Feature: 15 Years Ago, 'Return To Dream Land' Ushered In Kirby's Golden Era

Kirban legend. Kirby has always been one of Nintendo's more consistently successful franchises. While the little pink puffball never had anything remotely resembling a 'dark era' like many other Nintendo series, there was a time around the turn of the century where Kirby began to spin his wheelies a bit. After the 2000 release of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , developer HAL Laboratory immediately began work on Kirby’s next big adventure.