Kolibri

About Kolibri

Kolibri (1995) is Novotrade's 32X horizontal shooter in which a hummingbird, empowered by a life-giving crystal, defends the Earth against a destructive one, inspired by an angry real-life hummingbird.

Kolibri in Depth

Long ago a crystal from outer space embedded itself in the Earth and began creating life. Then a similar crystal crashed to Earth and began destroying that life and sapping the first crystal's strength, and before it was destroyed, the first crystal gave its power to a lone hummingbird, Kolibri, whose name means hummingbird in several European languages. It is up to the bird to save the Earth.

Numerous power-ups follow different patterns, some spreading shots and others homing in on enemies, and puzzles grow increasingly difficult from level to level. Producer Ed Annunziata was inspired after blowing cigarette smoke at a hummingbird that hovered in front of his face; days later it returned and he sensed its aggression, convinced "he was pissed that I second-hand smoked him, and he remembered me". Researching the birds, he was intrigued by their flight and built a shooter around one. Reviews were mostly middling: EGM praised its visuals and originality but criticised respawning in a vulnerable position, and GamePro's Lawrence Neves found it "just average", wanting something more like Gradius or R-Type.

Making Kolibri

Novotrade International developed it and Sega published it in 1995 for the 32X add-on for the Genesis. Next Generation felt it offered nothing the standard Genesis could not do and that its play was "very monotonous", reserving most of its scorn for the "absurd" premise of a hummingbird toasting insects with a guided missile on its beak.