Kirby Mass Attack's director discusses why Kirby is placed into many different scenarios and gameplay modes.

The beloved pink ball known as Kirby has certainly had his fair share of changes thrown at him. While he has long been known for his ability to inhale enemies and absorb their abilities he has also been turned to yarn, made to race and tranformed into a ball guided by a rainbow.

The director of Kirby Mass Attack, Mari Shirakawa who has worked on a number of Kirby titles, spoke to 1UP about the new game and variety of the variety that exists in the Kirby series is discussed. Mr. Shirakawa notes that the series is a fun one focused on gameplay rather than genre and different directors have influenced the games.

"Up until now, the Kirby series has incorporated fun gameplay into its world without regard for genre. Also, the thoughts of successive generations of Kirby creators from various genres have given sunlight to the tree that is Kirby -- given that tree fresh water, and gently supported its growth. I think this diversity has led to the unparalleled flexibility that is a unique quality of the Kirby world. Without even being restrained by the genre, we have strategically worked to break free from past images so that we never stop at a fixed image of what Kirby is."

Turning to Kirby Mass Attack Mari Shirakawa discusses how they wanted to give players a chance to create a group of Kirbys, although the team went through a trial-and-error period in order to ensure the gameplay worked. Additionally the use of ten Kirbys had to be thought of when designing the levels and puzzles and many had to be redesigned to accommodate the larger cast of characters on screen.

The group element of Kirby Mass Attack also meant that numerous other elements of the classic gameplay had to be altered. Enemies were changed to be more accommodating to group action and their attacks were made simpler so that players could tell what they were at first glance. �Movement and attack strength also relates to the number of Kirbys in your group as the team wanted to make sure you were aware of how many you had in your group.

Thinking to the future Mari Shirakawa commented that he will try and keep improving the series. He speaks of the difficulty in pleasing long-time fans and introducing new players but seems optimistic that players will enjoy the new title.