HAL Laboratory

HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Type	Private
Founded	February 21, 1980
Headquarters	Chiyoda, Tokyo
Key people	Satoru Iwata (former president), Masahiro Sakurai (former employee)
Industry	Video game industry
Products	Video games
Employees	195
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 the MSX system and the Commodore 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 of Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy. Both HAL and Nintendo own equal share in the joint venture Warpstar, Inc., which was made to autonomously handle the Kirby franchise license, similar to The Pokémon Company. In 2017, HAL created the subsidiary HAL Egg, which was made to self publish new properties for mobile devices like Part Time UFO. In many of its games during the early to mid-'90s, it used the name HALKEN (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 of Nintendo. His presidency was spurred on by Nintendo offering to save the company from bankruptcy after the financial failure of the 1991 adventure game Metal Slader Glory on the condition that he would step up. Masahiro Sakurai, who created the character Kirby and the Super Smash Bros. series, also worked at HAL, and now leads his own company, Sora Ltd. The company is a second-party developer for Nintendo and is best known for creating the Kirby series and the Super Smash Bros. series, and has also worked on the EarthBound and SimCity franchises, as well as a few Pokémon spinoff titles.

In Super Smash Bros.

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

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Sakurai and HAL return as primary developers. Kirby and Dream Land, now called "Dream Land 64", return, along with the introduction of Green Greens and Fountain of Dreams. Maxim Tomato and Star Rod return along with Parasol and Warp 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 returning Ness. 2 stages named Onett and Fourside debut, along with Mr. Saturn, 4 music tracks, and several trophies. The ZERO-ONE from Pokémon Snap, which HAL developed, appears as a trophy. Dr. Wright from the Nintendo console version of Sim City, which HAL developed, appears as a trophy.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Sakurai returns as developer, but HAL takes a minor role in development, acting as support for Sora Ltd., Game Arts, and Monolith Soft. 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 newcomers Meta Knight and King Dedede and Halberd debut. Maxim Tomato, Star Rod and Warp Star return, along with the debut of Superspicy Curry and Dragoon. 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 a Masterpiece.

Ness returns along with Lucas finally debuting. Onett returns along with the debut of New Pork City. Porky Minch appears as a boss. Mr. Saturn returns along with the debut of the Franklin 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 returns as a trophy as well as an assist trophy.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Sakurai remains as director and development is primarily done by Bandai Namco. Kirby, Meta Knight and King Dedede, along with the return of Dream Land, now called Dream Land (64) returns as DLC. All items from Brawl return, along with Knuckle Joe, and the debuting Nightmare. Tac appears in Smash Run and Smash Tour. A Meta Knight mask also appears as a Mii Costume. 31 new and old music tracks appear, along with several trophies.

Ness and Lucas return as well as the items from Brawl. Jeff returns along with the debut of Starman 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 tropies. Dr. Wright returns as a trophy and an assist trophy.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Dream Land and Magicant debut as stages. Several Kirby enemies and Devil Car appear exclusively in Smash Run. Several trophies appear exclusively on 3DS.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

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

Onett returns only on Wii U. Porky and Ultimate 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.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and all previous Kirby stages return. All items from Smash 4 return along with the debut of the Bomber. All assist trophies return along with the debut of Chef 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 numerous spirits.

Ness, Lucas, and all previous EarthBound stages return. All assist trophies and items from Smash 4 return, along with the debut of the Ramblin' 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

• Often believed to be derived from the HAL 9000 computer in the novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey, an interview with Iwata reveals that its name is a pun of the IBM company: each letter puts them a step ahead of IBM (the letters H, A and L come before the letters I, B and M, respectively).

External links

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