Kirby… 30 years of real Poyoness!
Pink, puffy, powerful, and extremely popular… today Kirby marks his 30th anniversary, and we’re here to celebrate him in the greatest way!
Maybe not everyone knows that contrary to the majority of the video game characters like Super Mario, Sonic, or Pac-Man; Kirby is inspired by a real person that helped Nintendo in 1984. Let’s go back to that year; in 1981 Nintendo released a game entitled Donkey Kong that become one of the most popular hits of the year. Earning a huge amount of coins day by day, the adventures of Jumpman, Pauline, and the big primate break the borders of video games turning themselves into well-known and eternal pop-cultural superstars. But there’s a but, anyone can see that Donkey Kong is very similar to another gorilla called King Kong; so Universal Studios sues Nintendo for copyright infringement, and before the judge Robert Workman Sweet the Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. legal case can start.
While the film company is one of the biggest and richest companies in the U.S.A. with phalanges of lawyers at their disposal, Nintendo is a small company who just taken its first steps outside Japan. And it’s under these circumstances that Kirby makes his first appearance.
The attorney John Kirby is the main protagonist of the whole story; he defended successfully the Japanese company demonstrating that in the past Universal Studios won a very similar case against RKO in 1975, that King Kong is an actual public domain character, and that no one could reclaim the exclusive ownership of the story of a giant gorilla that kidnaps a young girl. Saving Nintendo from bankruptcy; this skilled attorney receive money, a sailboat immediately named Donkey Kong (with the “exclusive worldwide rights to use the name for sailboats”), and above all, eternal glory when Nintendo and HAL Laboratory named their new character like him… a new star is born!
Kirby’s magical touch is really unstoppable!
Created in 1992 by Masahiro Sakurai; at the very beginning, Kirby was considered nothing but a mere placeholder for a new platform game. But showing a wonderful kawaii potential; the whole developing team decided to make this simple puffball the main character. In the first adventure – Kirby’s Dream Land for Nintendo Game Boy – his mission was to save the Dream Land from the evil, pudgy clutches of King Dedede that stole the precious Sparkling Stars. But why they are so precious? You may wonder… the reason is simple; these celestial bodies help the Dream Land’s people to let grow food, and no stars no food!
Receiving positive reviews in the magazines of the time; Kirby’s Dream Land sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling title for the first Game Boy (and we’re referring to a console that had 1236 in its catalog). Through the decades our beloved little spherical eating all sphere appeared in 36 games, the latest one Kirby and the Forgotten Land has been released last month for Nintendo Switch, in anime & manga series, and as a special guest in uncountable projects that increased his popularity literary to the stars. And what’s better to celebrate his 30th anniversary if not with a vast selection of plushes, music instruments, cushions, art books, and everything else that will let us shout POYO!!!
Keep them near while you’re playing your favorite Kirby game; If you’re good enough, he might even let you borrow a Warp Star while he sits beside you to watch you play. Just make sure to be always brave ‘n’ happy; otherwise, he’ll travel to another galaxy to find a better friend, who knows… happy 30th anniversary Kirby, you’re truly AAAAAAAAmazing!
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