HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Type	Private
Founded	February 21, 1980[1]
Headquarters	Chiyoda,Tokyo
Key people	Satoru Iwata (former president),Masahiro Sakurai (former employee)
Industry	Video game industry
Products	Video games
Employees	215(2023)
Website	HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Article on Wikipedia	HAL Laboratory

HAL Laboratory (株式会社ハル研究所) is a Japanese multi media company primarily focused on video game development. Originally founded on February 21, 1980 as a group of friends who shared a desire to create video games, and started off making games for theMSX system and theCommodore 64. When Nintendo released the Famicom in 1983, HAL shifted focus and started making more games for Nintendo. Their working relationship was cemented with the release ofKirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy. Both HAL and Nintendo own equal share in the joint ventureWarpstar, Inc., which was made to autonomously handle theKirby franchise license, similar to The Pokémon Company.^[2] In 2017, HAL created the subsidiary HAL Egg, which was made to self publish new properties for mobile devices likePart Time UFO. In many of its games during the early to mid-'90s, it used the nameHALKEN (derived from their literal Japanese name "HAL KENkyūjo"), as well as HAL Laboratory. Some of its early titles were also released as HAL America, a North American subsidiary of the company.

Satoru Iwata became president of HAL Laboratory in 1993 before he become president ofNintendo. His presidency was spurred on by Nintendo offering to save the company from bankruptcy after the financial failure of the 1991 adventure gameMetal Slader Glory on the condition that he would step up.Masahiro Sakurai, who created the characterKirby and theSuper Smash Bros. series, also worked at HAL, and now leads his own company,Sora Ltd. The company is a second-party developer forNintendo and is best known for creating theKirby series and theSuper Smash Bros. series, and has also worked on theEarthBound andSimCity franchises, as well as a fewPokémon spinoff titles.

InSuper Smash Bros.[edit]

Under the direction of Masahiro Sakurai, HAL Laboratory was the primarily developer of the game.Kirby, along withDream Land,Maxim Tomato,Star Rod and 2Kirby music tracks debut in this game. Also,Ness fromEarthBound, which Hal co-developed withApe Inc. debuts along with one music track.

InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

Sakurai and HAL return as primary developers.Kirby andDream Land, now called "Dream Land 64", return, along with the introduction ofGreen Greens andFountain of Dreams.Maxim Tomato andStar Rod return along withParasol andWarp Star, followed by 5 music tracks and numerous trophies.

Lucas was intended to debut in this game, but was left out due to his game being delayed and was replaced by the returningNess. 2 stages namedOnett andFourside debut, along withMr. Saturn, 4 music tracks, and several trophies. TheZERO-ONE fromPokémon Snap, which HAL developed, appears as a trophy.Dr. Wright from the Nintendo console version ofSim City, which HAL developed, appears as a trophy.

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

Sakurai returns as developer, but HAL takes a minor role in development, acting as support forSora Ltd.,Game Arts, andMonolith Soft, and having offered Sakurai the same workspace as he had used for the previousSmash titles. HAL had a fairly significant role in the game’s music, contributing about a quarter of the new music arrangements, including the arrangement of the game’s main theme.

Kirby and Green Greens return, along with newcomersMeta Knight andKing Dedede andHalberd debut.Maxim Tomato,Star Rod andWarp Star return, along with the debut ofSuperspicy Curry andDragoon.Knuckle Joe appears as an Assist Trophy. 16 new and old music tracks, along with numerous trophies and sticker appear.Kirby's Adventure also appears as aMasterpiece.

Ness returns along withLucas finally debuting.Onett returns along with the debut ofNew Pork City.Porky Minch appears as a boss.Mr. Saturn returns along with the debut of theFranklin Badge.Jeff appears as an Assist Trophy. 9 new and old music tracks appear, along with numerous trophies and stickers.Mother 2 appears as a Masterpiece, but only in the Japanese version.

Dr. Wright appears as an Assist Trophy, and returns as a trophy.

InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]

Sakurai remains as director and development is primarily done byBandai Namco.Kirby,Meta Knight, andKing Dedede return in the playable roster.Dream Land, now called Dream Land (64), returns as DLC. All items fromBrawl return, along with Knuckle Joe, and the debutingNightmare.Tac appears inSmash Run andSmash Tour. A Meta Knight mask also appears as a Mii Costume. 31 new and old music tracks appear, along with several trophies.

Ness andLucas return as well as the items fromBrawl. Jeff returns along with the debut ofStarman as an Assist Trophy and an enemy in Smash Run.Flying Man appears as a stage hazard, an enemy in Smash Tour, and as a Mii Costume. 9 new and old music tracks appear alongside several trophies. Dr. Wright returns as both a trophy and an Assist Trophy.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS[edit]

Dream Land andMagicant debut as stages. SeveralKirby enemies andDevil Car appear exclusively in Smash Run. Several trophies appear exclusively on 3DS.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]

Halberd returns, along with the debut ofThe Great Cave Offensive. Several trophies and their correspondingTrophy Boxes appear exclusively on Wii U.Kirby's Adventure returns as a Masterpiece along withKirby's Dreamland andKirby's Super Star.EarthBound also appears as a Masterpiece, this time available in all regions.

Onett returns only on Wii U. Porky andUltimate Chimera appear as items exclusively in Smash Tour. Several trophies and the corresponding trophy box appear exclusively on Wii U.EarthBound appears as a Masterpiece, this time available in all regions.

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

Kirby,Meta Knight,King Dedede, and all previousKirby stages return. All items fromSmash 4 return along with the debut of theBomber. All assist trophies return along with the debut ofChef Kawasaki.Marx debuts as a boss and his hat becomes a Mii Costume. Meta Knight mask also returns as a Mii Costume. 38 new and old music tracks appear, along with numerousspirits.

Ness,Lucas, and all previousEarthBound stages return. All assist trophies and items fromSmash 4 return, along with the debut of theRamblin' Evil Mushroom. The flying Man Mii costume returns, along with the debut of the Mr. Saturn hat. 14 new and old music tracks appear along with numerous spirits. Dr. Wright returns as an Assist Trophy and as a spirit, and Qbby, the protagonist of the HAL-developed game,BOXBOY!, appears as a spirit.

Trivia[edit]

• Often believed to be derived from theHAL 9000 computer in the novel and film2001: A Space Odyssey, an interview with Iwata reveals that its name is a pun of theIBM company: each letter puts them a step ahead of IBM (the letters H, A and L comebefore the letters I, B and M, respectively).^[3]

External links[edit]

• HAL Laboratory, Inc (Japanese)
• HAL Laboratory, Inc company profile (Japanese)
• N-Sider page (HAL Laboratory company profile)

References[edit]

Nintendo Wiki has an article onHAL Laboratory.

WiKirby has an article onHAL Laboratory.

WikiBound has an article onHAL Laboratory.

Super Mario Wiki has an article onHAL Laboratory.

Bulbapedia has an article onHAL Laboratory.

• Companies
• Game developers
• Kirby universe
• EarthBound universe
• Pokémon universe
• Super Smash Bros. universe
• Super Smash Bros. series