The Kirby RPG I Never Released 

Oh boy... I've been working on this for a long time. Trying to find the files and make them work again took a very long time. I'm excited and a bit intimidated to show it off, but it makes me feel free? Accomplished? I dunno. Time is a weird thing... I hope you enjoy this big "what if" project!

God, this takes me back. Hello! I'm-- well, I _was_ Jirbytaylor. I hate that username now, lol. I am still deep in the bowels of RPG Maker to this day, but I'd like to think I'm _much_ better with it than I was back then. I'm working lately on a game in RPG Maker XP, and have released a demo of another game for 2000.

Now this is truly an interesting yet sad story of something being incomplete.

A boss fight against Kirby himself!?! Now that's a twist I didn't expect... And a clever one at that, I can only imagine how a fight like that would go...

Aside from the story, this sounds like a super fun game when you mentioned that you added tons of secret areas. That's my kinda jam, and I really wish I could play this game 😢

Hey, there’s BabyCharmander and Dagger! :D Those are my characters! It’s so awesome to see more stuff from this. I still remember seeing bits and pieces of it all those years ago. Honestly even though the game remained unfinished, it’s cool seeing how much you completed, and what’s there is very impressive! This was an awesome watch! Thanks for taking the time to talk about this!

this video was a HUGE blast from the past! i am Glod's creator! BC brought this video to my attention. a lot of the sprite animations in this are super cute and well-done considering your level of experience at the time! the environment present in KRR that fostered fan creativity was a huge part of why i was initially drawn to the space, so it's always nice to hear people who were there praise it for the same. it's awesome that you're still making games, and that you've gotten into videos too!

6:02 "The sun and the moon fought day and night" That's actually pretty poetic.

12:53 i imagine the reason you made Wispy all-knowing was because in the anime he's the guardian of the forest and that's basically his role! (at least i imagine that's why since you had already included Cappy Town) i started rewatching the show recently and it's been a great nostalgia trip!

“Kirby wasn’t on vacation after all, he was being controlled by the mafia”

We need this to be public. Return to this game, finish and release it.

It looks so awesome and cool! If this game was ever released for the Nintendo Switch, I’d play it and I’d have so much fun playing it, too!

Man, I'd kill to play this if it was ever finished.

A Kirby rpg would be kinda sick

I remember putting SO many hours into that same fan translate RPG Maker. It taught me a ton about gaming that's honestly helped with troubleshooting/working on modern games. Put enough time into RPG Maker and you'll never be able to purge the concepts of "event triggers" and "loading zones" from your brain.

Honestly, Swanky, this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and I would truly love to see it completed. I know there's a lot you've forgotten, but to see it fully completed, out there in the world for people to play, that would be incredible. Even if you can't get the Paper Mario-esque battle system you were working on to actually work, even having the traditional turn-based battling system with random encounters and leveling would be so cool and appropriate for this game! I do really hope you can finish it one day soon, because it really does look fun and exciting!

Swanky, I watch this channel for way more than just Mario, Zelda, and indie games. I watch it because you cover interesting stuff and you're a great storyteller. I'd love more videos like this!

Had you completed this actually pretty good rpg, this would have definitely been a game I would have fallen head over heels for while browsing the Internet looking for "online Kirby games."

Wow--Jirby is a name I hadn't heard dropped in years! Way to bring back memories of my time in the early RPGMaker space!

I'd love to see what this would look like finished and a playable game. I would play it.

Video like that please! Late 90s/early 00s online fandoms were truly special.

Honestly, that old project looked amazing! Felt like it could become a real thing, younger you was super talented!

Man it’s so incredible to see the kind of stuff kids can accomplish at such a young age. This is really impressive and it’s sad to see it unfinished. Maybes finishing it would be out of the question, but it would be a cool idea to see “homages” to some of the characters in a one if your new works.

And that's why fighting Sephiroth with a team of Kirby, Meta Knight, and King Dedede will always be one of my Pixel Portals.

No joke, maybe you can update the stuff, remove the Nintendo properties, make some original stuff and probably release this as a game next year.. I would play it. Maybe make an Easter egg for the other game your released. Like the final non story boss, Culex style for Mario RPG

This has inspired me to make a rpg myself. I hope it gets farther than yours though.

Damn man, it looks pretty good

I am so glad you talk to us about this because, so many of us used to make game of passion as child that's now, everyone would call cringe.

this video makes me so genuinely happy. it's always so much fun revisiting old passion projects from years or even decades ago. i recently discovered a manga that i started drawing when i was 11 and it made me tear up because i remember being so passionate about my art and even though i rarely draw anymore because life gets in the way, it really inspired me to start drawing again. i'm so glad that you still have proof of all the effort you put into your passions and i'm happy that you still get the chance to do what you love all these years later.

A kirby RPG now that's something I wish happened

The more I listen to the story of this the more I wonder whether or not you can call this Kirby game, but I Can’t argue with your imagination we made this game up!

I felt so alone making stuff like this, never knew anyone who had any similar interests or activities.

Incredible, simply incredible! Thanks for sharing this Swankybox!

WHOOOOO RPG Maker 2000! I worked on my own RPG maker games for a few years. I loved it so much but I quickly realized that I don't much about what makes a game good and that it's a lot of work.

The fact you mentioned Kirby's Rainbow Resort surprised me- I stumbled across the site a few years ago. I liked reading the manga scans and seeing the fancomics there

Looks interesting, I think a Kirby RPG would be a great idea. I wish sega would give sonic another RPG the first one at least promising.

Man, I remember seeing a few of those sprites occasionally, IIRC as an avatar. I didn't think they were tied to an RPG though. A neat retrospective. Thank you for sharing your memories with us :V

Oh hey, I remember this!! I remember you!!!! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! It's good to see you are still around doing cool things!

It give so much old internet vibesthat I strive for and would kill for.

It’s so awesome you shared this with us :)

This was truly beautiful. I have never seen such a amazing passion project! RPG Maker games are always varied in quality, THIS is what I call quality. The characters, the puzzles, the ambitious battle system... Finished or no, you did all this as a KID! That just proves how strong your love for this adorable little videogame series is. I hope someday your characters will be able to truly shine... Thank you.

I would seriously love if a kirby rpg was a thing. I’ve always wanted to make one but I do not have the skill and decent enough technology to do it. This made me so happy to see! Awesome work.

I'd love to see the deep dive on the old Kirby community. It'd be super interesting

This is honestly a bit of an inspiring story, considering that I'm working on my own silly RPG Maker project as of recent, among the various other projects I have going on. While mine is probably not even a year old yet, the style is somewhat similar to what you have going on here: vibrant colors, black outlined characters, Paper Mario style battle system, stuff like that. I really wish I could play this little project of yours, but this little deep dive is just as good. Love your work, man, keep it up.

Not gonna lie, a lot of these locations look really good actually, and the writing has an old flash game type charm.

Even though I never seen this project in my life it makes me feel something, it makes me a bit sad and nostalgic in a weird way. It makes me think back of a time I would make animations as a kid that I would never be able to finish them. It made me realized how many projects will never see the light of day. It’s sad in a way. You making something out of nothing just for it to be left behind. I don’t think we realized how much things are left behind from artists, musicians, animators, programmers etc.

This game seems actually kind of fun, i would probably play it if it were t get released, even in it's unfinished state

Woah. This game reminds me of the times I tried to make RPG maker games myself. Thanks for making another great video. Also, please make more videos about Kirby. I never knew how deep was the Kirby community, and I never get tired of watching your videos.

I don't know whether to call this inspiring or deflating. I've started an RPGMaker project of my own for the first time recently, and it barely has 3 minutes worth of content in it, I don't even know how to make most basic things function, and if I keep coding it the way I am I know it'll end up as a cluttered mess. Comparing that to something you made when you were like 7 or something having all these moving parts, completely original sprite sheets, and huge maps... I really don't know how to feel. That aside, Glod is my new favorite name.

That feeling of accomplished nostalgia that you were talking about I think I can understand. Recently I found a book that I wrote at 8 years old and it was really bad. But when I was 16 I rediscovered it and thought I would remake it but better. Now I'm 18 going on 19, and I've re written the book three times and decided I want to make it a trilogy. Hopefully it comes out half decent lol

This video reminds me of the game I was making as a child on Game Maker 001. I spent so much time working on that game and making sprites. Sadly, the Windows XP computer I was making it on eventually crashed on boot up one day (probably because of all the Malware it had from weird websites I downloaded emulators and rom modifiers on) and couldn't be revived. All I have left of the quarter finished game is an executable of the most recent version of the game. I'm pretty sure I lost all the project files to corruption in the crash but this video has inspired to check the PC's backup files again.

Pixel Portal: Swanky's Kirby RPG Lost Bits; the Third.

God I live for this kind of stuff. I remember as early as elementary school that I'd draw out my own RPGs and game ideas on notebook paper, trashing a good chunk of it during college depression, then come my mid-20's found the means to use programs like RPG Maker and Godot to make those sketches into tangible games. Flash forward to now and I've finished two RPGs (flawed as they are) with more projects along the way (do the Mario Maker levels count too?) and it is such an invigorating feeling. I love coming across old sketches and notes and thinking 'ok, how do I remake this into something tangible?' and my goal in life is to finish as many as possible before it's curtains for me. Thanks for reminding me how special and nostalgic those childhood ideas are. It oddly enough gave me courage to keep trucking along!

This seemed like a great project. Thanks for sharing this trip in nostalgia land. You have my upmost respect.

Dang I’m sad this never got released now. Kirby is the perfect series for an RPG, and this seems like it could have been an interesting fan game had it been finished. Still, neat to see you worked on it nonetheless

Now release it. Those are the rules.

I don’t even want to try to count how many half baked demos I made in GameMaker Pro as a kid. $25 and you have unlimited power? Absolutely! As YoYo Games moved away from casual/learning developers and started raising prices dramatically, I moved onto Unity for more precise control and an actual programming platform

Lost Kirby community?! That sounds exiting :)

This video was amazing. I recently finished an RPG Maker 2003 game that I released on Steam, but I wouldn't have ever gotten to this point without hundreds of projects similar to this. I really enjoyed your trip down memory lane and I remember the early internet Nintendo communities fondly... for me, the Kirby fandom you talk about was synonymous with the RPG Maker and Earthbound communities I grew up in too.

Man, you did what 10 year old me dreamed of doing, but just couldn't understand. Right down to RPG maker. This is so impressive man! I'd love to play it someday ♥. Thank you for sharing this. It's inspiring.

As a big RPG Maker fan myself, I have massive respect for this old project of yours. Especially for all the custom stuff you were trying to do; it might not have all worked out, but it’s more than I would have done, especially these days when I can look for a plug-in from someone who’s done the work for me. Well, the sprite work is a bit of an exception, not on the impressive work end, but rather that that’s one bit of customization I have dabbled in.

Very, very cool video! I'm a seriously big fan of your videos where you talk about your own video games, rather than the normal uploads.

I have some good news related to the medium you used for Kirby RPG, it's on Nintendo Switch.

Please finish this game, I would LOVE to play it! I’ve been dying for a new RPG experience!

Dude you made this in public, ITS INCREDIBLE! I tried making games like a Mario fan game that crossed over with sonic with lots of code! I lost that but daaang the nostalgia. It was so much fun! And I love this game! The “Dynamic Squadron” is a creative yet stupid name and that’s why I love it! The Sprite Work is so well done! Your really more talented then you think dude!

OMG i was actually working on a remake of Kirby's Dream Land but RPG with Mario & Luigi-ish mechanics on Godot, but didn't made much more than Wise Waddle Dee and Kirby's 4 directional sprite with Super Star Ultra graphics. Doing a Kirby RPG fangame nowadays is an underrated idea.

man this game feels just like the 90 RPG, this game would be a plast at the time and of polished would be amazing today as well

So you're looking for a thriving, friendly and downright amazing, go no further than Kirby amino, AMAZING community, and unlike any of the other amino's

Thank you so much for sharing, Swanky. You seem to have learned so much about yourself and many new skills from the experience, and what you built is impressive! That you were able to figure out a start a custom combat system and maps on your own is time I did not invest in a project at that age, and a lot of times still today. Your willingness to share helps us further collaborate with others and work on ourselves, too,. I really appreciate that.

Gosh dang I miss rm2k and rm2k3. Something magical about them that xp, ace, mv ect lack. I immedately knew what you built them on within seconds.

Would totally want to watch that video regarding the Kirby community especially I used to have Kirby projects during my childhood.

You've managed to make me nostalgic for a time I never experienced, and a game that I've not only never played, but that you never even released.

This was a beautiful video. Your project looks like it would have been a fun game! It’s a shame it’s not finished, but I love what you’ve shown us! There’s a strange feeling of nostalgia that I am hit with even though this isn’t even my game! Thank you for sharing!

dude... I WANNA PLAY THIS SHIET, THIS LOOKS SO COOL AND INTERRESTING ! no really i'm in admiration, when i was 9 i tried to do a Sonic RPG But i never finished it and you, you almost finished your fangame

If it makes past you (or even present you) feel better about this, I _do_ have coding and art experience and I couldn't make something this fleshed out. Making games is hard, man

If you just added deleted battles, and did a few kinks. i would buy this for 60$. keep makeing amazing things swanky

This looks so cool! I can`t believe you made a fan made Kirby game! I would really want to play this if it gets released.

I have one thing to say to this... *clears throat* GIVE ME MORE KIRBY STUFFS! please? OwO

I think the reason Whispy is all knowing in this is because of how Whispy is presented in the anime, as the guardian of the forest, or maybe because of the all knowing Kabu?

Wait, you tried your hand at making a Kirby RPG at such a young age? And there I was simply learning stuff in school! Man, do I envy you or what? Anyways, this is some intriguing stuff. Indeed, this truly felt like a time capsule of the Kirby fanbase in the late 1990s to early 2000s, and I say this as someone who became a Kirby fan a little later than that! I wonder how the rest of the story would've been like had you opted to keep on going; maybe there'd be a couple extra twists here and there, and perhaps Kirby himself may have ended up having a larger role in the story despite not being the main character? Who knows! I'd absolutely love for HAL to give the Kirby series a proper RPG someday, but until then, I suppose this (and maybe Team Kirby Clash Deluxe and Super Kirby Clash) is the next best thing! Y'know, despite being unfinished and unofficial... Also, I'd be down for someone like you doing a whole retrospective on Kirby's Rainbow Resort and your experiences there; the site's quite a historical place that is emblematic of the Kirby fanbase throughout the 2000s, and I feel it's about time someone gave it some much needed love.

I was thinking that in the future I would make a fanmade Mario RPG with some old forgotten characters returning in this game. Maybe I might bring characters from other games as a reference kinda like Samus and Link in Mario RPG.

YES, I would LOVE to see a video on the lost Kirby community.

I love seeing stuff like this. Its really cool to see. ^-^ (Helps that I just love RPG Maker. Lol)

It would be cool if you finished this masterpiece Swanky. What title would you give the game?

So... when are you gonna finish it? :p

This is exactly the kind of stuff I lived for as a kid. Then life got in the way and only now am I getting the tools together to make things on my own. Kudos to you for having gone so far

why don't you just finish creating the rest of those video game prototypes no matter what basically. :/

As someone who often develops in RPG Maker, I'd really like to play this!

It’s really cool to finally see the Kirby RPG you mentioned way back in the Aquapolis Pixel Portal video. You only mentioned it briefly, so I never would’ve guessed that this was such a huge project. I’ve been writing a lot of stories since I was a kid. A couple of years ago, I stumbled across a story that took up a majority of my middle school and high school life and only just recently shared it with my wife. Sharing such a personal thing is very intimidating, but I’m very glad you opened up about this project.

Man, that's really cool. I love old creations like this. Thanks for sharing, Box!

I like the idea of a Kirby game without Kirby as the main character something like this would be great

Mate, this is epic, please release it online if you end up finishing it. trust me, om comment no.300!

will you ever finish the game and post it on a website to download. looks so much fun to play

Damn I really want a Kirby Rpg.

This seems really cool I wish it happened

It's funny, since the villain group in this game reminds me a lot of Thousand Year Door, despite predating it

Damn I really wanna play this game I hope a little recreation happens

A Kirby rpg game need to happen

Should have named the shady waddle dee “shadee”

release assess Please