Today we're talking about Kirby in esports new and old. In Act 1, Bridget tells us about the Kirby's Adventure speedrunning challenges in Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. Then for Act 2, Sean is back from Evo, the major Las Vegas fighting game tournament and convention, to talk about the surprising presence of Kirby at an event partially owned by Sony.

What are your thoughts on Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition? And are there any games, just in general, that you enjoy speedrunning? Let us know at [email protected].

If you'd like a monthly bonus episode, along with merchandise and other rewards, we hope you'll check out our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations. August's monthly bonus episode is about lesser-known games that we'd recommend to Kirby fans, and you won't want to miss it!

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

IG: @kirbyconversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/). Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Friday! Here's a podcast recommendation for your weekend: an episode of Flashback 64 about Treasure's cult classic Mischief Makers. If you liked Kirby 64, we think you'll really dig Mischief Makers, a 2.5D platformer that follows robot maid Marina on an adventure to rescue the kidnapped Prof. Theo. Marina can grab, throw, and shake most of the enemies and objects she encounters, so if you enjoy the way Kirby games let you use enemies' weapons and projectiles against them, you'll find similarly interactive combat and puzzle-solving in Mischief Makers. Plus, it's full of great music, funny dialogue, and the elaborate boss fights Treasure is famous for.

Flashback 64 is a terrific retro gaming podcast where Gooey and McKenna chronologically explore the library of the Nintendo 64 and other 90s and 2000s-era culture. This episode also features writer merritt k as a guest panelist.

We hope you'll check out other episodes of Flashback 64 and give them a follow in whichever podcast player you're using right now. You can also find them at https://flashback64pod.podbean.com/. Below is the original text from their show notes.

------------

We welcome merritt k to the show and SHAKE SHAKE it up with Treasure's cult classic Mischief Makers!

Check out LAN Party at your local bookstore as well as https://www.amazon.com/LAN-Party-Inside-Multiplayer-Revolution/dp/0500026955

merritt k on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/merrittk

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/merrittk.com

1900HOTDOG: https://1900hotdog.com/

_

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Flashback64

Merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Flashback64

Discord: https://discord.gg/2ckdah6VTC

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/flashback64pod

McKenna: https://linktr.ee/mckliz

Gooey: https://www.youtube.com/c/gooeyfame

Artwork by Corey Richmond: https://twitter.com/coreyrichmond

Music by Nico Silvian: https://linktr.ee/Nicotendo64

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/flashback64.bsky.social

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Flashback64Pod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flashback64pod

Email: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exploding shurikens. Fireworks. A...refrigerator. The Power Combo system in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards lets you combine Kirby's copy abilities with dozens of inspired and hilarious results. So in this episode, we're looking back at some of our favorite abilities from Kirby's Nintendo 64 outing, while also exploring some abilities and originally playable characters that didn't make the final cut of the game. Then for Act 2, we play a game where take abilities that weren't in Kirby 64 and make up some Power Combos of our own.

Do you have any stories or favorite memories from Kirby 64? And what are your favorite Power Combos? Let us know at [email protected].

If you'd like a monthly bonus episode, along with merchandise and other rewards, we hope you'll check out our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations. July's monthly bonus episode is all about busting Kirby myths and misconceptions, and you won't want to miss it!

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

IG: @kirbyconversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/). Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we're discussing Kid Kirby, a canceled Kirby title from the 90s developed by DMA Design Limited, the Scottish company that would go on to become Rock Star North of Grand Theft Auto fame. While Kid Kirby was never finished, many assets from this unique Angry Birds-esque platformer can still be found, and they show a strikingly different take on Kirby from anything you might've seen in his official released games. After digging through Kid Kirby's history for Act 1, we then check in with Ky for Act 2 about her time at Anime Expo, her new plans in the works with Good Smile, and what games she's playing this summer.

If you'd like a monthly bonus episode, along with merchandise and other rewards, we hope you'll check out our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations. July's monthly bonus episode will be all about busting Kirby myths and misconceptions, and you won't want to miss it!

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

IG: @kirbyconversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/). Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past two episodes, we've been covering the thriving competitive scene around Kirby Air Ride's City Trial mode--a community of over 11,000 members. This episode is part two of our two-part interview series, and Sean and Bridget continue to speak with our guests drcKARGaming, one of the top Kirby Air Ride players, and Protag, a community leader and developer on updates to the game's competitive mod.

In Act 1, drcKARGaming shares a sort of oral history of the Air Ride community. It's a tale full of classic sports tropes, rivalries, and sometimes dramatic tournament results, so we put it in an act all of its own. Then for Act 2, Protag is back for more talk on the future of competitive Air Ride. As this is part two of a series, if you haven't listened to part one yet, you may want to listen to our previous episode before giving this one a listen.

If you'd like a monthly bonus episode, along with merchandise and other rewards, we hope you'll check out our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations. July's monthly bonus episode will be all about busting Kirby myths and misconceptions, and you won't want to miss it!

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].

For more from our guests:

Kirby Air Ride Online YouTube channel: @KirbyAirRideOnline

drcKarGaming

X: @drcKarGaming

YouTube: @drcKarGaming

And here is his guide to the Kirby Air Ride competitive meta.

Protag

X: @Th3_Protagonist

YouTube: @Protagulous

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

IG: @kirbyconversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/). Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few years, a loyal group of players have built a thriving competitive scene around Kirby Air Ride's City Trial mode. Featuring regular tournaments for significant cash prizes and a Discord with over 11,000 members, it's a prime example of how dedicated fans can revive a classic game for a modern audience. So for a two-episode interview series, we're speaking with master Air Ride competitor drcKarGaming and community leader Protag to get an inside look at Kirby Air Ride netplay.

We learned so much from this interview, from the game's unique programming ties to Super Smash Bros. Melee to its often-overlooked strategic depth, and were impressed to hear all the modern updates (including a potential new map!) the team has brought to the base version of the game. As Bridget said at one point, it felt like we were learning a part of Kirby history. Part 2, further elaborating on the history of competitive Air Ride, will post next week.

If you'd like a monthly bonus episode, along with merchandise, shout-outs, and more, we hope you'll check out our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations. July's monthly bonus episode will be all about busting Kirby myths and misconceptions, and you won't want to miss it!

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].

For more from our guests:

drcKarGaming

X: @drcKarGaming

YouTube: @drcKarGaming

And here is his guide to the Kirby Air Ride competitive meta.

Protag

X: @Th3_Protagonist

YouTube: @Protagulous

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

IG: @kirbyconversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/). Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Delivery Waddle Dee has just dropped off a fresh stack of listener mail, so for this episode we're responding to your comments and questions. We cover a range of topics, from Kirby's 3D future to whether Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby's creator, would ever return to direct a new game for the series. (Apparently this could be a slightly controversial topic, so for what it's worth Kirby Conversations is a big fan of both Sakurai's games and Shinya Kumazaki's current work on the series, so this isn't meant as a comparison between the two. It's just a fun thought experiment.) Then for Act 2, we discuss the games we're looking forward to playing this summer, from Animal Well to Tekken 8 and more.

If you'd like a monthly bonus episode, along with merchandise, shout-outs, and more, we hope you'll check out our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations. We really appreciate your support, and we offer a free trial, so you can start listening to a long library of bonus audio today at no cost to you.

Thank you to SuperNindado, Krysta Yang, and Kit Ellis, who submitted questions for this episode. For some of our favorite expert commentary on the gaming landscape from former Nintendo employees, be sure to check out Kit and Krysta's YouTube channel and other links at https://www.youtube.com/@kitandkrysta.

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

IG: @kirbyconversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/).

Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So Nintendo's hired you for a merchandise shoot and they've sent you a big plush Kirby. Now what? In this episode, Ky takes us inside her work as a photographer for Nintendo, going behind the scenes of some of our favorite photos involving Kirby, Zelda, and more. Then for Act 2, we're playing a game where we imagine new photo assignments for Ky by combining random themes, moods, and game series, with absurd and hilarious results.

For Act 3, found only on Patreon, we're going inside more photoshoots with Ky, this time focusing on what happens when multiple companies get involved. Check out our Patreon for other rewards too, including access to our Community Chats and physical prints of Ky's photos. https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations

Want to reach out? You can email us at [email protected]. We're particularly interested in any questions you might have for future Q&A segments on the show.

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

IG: @kirbyconversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/).

Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At Space World 2001, Shigeru Miyamoto presented a showcase for Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble 2, a cutting-edge Kirby title that demonstrated the power of the upcoming GameCube and its connectivity with the Game Boy Advance. Crowds flocked to the play the game at the convention, press covered it widely alongside other key GameCube fixtures like Luigi's Mansion or Super Smash Bros. Melee, and then it...never got released. What happened to the mysterious Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble 2? That's the main subject for our episode today, as Sean and Bridget dig into the history of this canceled game and reflect on the GameCube Kirby that might have been. Then for Act 2, we've brought some questions for each other, with a Q&A segment on the games that brought us emotional experiences, our favorite "bad" games, and more.

For Act 3, found only on Patreon, we're looking back at the other announcements from Space World 2001 through the lens of Nintendo Power issue 149, among other sources. It was a time of peak GameCube anticipation, Wind Waker controversies, and...Donkey Kong Racing? Watch for our Act 3 segments to regularly post a few days after the initial episode. Check out our Patreon for other rewards too, including tickets to our monthly livestreams and physical prints of Captain Dangerous's photos. https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations

Want to reach out? You can email us at [email protected]. We're particularly interested in any questions you might have for future Q&A segments on the show.

Lastly, congratulations to Luis Beltran-Valera, winner of our $500 Nintendo Switch shopping spree giveaway! Thank you to all who entered, and we hope you enjoy your games Luis!

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

IG: @kirbyconversations

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/).

Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we're looking back at Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, a groundbreaking game that was the first handheld console software to include an accelerometer. While moving Kirby by tilting the Game Boy Color was novel at the time, we consider how it holds up in 2024 and which of the many methods to play it today works best. (If you're a speedrunner, that might even be the GameCube?!) As usual, we also cover history and trivia for the game, and Ky shares her unique childhood strategy for keeping the non-backlit Game Boy Color screen illuminated. For Act 2, we explore the gaming landscape Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble was released into by looking back at issue 143 (April 2001) of Nintendo Power. (You can follow along here: https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-143-april-2001_202307/mode/2up?view=theater.)

For Act 3, found only on Patreon, we're discussing more trivia for Kirby's Dream Land 2 (including one risqué reference the map designers must've slipped passed Iwata and Miyamoto) and talking about our other favorite games with motion controls, from deep cuts to popular entries that helped define many aspects of motion controls today. Watch for our Act 3 segments to regularly post a few days after the initial episode. https://www.patreon.com/KirbyConversations

Want to support the show and potentially win a huge collection of new Switch games? Kirby Conversations is giving away a $500 Nintendo Switch Shopping Spree to one lucky listener! See all the ways to enter here: https://gleam.io/HFrXY/win-a-500-nintendo-switch-shopping-spree.

For a speedrun of Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble using the GameCube, you can watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ItUH9Tcto.

Want to reach out? You can email us at [email protected]. We're particularly interested in any questions you might have for future Q&A segments on the show.

Follow us online:

Kirby Conversations

Bluesky: @kirbyconversations.bsky.social

IG: @kirbyconversations

Threads: @kirbyconversations

Bridget

Threads: @no1kirbyfan

Sean Douglass

Bluesky: @seandouglass.bsky.social

Ky "Captain Dangerous" Parker

IG: @captaindangerous

Our music is by Megan Kellough (https://diamondthorns.bandcamp.com) and arranged by Duncan "PixelTea" Smith (https://duncansmith.carrd.co/).

Our show art is by DJ (IG: @drawing_lemonz).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.