Let's All Go to Dream Land

Despite a strong and sincere love of video games throughout my life, from Sonic the Hedgehog to Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda to Pokémon, and even modern titles like Assassin's Creed, I have always held a deep fondness for one particular game. The Kirby series has never disappointed me, and the pink star warrior is easily my favorite video game character of all time. To this day, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards maintains its status among my most favorite video games I've ever played. The charm, the whimsy, the colors, and the characters, everything culminating together to form an experience of childlike wonder and sheer fun has never left me, and I feel it again every time I play it.

When Ashley Davis put out an open invitation to all artists on Tumblr to participate in a special collection of Kirby-themed artworks, calling it Kirby's Dream Zine, I simply couldn't decline. This is a character, a lineage of games that I've always been passionate about, and I absolutely had to take part. But the initial deadline was back in August, right as business hours at my workplace were beginning to pick up for back-to-school, so I put it off for a long time. The deadline was extended, all the way up until this very weekend, and despite a heavy work schedule, now due to holiday shopping, I fought to see it through. This was thankfully completed just in time before the last call for submissions, and I truly tested myself to see how much dedication I could pour into my work to complete it within such a tight deadline. With frequent breaks being taken to accommodate for working seven- eight-hour shifts, often at night or early morning, I managed to put this one together in about four days.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was and is a terrific game and is certainly worth playing. The game is simple, being easy for literally anyone of any age to pick up, and fairly linear, with no sidequests involved. The primary objective for our hero Kirby is to help a small young fairy named Ribbon explore the nearby stars to collect the seventy-four crystal shards that comprise Ripple Star's Great Crystal. Along the way you meet up with familiar faces, including the meek but eager Waddle Dee; the ruler of Dream Land, King Dedede; and a talented young artist named Adeleine. With Waddle Dee's resourcefulness, King Dedede's mighty hammer, and Adeleine's magic paintbrush, each character provides their unique skills to help Kirby in his quest across the galaxy, to restore Ribbon's home of Ripple Star back to its original state, and rid the stars of Dark Matter once and for all. Although obtaining all seventy-four shards is technically an optional goal, collecting every shard grants you the game's true ending, and delivers a boss so memorable, sinister, and challenging for a platformer of this kind, it's certainly worth seeing this one through.

I'm extremely pleased with this piece, and I'm so happy I could take part in this collaboration. I'm very much looking forward to the completed compilation of artworks from every other artist involved. Every Kirby fan should look out for it!

Kirby, Ribbon, Adeleine, King Dedede and Waddle Dee © HAL Laboratories and Nintendo