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Kirby's Pinball Land

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Kirby's Pinball Land

KPL Box.png

KPL JP Box.jpg

KPL UK Box.jpg

Game covers of Kirby's Pinball Land in various regions
Details
Developer(s) HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Release date(s) Game Boy:
Japan November 27, 1993
NA November 30, 1993
Europe December 1, 1993
Australia 1993

Virtual Console (3DS):
NA July 12, 2012
Europe July 26, 2012
Australia July 26, 2012
Japan August 29, 2012
Platform(s) Game Boy
Nintendo 3DS (Virtual Console)
Supported languages Japanese, American English
Rating(s) ESRB: Kids to Adults / Everyone
PEGI: 3+
CERO: All Ages
Game chronology
Kirby's Adventure Kirby's Dream Course
On affiliated sites
StrategyWiki Walkthrough
 This box: view  talk  edit 

Kirby's Pinball Land is the first spin-off game in the Kirby series, released on the Game Boy in late 1993. The game has since seen a re-release on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2012. Kirby's Pinball Land is a derivative of the pinball genre, featuring Kirby as the pinball and enemies from Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Adventure as bumpers on the courses.

The game consists of three pinball tables (referred to in the instruction manual as "Pinball Lands") that are themed around elements and environments from Kirby's Dream Land, each with three primary floors and a boss floor. Each table also has a mini-game on the second floor. To "complete" the game, Kirby must defeat the boss in each Pinball Land, and then defeat King Dedede without losing all of his extra lives, though all this really does is cause the game to loop. The only true way to end the game is to get a Game Over, with the overall objective being to earn as high a score as possible.

Controls[edit]

Being based on a classic pinball game, the player cannot control Kirby directly. Instead, a pair of flippers can be utilized on each floor of the various pinball lands to bat Kirby about the area. In addition, the player can "shake" the pinball boards to move Kirby around somewhat, which can be useful to get him un-stuck from various obstacles. The controls are as follows:

  • Start - begin game / pause game
  • Select - enter pause menu
  • or - Move left flipper / navigate through menu
  • A - Move right flipper / use Springboard or Cannon
  • or - Shake board from left / navigate through menu
  • B - Shake board from right
  • A + B + Start + Select - Resets the game

Gameplay[edit]

The main hub for the pinball lands, where Kirby can select which land to go to

Kirby's Pinball Land is styled after a classic pinball game, and as such, the objective is to earn a high score with a limited number of tries. Instead of staying in a single board, however, the game puts a Kirby spin on the genre by throwing in several different 'lands' with bosses at the end of them. In each of the pinball lands are an assortment of enemies and other hazards which serve as different kinds of bumpers, ramps, and springs.

There are three primary Pinball Lands, known as Wispy-Woods Land, Kracko Land, and Poppy Brothers' Land. Each of these lands is separated into three primary boards stacked on top of each other, with a bonus mini-game board accessible from the second board of each land, and the boss board accessible from the top board. Given the stacked nature of these boards, the player can only lose a life if Kirby falls beneath the lower-most board. However, instead of automatically losing the ball, the player is given a chance to save Kirby by using a Springboard at the bottom, which functions similarly to the Goal Game in Kirby's Adventure. A successful use of the board will rocket Kirby back into the upper boards, though repeated drops will cause the springboard to shrink further and further until it cannot be used anymore.

The three pinball lands can be tackled in any order from the main hub. Once all three are cleared, Kirby can then proceed to the final encounter with King Dedede. Once Dedede is defeated, the game will reset without resetting the player's score or number of extra lives. Once the game is over, the score is registered and the game completely resets. During gameplay, it is possible to save and quit, then return later from the start menu from the saved point. However, that save point can only be used once.

Scoring[edit]

Nearly every interactable object in Kirby's Pinball Land will reward the player with points when bumped into or used. Since the game will loop after defeating King Dedede, the ultimate goal is to obtain as high a score as possible. Once the game is over, the player will be prompted to enter their score into a leaderboard if the score is in the top four placings. A name can be assigned to this score using up to seven characters.

With every 500000 points earned, the game will cut to a celebratory cutscene where three Kirbys dance along with musical accompaniment before returning to regular gameplay.

In addition to standard point values, there are also Bonuses and Multipliers, which can be earned by performing certain actions (resulting in seeing a +B or +M on-screen when earned). These are not added to the player's overall score until after losing a life. Each bonus collected adds 1000 points to the pool, while each multiplier adds another multiple of the pool.

For more information on scoring (including individual values from enemies and objects), see the Pinball Land articles.

Pinball Lands[edit]

Pinball Lands of Kirby's Pinball Land  
Name Image Boss Notes
Wispy-Woods Land KPL Wispy-Woods Land Boss.png Whispy Woods This land is the only one of the three with an original theme song.
Kracko Land KPL Kracko Land Boss 2.png Kracko Jr. & Kracko This land's music is an arrangement of the Bubbly Clouds theme from Kirby's Dream Land.
Poppy Brothers' Land KPL Poppy Brothers' Land Boss.png Twin Poppy Bros. Sr. This land's music is an arrangement of the Green Greens theme from Kirby's Dream Land.
King Dedede's board KPL Dedede.png King Dedede Unlocked once the bosses of the main three boards are defeated.

Mini-games[edit]

  • Wispy-Woods Land features a Breakout-style mini-game where enemies and items move along the top of a series of breakable blocks. This would appear to serve as a precursor to Kirby's Block Ball.
  • Poppy Brothers' Land features a game where Kirby has to punt himself into a goal on a soccer-themed course with a Squishy acting as the goalie.
  • Kracko Land features a game where Kirby has to bounce food items up to a copy of himself on a cloud deck who will eat them for points.

More detail on these mini-games can be found in the respective Pinball Land articles.

Enemies[edit]

The following are all of the non-boss enemies which appear in Kirby's Pinball Land. For more details on how they function, see the appropriate Pinball Land page or the enemy page itself:

Wispy-Woods Land[edit]

  • Apple - 1600 points
  • Broom Hatter - 10000 points
  • Bounder - 480 points
  • Cappy - 600 points (first hit), 1200 points (second hit)
  • Gordo - 240 points (spelled as Gordow in the manual)
  • Kabu - 240 points (480 for Big Kabu; referred to as Kaboo in the manual)
  • Mumbies - 360 points (referred to as Mummy Ball in the manual)
  • Slippy - 3000 points
  • Twister - 100 points per spin (spin amount depends on speed)
  • UFO - 1000, 1500, or 2000 points
  • Waddle Dee - 5000 points
  • Waddle Doo - (appears only on the slot machine)

Kracko Land[edit]

Poppy Brothers' Land[edit]

  • Apple - 1600 points
  • Chilly - 360 points
  • Hatched Chick - each subsequent hit is worth more points (100, 200, 400, 800; referred to as Chick in the manual)
  • Gordo - 240 points
  • Mr. Frosty - 480 points
  • Poppy Bros. Jr. - 250 points (2nd floor), 500 points (third floor) (360 points for bombs)
  • Sparky - +B
  • Squishy - not worth points
  • Tookey - 1000 points (referred to as Cluck in the manual)

King Dedede's board[edit]

  • King Dedede - 5000 points per hit, 150000 points on defeat

Items[edit]

There are a number of items that Kirby can acquire to assist in various ways. They are as follows:

  • 1-Up - Provides an extra life.
  • Bomb - +B when collected.
  • Cake - +M when collected.
  • Candy - Worth 3000 points when collected.
  • Energy Drink - This item occupies a gutter slot on the board, preventing Kirby from falling through, but disappearing after being used.
  • Maxim Tomato - This item occupies the central pit between the flippers, offering a safety net for a short duration before disappearing.
  • Mint Leaf - Worth 1000 points when collected.
  • Star Rod piece - Appears once a boss is defeated. Collecting this is necessary to complete the pinball land.
  • Superspicy Curry - Worth 2000 points when collected.
  • Warp Star - Kirby will be taken to a different zone when he touches this.

Descriptions[edit]

Nintendo eShop[edit]

Original Release Date: November 1993

Choose your world and take aim! Kirby™ will be launched into the fast-paced dangers of uncharted worlds, but you can help him face his foes head on. It’s a pinball race to check out each new world’s surprise enemies and pitfalls. Flip Kirby in battles against lethal eyeballs, a shooting tree and mace-swinging maniacs. Take aim and leap to new worlds. Three different pinball games, four screens tall, with tons of secret bonus levels!

My Nintendo Store[edit]

Choose your world and take aim. Kirby™ will be launched into the fast-paced dangers of uncharted worlds, but you can help him face his foes head on. It’s a pinball race to check out each new world’s surprise enemies and pitfalls. Flip Kirby in battles against lethal eyeballs, a shooting tree and mace-swinging maniacs. Play three different pinball games, each four screens tall, with tons of secret bonus levels.[1]

Trivia[edit]

  • In the main warp room, after clearing a level, it will be replaced with a ball that can have the letters 'E', 'X', 'T', 'R', and 'A' on them. These balls can be utilized to spell out the word 'EXTRA', which gives the player a 1-Up when done.
  • The maximum bonus attainable is 99000 x 99. This takes roughly 11 minutes to count out if earned.
  • Kirby Mass Attack contains a Sub-Game named Kirby Brawlball that follows a very similar concept to this game.

Gallery[edit]

Logos[edit]

Artwork[edit]

Sprites[edit]

Screenshots[edit]

Audio[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese カービィのピンボール
Kābyi no Pinbōru
Kirby's Pinball
Chinese Kirby's Pinball Land
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Dutch Kirby's Pinball Land -
French Kirby's Pinball Land -
German Kirby's Pinball Land -
Italian Kirby's Pinball Land -
Korean Kirby's Pinball Land
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Portuguese Kirby's Pinball Land -
Spanish Kirby's Pinball Land -


External links[edit]

References