Kirbyfirst hit the scene in 1992 withKirby’s Dream Landon the original Game Boy. Since then he has graced every single Nintendo console. Well, except for the Virtual Boy but that is a whole other story.
RELATED:Ranking Every Gaming Handheld From Least To Most Comfortable
The point is there are plenty of Kirby games out there to try for any platform one may choose. They are great for all ages, even more so than Mario games. That doesn’t mean Nintendo didn’tcancela game or two in the process. Let’s take a look back at over twenty years of history to see what games the pink puffball could have starred in.
10Kirby Adventure
This game has no official name although it is often referred to as Kirby Adventure. It was a 2D game in typical Kirby fashion, but with the big gimmick of implementing four player co-op. There is footage and screenshots out there for this list GameCube game. WhileKirby Adventurewascanceled, this style of gameplay was later reused for the Wii title,Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.
9Kid Kirby
This was being made for the Super Nintendo. It would have starred younger versions of all the characters, as if the name didn’t give it away. It would have also used the SNES’ mouse peripheral as the main controller. The craziest part about this game was that DMA Design was behind it aka the studio that would eventually become Rockstar. One reason why this might have beencanceledwas that the mouse never really caught on.
8Kirby Bowl 64
This was kind of likeSuper Monkey Ballbefore that game existed. Players would control a ball form of Kirby and rock him around mazes. There is no video footage, but there are screenshots to give Kirby fans a taste of what they might have missed out on.
RELATED:10 Unique Nintendo Video Games No One Has Copied Yet (But Should)
This is not the end of the story however. The groundworks of this game would blossom into two other attempts.
7Kirby’s Air Ride
The first conversion wasKirby’s Air Ride. Instead of taking the form of a ball, Nintendo instead gave Kirby something to ride. It’s easy to see both games looking like they came from the same cloth if one compared screenshots. Now, at this point the game looked more like a typical action adventure game from this series. However, once this wascanceled, the concept would eventually make its way to the GameCube. That version ofKirby’s Air Ridewas a pure racing experience.
6Kirby Family
This was an attempt at a sequel toMario Family. That game released in Japan for the Game Boy Color and was basically a pattern machine. If one hooked it up to the Jaguar JN-100 sewing machine, they could create and stitch Mario patterns onto clothes. So it was more of an accessory than a game. For whatever reason this same idea for Kirby didn’t make it far as there are only a handful of assets.
5Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble 2
Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumblewas a Game Boy Color game that was released with a special cartridge. Inside the game was an accelerometer which allowed players to literally tilt the game and guide Kirby along. This sequel would have been both a Game Boy Advance game and a GameCube one. The GBA would have been the controller while gameplay would have been shown on the TV. There is video of this game out there along with screenshots but it too, of course, wascanceled.
4Kirby Super Star: Kagero Mansion
It’s always amazing to discover secrets about game years later. This entry took two decades to uncover. During the pre-release of the SNES Mini in 2017, Nintendo conducted interviews on their website with developers who had a hand in the twenty-one games that would be included with the system. One such interview was withMasahiro Sakuraiwho revealed a cut game fromKirby Super Starwhich was calledKagero Mansion. Technically this isn’t a standalone game, but let’s count it anyway.
33D Kirby
To this day there has never been a full blown 3D Kirby game in the same style as what Mario has had sinceSuper Mario 64. As of right now there only seems to have been one attempt, which was on the GameCube.
RELATED:10 Biggest Mistakes In Nintendo History, Ranked
The game has no title and there is only one screenshot depicting Kirby in his Sword form. What’s the holdup on a 3D Kirby? The time is right on Switch.
2Anime Kirby
Another game that exists only as a screenshot is this and it also has no name. From the style, it looks a lot like an anime with the cel-shading. It presumably would have been for the GameCube. It could have even been a sequel toKirby’s Dream Land 3which had a similar art style on theSNES. Also based on this screenshot, one could assume it would be a normal adventure.
1Kirby: Right Back at Ya
Speaking of anime, the pink puffball got a show in the early 2000s akaKirby: Right Back at Ya. During this time Nintendo was releasing conversations of TV shows onto GBA cartridges likeSpongeBob SquarePants. While extremely blurry with poor sound, the cartridges did work. Naturally Nintendo wanted to capitalize with their own series so an episode or two of this anime was planned but eventuallycanceled. It’s not really a game, but it’s adjacent enough to include it on this list.
NEXT:10 Nintendo Switch Games You Forgot Were Announced (& Still Aren’t Out)
