Esteemed game designer and director of Kirby Super Star Masahiro Sakurai has revealed details about a sixth game mode that was cut during the game's development. This detail and more about the production cycle of the game was shared through a video on Sakurai's new YouTube channel. For the uninitiated, he started this channel to share his experiences in the industry and knowledge of game design to many fans. He also shares stories about the games that he has developed in the past, Kirby Super Star being one of them.
According to Sakurai, Kirby Super Star was conceived as a follow-up to Kirby's Adventure on the NES, where it was based on two concepts. The first was when Shigeru Miyamoto had asked if a two-player Kirby co-op game would be possible. Noting it was a "tall order" at the time, Sakurai set out to create this game, coming up with the game's iconic Helper system. He even shared game design documents that depicted how the mechanics would work. The second concept was "omnibus" which refers to Super Star's many unique scenarios.
Fans know of Kirby Super Star's many game modes, with Meta Knight's Revenge, Milky Way Wishes, and Gourmet Race being the most iconic and beloved of the ones included. While there are five main game modes that players can go through, Sakurai reveals that one did end up being on the cutting room floor: a scenario known as Kagero Mansion. According to the original design document, it would be more of a horror-inspired RPG, where it also had its own unique gameplay hook.
According to Sakurai, Kagero Mansion would have seen Kirby ending up in a deep and dark forest after following a butterfly. Upon entering, he'd be cursed by a sentient wall clock, who seals his mouth shut, stripping Kirby of his many abilities. This includes flight and inhaling enemies to use a copy ability. To compensate, Kirby's copy abilities would have been substituted with various items as he explored the titular mansion. Sakurai notes this never got very far, as the scenario was ultimately cut due to scheduling and ROM space capacity.
Sakurai concluded the video stating that Super Star felt like the definitive Kirby experience, due to its focus on co-op, variety of game modes, and large amount of copy abilities. He noted that he ended up only directing three of the mainline Kirby titles, those being Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Adventure, and Kirby Super Star, though he did still contribute in other areas afterwards. He teases fans that one of his next videos will focus on the original Super Smash Bros. for the N64.
Kirby Super Star is available now via Nintendo Switch Online.