Did you know? Before making the
critically-acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, Rockstar North was developing games for
Nintendo. In the early-90s, Rockstar, then known as DMA Design, was one of Nintendo’s
top second-party developers, making titles for the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64. Among these
games was a top-secret project starring one of Nintendo’s most recognizable characters.
Intended to release on the SNES in 1995, Kid Kirby was a spinoff where players
follow Kirby in his first adventure through Dream Land. The game was intended
for an even younger audience than Kirby, somehow, and was in production for years,
constantly switching its style and staff. Although relatively far in development, the game
was cancelled by Nintendo for various reasons, and DMA moved on to other projects, eventually
parting ways with Nintendo altogether. Despite being part of such an iconic series,
there’s very little documentation on Kid Kirby online. ROMs of the game have yet to surface, and
the only direct coverage of Kid Kirby in the press was a tiny blurb in a Mexican magazine. So today,
we’ll be discussing the game in its entirety — how it got made, why it was scrapped, and how it may
have had an impact on DMA’s future titles. Did You Know Gaming managed to get ahold of several
ex-DMA developers involved in the project, and they gave us some valuable insight. Unfortunately
however, none of them kept any form of ROM, source code, or artwork from the project. So to
help illustrate the game’s visuals, we’re working with professional game artist Sean Hicks to
recreate what could have been — creating accurate mockups based on the developer’s descriptions. And
will credit this in the corner so you know what we commissioned and what’s from the actual game.
Through extensive interviews and hours of internet sleuthing, here is the story of Kid Kirby — the
lost Nintendo game from the twisted minds of GTA. Before we go any further, we should explain where
Rockstar North, and by extension, DMA Design, came from. Once you know about their roots,
Rockstar developing a Kirby game isn’t as crazy as it sounds. DMA Design officially began in 1987
in a two-room office above a baby supplies shop in Scotland. Founder Dave Jones, a gifted electronics
engineer from the city of Dundee, was interested in computing since the late-70s. According to
Jones, there was only one computer in his entire school, and he spent as much time as possible
on it — much to the dismay of his teachers. By the early-80s, home computers became much more
accessible in Europe with the rise of systems like the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. Jones often
hung out at a Dundee computer club, where he’d meet three other programmers, Mike Dailly, Steve
Hammond, and Russell Kay. The four became good friends, and began designing small games for 8-bit
computers. After losing his job at a manufacturing plant right out of high school, Jones used his
£3,000 severance package -- about $15,000 USD in today's money -- to buy a state-of-the-art Amiga
computer. He began working on his first big game: Menace. A fast-paced arcade shooter, Menace was
released by major British publisher Psygnosis in 1988. Before finishing the game, Jones sought
to create an actual studio after realizing literally none existed in Dundee. The name
he settled on, “DMA Design,” was taken from Amiga programming manuals, where it stood for
direct memory access. In Jones’ case, it meant Direct Mind Access. Though, over time, DMA would
eventually come to mean “Doesn’t Mean Anything.” Jones quickly began employing his friends from
the computer club, and DMA’s second title, a spiritual successor to Menace called Blood
Money, would release in 1989. Money started to pool into the tiny studio, and Jones dropped out
of university to concentrate on DMA full-time. DMA’s first major success came not from another
space shooter, but a cutesy puzzle-strategy game for the Amiga. Lemmings, released in
February 1991, had the player guide a gaggle of anthropomorphic lemmings through a series of
dangerous caverns. To complete a level, the player must give each lemming — which are constantly
moving around the stage — a specific task that will help them avoid any upcoming obstacles. The
lemmings can dig, build a staircase, climb walls, and if push comes to shove, self-destruct.
Lemmings was a smash hit, selling 55,000 copies on its first day, and opening the gates for
dozens of ports. DMA earned more than £1.5 million from the game -- about $5 million USD in today's
money. And Jones — then only 25 years old — was becoming one of the wealthiest game designers in
Europe. The crazy success of Lemmings eventually caught the eye of Nintendo, who wanted to give
Jones and his company the contract of a lifetime. While the Nintendo 64 -- then codenamed
Project Reality -- was on the horizon, Nintendo started what was known as
the “Dream Team.” In early 1994, they signed several developers and publishers
outside of Japan for the 64’s launch in North America. Some studios attached included
Silicon Graphics, Acclaim, Williams, and Rare. DMA Design -- now housing about 36 employees
in a swanky upgraded office -- was announced as part of the Dream Team on May 2nd. Months
prior, DMA went to Nintendo at a trade show, presenting them with something thought impossible.
Using a clip from Star Wars, the company proved that full-screen video compression was possible on
the SNES. The demo impressed Nintendo so much that they invested hugely in DMA, giving them tons
of equipment, like a $34,000 Silicon Graphics machine. Nintendo was also impressed
with their work on home computers, and particularly by their creative decisions in game
design. Lemmings, a family-friendly, cartoony, gameplay- rich title, is exactly the kind of
game Nintendo likes. “We think [Dave] Jones is one of the very few people in the world that
are in the Spielberg category.” Howard Lincoln, then-Chairman at Nintendo of America, told the
press, “His software ideas are incredible.” DMA signed a multimillion-pound contract to
develop two games for the Nintendo 64. The studio also began doing titles for the Super Nintendo.
And because of their newfound relationship, DMA decided to reskin a rudimentary SNES game
with an original IP into one with a recognizable Nintendo character. The small Scottish studio
would become the first developer outside of Japan to work on the Kirby franchise. This was
the beginning of Kid Kirby. In the 80s and 90s, there was a trend of taking older, established
franchises and “babyfying” the characters for a younger audience. If you lived during this
time, you might remember things like Tiny Toon Adventures, Muppet Babies, and Nintendo’s own
Baby Mario in Yoshi's Island. Kid Kirby would not be dissimilar to these spinoffs. The game’s plot
is told from the perspective of an older Kirby, who’s re-telling the story of his first adventure.
We open on the DMA logo embossed into the cover of Kirby’s storybook. The book opens up, revealing
a title card and the opening cutscene. We see baby Kirby -- prominently featured with a long
curly string of hair on his head -- waking up from his crib in the middle of the night.
He hears a strange noise outside and goes to investigate. He discovers that the Star
Rod, the item that keeps Dream Land alive, has gone missing. So now it’s up to Kirby
to find the magical wand and save the day. Were it to be released, Kid Kirby would've been
one of the unique titles compatible with the SNES mouse. Bundled initially with Mario Paint,
the mouse was mostly used for puzzle games, art software, and simulations, so it was rare
for a platformer to have this kind of peripheral support. In Kid Kirby, the mouse controls a large
cartoon glove, serving as a boost for baby Kirby. Holding the left button, you can pull back Kirby’s
hair and slingshot him across the level. The further you pulled back, the further Kirby would
fly. Think of it as an early version of Angry Birds. While Kirby is mid-air, you can either
“slap” him higher up -- essentially doing a double jump -- or slam him toward the ground onto the
enemies below. Of course, a Kirby game would not be complete without copy abilities. Tapping the
right button would activate a power-up obtained from an enemy you recently killed. The “stone”
power, previously seen in Kirby’s Adventure, would return in this game, allowing Kirby to turn
into rock and crush enemies with his weight. There were also plenty of original ideas for power-ups.
Kirby could turn into a paper airplane and glide across the level. He could even put on a pair of
sticky shoes and stick himself to a wall. Kirby is similar to the titular creatures in Lemmings,
constantly moving around with a mind of his own. The player essentially serves as a babysitter -- a
literal helping hand keeping Kirby out of trouble. The goal of Kid Kirby is to collect the lost
stars scattered across each world. Once you collect them all, you throw Kirby through a
hoop and progress to the next level. There was also an option for a two-player mode, where
the screen is split in half, and two players race side-by-side. Kid Kirby consisted of 120 levels
— about 60 of which formed the main body of the game. The remaining 60 could be accessed via
a hidden door on one of the levels. According to programmer James Watson, who shared his
memories of the game in a 2008 forum post, the door was found within a large bell.
Fun Fact: Finishing each level would add 1% to the completion counter; and a perfect
score required you to beat the game by 120%. Most of the classic bosses from the franchise
would return here. Whispy Woods, as always, would be the first boss. King Dedede, now a mere prince,
would serve as the main antagonist. Enemies included Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, and Bronto
Burt. In researching this video, we contacted one of the many artists who worked at DMA in
the mid-90s. This person -- who chose to remain anonymous -- was one of the original artists on
Kid Kirby, where they helped design 3D renders of the enemies and bosses. As well as Whispy
Woods, they modeled a “bucket head boss” and a “sea anemone boss.” Whether these bosses were
original creations by DMA or pre-existing concepts sent over from Nintendo is unknown. After talking
to some Kirby experts, we weren’t able to find any similar bosses, and the artist, unfortunately, has
no memory of what the bosses actual names were. Before working on Kid Kirby, the developers
at DMA had a mixed relationship with the pink puffball. Some people, like our anonymous
artist, were well aware of the franchise, being fans of titles like Kirby's Dream Course
and the original Dream Land. Others were the opposite. Programmer Patrick Kerr, who joined
the project in May 1995, was initially unaware that Kirby was an existing IP. “I hadn't owned any
Nintendo stuff, because you couldn't program it. I had come from a home computer background, and
didn't even know what Kirby was when I started!” Looking to learn more about the franchise, Steve
Hammond, one of the original DMA employees, contacted Nintendo of America for some
background information. In return, he received a “monster fax,” which contained
character sheets and manuals from previous games. This let Hammond develop a massive internal
document called “The Unofficial Kirby Reference Book (For Westerners!)”. It was a helpful resource
for both himself and other DMA employees. Hammond was tasked with writing the game’s manual, which
laid out the story in a compelling yet humorous manner. The manual was littered with Hammond’s
own sketches of Kirby, who spoke in an alien language that could only be read as pieces
of fruit. This was a reference to classic Marvel comics, where the writers would translate
indecipherable languages for the reader’s sake. It should be noted that production on Kid
Kirby was happening during a hectic time at DMA. Numerous projects across different consoles
were concurrently ongoing, and each team consisted of less than ten core people, often working on
several projects at a time. Jones’ idea was to try different things, knowing that hits were
rare but highly valuable when achieved. At the same time as Kirby, the studio was focused on
developing two games for the N64. One of which, Body Harvest, was originally intended as
a launch title and was a top priority to Nintendo. Shigeru Miyamoto would often visit
the offices in Dundee to consult on various projects. Although Body Harvest was his main
concern, Miyamoto always made time for Kirby. He had witnessed an earlier iteration of
the game and wanted to add more richness to its playability. Pat Kerr recalls that the
power-ups -- the paper airplane, the rock, and the sticky shoes -- may have been Miyamoto's
suggestions, though we could not fully confirm this. Nintendo of America had some input as
well. The original Prince Dedede design was one of the things faxed over to Steve Hammond,
hence why it looks, uh, different compared to the other renders. “I don't think any of our
guys would have put out something that ugly.” In an interview with Next Generation magazine, Jones described DMA’s relationship with
Nintendo. “It's fine. It's hard. It's a very hard relationship because their
quality is so high, that it's so hard to match the quality of the products they do.
And they really want you to focus on making Nintendo products. It's very hard to write
games that you're not writing for yourself, which is traditionally what I've done. I write
a game because I want to play it. It's a big, big difference when you try and write a game for
somebody else. It's really, really hard to do.” Kid Kirby was scheduled for release around October
1995, but was in development as far back as 1993. It should be made clear that the Kirby license
wasn’t always attached. The initial concept came from Tony Colgan, a freelance programmer
who previously worked for DMA in the late-80s. Colgan’s original pitch was a golf game — the
idea being that you could pull the mouse back and strike the ball, shooting through any obstacles
that may exist in a two-dimensional plane. Colgan presented Jones with a prototype and was quickly
offered a full-time job at the company. It was decided early on that the golf theme should
be scrapped and replaced with something more creative — something more “DMA.” The game had
been renamed “Jellies.” This version had the player control a gelatinous blob with a mind of
its own. The goal was to stretch the jelly out and ping them off in any direction, forcing them
to land on a series of platforms and escape the level. Bugaboo (The Flea), a ZX Spectrum game
from 1983, was a major influence in its design. As part of the early Dream Team negotiations in
February 1994, Jellies got exposed to Nintendo, who thought the game would be a good addition
to the Kirby franchise. And DMA agreed. The biggest changes afterwards were its visuals.
Early on, the game had a more “flat” aesthetic, with levels built out of large single-coloured
blocks. Kirby was initially a tiny, 16x16 sprite, but his size grew as the game progressed. At
a certain point, Kirby — and all the enemies and bosses — were redesigned with pre-rendered
graphics, and the levels were changed to have a pseudo-3D feel. This change likely happened
following the release of Donkey Kong Country, which used pre-rendered graphics on the SNES
in a similar manner. In 2007, Mike Dailly, another day-one DMA employee, released several
Kid Kirby maps and sprites onto his personal Flickr account. The post has since been removed,
but is still easily accessible online. The maps give us a good idea as to what kind of levels
would.ve been in the game. There’s a cavern, a castle, and a possible boss battle level
at the Fountain of Dreams. There’s also a factory stage with moving girders, as well
as a snow level where you’d push through ice blocks to get to the finish. Speaking with
Pat Kerr, we confirmed that most of this art was used in the earlier 2D iterations
and does not represent the final product. Only two maps, TUBE9 and SEWER9, would’ve been
included in the pseudo-3D versions. These were the backgrounds we chose to use in our mockups. As the
first people outside of Japan to lead production on a Kirby game, the developers had a lot of
responsibility. The staff consisted of about five programmers, three artists, and a single
musician. After going through several changes, the game was nearly finished by early-1996.
Unfortunately, various complications prevented the game from hitting store shelves. Due to the
nature of the controls, Kid Kirby ideally would have been packaged with the SNES mouse. However,
due to the SNES nearing the end of its life cycle, it was decided the game should be cancelled.
Increasingly poor sales of the mouse meant it’d be too expensive to consider releasing. Had
the game been completed earlier, it could’ve seen the light of day. But development went much
slower than intended, repeatedly being delayed. Things like the basic collision system were
far behind schedule, and with so many projects underway, DMA producers didn’t have much time
to consult. For many people, Kid Kirby was their first professional project. Some programmers
and artists were right out of university and lacked the experience that could’ve pushed
the game forward. Tony Colgan, essentially Kid Kirby’s director, would be let go near the end of
development. This meant it was up to Pat Kerr and programmer Stuart Hunt to complete any unfinished
business. Still, nothing could be secured. After years of work, Nintendo eventually got tired of
the lack of progress — as did their QA department — and decided to scrap the project entirely in
1996. Kid Kirby was no more. “I think the game actually looked fairly nice, in its way, but it
was just a simple "for the kids" thing. Probably wasn't taken very seriously by the company, but
I was too young and naive to understand that.” Shortly after, Nintendo cut its ties with
DMA. Various complications with Body Harvest, the planned-to-be launch title for the
N64, caused Nintendo to drop the project, leaving DMA to find a new publisher. With one
project cancelled and another not up to snuff, Nintendo had no reason to pursue more projects
with DMA. There is a happy ending to this story, though. While some of the projects DMA was
working on in the mid-90s went unreleased, and others were flops, some did end up being
surprise smash hits. Various members of the Kid Kirby team — like Pat Kerr, and composer
Colin Anderson, among others — jumped ship to work on another project: a little game called
Grand Theft Auto. Mike Dailly and Russell Kay have even named Pat Kerr a crucial figure in
GTA’s success, attributing the game's appeal to his exceptional vehicle physics, which
gave it the fun it was severely lacking. The original Grand Theft Auto would release on
the PC in November 1997. Its success was a shock to many employees, who viewed it as a "troubled"
project akin to Kid Kirby. It was the start of a new era for the company. Take-Two Interactive
acquired BMG, the publisher of GTA and Body Harvest, in March 1998. As a result, several
Take-Two employees transitioned to a newly established subsidiary called Rockstar Games.
While key personnel such as Jones, Dailly, and Hammond departed, the DMA name endured. Under
new management, they continued developing games, starting with GTA III in October 2001.
Subsequently, in May 2002, the company underwent a name change to Rockstar North: a
name that has remained unchanged to this day. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Kid Kirby
played a noteworthy part in Rockstar’s history, as its cancellation opened the door for
many of the original staff on Grand Theft Auto. DMA was going through a chaotic time
in the 90s, and it was through this chaos that concepts like GTA could get off the
ground. So, next time you’re playing GTA, running over civilians and gunning down
officers, thank Kirby for making it possible. More specifically, thank Kid Kirby —
the cutest pink puffball Dream Land never saw. As of the writing of this video, a playable
copy has yet to be discovered. Of all the people we reached out to for today’s video, none
managed to keep anything from their time at DMA, as they simply didn't have the means to save
their work then. Mike Dailly claims to have a demo stored in his archives, but he himself admits
it has since “vanished.” The images from Dailly’s Flickr account, as well as the rough copies of
Steve Hammond’s manual, are currently all that survive. But who knows? Maybe one day a prototype
will emerge from the archives of Rockstar North or be found hidden away in a Nintendo employee's
closet. Considering the high-profile stuff unearthed in the last few years, it’s
entirely plausible. Only time will tell. Want to know more about Nintendo games
that never saw the light of day? Check out the video on screen. And if you like this
video, feel free to like and subscribe for more facts from DidYouKnowGaming. I'm Tony
from Hard4Games, and don't forget to check out my channel where we preserve lost games
and gaming media. See you next time. Poyo!
