It's Kirby's 20th Anniversary! How Will You Be Celebrating?

By Paul Hunter

Nintendo's iconic pink puffball turned 20 years old in August, and with so many great games in the Kirby series, there are many ways to celebrate.  Perhaps the best way to celebrate this significant milestone is with Nintendo's release of Kirby’s Dream Collection Special Edition, a compilation package for Wii containing six classic Kirby games, a soundtrack CD, and a full-colour collectible book.

Kirby’s Dream Collection Special Edition is the perfect anthology package for fans, featuring six of Kirby's most memorable adventures, from his debut on Game Boy, up to his classic outing on the Nintendo 64.  The games included in the package are:

Kirby’s Dream Land (Game Boy, April 1992 release)
*Kirby's original adventure which introduced the inhaling and spitting out of enemies
*one player
*view the trailer here

Kirby’s Adventure (NES, May 1993 release)
*Kirby's original NES adventure, and the first to feature copy abilities (24 in total), which allows Kirby to copy his enemies abilities by swallowing them
*one player
*view the trailer here

Kirby’s Dream Land 2 (Game Boy, March 1995 release)
*Joined by three animal friends Rick, Kine and Coo, Kirby's second Game Boy adventure expands his copy abilities even further as they change in combination with his friends
*one player
*view the trailer here

Kirby Super Star (SNES, September 1996 release)
*Featuring a collection of eight distinct games, Kirby can now generate 19 helpers from certain copy abilities
*includes two-player co-operative gameplay mode
*view the trailer here

Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (SNES, November 1997 release)
*In addition to Rick, Kine and Coo, Kirby is joined by new animal friends Nago, Chuchu, and Pitch
*includes two-player co-operative gameplay mode
*view the trailer here

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64, June 2000 release)
*Copy abilities can be combined together for the first time in the Kirby series
*minigames feature gameplay for up to four players
*view the trailer here

Furthermore, Kirby’s Dream Collection Special Edition will come with new challenge stages based on last year's Kirby’s Return to Dream Land for Nintendo Wii.  During these challenge stage minigames, Kirby will race to the goal while in possession of a single copy ability, aiming for the highest score.

The anniversary package also includes an interactive timeline on disc, featuring highlights of Kirby's history including past games and a peek at the Kirby TV show.  There's also a special edition soundtrack CD containing a curated collection of 45 of the best songs from games throughout Kirby's history, and a 40+ page collectible book stuffed with character art, development sketches and some behind-the-scenes details never seen before.

For a preview of the Kirby’s Dream Collection Special Edition check out the game trailer below:



Kirby's 20th anniversary is certainly a significant milestone and for a very deserving character that has easily become synonymous with the Nintendo brand. Good to see Nintendo continuing to support this popular character after so many years, as I'm sure fans will agree.

Kirby’s Dream Collection Special Edition is out now for Nintendo Wii.  The game is being developed and published by Nintendo.

Kirby’s Dream Collection Special Edition is rated E10 (everyone ten and over) by the ESRB.

[This article originally appeared on the Future Shop Tech Blog]