Kirby’s always ‘aving-a-lunch
Nintendo has added a curious mix of three retro releases to its Nintendo Switch Online service — Now available to download to subscribers worldwide, the trifecta of titles includes Kirby’s Avalanche and Fighter’s History for SNES, and obscurity Daiva Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia for the NES.
Released in 1995 at the height of the block-dropping renaissance, Kirby’s Avalanche, (also known as Kirby’s Ghost Trap), is a reskinned edition of the Japanese classic Super Puyo Puyo, offered a fresh coat of Kirby-based repaint in order to make it a little more endearing for the western market. In typical Puyo Puyo fashion, players must connect together descending drops of colored blobs, matching up palettes in order to create bonus-scoring combos. For many westerners, this was their intro to the classic puzzle series.
Fighter’s History was released to arcades in 1993, (with the SNES port appearing in 1994), and is Data East’s effort into the then-burgeoning one-on-one fighting game genre. While Fighter’s History is perhaps the most shameless of the Street Fighter clones, it’s a surprisingly neat series, boasting some fun characters and a charismatic taste for the bizarre. The SNES would receive a port fo the second sequel Fighter’s History: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!! in 1995.
Released for the NES in 1986, Daiva Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia is an action strategy adventure and, as the name suggests, the sixth mainline entry in the super niche Daiva Story franchise. The obscure title combines war-sim-like strategy with action-based platforming sections, as players attempt to colonize various planets while defending their home territory from invading forces. It’s a particularly interesting choice for the Nintendo Switch Online archive, and thus a very welcome one.
Kirby’s Avalanche, Fighter’s History, and Daiva Story 6: Imperial of Nirsartia are now available to download for all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
