Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl may not be the most ambitious Pokemon games on modern hardware, but one modder is looking to change that by introducing Kirby as a fully playable character.
Kirby, the brainchild of legendary Masahiro Sakurai and one of Nintendo’s iconic mascots, has only ever officially crossed over with Pokemon in the Super Smash Bros games.
However, Kirby is much like the Gen 1 Pokemon Ditto. Both are small pinkish creatures that speak gibberish. They copy the abilities, moves, and appearances of their opponents. And can harness the power of god in their universe (Ditto transforming into Arceus).
So if a crossover between the two franchises ever came to fruition, Kirby would fit right in among Mr. Mime and Pikachu. But until that day comes – if ever – a developer is working on a mod for Pokemon BDSP that brings Kirby into the Gen 4 remake as a fully playable character.
I made Kirby playable on Pokemon BDSP. pic.twitter.com/dr5X1zBPny
— Yisuno ⚝ | MEGAS ENJOYER (@TheYisusOne) March 17, 2023
Kirby takes on Sinnoh in Pokemon BDSP mod
Pokemon Luminescent developer and notable modder Yisuno has been posting footage of their current BDSP project for the better part of March 2023. On March 4, Yisuno posted, “Kirby in Pokemon BDSP mod is actually possible,” which excited the tastebuds of players who wanted more from the Gen 4 remakes.
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The mod allows players to walk around the overworld as Kirby as well as use the pink monster in battle. According to the dev’s tweets, the 3D Kirby model replaces Arceus, and giving Kirby a different plate will change its form (or copy ability). This will allow Kirby to have up to 18 different forms.
As they’ve showcased on their feed, Kirby has a ton of animations in the mod, from idle movements to unique battle animations. Yisuno also added the ability for Kirby to transform into a car – as in Kirby and the Forgotten Land – instead of riding a bike.
Alright so here's some gameplay showcase of the Kirby mod for Pokemon BDSP I'm working on.I added new fishing animations and some overall fixes. pic.twitter.com/re4mEEl2Dl
— Yisuno ⚝ | MEGAS ENJOYER (@TheYisusOne) March 20, 2023
As for the mod’s availability, it isn’t out just yet. But in a reply from March 11, Yisuon revealed they plan to start with making the mod publicly available and will eventually make a full romhack with the assets.
Until then, Pokemon fans can follow Yisuno’s progress by following them on Twitter and can even opt to support them on Patreon, where they attempt to “not make horrible mods.”