"Kid Kirby": Cancelled SNES game returns after 30 years
In the mid-1990s, Nintendo ceased development of 'Kid Kirby'. More than 30 years later, a fan has reconstructed the project based on preserved graphics, documents, and statements from former developers.
Behind «Kid Kirby» was DMA Design, the later predecessor to Rockstar North and developer of the first «Grand Theft Auto» games. For the Kirby game, the studio relied on unusual controls: you were supposed to grab the character with the Super NES Mouse, pull back, and fling them through the levels. Nintendo had released the mouse accessory in 1992 along with «Mario Paint».
«Kid Kirby» was intended as a prequel to the series. You play a younger Kirby, while a younger version of Dedede also appears as «Prince Dedede».
Kirby is flung through the levels
Direction and distance determine where Kirby flies. With enough speed, he defeats enemies upon impact. You can also grab him again while he is in flight to change his direction.
As a result, «Kid Kirby Recreation» plays quite differently from classic Kirby games. Instead of precisely running and jumping through levels, you have to estimate trajectories and re-align Kirby at the right moment. This makes the controls feel more like a skill-based game than a classic platformer.
Keyboard commands supplement the mouse controls. In addition, there are Copy Abilities, with which Kirby temporarily adopts the abilities of certain enemies. The reconstruction includes eight levels and one boss fight.
The SNES Mouse became a problem
The strong reliance on the Super NES Mouse later became a problem. DMA co-founder Dave Jones explained years later that the accessory sold worse than expected. At the same time, the game did not work well with a standard controller.
Nintendo eventually ended development. A finished version was never released.
Own ideas fill the gaps
For his reconstruction, «NovaStar86B» used preserved and publicly available graphics, concept art, and information from former DMA employees.
A publicly known, complete original build of «Kid Kirby» does not exist to date. Therefore, the developer had to interpret and add missing content himself.
This is evident, for example, in a paper airplane mechanic. For this, «NovaStar86B» took inspiration from «Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door». Other elements are based on known designs from the original project.
The preserved visual material also only shows a part of what DMA Design was planning at the time. Former DMA programmer James Watson explained that some of the known Kirby sprites were merely placeholders. Later, the studio created larger and more elaborate graphics.
The fan version can therefore only convey what «Kid Kirby» could have looked and played like.
The original remains lost
Former DMA developer Mike Dailly later reported on a playable demo of the original «Kid Kirby». A publicly accessible copy of it has not yet surfaced.
«NovaStar86B» is not planning any extensive expansion of his version either. By his own account, he has already processed a large part of the known material. Further content would increasingly move away from the historical templates and rely more on his own ideas.
«Kid Kirby Recreation» has been available for free via itch.io since September 2026. There are versions for Windows and Linux. Nintendo is not involved in the fan project.
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