cute pink ball of DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

Meet Kirby!

"Hiiii!"

At 8 inches tall, pink and spherical, he's pretty darn adorable! He was my favorite character out of all the Nintendo games back when I still had a Game Boy and he still has a special place in my heart after all these years. Back in those days, I would always have my Game Boy with me and a Pokémon game or Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.

In this game you play as Kirby, an inhabitant of Dream Land, when a sudden disturbance in Mirror World, somewhere above Dream Land, calls him to action. As he arrives at Mirror World, Kirby is split into four different-colored Kirby’s by what seems to be Kirby’s mysterious rival and ally, Meta Knight. As he recovers from being split into four, “Meta Knight” divides Mirror World’s corrupted wish-granting mirror into eight fragments that Kirby must find and restore.

At first glance, Kirby seems ill-equipped for the job. After all, he can’t exactly fight with those stubby arms and legs. But, as it turns out, Kirby can SWALLOW HIS ENEMIES WHOLE.

"Help!"

Yup, Kirby’s stomach is the graveyard of hundreds of those who dared to oppose him. Let that sink in for a while.

Anyways, he gains some of the powers of his fallen foe. These abilities range from Fire and Sword to Tiny and Sleep. Dozens of powers are at Kirby’s disposal just by SWALLOWING HIS ENEMIES WHOLE. With these powers he defeats mini-bosses, bosses and eventually Dark Meta Knight, Nightmare and Dark Mind

Four color variations of Kirby

I haven’t played that game in years since I lost the Game Boy that had Kirby and the Amazing Mirror in it. But I still remember Kirby quite clearly because he’s in the game I carry around with me now in my 3DS: Super Smash Bros. For 3DS.

Of course, it’s not the same as its predecessor. In this game, characters from many games meet and fight. There’s no story and Kirby isn’t very popular in this game. While I remember Kirby, many more remember Mario and Link.

But the nostalgia I feel when I press the Y button and tilt my analog stick up is satisfying because there is Kirby with his Sword ability. And when I tilt sideways, there’s his Hammer. Downwards, there’s his Stone ability.

Quite an oversized hammer

Even better? Kirby still has the Copy ability, his innate skill to SWALLOW HIS ENEMIES WHOLE and gain their abilities. Minus the stomach-graveyard part, because then he’d win every fight. And the abilities he gains are different, but sometimes very similar, from his games.

It’s like I’m a kid again, discovering the many insane abilities that Kirby can attain in most of the games he’s been in. Inhale Link and Kirby can shoot arrows. Inhale Mario and Kirby can shoot fireballs. Inhale a more-than-7-and-a-half feet tall warlock with the Triforce of Power and Kirby can do the Warlock Punch. It’s amazing what an 8-inches tall, pink ball can do.

Kirby next to Ganondorf, warlock of incredible power. Definitely not to scale

It also helps that the creator of Kirby is the director of all Kirby games and Super Smash Bros. games. Thanks Sakurai! Have a cup of Kirby!