I’m sure everyone has their own favorite Kirby powers, so I thought why not post some of my favorites from the pink one’s fabled library of games. These were picked based on form, function, and personal taste.

I decided to ignore Kirby’s various abilities from the Smash Bros. Series, so you won’t find Wario Kirby or Mario Kirby on this list.

So that’s it. Some honorable mentions that didn’t make the list include the rocket and dolphin (sorry Paleo) from Epic Yarn.

The best part is, we’ve already had our first glimpse at what the next Kirby adventure will be like.

How can you not love a character like this?


A Negative World article byEric Lopez
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Kirby 64 had no real challenge either though. Actually most Kirby games don't, Epic Yarn just finally admitted it and got rid of dying all together. The best part of Kirby 64 was combining powers but you never really had to, you could just cruise through the stages without really trying.

I think we can all agree that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is better than any of them though ri... oh wait.

I love Super Paper Mario despite its flaws because it was a truly unique game that played with some truly unique mechanics. Something we pretty much never see nowadays outside of indie games.

@Simbabbad

No way, Yoshi's Story was the epitome of basic platforming, zero challenge, incredibly irritating music, loose controls and lack of variety. Such a HUGE step down from Yoshi's Island. Just an enormously mediocre title. Graphics were pretty though, I'll give it that.

Gawd, just thinking about the terribly tedious process of having to *SNIFF-SNIFF* areas of a stage to find those freakin' melons fills me with buyer's remorse all over again. And it's been well over 10 years since I bought that game. Blech.

EDIT: Btw, I'm not sticking up for Super Paper Mario in any way. I wasn't terribly impressed by that game, either. It's just that I think that Yoshi's Story is the worst thing Nintendo has ever made, ever. Nothing is going to rinse that proverbial 'awful taste' from my mouth.

Simbabbad said:

Blinded by Mario !

I chose to rent Mario Sports Mix over Lost in Shadow, feels good man.

Jk. I want to try Lost in Shadow someday. Waiting for that price drop (I never buy full price games anymore, and it's a game I think I'd like to own).

@Simbabbad

It's funny you bring up DKCR, because the "blowing" mechanic in that game reminds me of the 'sniffing' mechanic in Yoshi's Story. Don't like either of 'em.

And I didn't find the melon challenge all that difficult. I found all the melons in that game (before I was on the internet and all the fans tried to convince me THAT was were the fun/challenge was) and I still found it boring.

@Simbabbad Yeah but Lost in Shadow didn't have this guy:

Well I don't get how anyone doesn't get how anyone doesn't get how... where were we?

I think that game had some of the most clever writing in the entire game industry, but different folks and all of that.

Simbabbad said:

Sniffing was very bad at parts, in others it works like in Metroid: you feel there is something there and BAM! you're right. Very satisfying. DKCR has some of that at times plus light exploration, but on the whole it's: why this dandelion and not that one?

I haven't seen those parts where it works like Metroid, or didn't notice. To me the gameplay was "sniff, take a step, sniff, take a step" with no visual clues whatsoever. At least in DKCR there were dandelions. If DKCR had adopted YS's philosophy to "exploration", then we'd be blowing at every step the whole level whether there is something there or not, just in case.

I'm glad someone else here feels the same as me about DKCR, terrible game for that franchise.

I miss classic Kirby games, can't wait for these new ones to drop. Kirby will always be my boo.

My favorite Kirby power was the Grappler, I think it was called? Maybe it was the Brawler? The one in KSS that let you grapple normal enemies and perform piledrivers and stuff on them. The moves were later adopted into Smash Bros. I just loved taking that grapple ability through parts of Great Cave Offensive. It was useless against bosses from what I remember, but it was a blast against normal enemies.

@PogueSquadron Suplex!

My favorite from that game was the Yo-Yo ability

I hated Yoshi's Story and I don't understand how someone can compare it to DKCR, let alone say it's better than it.

Ah, the never-ending enigma that is how human minds that aren't your own work.

My favorite Kirby power is.. Some people will think this is useless, but it will actually recover his health.. ( non-debatable )

Simbabbad said:

You're mistaken. Yoshi's Story is an excellent game and a much better platformer than DKCR, incidentally.

You guys ever read something and it hits you with such force that it actually has a physical effect on you? Like, your heart starts beating faster and you reel back in your chair, overwhelmed by the information you've read and the myriad of ways to respond to it? That just happened to me.

Both DKCR, Kirby 64, and Super Paper Mario all had something very important that's missing from Yoshi's Story: CONTENT! Seriously, the game is like 20 minutes long. And this could've easily been salvaged if the melon hunt was any fun, but combing each level in a stop-and-go sniffathon is about as tediously slow as gameplay can possibly get. At least DKCR's flowers were fairly sparse and not invisible hiding spots that you'd never know were there unless you blow on everything in the level.

On a related note about Yoshi's Story, Nintendo has always been "cute." Pokemon's cute, Kirby's cute as heck, even Mario's cute. But Yoshi's Story went beyond the pleasant charm of the usual Nintendo game and became something far worse: cutesy. Cutesy-ness is cute in a bad way. It's the Teletubbies of the world, the Barneys, the exact spot where the line is drawn between "acceptable, adorable, funny, and charming" and into "embarrassing." And I love cute stuff! Enough to make comics about it! But Yoshi's Story just went down a scary road, and one that I hope Nintendo doesn't return to anytime soon.

Snorlax said:

My favorite Kirby power is.. Some people will think this is useless, but it will actually recover his health.. ( non-debatable )

I love this guy. He should be level -7

YAY!!! KIRBY!

@GelatinousEncore I know, right? Everyone should agree with me all the time and the world would be a much better place. For me. Whom is all that matters.

@Simbabbad Isn't there some weird thing about the scoring though where only certain melons are going to get you the best scores so the rest become pointless? I vaguely recall hearing something like that. I never got super far into the game though, played through it once years ago, didn't like it, never went back.

Wait, I meant certain fruit. Like all the other types of fruit become meaningless and you just go for melons only.

@Zero I was just stating that (some) human minds are an enigma to me, I wasn't complaining or saying that enigma shouldn't exist.

@Simbabbad But he's Snorlax. And he loves Sleeping Kirby. It's perfect! He also made his first post in the Inception thread. Genius.

I know, I'm just goofing around.

It's interesting though how we tend to have to apply reasoning to our likes and dislikes. I mean, in the end, you either like something or you don't, right? All reasoning is sort of an after the fact justification for a more gut/core reaction.

It's sort of a subconscious attempt at helping people understand the enigma that is your mind.