Kirby's Block Ball ¹⁹⁹⁵

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Published on February 16, 2019 1:44:55 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORKxdOTlI04

Game:

Kirby's Block Ball (1995)

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Kirby's Block Ball

Developer(s) HAL Laboratory
Nintendo Research & Development 1
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Masahiro Sakurai
Producer(s) Gunpei Yokoi
Series Kirby
Platform(s) Game Boy
Release
JP: December 14, 1995
EU: December 25, 1995
NA: May 4, 1996
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single-player
Kirby's Block Ball[1] is a 1995 action video game, a spin-off from the Kirby series for the Game Boy portable console. It is a Breakout clone; the player controls paddles along the screen's edge to knock a bouncing ball, Kirby, into destructible bricks. The game's 55 levels include power-ups, bonus rounds, and minigames. Kirby's Block Ball was developed by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo R&D1. The team spent half a year revising the gameplay to match Kirby's signature characteristics. Kirby's Block Ball was published by Nintendo first in Japan in 1995, later in Europe, and last in North America in 1996.

Reviewers considered the game an improvement on the Breakout formula and praised its gameplay craftsmanship and incorporation of the Kirby series. It was included in multiple top Game Boy game lists and was later emulated on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console The player controls paddles along the screen's edges to knock a bouncing ball, Kirby, into destructible bricks.[2] The player loses a life if Kirby hits a spike-covered edge of the screen. Each of the game's eleven stages include five rounds of increasingly complex block patterns for Kirby to clear. The ten different block types vary in durability and points value. A well-timed hit of the paddle gives Kirby a powerful bounce to break through harder blocks. Another block type turns the remaining blocks into a bonus round that rewards the player for clearing the screen in the least amount of time. The player can find warp stars that lead to minigames, such as air hockey, where the player can earn extra lives. The rounds also include enemies to attack and avoid. Some enemies contain bonus items. Each stage ends in a boss fight.[3]

With stone, needle, flame, and spark power-ups, Kirby can transform to interact with blocks differently. For instance, the spark power-up lets Kirby break through otherwise indestructible blocks, and the needle allows Kirby to stick back to a paddle to launch again from a more advantageous position. The game has a themed frame and uses a wide palette of colors in-game when played with the Super Game Boy The game was developed by HAL Laboratory[3] with Gunpei Yokoi's Nintendo R&D1,[4] and published by Nintendo.[2] At one point in development, HAL decided that the game did not feel like a Kirby game. The team spent six months completely revising the game under explicit instructions on how Kirby should move. Kirby games contain elements of unrestricted, creative movement as a general theme.[5] Kirby's Block Ball was released for the Game Boy first in Japan in 1995 and later in Europe (1995)[6] and North America (May 1996).[5] It was later emulated on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console,[7] and released first in Japan (October 2011) and later in Europe (February 2012) and North America (May 2012).[8]