting for a sequel to solve the cliffhanger at the "end" before finding that there was a true ending.
Use code KING for $5 off your first #Sakuraco box through my link: team.sakura.co/kingk-SC2205
OR your first #TokyoTreat box through my link: team.tokyotreat.com/kingk-TT2205
Does anyone think the box is worth it??
@@Nooby. no, save your money for Kirby games instead.
Anyone try either one? Which one is better?
@@GaroLeader buy the boxes FOR Kirby
Sakura Co not Saku Raco
Your retrospective videos are like finding a $20 in your pants pocket after not wearing them for a while. Please keep em coming!
So... how long were your pants off?
how did you just perfectly describe it sjjsjs
Aww XD That's a great way to put it! And agreed!
I just found a $20 bill in my pants the other day. Does that mean another video is coming?
What a weird comparison
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for bringing up Jun Ishikawa. He is such a fantastic composer who's music is absolutely integral to the series charm and identity, and I never hear anyone bring him up when Kirby is the subject, even when discussing the music.
the man *made* Kirby just as much as Sakurai did, and I think they ought to have joint custody of the boy
He's absolutely a fantastic composer. I love his dubstep (Kirbstep?) and electronic tracks in the newer games. I suppose people don't bring him up as much when it comes to Kirby music because so much attention is given to the final boss tracks in modern Kirby games, all of which are by Hirokazu Ando.
Speaking of which, I'm going to assume KingK ignored Ando because he intends to bring him up later. Was a bit disappointed, because Hirokazu Ando's *also* been with the franchise since Kirby's Adventure. He also composed Dream Land 2 and several of those early spinoffs, often with Tadashi Ikegami. The latter holds an upper management position at HAL nowadays, but he composed the vocal tracks for Super Kirby Clash and Forgotten Land.
It really is strange. I love Kirby music to the point where I would consider it the franchise with the greatest overall soundtrack in gaming, but I would not be able to tell you the man's name by heart unlike Kojo Kondo, Yoko Shimomura, Toby Fox or even Yasunori Mitsuda and Jake Kaufmann. Probably because it's not just him working on the franchise's music but rather also Hirokazu Ando and some other composers here and there depending on the game.
It's even more Interesting when you consider that you can tell exactly whoch composed which track by looking at the colour of the music notes that appear when listening to each game's sound test. Red notes indicate that Ishikawa composed the piece while blue ones stand for Ando.
Another franchise whose soundtrack I hold in very high regard is Ace Attorney, and I know equally little about the composers behind these tracks, mainly because they tend to shift a lot between games, much moreso than with Kirby.
Coming from that little tangent back to Kirby, it's especially jarring when you consider how masterful these guys are at incorporating leitmotifs previously established in the series, which ties in perfectly with King's point about the franchise embracing its own legacy. Every final boss theme in the mainline games between Return to Dreamland and now (barring Forgotten Land) has included a portion of Green Greens, and Triple Deluxe is the only one of them to not include Kirby's Triumphant Return, which itself has made its way into Green Greens' modern renditions. It's because these melodies represent Kirby himself, just as Dedede's theme represents him and My Friend and the Setting Sun has become Meta Knight's leitmotif. We hear these familiar bits of music and we immediately know the characters to associate them with. It plays perfectly into the sense of familiarity and cozyness that's described in the conclusion of this video.
Despite Kirby's Dreamland 3's shortcomings It has my favorite art style in the series.
I agree and kind of hope it comes back in some way. The soft pastelish colors fit Kirby’s vibe really well!
I LOVE the art style but just can't hang on with the gameplay. It's so needlessly frustrating going for all the hearts
cavestory, neat.
I had an amazing experience with the game
I wish there was 1 more kirby game with that amazing pastel style...
Those 90s Kirby ads are hilarious. Nintendo of America really badly wanted to make the cutest game series ever made seem hardcore.
The same thing they did with mega man and sonic. America was weird
Kirby with teeth..
@@madelinethemad8604 ahhhh
I grew up with that Kirby that's why I always found baby Kirby from the anime kinda weird.
@@RyomenAyeni225 sonic was always meant to be cooler and edgier tho. The Japanese made it like that. However the localization did it badly
The Kirby series gets crazy when you start to factor in the mini games. The Touhou clone they included in Mass Attack ate several 10s of hours of my life. I probably played it more than the actual game and it was so much more fleshed out than the other mini games included in that spin off, it's wild.
This got a lot of likes so I should correct, it's not a Touhou clone, it plays more like an arcade shooter, my bad, just had Touhou on the brain.
Kirby fan and long time viewer here. Really excited that you're doing a long form retrospective on the Kirby series, and I look forward to seeing how the rest of the retrospective plays out
Also, massive shoutouts to the Kirby 64 praise as that game is phenomenal
I was worried he'd dislike it!
6:14 "Easy to finish, and maddening to fully complete." That's why I love Kirby. It starts off as cute and beginner friendly, but fully completing the game becomes much more of a challenge for those who want to go for it, and it's often got pretty satisfying post-game elements.
I absolutely adore Kirby 64. Whether it's the power up variety, music, the way the story is presented without words like you mentioned, and the overall charm, it's one of my favorites in the series and one N64 game that I'll happily revisit.
Top 5 Kirby game no doubt and it was surprisingly difficult for a Kirby game at the time which I think made me like the game a bit more
@@stevesteve0521 I agree thank you Butthead.
Ya I love Kirby 64 as well, it was the game I was playing the first time I got a blumpkin.
zERO TWO
That final song is particularly memorable because of a friend. He played Brawl a ton and he was the unfortunate duck to have a Wii that effectively bricked due to the disc. Upon getting it back, he went ham again and one day he got the 4999 achievement. He had no knowledge of it and decided to take a snapshot, paste it into a YT video, and put that music on for the background. As of now it's sitting at 205,000 views, but it was crazy seeing that kind of attention and then YT sending messages asking if he'd like to monetize the thing
As to Dreamland 3 I'm more partial to it because I never went for completion. As such most of the animal abilities were neat to experiment with for fun and not for some lengthy "puzzle"
Can you give a link to the video?
Link
Everyone knows Jun Ishikawa, but let's not forget Hirokazu Ando and all his contributions, too. Props to the both of them.
I'm only mildly annoyed you didn't mention what I've always thought was one of the most underrated and underused features of Kirby 64; the fact that you don't have to outright swallow or spit enemies you inhale.
You can do all sorts of funny things by pulling enemies out and holding them over your head. Suck up one of those arrowhead shooting fish, and then carry him on your head to shoot at other enemies. Carry a spike guy over your head to have him routinely impale anything above you. Suck up a fish and hold him above your head to zip through water sections, etc.
No one ever seems to mention that feature.
To be fair, I don't think a lot of people even know you can do this. I recently learned that while playing the game on NSO and I own the original N64 cartridge!
Yeah that was cool I’m glad they sorta brought it back in epic yarn
I'm so glad to see someone giving this series as a whole the praise it really deserves. I'll stay one of Dream Land 3's defenders, but I totally understand where you're coming from. Also, It makes me happy to see that you love Kirby 64 as much as I do. It's easily the best of Kirby's first batch of games.
You always bless the timeline with games I love just when I least expect it. I love all of your videos and your passion for gaming. You’re a legend king.
I have to say, your videos are something else.
There's a sense of optimism in your words, it's almost wistful, like you're a professor struggling to stay professional as the happy memories bubble up during a lecture.
Thank you for doing these, Mr. KingK.
Kirby's Dreamland 2 and 3 were some of my absolute favorite games when I was younger. I loved the animal companions and how the different abilities could mix and create new paths or let you find additional rewards you wouldn't have discovered had you not been experimenting with the abilities. Back during the time with no broadband Internet, I played those two games a considerable amount and managed to find everything on my own without so much as help from GameFAQs, and I found the final final bosses challenging enough for such easy and lighthearted games, even if they were creepy as hell.
Beating the nightmare guy with a sword in Dreamland 2 while the battery light on my Gameboy got weaker and weaker, but I couldn't stop to change batteries because the dude with the sword became a black blob, this time! There was a phase 2 all along!
Among Adventure, Super Star, and Dreamland 2 and 3, I really loved Kirby as a kid. I know Dreamland 2 and 3 had flaws, but I can't help but look back on them fondly, and I loved using the fish and cat animal partners and shanking enemies with broken lightbulbs and stuff. Tiers of powers, usefulness, etc., means nothing when you're an 8 year old kid, after all, haha.
Edit: Okay, got to listen to the entire points made about DL2 and 3. The criticisms were all fair. I have a special love for these games, but my love comes from a time where I had an entire afternoon to spend doing some of the more especially difficult minigames like the Gordo one mentioned in the video (now easily bypassed with a cell phone, something I didn't have back in 1997 lol). and Kirby 64 absolutely rocked and had one of the best final bosses in the series.
you know, it's funny how I can't stand DL2 but DL3 is probably one of my favorite games even though they more or less play identically
I think it's DL2's presentation in comparison to DL3's
"Factory Inspection" may be my favorite track from any video game ever. Perpetual goosebumps every time I hear it.
My wife is a huge Kirby fan. While I probably can't get her to sit down and watch long-form videos like this as the format just doesnt keep her attention as it does mine, I'm happy to pass along all the trivia that I'm sure she will find very interesting.
Also, I love that you spice the videos with old commercials for the games in question. Really is a blast of my childhood that seems to just not exist anymore.
I used to feel the same way about Dreamland 2 and 3, but I realized they're games you're meant to play over weeks or months in short bursts. Dreamland 2 is a game aimed at children who would get time to play one or two levels a day on the bus and tell their friends about the cool secret boss they found near the end of the school year. They're frustrating, but in ways meant to increase long term attachment to the game and give you a satisfying payoff when you stick with them. Assessing them from the perspective of beating your head against the problem until it's solved instead of coming back to the game occasionally to try again -- treating the final boss as locked content instead of a cool bonus for mastering the rest of the game -- is kind of missing the forest for the trees.
It's like saying Mario Party isn't fun solo. Like, yeah, obviously, but that's not really what the team that created the game was going for.
But also the Cloudy Park Rainbow Drop is the worst thing anyone ever put in a video game.
Much appreciation for keeping Kriby in the conversation as Forgotten Land settles. Kirby hype is as strong as ever and it's great to see more and more content feeding into the longevity.
sucks to hear you give not even 3 minutes to my favorite Dream Land 3, but at the same time my eyes got watery at Kirby 64 (during work no less, lol)
I eagerly await the next installments
Editor here! Hope you all enjoy this one! I know almost nothing about Kirby but I did my best to do it justice 🥰
EDIT: Just in case anyone is interested, the green screen Kirby animation was found here:
th-cam.com/video/qGbsgwwNaPI/w-d-xo.html
I love the use of the cheesy ads in between games, good on you
Bruh who tf told you that you're allowed to be such a good editor?
Makes we Wonder 💭
What your childhood was
@@Sathtana omg thank you 😭😭😭
@@thattimestampguy Mostly Final Fantasy and Zelda lol
We've gotten used to seeing dark final bosses in Kirby, but since Kirby's Adventure was the first one to do it, the appearance of Nightmare is a genuinely creepy moment, and I love the faces Kirby and King Dedede make when he emerges from the Fountain of Dreams.
Android the 17th
Technically, yeah, but Kirby's Dreamland 2 was the first time a final boss was like, ACTUALLY dark. There's a significant jump in creepiness between the two of them. The only thing that's really frightening about Nightmare is his fucking death animation, like, jesus.
@@carnage0685 Interesting. I have Dreamland 2 and 3 sitting on my 3DS and Wii U, respectively, but I have yet to play them. Gotta fix that.
Kirby is my absolute favorite franchise of all time, so knowing KingK himself is singing its praises means I'm gonna enjoy this ride for a long time
and boy oh boy I can't wait till you get to the Kirby Renaissance
I’m so glad you praised 64. I can’t fathom why an effort wasn’t made to retain the unique and 2.5d level design.
Didn't play much Kirby growing up but my little brother adored his Wii games plus P. Robobot and Star Allies and I often played co-op with him so I did grow some deserved appreciation for this series. Return To Dreamland's multiplayer is simply a lot of fun
Surprised you praised the Kirby 64 soundtrack as much as you did without bringing up the absolutely LEGENDARY Zero Two theme.
I remember the fact that the Kirby game covers of the western versions have Kirby with an "angry" look as opposed to the happy look they have in Japanese covers because they thought that it would appeal more to western kids if it had a rougher look, and it shows with those commercials you showed in this video which portray him tough and with a serious face and all, like a serious fighter. For what I searched, I can't find Dream Land and Adventure USA covers with his angry face, so maybe they didn't do it with those, but almost every Kirby game between the GBA, DS and Wii era have him with an angry face in the western versions while it's happy in Japan (see Nightmare in Dream Land, Return to Dream Land, Squak Squad, Mass Attack, Canvas Curse differences between USA and Japan covers).
The biggest hurdle going back to this era of kirby for me is the control. Modern kirby control is so refined that I find myself getting frustrated, not being able to control my jump height that well, releasing air puffs quickly to maintain height, being helpless when bouncing from a fall. The old games also have many moments where I cry foul because the camera is too zoomed in and I get hit from enemies or hazards that I can't react to, which was really noticeable when I went back to play superstar, which I loved in my childhood.
One of my favorite things about this channel is the commercials in between games and talking points, really brings you back to that time when you used to beg your parents for a game or toy because the commercial made the product look like magic in your hands., and on that note, wow did they make Kirby seem like an actual menace to society in these commercials
I have the fondest memories of the Dreamland 2 100% grind as a pre-teen. Sure, blinded by nostalgia, but even today the idea of "scout the level to find where to go, figure out what companion and ability you need to hit the blocks stopping you from getting the thing, figure out where to get both, actually get to the thing" is one of the things that made me love videogames, back when I couldn't just look everything up on the internet. That and Air Ride's massive achievement grid are in my opinion peak examples of how to do entirely optional completionism. Sad to hear it caused you more frustration than anything else.
The editing and little jokes in this episode were top notch!! I’ve always loved your videos and they’re only getting better; keep up the great work!
13:46 "Now, if you're anything like Kirby, you're probably snacking on something as you watch this very video." I was literally eating spaghetti my mom made me when I heard this line of the video.
The one thing about Kirby’s adventure that I love is the momentum and control, unpopular opinion but I prefer to press up on the D-pad to access the float ability it’s just feels right so that’s great but another thing that I wished that games after adventure followed is the slide momentum, like for example if you slide at the end of a platform kirby will automatically sprint which helps to carry that momentum which games like Kirby’s fun pak or star allies don’t follow and more or less keeps the standard momentum cap that’s been applied since fun pak.
True! Kirby feels much more like a bouncy ball in Adventure
One of the best things about these reviews is seeing the old advertisements. Most of them are a bit nuts or cringey, but they show actual gameplay instead of some rendered high quality scene with "not actual game footage" hidden like a small print.
These show how gaming has evolved for better and for worse.
Man, everytime you upload a video I get giddy and excited. I THINK for my brain you're my favourite TH-camr, even if I didn't actively choose you or anything. Your content is just so precious, at an all time quality high and I can't imagine my life anymore without waiting for your next retrospective. Love ya
This was a really good video!
The choice to include the interstitial commercials? Masterful. They're crazy
Thanks for deciding to cover oneof my favorite series King K, it means alot
This was a very cool look at the Dream Land era of the Kirbs. For one, I didn't know you were a big fan of the pink marshmallow, which brings a smile to my face due to my own love for that little weirdo. Secondly, I'm SO happy someone else agrees that Kirby 64's OST is one of the best in the series and recognizes how it evolved the series without losing that charm. I'll agree about your points for Dream Lands 2 and 3, though do enjoy the latter a lot for its soundtrack and gorgeous graphics. I'm looking forward to your future videos about the pink puff. Also, that outro with Kirby and Meta Knight dancing was SO DAMN PRECIOUS!!!! That got a big squeal of joy outta me.
Zero Two's theme is such a foreboding and intimidating boss theme. Really contrasts the horror of Dark Matter to the pleasantness of Kirby
Now this is a series I can inhale into my huge gross mouth.
Nightmare in Dreamland was a huge part of my childhood, I’m definitely looking forward to the future videos!
the kirby 64 ruins theme is one of my favorite vgms ever. beautiful. clouds theme is up there too
Man, that second commercial (Which I remember... Wow...) Sums up Kirby the best even to this day. "Cute till you cross him. Then he's one tough cream puff." Up to and including bodying eldritch abominations before nap time.
I'm all in for this retrospective. Love your work, and look forward to when you get into the... FEETS Kirby has done.
Idk about anyone else but I liked the funny little old Kirby ads in the video. Very well edited! Keep it up
That was awesome. Hope retrospective 2 is still in the works.
It always fascinated me how the aesthetic of the old games felt. Between the Kirby's Adventure commercial using old black and white movie/TV footage, the original being on a black and white system, and enemies like Poppy Bros (which were phased out in later games) or Shotzos, I used to get a Fleischer Studios vibe from them.
Complete with inexplicable and terrifying parts to boot!
My mistake, sorry! For some reason I mandela effected myself into thinking they weren't present, but you're indeed right. Maybe there's just not as many of them anymore or maybe it's the art style change, particularly the way they draw the eyes on them now.
I still sorta get that vibe from the earlier games for some reason.
I’m finding it hilarious how they felt they needed to amp up a cute pink ball as a biker-fighting badass to sell the game 😂🤣
With the praise he gave 64 I can’t wait to hear how effusive he is towards Robobot
Not one time has anyone posted anything worth ah shit I tell you what since u like to talk like you know me than come get ah price its real easy to say something when you got clear field beside other winners like yourself, I don't need reassurance from anyone, I'll do this shit without backup, you don't know me
How can one talk about Kirby 64 without mentioning the best ability combination, Ice and Spark?
The fridge is just too good not to be talked about.
I LOVE the fridge. Sure it's not really practical at all for combat but it's so cute!
@@lulucanpy3513 I'd say it's practical for combat. It deals decent damage, and you can get healing out of it.
Iconic and I adore
Ever since I found your channel when I got strep throat I’ve been hooked on these retrospectives! I just love these deeper, more substantial and fulfilling type videos! Really feels nice after watching. : )
Dream Land 2 is the first Kirby game I've played, and it holds up way better than Dream Land 1, and Dream Land 3. A masterful sequel.
Great vid my man. Can’t really argue with anything you said about Dreamland 3, but it’s such a comfy experience that to date it’s still my favourite Kirby outing. The art style is gorgeous and the OST is my happy place. Funnily enough I could never get into Kirby 64 even though aesthetically it ticks all the same boxes
nooo i need the rest of this series
Great video as always, I'm also really glad you mentioned how the spin off games have more to them than most think. This is clearer in the more modern spin offs, like kirby clash having weapon upgrades which translated to forgotten land. Even the spinoff 3d rumble kirby or blowout blast experimenting with a 3d style gameplay at a smaller scale allowing for devs to really test out a lot of ideas. There's other examples but I haven't played many of the more modern spinoffs but I hope this made sense
Aw man what a fun video about the cute little pink guy. You have come a long way since that first squeak squad video. Keep up the great work!
Glad to see someone singing the praises of Crystal Shards, the only Kirby game I love. And lightning fire is the best combo
Oh. Oh I'm a bit excited for this, yes.
Kirby Super Star was the first game I ever knew was "the best game I've ever played". It was charming, intuitive, clever, honestly decently funny, difficult enough that I could infinitely challenge myself with its mechanics but easy enough that I could overcome it once I achieved a minimum level of competence. My brightest memories come from playing it with my mom, realizing that oh no, I'm the Wheelie Bike who's responsible for getting us out of the crashing Halberd, dying again and again until I was able to carry her to safety like she'd protected little preschool me all through the game. Of accidentally doing the Bomber Heading as Birdon when accidentlly bringing the bird to Arena Marx when Kirby had just a silver of health, my childhood neighborhood all watching and saying DO THAT AGAIN as my 5-year old brain remembered there was a pause menu with special moves, abusing invincibility frames to beat the Arena after dozens of attempts. Of seeing Kirby asleep in bed for the first time, feeling truly sad a game was over, and then seeing the words "there's more" that made me really feel that you can always live in games as long as you want; they never truly end. All wrapped in a package that I legitimately think is as close to perfect as you can get without being Tetris, and even then I think Kirby's a lot more solid of a variety pack and introduces more important concepts to players! It's the game that I've compared every single other game to since I was 4, had to think "okay this game is good, but is it better than Kirby Super Star?" Which probably has been a mistake considering Super Star's still in my Top 3 favorite games of all time, like, way to go exactly two games for beating my hardcore preschool tastes, but I really do feel it stands as a testament to how good the Kirby series is at its core.
The sentiment that you leave this video on is probably the most important thing about the Kirby series, it being one of emotion. Qualitatively, it's good and solid, ticks all the boxes, might have an annoying aspect here or there but it's always very technically proficient and relatively cozy, earns its 70-85 Metacritic scores or whatever the average is supposed to be handily. But the feelings its world and music and mechanics combine to evoke always make those adventures memorable. I also think DL2 is kinda mid, feels like a tutorial the entire game and then Dark Castle is an actual good level and then it's over, but I more appreciate the vibe of Dream Land 3 and how hard you have to work in order to make the denizens of Dream Land happy, even if objectively it's really rough hauling Rick and Pitch through levels NOT designed for them. And it's got my boy Nago in it, the only man who can contend with Squitter for the title of "best Animal Buddy" across all games where the term "animal buddy" exists. There is a joy to Kirby that is simultaneously iterated on and played with through every single game, and you capture the ups and downs of that approach so, so nicely here. Always looking forward to the rest.
But you didn't once mention Suplex so I'm afraid this video is flawed. 7/10 it has nice music and narration.
I hope we get a lot of lore talk in these videos, that's one of my favorite parts of this series and I think there is a lot to appreciate
Delightfully detailed retrospective video here; looking forward to those eventual future Kirby videos as well. Your calm tone clearly delivered plentiful amounts of information with great visuals and clips backing the narrative!
3:32 - The ease of the games certainly helps a ton; both back then and now. The games are easy to get into and easy to return too, with the series being a remarkable way to introduce my nephews and niece to video games. The simpler design of Kirby also means that, outside of playing the games, they can easily recreate him in fun drawing sessions.
6:11 - "Easy to finish and maddening to fully complete" is a mantra I do adore. There are too many games I haven't finished due to the time it would take; be it the sheer length or how long it would take to overcome the challenge. Kirby games never have that issue but often still provide challenge through extra experiences afterwards.
10:14 - I was not expecting that joke; got a good chuckle out of me. It's even funnier given this segment of the video now reads (commercial removed due to copyright). I do agree that the quick loss of power is annoying. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say the swift loss of powers is to try and encourage the player to try new powers and avoid them relying on just a single power.
18:31 - Nice to see Pinball Land and Dream Course get some love in this video. I think what these spin-offs show is how Kirby can be adapted to other gameplay styles, with quite a few purely working off his simple and round design. Also in regards to Dream Course, perhaps because it's multiplayer component (which has certainly become a major aspect of the Kirby series), I still do hear odd folks talk about the game.
28:32 - I do feel this is an overlooked aspect to a lot of game coverage videos on TH-cam and in particular with the Kirby series. Nothing says inviting and beginner friendly quite as much as being able to assist a new/younger player or having them tag-along on your game journey and as such, the co-op feels a perfect fit for the Kirby series.
39:22 - I was going to come to the defence of Kirby's Dream Land 2 (having characters assist you rather than purely power combinations makes the adventure and world feel larger) but then you reminded me of the absolute torture that is the 6-2 Rainbow Drop. Holy heck was that hard!
46:25 - I had issues with Kirby and the Crystal Shards (sluggish pace, lack of co-op, not being able to play as the other characters) but the story and cast of characters does wonders to boost it's appeal and maintain numerous fond memories. It's telling of the story is also something I really appreciated, demonstrated at times with the unique advantage of video games such as with level design (Shiver Star and Ripple Heart being the most obvious).
as a HUGE kirby fan this retrospective is so good and shines the perfect amount of light on each game
I cant wait for the next 2 videos
11:50 the infamous Kirby's Adventure 7-5 cannon, it's so tight to get it with the Burning ability. But you can also ignite the cannon with Crash. You either get Crash at the start of the stage and keep it until the end (which also involves beating the Wheelie miniboss) or attempt to get Crash from the Mix roulette (inhale 2 enemies that give abilities at the same time)
50:26 you can actually hold the B button to arch it like Bomb, tho it’s still very impractical as it halts you in place much more than bomb’s throw does(even when not holding the button) and the trade off of it lingering tho a bit small is way worse than Bomb’s slightly bigger hit-box imo. Either way, this is still a very incredible and well thought out video and I can’t wait to see what you do for the next era of Kirby games, tho I hope you note how, no matter how you feel about Nightmare in Dreamland, it absolutely butchered Butter Building.
It had melee music tho
@@moosesues8887 did you know you can also jump while holding the arrow?
NiD completely butchered the aesthetic, the dreamlike colors and Meta Knight‘s characterization as well, don’t really like that remake.
@@monster25man yes gaming
@@geschnitztekiste4111 same, I also hate how the backgrounds look compared to Adventure’s which fun fact, had a ton of work put into them(you can kinda tell), I don’t mind the backgrounds that much in Amazing Mirror tho considering how that’s it’s own game, meanwhile in NiD it completely replaces the OG backgrounds, which I still to this day think are absolutely beautiful.
I'm already stoked for the next two entries in your Kirby retrospective series. But take your time, because whenever there's a long wait between your videos, the next one is sure to be "da bomb"
Dream Land 3's art direction was pretty advanced. Going for this child's crayon drawing style in a perfect understanding of what the games are supposed to make you feel.
My favorite TH-cam channel uploading nearly an HOUR of talking about my favorite PERFECT BOY? I couldn't ask for more.
Quality of the video aside (which is stellar as usual), I really enjoy when you feel freer to joke a little. Your voice tone is very serious and monotone, and I think it works really well when you insert the casual joke here and there. Comparing your more recent videos to your older ones, I feel you're much more comfortable doing these. Keep up the great work, King!
Fun fact: in Kirby 64 you can hold enemies that you suck but don't swallow above your head like you hold the ability stars to throw away or combine and some give you unique abilities, like holding a Bronto allows you to fly really fast or holding a fish underwater gets you from point A to point B faster, do keep in mind that this only works as long as you hold the enemy above your head, missing on the copy abilities, but it is a neat mechanic nontheless
As a huge KingK and Kirby fan, I’ve been waiting for this
Kirby is one of my favorite game series ever I’ve played almost all of them now I’m sure. You can never be upset playing Kirby it’s always the series I play if i want to chill or be cheered up this video is great
Yoooooo Kirby still slaps no matter what era
Yes! I fall asleep to these videos all the time and I can't wait for tonight now. Thank you KingK
This video came out as soon as I sat at my table to eat lunch. Perfect timing does exist!
LFGGGGGGG the return of KingK on the day off - haven’t been this excited since……the last time KingK retrospective 😂
For me as someone who is generally dogshit at most video games, I really appreciated the feeling of little mastery with every power up that Kirby provided. I can’t crank a sick 90 but I could pick up on the intricacies of each power up quickly and satisfactorily
you neglected to mention adventures finale:
dedede *wasnt* the villain. he was doing what he needed to do to protect dreamland from nightmare
The commercial transitions you do for these type of videos are always great, it really gives you the sense of going back in time and seeing how advertising portrayed these games.
I especially love the Kirby Avalanche one and Kirby striking the fear of god in that one dude.
these kirby ads were WILD i definitely dont remember them being so crazy lmao
The commercial interludes make my skin crawl
11:28 to be fair, you dont have to do this specific cannon for 100% completion, it just gives you a few 1-ups (unfortunately i learned that the hard way)
11:42 is SUCH a tone whiplash compared to what you're used to out of a kingk video but DAMN is it hilarious. I want more of those. The soothing monotone voice suddenly going full comedic anger is just too perfect.
This was great, and i totally agree. There's that certain, special coziness and charm that only Kirby games can give you. There are other cozy games, yeah, but Kirby is special because it's Kirby. Kirby himself is perfectly cute, and combined with the visuals and music, general spirit of accessibility and variety (both within an individual game, and the series' ability to experiment while always staying true to itself), Kirby is always fun.
I love Kirby 64 a lot, easily the one I played most as a kid AND first game I 100% completed! I'm happy to see you give it the love it rightfully deserves (still possibly my fave), although I'm still surprised they never tried the copy-ability-mixing idea again, it's so much fun.
Kirby Superstar has aged like a fine wine, as one of the few games from the 16-bit era that I could replay over and over. It's colorful, it's imaginative, it feels great to play, and each different game is more iconic than the last. To me, it's still the best Kirby game.
I think this is the first time I’ve actually been on time for one of your retrospectives considering everything else I’ve ever clicked from you was from years ago
Yes thank you, Kirby 64 is my favorite Kirby game and its rare to see someone on the internet discussing it, outside of the obvious communities of course. I still love the idea of combining powers and it is such a shame that didnt became a series standard, i can only dream about a game like the newest Kirby with the combo abilities of 64
This almost felt like a response to AntDude’s recent bashing of it, although I’m sure this was in the process of being made before that got released.
Kirby's Dreamland is a bit rough around the edges, but Adventure, Dreamland 2, Dreamland 3, and 64 have some of the best art direction in all of gaming in my opinion. It's so...internally consistent for each game, if that makes sense. I love it!
Kirby's Dream Land was the first game I ever really beat and loved as a kid. Hard to overstate how important it was to me. Thanks for the video
Bro, honestly, you know me, some days I'm just like "Kirby" and other days, ah ha, I'm like, aha, "KIRBY" all capital letters because it means it's big.
I like Kirby, that's what I was trying to get across with this comment. Sorry, I'm really tired, I didn't mean for it to sound so weird.
80s/90s nintendo ads have ZERO chill lmao. they really thought they had to make everything "cool" to sell it
the thing I like best about the Kirby games is, they are so easy to pick up and just play, have some fun and get on with your day. Thanks for the video.
I’ve never seen Dreamland 3 before. I love the sprite work.
You convinced me to try kirby 64, i always thought it looks slow and clunky but your enthusiasm for it sold me
I hope you enjoy your time with it! Definitely one of my favourite Kirby games :)
It definitely is slow and clunky, but I hope you still have a good time! 😅
Glad you decided to talk about the history of one of my favorite Nintendo franchises, and video game franchises in general, King! :D I had no idea that the Kirby Of The Stars sequels had so many problems... I'm so thrilled that you really loved The Crystal Shards! It's pretty much what introduced me to the series if memory serves me right. I was 10 when the game originally came out, and I was so blown away just how crafted it was from the graphics, the character models, the animations, the personalities, the level designs, the music, the story, the gameplay, the mini-games, etc.! At the time, I didn't even know that there such series staples as Star Doors, Meta Knight, Kracko, the Kirby Dance, the Kirby Dance, the 2 Kirby Dance fanfare (outside of the shorter version as Kirby's victory theme in the original Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64, and both fanfares make an appearance in the Sound Test), and so on. Hell, I didn't even know that Waddle Dees were actually multiple enemies in variations, and not a single character, that goes to show just how different Crystal Shards is compared to other games in the main series, and that's why I love it!
About two months ago my sister asked me to take care of his youngest during mornings for a week, since I didn't had any new videogames suited for his age (he's 8) to play with him we ended up beating Kirby Superstar in co-op and it was really fun. Beating the Great Cave Offensive as a team (understanding which power ups we needed and working together to get to where we needed to use them etc) was the best. And I had completely forgotten about the RPG boss fight, genius moment right there.
So glad to see another Kirby 64 enjoyer out there. It's still my favorite Kirby game to this day! So many memories...
43:19 Absolutely wrong, the cleaning/broom ability in KD3 is powerful and consistently one of the better ones in the game so it was the right call to make it the focus of many secrets because it's so useful to have and easy to obtain. Nago doesn't even have the best version of it, ChuChu@Broom is not just the best combo for this skill, it's the most OP combo in the game period. I have no idea how you could overlook that this is easily the best method of flight, even better than Coo since it lets you stay firmly in place while in midair which is critical for precise navigation. Just because you have to turn around to attack doesn't mean it's bad because due to the momentum you have during flight a quick turn doesn't halt your movement and you continue moving forward even while doing quick turns to attack. It can't be overstated how Chuchu with Broom SHREDS through most levels and makes short work of most bosses.
DL3 is a very special game to me. I played it as an adult in co-op with my younger brother. I think it's a very special type of platformer that I can't really compare anything else to. Frankly, some of the examples of frustrating gameplay that you gave had the opposite effect on me. I don't think it's your type of game, which is fine. I don't think they can be called objectively bad by any stretch.
The aesthetic of the game alone is so unique and well-realized. It's a timeless classic in my eyes. Also the decision to have some ability combinations be bad is a very deliberate choice, and one that I personally really enjoy. It's not trying to be a game that relies on purely engaging gameplay. It's just a fun world with some quirky mechanics for you to mess around with, and enjoy discovering.
I can't wait for the next video. Nightmare in Dreamland was my first Kirby game, and I dropped off in the 3DS era; I have literally only played the 2000-2010 era of Kirby games, and I suspect they represent a large chunk of your love for the series too, as I believe we're roughly the same age.
I love your work KingK, the retro commercials always get the feels going.
I completely forgot you uploaded! Can’t wait to see this!
Your retrospectives are the best! I always look forward to them and rewatch certain ones often. So relaxing to hear someone be so chill and optimistic about a game you have so many memories about
God I love pitch. He’s a funky lil bird guy
Kirby 64 is definitely one my absolute favourite childhood games. Pretty much everything you said, the levels are great, music is great, the freakin fantastic power combination system. I kinda fell off from Kirby after then but every game I've seen some of hasn't come close to what 64 achieved.
I went years waiting for a sequel to solve the cliffhanger at the "end" before finding that there was a true ending.