Masahiro Sakurai’s Major Works
The legendary game director behind both the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. franchises:
- Kirby Series (1992–present)
- Debut title: Kirby’s Dream Land (1992, Game Boy)
- Masterpiece: Kirby Super Star (1996, SNES)
- Highest-rated: Kirby & The Amazing Mirror (2004, GBA)
- Other key entries: Kirby’s Adventure, Kirby 64, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land, Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022, Switch – Sakurai as supervisor)
- Super Smash Bros. Series (1999–present)
- Creator, director, and overall lead for every entry
- Super Smash Bros. (1999, N64) – Invented the crossover fighting genre
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018, Switch) – Over 34 million copies sold, the best-selling fighting game of all time
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, GameCube) – Widely regarded as the series’ peak and a competitive legend
- Other Notable Titles
- Meteos (2005, DS) – Acclaimed puzzle game (Metacritic 88)
- Kid Icarus: Uprising (2012, 3DS) – Revived a 25-year-dormant franchise to critical acclaim (90+)
- Kirby Air Ride (2003, GameCube) – The cult-classic racer is now getting its true sequel, Kirby: Sky Knights, after 22 years
- Ongoing Project
- YouTube channel “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games” (Aug 2022 – present): More than 700 free game-dev masterclass videos – essentially a public PhD in game design
In short: Without Sakurai, we wouldn’t have modern Kirby or Smash Bros. His two flagship series combined have sold well over 400 million copies – a true living legend who has shaped gaming history.
The above content is compiled by ModeZone, a fashion and entertainment magazine.
