page_title: Kirby Super Star
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Kirby Super Star / Development
caption_attribution_description: English: A Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES or Super NES) video game console, shown with standard controller. Українська: Гральна консоль Super Nintendo Entertainment System, зі стандартним контролером.
context_page_description: Kirby Super Star, released as Kirby's Fun Pak in PAL regions, is a 1996 platforming video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, part of the Kirby series of platforming video games by HAL Laboratory. The game was advertised as featuring eight games: seven short subsections with the same basic gameplay, and two minigames.
  The game was later released for the Wii and Wii U Virtual Consoles. An enhanced remake titled Kirby Super Star Ultra was released for the Nintendo DS in 2008 and 2009. Nintendo re-released Kirby Super Star in Japan, the United States and Europe in September 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition. The game was released on the Nintendo Switch Online service on December 12, 2019.
context_section_description: Kirby Super Star was developed in Japan by HAL Laboratory and directed by Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai. It was the third Kirby game he directed, following Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Adventure. Although a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) title, the Kirby Super Star prototype was developed for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Sakurai, although the prototype was for internal use only, it was almost complete and some of Kirby's animations were nearly identical in the final game. The prototype was used to test out ideas before implementing them in the final product; Sakurai said having the game operating on an internal build made it easier to develop ideas. HAL president Satoru Iwata had little involvement with the game, and left development under Sakurai's supervision.
  For Kirby Super Star, Sakurai "had three pillars in mind. One was two-player cooperative gameplay and another was including actions similar to those in fighting games. The third was an omnibus format." The addition of cooperative gameplay was something Shigeru Miyamoto requested. While Sakurai knew a SNES Kirby game would mean bigger, more detailed characters and graphics, he wanted to hear from Miyamoto before thinking about the foundation and other important aspects. Sakurai and Iwata traveled to Kyoto; there, Miyamoto told them he wanted cooperative gameplay, something uncommon in side-scrolling platform games. Miyamoto had dreamed of creating a cooperative game in his Super Mario franchise for many years, but was unable to until New Super Mario Bros. Wii in 2009 because of how fast the series' gameplay is. Kirby, on the other hand, is slower-paced, so Miyamoto figured it would be possible. Sakurai thought about it and came up with the idea to have a main player and an assisting one; this led to the conception of Helpers, which he thought opened the door for inexperienced players.
  As for including fighting game-like moves, Sakurai made enemies stronger. He did this because "[t]he main player would simply hurl blades and lay waste to opponents while the Helper just watched." Additionally, he expanded copy abilities' possibilities so players could perform multiple actions by pressing the same button, similar to fighting games. The game was also the first in the series in which Kirby's appearance changed depending on his copy ability. The omnibus format was chosen because Sakurai noted most SNES and some NES games were of considerable length, and prices were high. Kirby Super Star served as "the antithesis to that trend," with Sakurai hoping to create sections with different stories and gameplay that appealed to both experienced and inexperienced players. Spring Breeze, a remake of Kirby's Dream Land, was designed for beginners and is thus Super Star's first mode. The title is a quote from the Dream Land manual that "describe[s] Kirby as a youth who came with the spring breeze," and was chosen to signify its simplicity. Originally, Sakurai was going to remove copy abilities to remain faithful to the original game while teaching beginners how to play, but ultimately did not.
  Development lasted three years, longer than usual for the era. This was partially due to the influence Rare's Donkey Kong Country (1994), a game that incorporated CG graphics. Sakurai was certain using CG would be beneficial, so the team redid the artwork about halfway through development. HAL's development schedule also lengthened development. Sakurai planned to include an additional game mode, Kagero Mansion, which was discarded due to time constraints. Kagero Mansion was a horror game with an emphasis on action and puzzle elements; it saw Kirby stuck in a mansion and unable to inhale. HAL also planned to add a move that allowed Kirby to create an explosion from guarding, but cut the idea.
  Kirby Super Star was one of the last SNES games, released just three months before the launch of the system's successor, the Nintendo 64. Publisher Nintendo released the game in Japan on March 21, 1996, in North America on September 20, 1996, and in Europe on Janu
caption: Development on Kirby Super Star lasted longer than usual for the era, and as a result it released late in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System's (pictured) life cycle.
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