Kirby and Star Fox Almost Became Skylanders Figures
While Activision and Nintendo managed to make amiibo/Skylanders hybrids out of Bowser and Donkey Kong, Kirby and Star Fox were originally planned.
Earlier this summer, Activision and Nintendo partnered up in order to release a pair of Skylanders and amiibo hybrid figures. Both Bowser and Donkey Kong became the first ever figures that functioned for both Nintendo's amiibo line and Activision's Skylanders SuperChargers. Donkey Kong and Bowser were given new outfits and gear based on how they'd function in the world of Skylanders. Each of these figures has a twist-able switch in its base that would toggle back and forth between amiibo mode and Skylanders mode.
According to TheHDRoom (via Destructoid), Nintendo and Activision originally planned to have HAL Laboratory's pink puffball, Kirby, crossover to the Skylands. Kirby's ability to suck up enemies, emulate their powers and bounce around would have been perfect for Skylanders. Unfortunately, Nintendo was unable to license him out to Skylanders SuperChargers due to HAL Laboratory's partial ownership of the character.
Star Fox's Fox McCloud was originally set to join the vehicle-oriented SuperChargers as well, mainly due to his affinity for the Arwing and Landmaster. Unfortunately, the House of Mario didn't want to pull public interest away from Star Fox Zero by having him appear in a different game before his big Wii U release (I think it would've been great publicity to be honest, especially considering how long it has been since Fox had a good game).
Skylanders SuperChargers is set to launch on Sept. 20 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and iOS. Star Fox Zero is expected to hit the Wii U this December.
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