The Kirby series is a series of action platformer video games developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai and was first released in Japan in 1992 for the Game Boy console. The first game in the series, titled Kirby's Dream Land, was released in Japan in 1992 and later released in the United States in 1993. In the game, players control Kirby, a small, pink creature with the ability to inhale and swallow objects and enemies. Kirby can also gain the abilities of swallowed enemies by swallowing them, giving the player a variety of abilities to use in the game. Since the release of the first game, numerous Kirby games have been released for various platforms, including home consoles, handheld consoles, and mobile devices. The series has become popular and has spawned a number of spin-off games and merchandise. In addition to the main series, Kirby has inspired a number of similar games and franchises, including Yarn Yoshi and Tuff Puppy.