Fan Project Recreates Kid Kirby, The Cancelled SNES Game From Grand Theft Auto Developers

A homebrew developer has released an unofficial recreation of a cancelled Super Nintendo Entertainment System game. Available now on NovaStar's itch.io page, Kid Kirby brings to life an unrealised adventure that was scrapped back in 1995. The original project was conceived as a key title for the Super NES Mouse peripheral, which Nintendo launched in 1992 alongside Super Mario Paint.

The concept featured a younger version of Kirby on a quest to save the Dream Spring of Dream Land. Players would encounter familiar locations and characters, including a junior version of King Dedede. Curiously, the original title was developed by Scotland's DMA Design Ltd., the studio that created the Grand Theft Auto franchise just two years later. Kid Kirby was cancelled during early production due to poor sales of the Super NES Mouse, leaving behind only a selection of concept art and renders.

Working from interviews, anecdotes, and archival assets, the homebrew developer NovaStar built a physics-based maze game. The project features momentum-based gameplay similar to titles like World of Goo, Angry Birds, and Celeste. Players use the mouse to pinch and pull Kid Kirby, catapulting him through labyrinths filled with enemies and obstacles. Even in this juvenile form, the character retains shape-shifting abilities. He can transform into a paper plane, an anvil, a parasol, or a fireball to gain control over his trajectory.

NovaStar explained the scope of the project in a statement. The original goal was simply to realise some of the gameplay concepts from the original developers using publicly released assets. Now that most of those concepts and assets have been used, there are no plans to add wholly invented mechanics. The developer also noted a possibility of creating another fan game in the future.

The unofficial recreation is not affiliated with Nintendo. While its long-term availability remains uncertain, the project offers a playable vision of a lost piece of video game history tied to the creators of Grand Theft Auto.