In fact, it seems like Kirby GCN would have been vastly different to what Adventure Wii is, basic mechanics and engine aside. However, that’s not to say Kirby GCN doesn’t have its differences to Adventure Wii. Out of all the projects conceived up until Adventure Wii (as there were several other attempts at this game, which I may cover in the future depending upon the success of this article), this one is by far the most similar to what we eventually got. The quality might not be the best, but surely the resemblance is clear? ( Kirby Anime Image Source) The resemblance is uncanny, no? This game, known only as “ Kirby GCN ”.
With the context of the game out of the way, let’s address the elephant in the room It’s more or less common knowledge among fans of the series by now but, for the uninitiated, Adventure Wii is actually what became of a very similar looking game that was shown for the GameCube at E3 2005. After the slightly mixed reception seen by Epic Yarn, many fans of the series saw Adventure Wii as a return to form for Kirby, though this is met with disagreement by critics, with Adventure Wii ‘s review scores being on average a little lower than Epic Yarn’s. However, Kirby finally made a triumphant return to home consoles in October 2011, with Kirby’s Adventure Wii / Return to Dream Land (henceforth Adventure Wii for Britishness) on, well, the Nintendo Wii.
Out of said portable games, only two of them were brand new traditional platformers (with the rest being remakes or deviations from the traditional formula) Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and Kirby Mouse Attack (Squeak Squad in the US). After Kirby and the Crystal Shards was released on the Nintendo 64 waaay back in March 2000, Kirby would not have a traditional platformer on a home console for another 11 years, with the gap in between being filled with Kirby Air Ride (GameCube, 2003), Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii, 2010) and a whole slew of handheld titles on the GBA and DS consoles. In my personal opinion, one of the most fascinating aspects of Kirby’s history as a franchise was the relatively quiet period during the 2000s. As in, big enough to organise a whole mashup album based on the little guy. Having approached the Source Gaming team asking if I would be able to make some sort of contribution to the work they do, it was suggested that I write an article about Kirby, a character who I’m a big fan of. If you would like to submit a guest article, look over the Guest Posting Guidelines. Some parts of this article are based on opinion, and should not be taken as fact. Kirby GCN: The Precursor to Kirby’s Adventure Wii