Nintendo thought Kirby was too round for 3D until 'Forgotten Land'

If you're wondering why we never got Super Kirby 64 back in the '90s, Nintendo has finally admitted the truth: the pink puffball's bodacious body held him back from the big time. Well, sort of.

While it's true that Kirby games are traditional sidescrollers, it does seem strange that it took Nintendo 26 years from Super Mario 64 to finally deliver a true 3D title in the series: Kirby and the Forgotten Land. In a new developer blog, HAL Laboratory director Tatsuya Kamiyama explains the main reason for this: given that Kirby's round shape, it's hard to tell which direction he's facing compared to the familiar shape of a certain red-capped plumber.