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Kirby's Dream Land is over three decades old, and we're only just discovering that it's actually a Super Smash Bros. game in disguise.
Masahiro Sakurai's YouTube series "Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games" just reached 100 episodes. To mark the occasion, the legendary Kirby and Super Smash Bros. creator shared some development secrets from Kirby's debut adventure Kirby's Dream Land, which launched on Game Boy all the way back in 1992.
As spotted by Twitter user UltimaShadowX, in the video, Sakurai points out that the damage system for Smash Bros. was used in Kirby long before the popular fighting game came into being.
The entire damage system for Smash Bros. came from the original Kirby’s Dream Land and Sakurai just forgot about it, that’s so insane. pic.twitter.com/vUQA77txo1April 27, 2023
Sakurai explains that in the design documents, it says, "Normally, the screen scrolls with your character at the center. However, if you get hit by an enemy and are sent flying, the screen will stop scrolling. Once you settle, the screen will gently scroll over and recenter upon you." At this point, Sakurai teasingly adds, "Hm? This sounds familiar."
The document then says that if you are flung fully off-screen, you'll lose a life, to which Sakurai responds, "Wait... Can it be? Yes, these are the same rules as Super Smash Bros.! I'd already thought up Smash's damage accrual system when I was making the original Kirby game!" The developer also points out that in Kirby's Dream Land, how much health you have dictates how far you're sent flying, which is "exactly like in Smash."
If you're curious as to why Sakurai reused the idea for Smash Bros, it turns out it wasn't a conscious decision on the part of the developer, as he had "totally and completely" forgotten it was already in Kirby's Dream Land.
The video is chock full of these sorts of fascinating tidbits on the very first Kirby game, and is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the pink puffball.
All these years later, Kirby is still going strong. Last year's Kirby and the Forgotten Land saw the adorable Nintendo mascot make the leap to 3D which, according to the game's developer, "revolutionized" the Kirby series, much like Breath of the Wild did for The Legend of Zelda.
Looking for something great to play on the go? Check out our guide to the best Switch games.
