Kirby Super Star

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Kirby Super Star Kirby's Fun Pak
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Masahiro Sakurai
Series	Kirby
Platform(s)	Super NES
Release date(s)	JP July 31, 1995 NA September 23, 1996 PAL 30 December, 1996
Genre(s)	Platform, action
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer (two players simultaneously)
Rating(s)	ESRB: K-A
Media	32-megabit cartridge

Kirby Super Star, known in Europe as Kirby's Fun Pak and in Japan as Hoshi no Kabi Super Deluxe (星のカービィ スーパーデラックス, Hoshi no Kābī Sūpā Derakkusu^?, lit. "Kirby of the Stars Super Deluxe") is a 1995 platforming video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. It was first released in Japan on July 31, 1995, in North America on September 23, 1996, and in Europe on December 30, 1996. Kirby Super Star's box art states that the game features eight games in one cartridge. Most of these games offered are mostly platforming-oriented, while some others are mini-games.

Kirby Super Star has been remade for the Nintendo DS under the name of Kirby Super Star Ultra.^[1]

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Platforming games 1.2 Sub games 2 Reception 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Gameplay

This section may be too long. Consider splitting it into subsections.

Kirby Super Star plays like a standard 16-bit era platforming video game. Kirby can go left, right, up and down on a two dimensional plane. Throughout each level, Kirby must avoid several obstacles such as environmental hazards or a variety of enemies who mostly have their own attacks. As opposed to previous games in the series' usage of six health capsules, Kirby Super Star features a health meter. When the health meter is emptied, Kirby will lose one life. If he loses all of his lives, the game ends. It is the first Kirby video game that allows Kirby to perform a fairly wide arsenal of attacks with a single copy ability, as opposed to previous games in the Kirby series such as Kirby's Adventure, which only allowed Kirby to do one thing at a time (with the exception of the UFO, Throw and Backdrop). Kirby's Dream Land 3 (the next Kirby platform game on the SNES) did not carry on this aspect of the game; rather, it reverted back to the formula of combining animal friends and single purpose powers that was introduced in Kirby's Dream Land 2. The idea of multiple moves for a single power didn't resurface until Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, which still did not have the range of moves per power that Kirby Super Star had. Kirby Squeak Squad, though, gave some of the abilities a range equal to this game, along with bringing back the health bar.

One of the unique features of this Kirby game is the addition of a "helper". The helper is an enemy-turned-friend who follows Kirby around and helps fight enemies. A second player can use an additional controller to control the helper, making a solo experience into a two-player adventure. The helper also sometimes had abilities that Kirby did not when taken control of by a second player. For instance, if Kirby got a Wheel power and turned it into a helper, Kirby could ride on the helper. While Kirby would die after falling into a pit, a helper character had no such vulnerability. Additionally, with careful playing, the helper character could be kept almost immortal since Kirby had the ability to reabsorb and destroy the helper, after which the helper could be respawned in full health regardless of previous health level. The only disadvantage to this technique is that it leaves Kirby unarmed afterwards since it was necessary to abandon any ability Kirby was holding beforehand. Most of the mini-games have two-player modes as well.

This is also the first game in which Kirby wears different hats that represent the powers he acquires. (for instance, the Cutter hat is a pointed helmet, the Yoyo hat is a backwards baseball cap and the Fighter hat is a red bandanna).

Kirby Super Star is one of the three international SNES games (outside Japan) that uses the SA-1 chip. The other two are Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Kirby's Dream Land 3.

[edit] Platforming games

There are seven main games in Kirby Super Star that follow the platforming mold set forth by Kirby's Adventure and other earlier Kirby games.

Spring Breeze is the first game in Kirby Super Star. King Dedede takes food from Dreamland and Kirby tries to take it back. It is based on the first Kirby game, Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy, and uses Kirby Super Star's gameplay and enhanced graphics, including power-ups and a helper, which the original game lacks. Kirby must make his way to a castle to challenge King Dedede and recapture the food that was stolen from the citizens of Dream Land.

Dyna Blade is the second game in Kirby Super Star. Dyna Blade, a giant bird, is disturbing Dream Land's crops, Kirby tries to stop him. It uses a world map, with four levels Kirby must clear and a boss at the end. The boss at the end is Dyna Blade. There are also two secret areas and a mini-boss that moves across the world map.

Gourmet Race is the third game in Kirby Super Star. Dedede challenges Kirby to a race to see who can get the most food. It is a race against King Dedede incorporating platform elements. The objective is to both beat King Dedede to the finish line and collect the most food. However beating the course is very importatnt since you can get 90 points by winning every course, 30 for each course you win. There are three levels, and the player can choose to race either King Dedede or his "ghost", which is the player's best attempt at the race. You can also race on the courses without King Dedede. There are no snacks but the gopal is to go as fast as possible, like when going against Dedede, but your fastest time is recorded for each course. There is no multiplayer option, although one is added in the Nintendo DS remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra. Also, unlike the DS remake, it does not show the total time of the best time of your courses after you finish a course when running alone.

The Great Cave Offensive is the fourth game in Kirby Super Star. While venturing in a forest, Kirby falls into a cave, in the game you try to get out. In it, the player attempts to collect up to sixty treasure chests strewn throughout the game. There are many different rooms containing hidden treasure chests with prizes that raise the player's score and completion rate. The maximum score is 9999990. You go through four worlds, only to end up on the first world to go on a warp star for Kirby to escape from the cave.

Revenge of Meta Knight is the fifth game in Kirby Super Star. In it, Kirby attempts to destroy Meta Knight's battleship, the Halberd, before Meta Knight can conquer Dream Land. Each area has a time limit, which will cost Kirby a life if it hits zero. It is particularly plot-based, featuring comments from the various crew members of the Halberd. Every time you beat a round, either the ship takes damage or Kirby tries to get back on the Halberd. At the bottom of the screen, there is a meter showing how the Halberd is doing.

Milky Way Wishes is the sixth game in Kirby Super Star. In it, the Sun and Moon around planet Popstar are fighting. A person about the size of Kirby bouncing on a ball, Marx, tells Kirby and must travel to different planets and defeat the boss at the end of each one in order to reach the giant comet NOVA, who gives Kirby a wish. But Marx caused the Sun and Moon to fight, so Marx wishes to take over Pop Star. Unlike the other platform games, Kirby cannot copy the abilities of enemies he inhales; instead, he collects "Deluxe Ability Pedestals". These are items with abilities on them that, once in Kirby's possession, allow the player to select them from a list of abilities. It also features a scrolling space shooter stage near the end in which you fight Nova's Nucleus. After that, you fight Marx when you beat him NOVA explodes, stopping Marx from taking over Popstar.

The Arena is the final game in Kirby Super Star. It is an endurance challenge that requires the player to fight every boss in the game one after the other without dying once. Five Maxim Tomatoes (they revive your health completely) are available throughout, and disappear when used. After every boss battle is a room with the 5 Maxim Tomatoes, two randomly selected pedestals which will grant the player certain powers, the warp star to go to the next boss, and a rectangular area that shows what boss is next and how many bosses there are left. The beginning area allows the player to select a power for Kirby to use that includes almost every power in the game. The order of bosses is random, except the final boss, Marx.

[edit] Sub games

Samurai Kirby is a timing mini-game similar to Kirby's Adventure's Quick Draw. There are five opponents, which get progressively more difficult. The objective is to attack the opponent at the right time without being too early or too late. Reaction times are based on the 1/100 of a second. The hundreths of a second go by whole numbers (e.g. 24/100 of a second would be displayed on the screen as "24").

Megaton Punch is a timing mini-game. In it, the player must punch a stack of platforms by hitting the mark as close as possible in several different timing mechanics, attempting to cause more damage than the opponent. The best score you can get is 201. Another version was later featured in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.

[edit] Reception

Kirby Super Star sold over 1 million copies in Japan.^[3] It has an average score of 82.1% on Game Rankings.^[2] Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a review score of 8.62/10.^[2]

Kirby Super Star Ultra has received mostly positive reviews.^[4] Famitsu gave the game a 32/40.^[5] 1UP gave Super Star Ultra an "A-", praising it for its multiplayer and describes it as "excellent", but notes that it is not very difficult and the level design is not as intricate as in the Mario series.^[6] IGN's Craig Harris gave it a 7.9, saying that, while fun, the game is "a bit on the easy side".^[7] It was a nominee for Best Platform Game for the Nintendo DS on IGN's 2008 video game awards.^[8]

On December 11, 2008, Super Star Ultra became a Famitsu Gold title.^[9] As of January 11, 2009, Kirby Super Star Ultra has sold 1,021,000 copies in Japan.^[10] It is also the ninth best-selling game of Japan in 2008.^[11] It was the fifth best-selling Nintendo DS game of December 2008 in the United States.^[12]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• IGN page
• GameSpot page
• 1UP.com page
• GameFAQs page
• Kirby Super Star guide at StrategyWiki
• Kirby Super Star at MobyGames

v • d • e Kirby series Main series Dream Land · Adventure / Nightmare in Dream Land · Dream Land 2 · Super Star / Super Star Ultra · Dream Land 3 · 64: The Crystal Shards · Amazing Mirror · Canvas Curse · Squeak Squad · Kirby (Wii) Related titles Pinball Land · Avalanche · Dream Course · Block Ball · Star Stacker · Tilt 'n' Tumble · Air Ride Characters Kirby · Enemies Television Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (episodes) Related articles Media