Superstar Ultra was my first Kirby game and though it was a cheesy marketing strategy, I always thought the “multiple games” structure was such a genius introduction to the world of Kirby. Even stuf that doesn’t establish “important Kirby lore” like Dyna Blade and Gormet race give you such a vivid sense of what a normal day in Popstar might look like. I’m surprised no other game has really tried a structure like Superstar’s to my knowledge.
Even if this channel rarely, uploads, I'm already a fan. Both videos so are excellent analysis on all the effort that goes into this simple franchise. Ngl, I kinda miss how surreal Dream Land used to look in the old games (even if I think Adventure's has very little cohesion with the levels rooms and it kinda puts me off), as great as some of the modern game's look, I wish they added back a bit more of Super Star's weird food-like estetic. Speaking of Super Star, I love the way you interpret and framed Revenge of Meta Knight's ground stages being from Spring Breeze and Dyna Blade. While yes, they aren't the same locations or levels, its still part of Dream Land, it's a reminder of what Kirby wants to protect and what Meta Knight wants to save (in his perspective, I mean). I also love the idea that all those structures just exist there and no one bats an eye. Like, "oh cool, new place to eat with my friends!" really fits all the enemies, since none of them feel like bad guys at all. Docile and in your way at best and mischievous or playful at worst. Looking forward to your video on the character of Dream Land! Btw, I just like to imagine the gourmet race location is just part of Green Greens/Dream Land but that's just what you see when you're above the clouds on the mountains there. That or the pink clouds are an event that happens every few years or so.
Ive been a huge kirby fan all my life and you're very quickly becoming my favorite kirby channel. Didnt realize how badly i needed a world analysis in my life and im looking forward to more of that and also the character and music analysis too. This gave me a new respect and perspective on some of my favorite games. Keep up the great work
Glad that you enjoy! I love talking about topics like these since I feel they can kinda get taken for granted. Looking forward to making new videos for you and other viewers!
It always felt like they put effort into making sure Dream Land felt really cohesive early on. Even down to making sure all the platforms make sense and fit organically into the world. I like when Kirby explores new worlds too, but I hope the next big 3D game takes place in Dream Land!
Same here! As much as I enjoyed the new world in forgotten land, the previous kirby games having backgrounds so surreal are what made me want a 3D kirby game in the first place.
I have loved Kirby for so many years now and that's started with the Wii Kirby's Return Return to Dreamland. I love that game so much and its so nostalgic for me now. I loved this video a lot your first video I watched I subscribed. Please make a Return to Dreamland video. Great Video!
I'm glad you loved it! I plan to work my way up to Return to Dreamland since it's art style builds on previous games while still having it's own original ideas. I'm excited to make the video when the time comes!
Not really related to dreamland specifically, but I always loved the way planet robobot took goofy traditional dreamland-ish things like food motifs and twisted them into a context that feels foreign for dreamland. Stuff like spaghetti running along forks representing power lines in gigabyte grounds, or the giant blenders that look like they're blending up oil or something. Or the submarines shaped like faucet handles in overload ocean, there are so many fun design decisions in that game
I think my favorite locations within Dream Land from an aesthetic standpoint are Rainbow Resort from Kirby's Adventure and the Sky Tower from Return to Dream Land (the structure you explore in Nutty Noon). Rainbow Resort (especially in the NES original) is so surreal and beautiful, and with the Sky Tower, I just like the idea of a whole in-game world taking place in a giant tower over the course of the day. Butter Building has a similar appeal, but I prefer Nutty Noon due to its backgrounds showing you just how high you're going. By stage 4 of the world, you've climbed so high that you're in space. Also, the sunset in stages 2-4 is gorgeous. If we're including locations from the entirety of Popstar, I also love Floralia in Triple Deluxe, especially Old Odyssey and Royal Road.
This video was absolutely as equal quality as the last, and really made me realize something I never really payed attention to.. Now that I’ve been drawn to think about it, the way Kirby’s world mixes Realism and Fantasy is actually…mind numbingly impressive- The whole castle thing is actually pretty funny too now that I think about it, nobody questioning anything is perfectly Dreamlandish!..kinda explains how everyone immediately becomes happy again after an invasion or threat in every game, Dreamland doesn’t ask questions, and shrugs things off…for better or worse- Also with Meta Knight’s airship…wow..I never really thought about that- I never thought about how it’s…not normal..not normal *at all!* The contract between the beautiful world and the menacing ship would definitely off put just about anyone from Dreamland, maybe even the entirety of Popstar! It’s always been obvious this place would become nothing without Kirby, but this puts into perspective just how much he’s willing to deal with nobody else is-
Glad you liked it! Yeah, I love Kirby's world, they always put a lot of effort into setting it as a location and using it to tell stories. I'm excited to make more!
Funnily enough, the area where the first leg of Gourmet Race takes place has an official name: Pumpkin Grand! The other two areas are called Corn Hall and Onion Garden, for those who are curious. Thanks for that info, WiKirby! But anyways, for your first unscripted video, this was a nice watch. I truly do love the bubble pop-style that was established in Kirby's world in these earlier titles and were particularly noticeable in the mainline Kirby games Mr. Sakurai directed himself. One thing I was surprised you didn't mention here, probably because you were strictly focusing on the aforementioned Sakurai-directed core titles, was how there was this weird period in the early-to-mid 2000s where the bubble pop aesthetic of Kirby's world was noticeably downplayed. This isn't to say that fantastical elements were thrown out entirely, as evidenced with the giant windmill tree in Fantasy Meadows or the random flying whale in Frozen Hillside (gee, both Kirby Air Ride-related examples), but when you compare certain areas in, say, Kirby's Adventure to its GBA remake Kirby Nightmare In Dream Land, you'd notice that where in the original the platforms in certain areas are held up by background objects that add to the atmosphere, in the remake they appear to not be held up by anything, leaving the platforms looking as if they're suspended in mid-air. A good example of this is in the opening area of Ice Cream Island's first stage; just compare the two side by side and you'll see what I mean. S'yeah, the way the aesthetic of the original Kirby's Adventure was handled is a big reason why I don't like Nightmare In Dream Land (though it's totally fine if anyone here doesn't mind it), and I feel HAL may have eventually realized that they may have been accidentally downplaying the fantastical elements of Kirby's world overtime, seeing as how Kirby Super Star Ultra brought things back to how they were before. I'm thankful they haven't looked back since then, honestly. Looking back, it's such a bizarre yet intriguing period for how Kirby's world has changed overtime. I really don't mind having more videos like this covering the little things regarding the Kirby series, so once again, nicely done with the video! Oh, and as for my favorite locale in the series, it'd have to be Rainbow Resort, particularly in the original Kirby's Adventure (and 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure); I dunno, I've always been a sucker for those types of locations like it and the Moon Kingdom from Klonoa: Door To Phantomile, for example.
Woah this is a lot! Thank you for commenting! Oh, I didn't know about those names. I'm willing to bet they were given in SSU. Yeah don't worry, I'm honestly considering just giving NiDL it's own exclusive video just to talk about why it's so divisive, art style included. As for Rainbow Resort, I have to agree, it's a stand-out. I'll talk about it in my Kirby planets episode since many other planets seem to have a dream fountain as well.
Yes! Please keep doing these types of videos! This is no doubt my nostalgia talking but I'm a huge fan of the older Kirby games, especially Adventure and Super Star. I think the dream-like fantasy backgrounds have a lot of influence on that too. I'm also a huge fan of pixel art so I'm drawn to that Kirby art style the most. The world in Kirby Super Star has been one I've loved since I was a kid. I remember reading that the backgrounds were once hand drawn but they changed to CGI after the popularity of Donkey Kong Country. As much as I do love the final result, I wish I could see the hand drawn style they were originally going for to see how much different it would be, if any. It may have had the same feel as Adventure since apparently the backgrounds in Adventure started off as art and was converted into pixel art for the game. The dream-like feel of Kirby is something I've always loved about the series. I can't wait to see more videos from you!
Nice, Glad you enjoyed the video! I'll definitely have to do a video on developer interviews since there are so many interesting things behind the scenes. Even though we got a sprite style for adventure, we did see the series experiment with a hand drawn style, as well as many other different art styles in the series, so I feel we got the best of both worlds lol.
This video really pointed out to me how many ways the series’ locales have inspired my own game ideas (the adventure of each stages, the structures in otherwise natural areas, the mix of familiar and strange). It reminds why Kirby stages are always so interesting to me-even as far back as the first game, they tell stories.Great video!
I love Kirby's environments, but i wish we got more of the mirror world and how it works. Still can't believe we got dark sad spider boy before dark bandana dee.
This was a fantastic watch and listen! I would love to see more of these kinds of videos, since i feel like not too many folks talk about kirby in this fashion. As for favorite areas in Popstar, I love Rainbow Resort. So beautiful in an esoteric way, like with the blue grass gray sky area, and all the polka dotted ground, combined with the night sky and the auroras, and the waffle shaped bubbles, theres just so much creativity present.
Glad you liked it! I try to make sure what I say is unique. Also yeah, rainbow resort rules, it's designed so well. It's almost like the closer you get to the fountain, the more the separation between dreams and reality thins. I'm gonna talk about it along with the different planets from ss and 64.
@@thestarwarper No problem. I'm totally vibing with this video, your voice is really easy to listen to. I listened to it while studying. You should definitely continue, you have a ton of potential on this platform. Also yeah, I love those little borvon pillar things. Lastly, I have so much nostalgia for Butter Building, the music especially, as I played it on the Classic NES with my brother when I was really little. Kirby's adventure started my love for Kirby and Nintendo in general. I only remember it so much because we were so bad we never got to world 4 lol.
Dedede got food in the first Gourmet Race smh Have you thought about doing UA-cam streams as well? I know you did Twitch stuff way back, could be another helpful way to "keep it up", as it were. Fun video format though!
Wow, that was a fast reply lmao. Yeah Dedede's faster than he looks 💀. I want to do streaming and I have a few ideas, but I'm quite busy rn. I'll definitely do it eventually!
Ooo, that's a good one. Though, apparently it already has a name called "Pumpkin Grand", Corn Hall" and "Onion Garden". Though, your name is so good I might draw out a Kirby environment with that name sometime 🤩
Superstar Ultra was my first Kirby game and though it was a cheesy marketing strategy, I always thought the “multiple games” structure was such a genius introduction to the world of Kirby. Even stuf that doesn’t establish “important Kirby lore” like Dyna Blade and Gormet race give you such a vivid sense of what a normal day in Popstar might look like. I’m surprised no other game has really tried a structure like Superstar’s to my knowledge.
Even if this channel rarely, uploads, I'm already a fan. Both videos so are excellent analysis on all the effort that goes into this simple franchise. Ngl, I kinda miss how surreal Dream Land used to look in the old games (even if I think Adventure's has very little cohesion with the levels rooms and it kinda puts me off), as great as some of the modern game's look, I wish they added back a bit more of Super Star's weird food-like estetic.
Speaking of Super Star, I love the way you interpret and framed Revenge of Meta Knight's ground stages being from Spring Breeze and Dyna Blade. While yes, they aren't the same locations or levels, its still part of Dream Land, it's a reminder of what Kirby wants to protect and what Meta Knight wants to save (in his perspective, I mean). I also love the idea that all those structures just exist there and no one bats an eye. Like, "oh cool, new place to eat with my friends!" really fits all the enemies, since none of them feel like bad guys at all. Docile and in your way at best and mischievous or playful at worst. Looking forward to your video on the character of Dream Land!
Btw, I just like to imagine the gourmet race location is just part of Green Greens/Dream Land but that's just what you see when you're above the clouds on the mountains there. That or the pink clouds are an event that happens every few years or so.
I LOVE RANDOM KIRBY CASTLE AND PALACE LEVELS so thank you for making this video catering to this one hyper-specific aspect of kirby i love
No problem! As the description says, This channel is for the people who pay way too much to the little things lol.
Ive been a huge kirby fan all my life and you're very quickly becoming my favorite kirby channel. Didnt realize how badly i needed a world analysis in my life and im looking forward to more of that and also the character and music analysis too. This gave me a new respect and perspective on some of my favorite games. Keep up the great work
Glad that you enjoy! I love talking about topics like these since I feel they can kinda get taken for granted. Looking forward to making new videos for you and other viewers!
It always felt like they put effort into making sure Dream Land felt really cohesive early on. Even down to making sure all the platforms make sense and fit organically into the world. I like when Kirby explores new worlds too, but I hope the next big 3D game takes place in Dream Land!
Same here! As much as I enjoyed the new world in forgotten land, the previous kirby games having backgrounds so surreal are what made me want a 3D kirby game in the first place.
I have loved Kirby for so many years now and that's started with the Wii Kirby's Return Return to Dreamland.
I love that game so much and its so nostalgic for me now.
I loved this video a lot your first video I watched I subscribed.
Please make a Return to Dreamland video.
Great Video!
I'm glad you loved it! I plan to work my way up to Return to Dreamland since it's art style builds on previous games while still having it's own original ideas. I'm excited to make the video when the time comes!
Not really related to dreamland specifically, but I always loved the way planet robobot took goofy traditional dreamland-ish things like food motifs and twisted them into a context that feels foreign for dreamland. Stuff like spaghetti running along forks representing power lines in gigabyte grounds, or the giant blenders that look like they're blending up oil or something. Or the submarines shaped like faucet handles in overload ocean, there are so many fun design decisions in that game
It was all very creative! I like that they made sure it still felt like dreamland, even through it's metal takeover.
some very interesting points brought up, Great video! 👍💖
i love these deep dives into the design philosophy of Kirby!!! i hope you make more, i’ll tune in!!
Glad you like it! More on the way as requested!
I learned from this video that there are no bourbons on Amazing Mirror
Fr, Mirror world my ass lmao
I think my favorite locations within Dream Land from an aesthetic standpoint are Rainbow Resort from Kirby's Adventure and the Sky Tower from Return to Dream Land (the structure you explore in Nutty Noon). Rainbow Resort (especially in the NES original) is so surreal and beautiful, and with the Sky Tower, I just like the idea of a whole in-game world taking place in a giant tower over the course of the day. Butter Building has a similar appeal, but I prefer Nutty Noon due to its backgrounds showing you just how high you're going. By stage 4 of the world, you've climbed so high that you're in space. Also, the sunset in stages 2-4 is gorgeous.
If we're including locations from the entirety of Popstar, I also love Floralia in Triple Deluxe, especially Old Odyssey and Royal Road.
These are all great choices! I can tell you really like the sky locations in kirby lol.
This video was absolutely as equal quality as the last, and really made me realize something I never really payed attention to..
Now that I’ve been drawn to think about it, the way Kirby’s world mixes Realism and Fantasy is actually…mind numbingly impressive-
The whole castle thing is actually pretty funny too now that I think about it, nobody questioning anything is perfectly Dreamlandish!..kinda explains how everyone immediately becomes happy again after an invasion or threat in every game, Dreamland doesn’t ask questions, and shrugs things off…for better or worse-
Also with Meta Knight’s airship…wow..I never really thought about that-
I never thought about how it’s…not normal..not normal *at all!*
The contract between the beautiful world and the menacing ship would definitely off put just about anyone from Dreamland, maybe even the entirety of Popstar! It’s always been obvious this place would become nothing without Kirby, but this puts into perspective just how much he’s willing to deal with nobody else is-
Glad you liked it!
Yeah, I love Kirby's world, they always put a lot of effort into setting it as a location and using it to tell stories. I'm excited to make more!
Funnily enough, the area where the first leg of Gourmet Race takes place has an official name: Pumpkin Grand! The other two areas are called Corn Hall and Onion Garden, for those who are curious. Thanks for that info, WiKirby!
But anyways, for your first unscripted video, this was a nice watch. I truly do love the bubble pop-style that was established in Kirby's world in these earlier titles and were particularly noticeable in the mainline Kirby games Mr. Sakurai directed himself. One thing I was surprised you didn't mention here, probably because you were strictly focusing on the aforementioned Sakurai-directed core titles, was how there was this weird period in the early-to-mid 2000s where the bubble pop aesthetic of Kirby's world was noticeably downplayed. This isn't to say that fantastical elements were thrown out entirely, as evidenced with the giant windmill tree in Fantasy Meadows or the random flying whale in Frozen Hillside (gee, both Kirby Air Ride-related examples), but when you compare certain areas in, say, Kirby's Adventure to its GBA remake Kirby Nightmare In Dream Land, you'd notice that where in the original the platforms in certain areas are held up by background objects that add to the atmosphere, in the remake they appear to not be held up by anything, leaving the platforms looking as if they're suspended in mid-air. A good example of this is in the opening area of Ice Cream Island's first stage; just compare the two side by side and you'll see what I mean.
S'yeah, the way the aesthetic of the original Kirby's Adventure was handled is a big reason why I don't like Nightmare In Dream Land (though it's totally fine if anyone here doesn't mind it), and I feel HAL may have eventually realized that they may have been accidentally downplaying the fantastical elements of Kirby's world overtime, seeing as how Kirby Super Star Ultra brought things back to how they were before. I'm thankful they haven't looked back since then, honestly. Looking back, it's such a bizarre yet intriguing period for how Kirby's world has changed overtime. I really don't mind having more videos like this covering the little things regarding the Kirby series, so once again, nicely done with the video!
Oh, and as for my favorite locale in the series, it'd have to be Rainbow Resort, particularly in the original Kirby's Adventure (and 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure); I dunno, I've always been a sucker for those types of locations like it and the Moon Kingdom from Klonoa: Door To Phantomile, for example.
Woah this is a lot! Thank you for commenting!
Oh, I didn't know about those names. I'm willing to bet they were given in SSU.
Yeah don't worry, I'm honestly considering just giving NiDL it's own exclusive video just to talk about why it's so divisive, art style included.
As for Rainbow Resort, I have to agree, it's a stand-out. I'll talk about it in my Kirby planets episode since many other planets seem to have a dream fountain as well.
Yes! Please keep doing these types of videos!
This is no doubt my nostalgia talking but I'm a huge fan of the older Kirby games, especially Adventure and Super Star. I think the dream-like fantasy backgrounds have a lot of influence on that too. I'm also a huge fan of pixel art so I'm drawn to that Kirby art style the most.
The world in Kirby Super Star has been one I've loved since I was a kid. I remember reading that the backgrounds were once hand drawn but they changed to CGI after the popularity of Donkey Kong Country. As much as I do love the final result, I wish I could see the hand drawn style they were originally going for to see how much different it would be, if any. It may have had the same feel as Adventure since apparently the backgrounds in Adventure started off as art and was converted into pixel art for the game.
The dream-like feel of Kirby is something I've always loved about the series. I can't wait to see more videos from you!
Nice, Glad you enjoyed the video! I'll definitely have to do a video on developer interviews since there are so many interesting things behind the scenes. Even though we got a sprite style for adventure, we did see the series experiment with a hand drawn style, as well as many other different art styles in the series, so I feel we got the best of both worlds lol.
This video really pointed out to me how many ways the series’ locales have inspired my own game ideas (the adventure of each stages, the structures in otherwise natural areas, the mix of familiar and strange). It reminds why Kirby stages are always so interesting to me-even as far back as the first game, they tell stories.Great video!
Yeah I don't really see environmental storytelling being done quite like Kirby in other platformers.
Did you know that galaxian night is Meta night's dad?
YES A NEW VIDEO BY THE GOAT
😎
I love Kirby's environments, but i wish we got more of the mirror world and how it works. Still can't believe we got dark sad spider boy before dark bandana dee.
Mirror world is such a cool location; I can't wait to talk about it!
This was a fantastic watch and listen! I would love to see more of these kinds of videos, since i feel like not too many folks talk about kirby in this fashion.
As for favorite areas in Popstar, I love Rainbow Resort. So beautiful in an esoteric way, like with the blue grass gray sky area, and all the polka dotted ground, combined with the night sky and the auroras, and the waffle shaped bubbles, theres just so much creativity present.
Glad you liked it! I try to make sure what I say is unique.
Also yeah, rainbow resort rules, it's designed so well. It's almost like the closer you get to the fountain, the more the separation between dreams and reality thins. I'm gonna talk about it along with the different planets from ss and 64.
Lets play through amazing mirror lets show the people my internal RAGE while playing (peak video also, I think this is a swell idea)
You already know from Dreamland 3 that I'd drive the rage up to 11 lmao. I'm so down.
YES! Another video! Dude I love this channel.
Glad you're a fan! Comments like these motivate me to keep going ☺
@@thestarwarper No problem. I'm totally vibing with this video, your voice is really easy to listen to. I listened to it while studying. You should definitely continue, you have a ton of potential on this platform.
Also yeah, I love those little borvon pillar things.
Lastly, I have so much nostalgia for Butter Building, the music especially, as I played it on the Classic NES with my brother when I was really little. Kirby's adventure started my love for Kirby and Nintendo in general. I only remember it so much because we were so bad we never got to world 4 lol.
Dedede got food in the first Gourmet Race smh
Have you thought about doing UA-cam streams as well? I know you did Twitch stuff way back, could be another helpful way to "keep it up", as it were.
Fun video format though!
Wow, that was a fast reply lmao.
Yeah Dedede's faster than he looks 💀. I want to do streaming and I have a few ideas, but I'm quite busy rn. I'll definitely do it eventually!
I’d probably call it Treat Tops
Ooo, that's a good one. Though, apparently it already has a name called "Pumpkin Grand", Corn Hall" and "Onion Garden". Though, your name is so good I might draw out a Kirby environment with that name sometime 🤩
Cupcake Glacier/Canyon/Cliff
Why do you say this a different kind of video for you when you only have one other video uploaded lol
You have a point lmao