SteveN

Thursday, Aug 13, 2009

Vote Kirby for Greatest Video Game Hero!

There comes a time in everyone's lives where one must look deep within themselves to expose the ultimate truth--VOTE 4 KIRBY to become the Greatest Video Game Hero of all time!

Who is Kirby?

Kirby hails from the planet Pop Star in the Dream Land universe. He is a rotund fellow, spherical in shape with stubby little arms. He is also green-conscious and does most of his traveling via foot while wearing his unbranded red shoes. Kirby is most recognized by his distinctive pink pigmentation.

Kirby has a positive gung-ho personality; he is always there in a pinch to help those in need. Kirby's motto is to eat and have fun with a smile across his face.

His hero powers relate to his motto. His most recognizable power is to gobble up enemies and blow them out and away. He is also able to create an air gun by taking large gulps of air and spitting air pockets out at a high velocity. In the latter stages of his adolescent life, Kirby learned to absorb the powers of the enemies he engulfs and use them for a short period of time afterwords.

Kirby blew onto the big video game screen as the star of Kirby's Dream Land in 1992 on the GameBoy platform. His fame proceeded to skyrocket as he jumped to the NES in 1993 to play his part in Kirby's Adventure. Kirby is also able to transcend the generation gap as witnessed in his most recent Wii release Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Kirby Super Star Ultra on the DS.

Kirby also lent a credence of respectability by joining other less-famous Nintendo characters to produce Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. His role in the game garnered a 9.5 review score by GameSpot as well as the coveted Editors' Choice Award. Other critics gave it a 9.3 while his fans gave him a 9.4.

Kirby on TV?

Yes. For a time, Kirby was the star of his own television series -- Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. The show ran for three seasons on the FOX Network from 2002 to 2005 culminating in an awe-inspiring finale that rocked the hero world. Of the 18,279 shows listed on TV.com, Kirby's show came in at 1,294, ranking it among the Top 7% shows of all time.

Kirby in Print?

Kirby was not regulated to just video games and television series; the Kirby phenomenon stretched far and wide including his own manga written by Hirokazu Hikawa known as Kirby of the Stars: The Story of Dedede Who Lives In Pupupu which depicts Kirby in the familiar setting of his home planet and follows the adventures he gets himself into.

Kirby Ripoffs?

Kirby is a popular character in the gaming industry. Others have tried to take advantage of Kirby's plucky charm and undeniable marketability by shaping their products after Kirby's recognizable shape.

In Japan, a company took the image of Kirby and molded a rice ball into his shape and called it mochi. To hide the fact of the complete ripoff, the company proceeded to paint the mochi balls in a variety of colors.

Pinball is a great American pastime. What you probably didn't know was that Kirby was the inspiration for the spherical silver ball used as a delivery mechanism for scoring points. Initially, the pinball industry was going with a cube as their choice. But one analyst was on the can playing Kirby's Dream Land on his GameBoy and marveled at how frictionless Kirby moved around in his virtual world. He took the idea of Kirby and his spherical shape, applied the silver green coat (GB at the time had no color) on the ball and showcased the new design to the investors. It was an instant hit and the pinball industry never looked back.