| Kirby's Pinball Land | |
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| Developer(s) | HAL Laboratory |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Series | Kirby |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Pinball |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Kids to Adults |
| Media/distribution | 2-megabit cartridge |
Kirby's Pinball Land, known in Japan as Kirby no Pinball (カービィのピンボール Kābī no Pinbōru, lit. "Kirby's Pinball") is a 1993-1994 pinball video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It was HAL Laboratory's third pinball video game after the MSX and NES title Rollerball and the Game Boy title Revenge of the 'Gator. It was also the first spin-off and second title in the Kirby series, as well as the second pinball video game Nintendo published after the NES title simply titled as Pinball.
The game stars Kirby as the ball, while it features three pinball tables, each owned by a classic boss of the Kirby series: Wispy Woods, Kracko, and Poppy Bros. Senior.
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The game is played much like that of pinball, with two flippers used to help keep Kirby in play as he bounces off walls, bumpers and enemies, scoring points by doing so. Each pinball table has three floors; Kirby must make his way up to the third floor, where a Warp Star that delivers Kirby to where the boss resides can be attained. After destroying all three bosses, a warp star appears that leads to fight with King Dedede. After defeating Dedede, Kirby is brought back to the level selection screen and can play through the levels again at will.
If Kirby falls through the bottom of the pinball table, he will land on a springboard. If the player presses the 'A' button at just the right moment, the springboard will launch Kirby back up and out of the hole at varying levels of power, without losing a life—it is possible to reach any of the three floors, depending on the timing of the jump. The size of this springboard decreases with each use, however, and after a certain amount of retries Kirby becomes unable to jump high enough to reach the hole; a life is then lost, and a new Kirby is launched into play.
Each table also has its own minigame, which can be accessed from the second floor of each table. When time runs out, Kirby is sent to the third floor.
Since its release, Kirby's Pinball Land has held mostly positive reception. It holds an average score of 75% at GameRankings.[1] IGN praised it as a quality Game Boy pinball game, describing it as being both involving and fun.[2] IGN would later describe it as an awesome game, praising it for taking Kirby's ball form into new and clever areas.[3] Kirby's Pinball Land was one of the nominees for IGN's "Game Boy Action Game of the Century" Reader's Choice award.[4] 1UP.com described it as a spin-off that makes sense amongst other groan-inducing spin-off titles.[5] The engine used in Kirby's Pinball Land would later be used in another Nintendo game, Pokémon Pinball.[6]
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