HAL Laboratory

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HAL Laboratory
Founded February 21, 1980­
First Kirby game Kirby's Dream Land (1992)­
Latest Kirby game Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022)­
Current president Shigefumi Kawase

HAL Laboratory (HAL Labs for short, and referred to as Halken in some previous releases) is a Japanese game developer partnered with Nintendo. They are notable for developing nearly every game of the Kirby franchise, which was created by ex-employee Masahiro Sakurai. HAL Laboratory is also responsible for creating the Super Smash Bros. series, with each installment featuring Kirby as a playable character, and the EarthBound (Mother) series, and they have commonly collaborated with other teams within Nintendo.

The name "HAL" originates from the fictional computer HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey,[1] as well as each letter being one letter before "IBM."[2]

The first two Super Smash Bros. titles, Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, were developed by HAL Laboratory. Starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sora Ltd., a game developer founded by Masahiro Sakurai, would take over HAL Laboratory's role in developing the Super Smash Bros. games.

List of Kirby-related games

Game Year Console
Kirby's Dream Land 1992 Game Boy
Kirby's Adventure 1993 Nintendo Entertainment System
Kirby's Pinball Land 1993 Game Boy
Kirby's Dream Course 1994 Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Kirby's Avalanche 1995 Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Kirby's Dream Land 2 1995 Game Boy
Kirby's Block Ball 1995 Game Boy
Kirby Super Star 1996 Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Kirby's Star Stacker 1997 Game Boy
Kirby's Dream Land 3 1997 Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu 1998 Super Famicom
Super Smash Bros. 1999 Nintendo 64
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards 2000 Nintendo 64
Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble 2000 Game Boy Color
Super Smash Bros. Melee 2001 Nintendo GameCube
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land 2002 Game Boy Advance
Kirby Air Ride 2003 Nintendo GameCube
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror 2004 Game Boy Advance
Kirby: Canvas Curse 2005 Nintendo DS
Kirby Squeak Squad 2006 Nintendo DS
Kirby Super Star Ultra 2008 Nintendo DS
Kirby's Epic Yarn 2010 Wii
Kirby Mass Attack 2011 Nintendo DS
Kirby's Return to Dream Land 2011 Wii
Kirby's Dream Collection 2012 Wii
Kirby: Triple Deluxe 2014 Nintendo 3DS
Kirby Fighters Deluxe 2014 Nintendo 3DS (eShop)
Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe 2014 Nintendo 3DS (eShop)
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse 2015 Wii U
Kirby: Planet Robobot 2016 Nintendo 3DS
Team Kirby Clash Deluxe 2017 Nintendo 3DS (eShop)
Kirby's Blowout Blast 2017 Nintendo 3DS (eShop)
Kirby Star Allies 2018 Nintendo Switch
Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn 2019 Nintendo 3DS
Super Kirby Clash 2019 Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Kirby Fighters 2 2020 Nintendo Switch
Kirby and the Forgotten Land 2022 Nintendo Switch

External links

References

  1. ^ Casamassina, Matt (March 10, 2005). GDC 2005: Iwata Keynote Transcript. IGN. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  2. ^ Madden, O. (November 30, 2012). Iwata Explains Where The Name HAL Laboratory Came From. Nintendo Life. Retrieved August 6, 2018.