Shack Chat: What's your favorite Kirby game?

The latest entry in the Kirby franchise is out now with the release of Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Nintendo Switch. The series has a long history on Nintendo hardware, so we thought we'd take a look back and share our favorite Kirby games for this Shack Chat.

Question: What's your favorite Kirby game?

Kirby's Pinball Land - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Kirby, Kirby, Kirby Editor

This is a sentimental pick on my end. I remember going on vacations as a kid, specifically as I was 9-10 years old, and remembering that I needed something to play during the plane ride. That meant having to pick something up to play on my Game Boy. I wanted something that could distract me and give me a high score to chase down, so I gravitated towards Kirby's Pinball Land, which was my first real exposure to Kirby.

While I'd pick up more traditional Kirby games down the line, Pinball Land was where the magic started for me. It's also been a bit of a unicorn, because it's been hard to nail down over the years, especially as Nintendo has moved away from the Virtual Console model.

Kirby's Epic Yarn - Donovan Erskine, has played one Kirby game

Although I love the character Kirby, it was never really my Nintendo franchise. However, I do remember playing Kirby’s Epic Yarn at a friend's house back in Middle School. The game had some fun platforming, and that art style is stunning. It’s still the first game that comes to mind when I think of the Kirby series. I’d love to see another game in that style some day!

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - Sam Chandler, inhales

I love my Nintendo 64. It was the first console I owned as a kid. Sure, I’d played on Atari and NES, but the N64 was what stayed in my home, where I bought actual games for it! And as such, basically anything on N64 holds a special place in my heart, which is why Kirby 64 stands tall among the others. Plus, it was the first game to introduce Power Combos, which really opened up new possibilities.

Kirby’s Dream Land - Chris Jarrard, Kirby creeps him out

This one is tough because I think Kirby is a loser punk. I’ve played a few Kirby games, though I only finished Dream Land on my Game Boy because I only got to play one game a year and I was unlucky enough to end up with this one instead of Belmont’s Revenge (the game I actually wanted Uncle Dave).

Kirby’s Epic Yarn - TJ Denzer, Prefers string over suck

I think I’ve played pretty much every main Kirby game that has come out and I’ve enjoyed many of them immensely from the very first one on Game Boy up to Kirby Star Allies. Kirby’s Epic Yarn has a special place in my heart though. It’s so incredibly cute and enduring, entirely different in its presentation from any other Kirby game, and it’s one of the first games my spouse and I ever played together. You could go co-op with one player playing Kirby and the other player playing Prince Fluff, and it allowed you to do all sorts of fun stuff that couldn’t be done solo. We had such a wonderful time with that game and it was a formative experience in our lives before we got married. I love all Kirby games, but Epic Yarn will always have an extremely special place in my heart for all the cool things it did and the point in my life at which it arrived.

Dream Land 2 - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo show host, Kirb-Stomper!

Kirby and the Forgotten Land releases this week and it makes you wonder what your favorite Kirby game is. This is a tough choice as there are quite a few really good Kirby games. I’ll start with one that I recently played on the Stevetendo show, Kirby’s Adventure. This was the first game in the series that allowed Kirby to copy enemy abilities. It also has some of the best music in the series from Butter Building to Ice Cream Island. However, Kirby’s Dream Land 2 added Rick, Coo, and Kine, animal buddies that Kirby can ride on and gave them their own theme music. The platforming was on point for Dream Land 2 and added more secrets to find. I think Kirby’s Dream Land 2 is the winner for me but Adventure and Super Star for the SNES have to be mentioned as well.

Kirby Super Star - Dennis White, Community Manager

As a kid I didn’t have an SNES so a ton of my Nintendo experiences were from visiting my cousins. I remember Kirby Super Star being such a fun experience that it’s still the first game to come to mind for me when it comes to Kirby titles. Milky Way Wishes and Revenge of Meta Knight were standouts but I loved that there was plenty of variety in the 8 games included. And of course I can’t forget to mention the awesome music!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Asif Khan, Shacknews Luminary/Lola’s Assistant

Kirby saves the day in World of Light. Since I can’t pick Kirby and the Forgotten Land, I will choose Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch. I was just a traffic cone and some stairs in this new game, but I am still a Kirby main. That’s right, Smashers. You are playing a Kirby game. Now, excuse me while I get back to playing more Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble - Morgan Shaver, biased in loving Game Boy Color games

It’s hard to pick a favorite Kirby game. After playing it for review, my first pick would be Kirby and the Forgotten Land. However, if I set that one aside, my second pick would be Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble. I had it for the Game Boy Color and I always loved the cute little pink cartridge for it.

The gameplay is also quite unique in comparison to other Kirby games. With Tilt ‘n’ Tumble you get to roll Kirby around in a ball across various stages, almost like playing pinball with added puzzle-solving elements for good measure.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land has a callback to this with the mini game Tilt-and-Roll Kirby, but the mini game pales in comparison to how much fun Tilt ‘n’ Tumble Kirby was back in the day. Was I good at the game? Not at all. Did I love it regardless? Absolutely.

Those are the favorite Kirby games of us here on the Shacknews staff. We're curious, what's yours? Also, be share to check out Morgan Shaver's review of Kirby and the Forgotten Land!