The 10 Best Kirby Games

Kirby has been truthful galore antithetic things since helium archetypal floated into our lives successful 1992. Besides his dozens of transforming transcript abilities, he’s been divided into 4 differently-colored Kirbys, turned into yarn, warped into a shot we controlled connected the DS interaction screen, and truthful overmuch more. And present that he’s hopped backmost connected the Warp Star with the merchandise of Kirby Air Riders connected Nintendo Switch 2, we thought it was the cleanable clip to look backmost astatine the past of the pinkish puffball. Here are IGN’s apical 10 Kirby games of each time.

10. Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

Two iconic Nintendo heroes were divided into 4 antithetic versions of themselves connected the Game Boy Advance: Link successful The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and Kirby successful Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. The second is simply a 2004 GBA platformer that took vantage of the system’s nexus cablegram functionality to let 4 players to escapade together, calling each different connected a cellphone to regroup if they ever got divided up. Just marque definite the batteries don’t tally out! And adjacent if you played Amazing Mirror connected your own, it stands retired acknowledgment to its lite Metroidvania setup. Rather than escapade done linear levels similar beauteous overmuch each different Kirby platformer, Amazing Mirror’s branching paths fto players research levels successful antithetic orders astatine their ain pace.

9. Kirby’s Dream Land 2

Before becoming an manufacture personage acknowledgment to the Super Smash Bros. series, Masahiro Sakurai directed the humble Kirby’s Dream Land connected Game Boy. Back successful those days, Kirby was achromatic alternatively of pinkish (at slightest connected the North American container art), and helium didn’t person transcript abilities! But the 1995 Game Boy sequel, Kirby’s Dream Land 2, improved connected everything the archetypal crippled acceptable up, bringing Kirby Adventure’s transcript abilities into the fold, and introducing the iconic rideable carnal friends similar Rick the hamster. It’s a classical illustration of a bigger, amended sequel, and our prime for the champion crippled successful Kirby’s archetypal Dream Land trilogy, adjacent though we truly emotion the pastel creation benignant of Dream Land 3 connected Super Nintendo.

8. Kirby: Triple Deluxe

Kirby’s debut outing connected 3DS took afloat vantage of the handheld’s screen, arsenic Kirby: Triple Deluxe (a wordier mode to accidental Kirby: 3D) sees Kirby platforming successful the foreground and inheritance successful precise unsocial ways. Its main hook is the Hypernova ability, which makes Kirby suck harder than he’s ever sucked before, fundamentally turning his tummy into a achromatic hole. This is utilized successful each sorts of clever puzzles, including 1 level wherever Kirby eats an full bid similar it’s a airy snack. It besides introduced 1 of my favourite subgames successful the series: Dedede’s Drum Dash, a bushed crippled wherever Kirby’s champion frenemy bounces to the bushed successful stages acceptable to acquainted Kirby tunes.

7. Kirby: Nightmare successful Dreamland

Kirby’s Adventure is an important introduction successful the franchise, arsenic it’s liable for introducing transcript abilities. And it wasn’t conscionable 2 oregon three; Adventure came retired swinging with much than 20 antithetic powers for Kirby to bargain from enemies, mounting the blueprint for each Kirby crippled to come. It besides established some minigames and Kirby’s longtime rival, Meta Knight, arsenic staples for the series. This NES classical got remade arsenic Kirby: Nightmare successful Dream Land connected the GBA successful 2002, which we’re picking arsenic the definitive mentation due to the fact that of its improved controls and further contented it brought with it, similar the bonus Meta Knightmare mode, wherever you tin play the full run arsenic Meta Knight — different caller wrinkle that would go commonplace successful aboriginal Kirby games,. But shoutout to the NES Kirby’s Adventure cover, wherever Kirby is virtually eating the container creation and revealing the endless void that lies underneath.

6. Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Kirby’s Epic Yarn is astir apt the easiest crippled connected this database – which is saying a lot, fixed the wide approachability of astir each of the Kirby bid – but it’s besides 1 of the astir charming. Developed by Good-Feel alternatively of bid steward HAL Laboratory, Kirby’s Epic Yarn transforms the pinkish sphere into, you guessed it, yarn, wholly changing the aesthetic and wide gameplay. There aren’t accepted transcript abilities – instead, this Kirby simply morphs himself into a yarn submarine, car, oregon parachute arsenic helium travels with the adorable Prince Fluff done an arts and crafts-themed world. It’s relaxing, beautiful, and fits successful close alongside the champion Kirby games contempt being truthful different.

5. Kirby Air Riders

Kirby Air Riders is lone a fewer days old, but it’s already 1 of the all-time franchise greats. After much than 2 decades away, Masahiro Sakurai returned to the franchise helium created to instrumentality different ace astatine Kirby Air Ride, which was a amusive but somewhat underbaked experimentation backmost connected the GameCube. And Sakurai didn’t fto immoderate portion of this 2nd accidental spell to waste, creating a definitive sequel that feels similar the eventual realization of its simplistic one-button racing formula. Air Riders is packed with modes, unlockables, and tons of small details that amusement however overmuch emotion and attraction went into its development. The racing is frantic and fun, but the prima of the amusement is inactive City Trial; the conflict mode / collectathon hybrid that’s a fantastic throwback to section multiplayer modes from the N64 and GameCube days. Its unconventional controls aren’t going to beryllium for everyone, but if you spell on for the ride, you’ll find a fantastic Kirby crippled that’s brilliantly unique.

4. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe

Return to Dreamland connected Wii was the archetypal accepted location console Kirby platformer since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (which we emotion but narrowly missed retired connected our apical 10). It delivered the classical Kirby adventuring fans were craving, but introduced amusive caller transcript abilities similar Leaf and Water, had aggregate well-hidden collectibles to way down successful each level, tasked players with mastering each transcript quality successful its situation rooms, and a batch more. Most importantly, it’s a blast successful section multiplayer, allowing up to 4 friends to play the full run unneurotic arsenic either Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, oregon Bandana Waddle Dee. Return to Dreamland got a fantastic deluxe attraction connected Nintendo Switch, adding a bonus epilogue and a ton of returning subgames from crossed the series, implicit with dozens of achievements to chase, truthful we’ve gone with that mentation here.

3. Kirby Super Star Ultra

Sakurai is known for stuffing his games afloat of broadside modes that each physique astir the aforesaid gameplay foundations, and that contented started successful Kirby Super Star, the Super Nintendo classical that hosted a tiny fistful of bite-sized adventures to tally through. These were repackaged and expanded upon successful the fantabulous DS remake, Super Star Ultra, which brought everything backmost and added adjacent more, continuing the contented of a Meta Knight run established successful Nightmare successful Dreamland. Super Star’s biggest strength, though, is its sheer variety: collecting each past treasure successful The Great Cave Offensive, racing to devour much treats than Dedede successful Gourmet Race, oregon infiltrating the Halberd arsenic terrified crewmates sermon the champion mode to halt Kirby. Every mode offers its ain flavor, and it each comes unneurotic to make the strongest crippled of Kirby’s aboriginal days.

2. Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Every crippled bid takes a antithetic attack erstwhile transitioning from 2D to 3D, and fittingly for this franchise, Kirby kept things delightfully elemental by keeping its look mostly intact arsenic it made the jump. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is simply a fantastic realization of classical Kirby platforming successful a 3D space. Kirby hops, floats, and dodges conscionable similar you’d deliberation helium would, and the upgradeable transcript abilities enactment seamlessly. Its astir memorable caller summation is Mouthful Mode, which lets Kirby wrapper his tremendous rima astir a car, staircase, oregon adjacent a vending machine, making for amusive puzzle platforming that proves this isn’t conscionable a retread of Kirby’s top hits. The Forgotten Land besides takes immoderate inspiration from the 3D platforming greats, specified arsenic Super Mario and Banjo-Kazooie, by sprinkling hidden collectibles and concealed objectives crossed each level, and it’s a joyousness for completionists to hunt down each past Waddle Dee to nonstop backmost to town.

1. Kirby Planet Robobot

The champion Kirby crippled of them each is Kirby: Planet Robobot, an unassuming sequel to Triple Deluxe connected 3DS that turned retired to beryllium his finest adventure. That’s mostly acknowledgment to the Robobot armor, a hulking mech suit Kirby pilots crossed the campaign, implicit with its ain unsocial transcript abilities. While Triple Deluxe’s Hypernova and Return to Dreamland’s Super abilities felt much similar gimmicks relegated to setpiece moments, the Robobot armor is seamlessly integrated into the stages, starring to fantastic puzzles with the astir depth, variety, and situation successful the series, particularly if you’re trying to cod everything. Robobot expands upon Triple Deluxe’s foreground and inheritance platforming and features immoderate of the coolest settings successful the series, arsenic a mechanized Planet Popstar is conscionable a large thought that ties each satellite together. Robobot is an implicit treat, and we tin lone anticipation that Nintendo rereleases it connected Switch oregon Switch 2 sometime soon truthful much radical tin acquisition the champion Kirby crippled of them all.

There you person it – IGN’s apical 10 Kirby games of each time. Would you inhale this list, oregon spit it out? Are we leaving disconnected your favorite? Drop a remark and fto america know. For much Kirby, cheque retired our reappraisal of Kirby Air Riders, oregon our Nintendo Voice Chat podcast that posts caller episodes each Friday connected the IGN Games YouTube transmission and your favourite podcast app. And for everything other Nintendo, instrumentality with IGN.

Logan Plant is the big of Nintendo Voice Chat and IGN's Database Manager & Playlist Editor. The Legend of Zelda is his favourite video crippled franchise of each time, and helium is patiently awaiting the time Nintendo announces a marque caller F-Zero. You tin find him online @LoganJPlant.