Kirby for Nintendo GameCube

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Kirby is an unreleased game that was originally developed for the Nintendo GameCube, then on the Wii. For reasons unknown, it went through several revisions and art styles before it finally became Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

Gameplay

Several drafts and concepts were shown while the game was in development.

Kirby (E3 2005)

The first concept was a more traditional 2D adventure, but still with 3D assets. This one featured a Helper system similar to the one in Kirby Super Star, but allowed up to 3 Helpers at a time instead of just one. Enemies and Mid-Bosses can be stunned by Kirby & co.'s attacks.

A trailer was shown during E3 2005.

Enemies/Helpers

Enemies who appeared in this version included the following:

Enemy	Copy Ability	Notes
Babut
Blade Knight	Sword	Spin Slash was first introduced in this version.
Blipper
Bonkers	Hammer	Hammer Kirby wore a yellow safety helmet.
Bronto Burt
Broom Hatter	Cleaning	The Cleaning ability didn't return until Kirby Star Allies.
Chilly	Ice
Dale		Dale only appeared in Kirby Air Ride so far.
Flappy	Wing	Flappy only appeared in Kirby Air Ride so far. When only Kirby rode piggyback on Flappy, he wore a helmet similar to that of Wheelie Rider.
Golem	Stone	Golem only appeared in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror so far.
Heat Phanphan	Fire	Heat Phanphan only appeared in Kirby Air Ride so far.
Knuckle Joe	Fighter
Parasol Waddle Dee	Parasol
Plasma Wisp	Plasma
Scarfy
Sir Kibble	Cutter
Waddle Dee
Waddle Doo	Beam
Wheelie	Wheel	When only Kirby rode piggyback on Wheelie, he wore a helmet similar to that of Wheelie Rider.
Unidentified enemy	Bomb	The enemy was a mini clown riding a relatively big jester ball. Bomb Kirby wore an orange party hat with yellow patterns.
Unidentified enemy	Tornado	The enemy resembled a fairy.
Unidentified enemy	Water	The enemy resembled three water drops. The Water ability would eventually debut in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

Bosses

Bosses who appeared in this version included the following:

Whispy Woods
HR-D3 (King Dedede themed paintjob)
Morpho Knight (designed, but not put into the game eventually)^[1]

Full 3D Platformer

Development screenshot of the full 3D platformer

The second was a full 3D adventure allowing Kirby to travel into the foreground and background, and looked very similar to Kirby Air Ride in graphical style.

Full 2D Platformer

Development screenshot of the full 2D platformer

The third and final version was a 2D platformer done with clean 2D graphics, similar in art style to the Wii game Wario Land: Shake It!. Only a few screenshots of this game were ever released, but the backdrop and layout looked very similar to Cookie Country from Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

Legacy

Several aspects of this canceled project would eventually work their way into completed Kirby titles. Among them included the following points:

The concept of a full 3D Kirby game was likely the inspiration for the 3D environments in Kirby 3D Rumble (and later Kirby's Blowout Blast and Kirby Battle Royale).
Much of the music and other assets developed for Kirby GCN would be used in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, namely Return to Dream Land's theme of The Arena. This track was first heard in the Kirby GCN trailer during E3 2005, and shares the melody of the theme "Sky Tower" (used in Nutty Noon - Stage 2 and Stage 4) from Return to Dream Land. The melody was probably intended to serve as a leitmotif of Kirby GCN, though it's also widely used in Return to Dream Land.
HR-D3, which had initially appeared as a boss for this title, would later appear in Kirby Mass Attack (still in King Dedede themed paintjob) and Kirby's Return to Dream Land (piloted by Metal General EX).
Morpho Knight, who had initially been designed as a boss for this title, would later debut in Kirby Star Allies.
The concept of having three Helpers (along with the return of the Cleaning ability) would eventually manifest in Kirby Star Allies, though taking a slightly different approach.

Gallery

E3 2005

Artwork of Kirby.
Bonkers KGCN art.png

Heat Phanphan, Golem, and Kirby ride on Bonkers.
Kirby at a mountain range.
Kirby, Chilly, and a green Knuckle Joe encountering a yellow Bonkers in an icy location.
Kirby riding on Flappy.
Parasol Waddle Dee, Waddle Doo, Kirby using Piggyback on Heat Phanphan
Maboroshi01.jpg

Parasol Waddle Dee, Chilly, Kirby and Wheelie using Piggyback
Kirby and Golem using Piggyback on Wheelie
Kirby swimming from two Blippers.
Kirby and Knuckle Joe fighting two Bonkers.
Kirby riding Wheelie to a dark castle.
Kirby and three Knuckle Joes fighting a Scarfy on a bridge.
Kirby with his Plasma Copy Ability.
Kirby attacking a Golem with a Parasol.
Kirby with his Fire Copy Ability.