Your Friend Who Likes Games

It seems wild to me now that 2026 is the first year that I fully finished a Kirby game. On a whim, I played and completed Kirby and the Forgotten Land to completion as I anticipated a purchase of the Nintendo Switch 2. This event, combined with reading Keza MacDonald’s Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play, providing histories of Nintendo’s most iconic IP, unlocked a deep interest in seeing what Kirby was all about. Kirby’s iconography has floated in my brain for a while, but the staying power and connection to the character and what their games are all about really stuck until this year. I think in my brain I’ve brushed off Kirby as too childish, simple, and easy to be worth my time. But being that Masahiro Sakurai created both Kirby and Super Smash Bros., I’ve always felt there was more to uncover when I was ready and willing to dig in.

I have to interject on my own writing here to tell a story that I think has deeply rooted implications for this new-found Kirby interest. Quite a while ago, I’d say maybe 13-ish years ago, fresh out of college I went to a barcade with a friend one night to discover they were having an N64 tournament in their covered, outdoor patio. A voting and sign-up sheet was being passed around for that night’s participation. A tournament would happen featuring players that had signed up, and the winning game voted upon between Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 64 would be played. I was the only person who voted for Mario Kart 64, and I had never played Super Smash Bros.

Of course, I landed in the first round, and I can’t remember if I chose to be Kirby or my opponent did, but the most beautiful thing happened. The friend I was with thought it was hilarious and became the first to heckle (we’re not friends today), but I admitted to my opponent that I’d never played. He knew he was going to beat me, and instead of walloping me, he took the opportunity to teach me how to play. I wasn’t used to that kindness in other men in my life, and Kirby really sticks out in that memory. He won quick, but not before showing me some initial tips and shook my hand with eye contact. As I look back at that memory today, those are people I’d like to continue to invite and keep and my life, as the others I let fade.

That memory, and Kirby’s connection to Smash being made by the same creator, I am hoping will all collide to a full-circle moment when I inevitably play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate later this year.

Back to the main track. Thanks for riding that detour with me. I felt it important to share here.

In 2026, I have played 8 Kirby games. And in addition to the factors I mentioned above, I think a big life event continues to define why I find these games so comforting and dependable: my son being born. I had played and completed Kirby and the Forgotten Land before he was born, but the exploration of Nintendo Switch Online landed me at Kirby’s Dream Land 3. That game alone solidified to me what Kirby games are meant to be, and after playing many iterations to date, I still think Kirby’s Dream Land 3 is the perfect depiction and execution of what Kirby desires to be. More on that later. But being a new father and living through all of its difficulties, I don’t often desire more heavy challenge from the video games I play. When we first got home from the hospital, Kirby’s Dream Land 3 provided easy-paced play with comforting visuals and physicality. I’ve written before that I Like that there seems to be one enemy per screen, and there’s always the option to float. The game invites to play, and doesn’t threaten too much (aside from boss fights, of course). I’ve found that core play pace and physicality of Kirby so comforting. It’s relaxing, meditative, and friendly. And the biggest mind-blowing moment I found is that from Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (1997) to Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022), the physicality of Kirby almost feels exactly the same. That, to me, communicated dependability and a confidence in what Kirby has always been. Made me confident to know that each game may feel this way in the franchises many iterations, and I was right (for the most part, excluding some very experimental entries…)

I thought it’d be fun this post to celebrate the ‘Year of the Kirby’ I’ve had by telling the story of game engagement in the order in which I played and discovered them. All in the context of now – looking back to where it started and how that feels now, and looking forward to consider what games might be next on my list.

*Note that the following is not a ranking system, but rather the order in which I played and discovered them* 1st does not mean ‘best’ here.

1st – Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022)

Broken record here, I’ve said this a bunch, but a combination of the folks at Into the Aether permitting themselves and celebrating going backwards and enjoying games from any year, and my anticipation of a Switch 2 prompted this playthrough. It was a pure whim, and I went for it and thoroughly enjoyed. What I remember most of this Kirby entry was the striking environments. I was very particular to the over-snowed England-like area with an abandoned subway. I enjoy that although Kirby is cute, there’s still darkness here. There’s illustration of a world void of human life. Malls, cities, train systems, all aged, ‘forgotten.’ This apocolyptic theme mixed with Kirby cute really works as a push and pull that doesn’t pull too much into the dark but the layers are there if you look close enough. I’m glad I started here, as it being one of the most recent Kirby entries, it stands as a point of comparison to all of the other entries I’ve played after. I continue to think about this game as I connect the dots in older titles.

2nd – Kirby’s Dreamland 3 (1997)

Like I stated earlier, even after the 8-ish games I have played this year, I still believe this is the most ‘Kirby’ Kirby entry there is. I think the pace is perfect. I think the simple 2D platforming is perfect. I think the structure of the levels and game is perfect. When I think of what a Kirby game is, I think of this game. The pastel-colored art style with classic, paced Kirby gameplay made this an instant classic for me that I wouldn’t mind revisiting someday.

3rd – Kirby and the Amazing Mirror (2004)

After Kirby’s Dreamland 3, I wanted more like it, and looked for what I had access to. I upgraded my Nintendo Switch Online subscripton to offer Game Boy Advance titles and had my eye on Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. Surprisingly, I played through the majority of this game. Same Kirby 2D platforming, a bit more vibrant of a color pallette.. the comfort was there… until… I realized that this game is a metroidvania, or search-action game. One equipped with a full map I hadn’t realized I hadn’t been using until certain boss fights kept presenting themselves. I found myself navigating sections of game to find the same dead ends with no ideas of how to solve the puzzles to progress. When I did start to use the map, I noticed it would show me where the gaps of my discovery were, but I still had no idea how to reach the places I hadn’t been to yet. Guides made it more overwhelming. And when I landed upon that one boss fight for the 4th time, that was it. The search-action style of game bothers me in terms of the repetition. I don’t like to feel like I’m wasting my time and asking you to replay the same sequences again and again unsure if you’ll do what it takes to progress certainly felt like a waste of time, and the game quickly felt bad. Innocence was bliss for a bit, and then the reality of the game type had me bouncing off.

4th – Kirby Air Riders (2025)

Yo. I love this game. I still have more to play of it. I’ve yet to dig deeper into the City Trial mode, but have rolled credits on the Road Trip Mode, with new game+ available in the newly acquired Super Hard Difficulty, or simply Hard mode again with a different character as I continue the collect-a-thon of unlockables. The mechanics of this game render it to feel like a fighting game masked as a racing game, and it’s one of the most unique games I have ever played. To be frank, I miss it, and wouldn’t mind a revisit. I bought this one hoping I would like it – I took a risk. It ended up being way better, and way different than I expected. The presentation is beautiful, the gameplay feels great, it offers variety in different game modes, and it even has a neat story movie to accompany the main Road Trip story. Easily one of my favorites on the Switch 2 this year.

5th – Various games on Nintendo Switch Online…

This was an experimental period. I kept chasing that Kirby’s Dream Land 3 desire and didn’t find it in Kirby’s Dream Land or Kirby’s Dream Land 2. Admittedly, I didn’t enjoy the lack of color, and the way Game Boy games appear on a Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t have the same charm it would if I were playing them proper on their original device. That, and I didn’t like that I couldn’t tap jump to float like I do with Kirby in all the other games. I tried Kirby Super Star and was both confused and intimidated that there were 8 games in one. I found Spring Breeze to be the most like the Kirby’s Dream Land entries but the pace felt a bit too fast and the art style felt a bit too bold and collaged – it wasn’t fun for me to look at or fun for me to play. I then discovered the random samurai stand-off mini game within, and after that, didn’t even bother with what may have been 6 quirky others. I then tried Kirby’s Dream Course, Kirby’s Avalanche, and a Kirby with a Japanese title. All of which were other styles of game with Kirby IP slapped on top. Not what I was looking for, but interesting to feed that curiosity. Thankful for subscription services like NSO that allow me to do so. The next entry I played got me back to what I was looking for.

6th – Kirby’s Adventure (1993)

Kirby’s Adventure for the NES brought me back to that OG Kirby feeling I desired after Kirby’s Dream Land 3. And after playing this one, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, and also Spring Breeze in Kirby Super Star, I then realized the formula within that had been planted into these games from the start. Keza MacDonald, in her Super Nintendo book I referenced earlier, states that Nintendo has historically done very well at getting a thing right the first time, and selling it to you over and over again in variations. In regards to Kirby, I’m very okay with this. And this experience, playing Kirby’s Adventure, a game that came out when I was 2 years old, and comparing it to how Kirby and the Forgotten Land feels today drives home Keza’s point. It was, and has been, amazing to connect Kirby’s float mechanic from this 1993 entry to all of the others. They got the idea right early, and keep it alive with new entries every so often. And as this post celebrates, I’ve certainly been connecting the dots this year. It was most comical, I think, to discover where the difficult boss fights were rooted. I’m thankful I was able to play this game with NSO’s offered save states. Boss fights in Kirby’s Adventure are both brutal, memorable, and impressive for the year it was released. I know I’m not ranking in this post, but this one’s pretty high up and fairly close under Kirby’s Dream Land 3 in my brain.

7th – Kirby: Planet Robobot (2016)

Kirby + mech? Absolutely yes. And significant to the Nintendo 3DS. As written about in my last post, I purchased a 3DS recently and this was the first game I played. A special one at that. Kirby: Planet Robobot felt significantly built for the Nintendo 3DS and I’m happy I got to experience it proper on the original device and cartridge. This iteration of Kirby certainly stands out. It’s still a proper 2D Kirby game, but obviously has special instances where you get to operate a mech suit and blow stuff up. The 3D tricks included are clever and don’t feel forced, but instead unique to the console and what they were trying to do at the time. As I said before, the ending is epic, boss fights are challenging, and this is one I am very happy I played.

8th and most-recently – Kirby: Triple Deluxe (2014)

Kirby: Triple Deluxe looked like it would be an ‘across-the-plate’ Kirby entry, and another one to play on the 3DS – I was right. It’s not knock-my-socks-off amazing, but I don’t need it to be. This entry and its timing on this list solidify my original statement – I value these games for their dependability and comfort. Kirby: Triple Deluxe has provided refuge during a stressful family trip to Baltimore (fun times were had, logistics were hard). It’s exactly a simple 2D Kirby game. The gimmick is a bit simpler than Kirby: Planet Robobot. No mechs here, but instead you periodically obtain a ‘Hypernova’ ability in which create a giant, cyclone of suck that takes in nearly everything in front of you. A way for Nintendo to show off some impressive animation on the small screen and create a unique happening that makes this game very slightly stand apart from the others. Other than the one gimmick, it’s exactly a Kirby game, often featuring enemies and boss fights that one who’s played any of the other games should already be familiar with. All that being said, I’ve really enjoyed playing it. Comfort food. It’s like Spider-Man. We’ve all read/seen the ‘bitten by a radioactive spider’ backstory more than a few times, but keep coming back for more. Familiar isn’t a bad thing, and with life around me changing quite often, it’s nice to play a game in which I know exactly what to expect.

Moving forward..

I’m curious to see where this interest goes next. I feel like I’ve played a nice collection. I’m sure there are beloved entries I’m missing. If there are some you feel I should play, leave a reply and let me know! I still would like to get into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Kirby’s Epic Yarn looks to have a unique approach to aesthetic that feels worth checking out. Time will tell!

Cheers everybody. Thank you for reading!

Your Friend Dillon