Nintendo may release a new Kirby remake soon

Nintendo has renewed the trademarks for two classic games

Kirby takes a quick nap before the next franchise entry / Nintendo

Nintendo may be gearing up to release new remakes of Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush and Stretchmo/Fullbox. The company recently filed trademarks for the titles, and with a fairly deserted first-party schedule, they may act as filler until the Switch 2 comes out.

The trademarks were filed in Australia, though that shouldn’t serve as confirmation that these games are coming. Earlier this year, Nintendo renewed the trademark for Kirby Triple Deluxe along with other older games, though we haven’t heard anything about remakes/remasters of those titles.

Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush, or Rainbow Curse as it was known in the U.S., was released in 2015 for the Wii U. The game served as a follow-up to Canvas Curse and was moderately successful, scoring a 73/100 on Metacritic based on 72 reviews. Like other Kirby games before The Forgotten Land, it was a 2D platformer that let players use the stylus on the Wii U as a traversal mechanic. If the game gets a remake/remaster, it will need to be redesigned to support the Switch’s analog/touch controls.

Nintendo

The other title that Nintendo renewed the trademark for, Fullbox (Stretchmo in the U.S.), was a puzzle game with platforming mechanics for the 3DS. As with most 3DS games, it uses the handheld’s 3D display to play with the perspective of the content on screen. Porting this to the Switch would lose a lot of its appeal, although it should be easier to do so compared to Kirby.

Nintendo has an empty-looking year ahead of itself. The company was rumored to be launching the successor to the Switch this year before those plans were changed. As of the time of writing, Nintendo has yet to officially announce or even confirm the existence of the Switch 2, or whatever it ends up being called. Given that most of Nintendo’s big exclusives will launch by July, the absence of first-party titles for the second half of 2024 says a lot.

There’s also the matter of Nintendo’s upcoming financial report this week, though chances of the company mentioning the Switch 2 are slim. Even if that were the case, there are plenty of Switch exclusives to keep yourself busy this year.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land is available on Nintendo Switch.