Kirby Super Star

Kirby Super Star Kirby's Fun Pak
Boxart
Developer(s)	HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Masahiro Sakurai
Platform(s)	SNES/SFC
Genre(s)	Platformer, Action
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer (2 players simultaneous)

Kirby Super Star, known in Europe as Kirby's Fun Pak and in Japan as Hoshi no Kirby 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 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 March 21, 1996, in North America on September 20, 1996, and in Europe on January 23 1997. Kirby Super Star is slated to be re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in North America. [1] It will be remade for the Nintendo DS under the name of Kirby Super Star Ultra (星のカービィ ウルトラスーパーデラックス, Hoshi no Kābī Urutora Sūpā Derakkusu?, lit. "Kirby of the Stars Ultra Super Deluxe"). It is to be released in North America on September 29, 2008.

Kirby Super Star's box art states that the game features eight games in one cartridge. These games offered are mostly platforming-oriented, while others are mini-games.

Gameplay

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Cutter Kirby and Rocky fighting Dyna Blade in The Arena

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 power). Oddly, Kirby's Dream Land 3 (the next Kirby platform game on the SNES) didn't 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 didn't 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, and also giving some of the abilities the power to mix with others as seen in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

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 other 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.

Platforming games

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

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Spring Breeze

Spring Breeze is the first game in Kirby Super Star. It is based on Kirby's Dream Land, and uses Kirby Super Star's gameplay and enhanced graphics. 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. Castle Lololo's entire level was removed, resulting in Spring Breeze having one level less than the original Game Boy game. However, Lololo and Lalala were still in the game, as they were the boss of the Float Islands level, unlike in the original game. Kaboola, the original boss of Float Islands, was removed from the game entirely. Also Mt. Dedede doesn't force the player to battle the bosses again since there are only 3 main bosses in the game, not including King Dedede.

Dyna Blade, along with Milky Way Wishes, utilizes a world map (the only two games in Kirby Super Star to do this). A giant bird, Dyna Blade, is causing a ruckus and ruining Dream Land's crops, and Kirby must travel to the mountain where it lives to stop it. The game contains two secret levels, which allow Kirby to choose from most of the game's powers. These levels are accessed by finding hidden switches, like in Kirby's Adventure.

The Great Cave Offensive is the third game in Kirby Super Star. In it, the player must collect many treasure chests strewn throughout a mysterious cave. There are many different rooms containing hidden treasure chests with prizes that raise the player's score and completion rate. This game has usually been compared to Metroid in terms of gameplay, due to the interconnected rooms and the necessity of backtracking. There are a total of 60 different treasures to find in this game, some easier to find than others. It may also have been the inspiration for Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, which plays very similarly. This game includes several items from various Nintendo franchises as treasures, such as the Koopa Shell (from Super Mario Bros.), Kong's Barrel (from Donkey Kong), the Bucket (from Mario and Wario) the Triforce (The Legend of Zelda), a Mr. Saturn from EarthBound, Falcon's Helmet from the F-Zero series, the Screw Attack ability from Metroid, the sword Falchion (from Fire Emblem), and many other various "cameo" items.

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The Halberd as it appears in Revenge of Meta Knight

Revenge of Meta Knight is the fourth game in Kirby Super Star. In it, Kirby attempts to destroy Meta Knight's battleship, the 'Halberd', before Meta Knight can take over Dream Land.

Throughout the game, the crew comments on Kirby's ongoing destruction of their ship with rising alarm. To complement the hectic pace of this game, each area has a time limit, which will cost Kirby a life if it hits zero.

Kirby starts off atop the Halberd, and begins to work his way into the ship. Kirby goes to the area behind the engines, and is blown away into the Orange Ocean during his first encounter with the Heavy Lobster. He catches a warp star back torwards the ship, but is blasted into the forest by the Halberd's main cannon. However, he eventually meets Dyna Blade again, who aides Kirby in getting back onto the Halberd. There, Kirby defeats various minions, and destroys major parts of the Halberd. This causes the crew to panic and eventually abandon ship, all except for Sir Meta Knight and a Waddle Dee with a sailor cap. Meta Knight stays behind to fight Kirby. After Kirby defeats him, he must escape the Halberd before it sinks into the Orange Ocean. As he does this, Meta Knight flies with his wings and tries to hinder Kirby's escape. In the end, while Kirby watches the ship sink, a white dot, believed to be Meta Knight is seen flying off the ship. The Dyna Blade level must be completed in order to reach this game (as Dyna Blade plays a role in this one).

Milky Way Wishes is the final major game in Kirby Super Star. In it, the Sun and Moon around planet Popstar are fighting, and Kirby must travel to different planets and defeat the boss at the end of each one in order to reach the giant machine NOVA, who Kirby hopes will help stop the unfortunate quarrel. The Great Cave Offensive and Revenge of Meta Knight must be completed before you can reach this game.

Unlike the other platform games, Kirby can't copy the abilities of enemies he inhales (except for the limited-use abilities, like Crash or Cook); instead, he collects "Deluxe Ability Pedestals". These are items with abilities on them that, once in Kirby's possession, can be recalled at will. In this way, the player can adapt to most situations by switching to a useful ability, hence it is important to gather as many Deluxe Ability Pedestals as possible.

Near the end of this game is also a Gradius-like battle in the NOVA machine and in the “Heart of Nova”, which shares also many similarities with one of the last boss battles in Star Fox. Once NOVA is destroyed, Kirby engages Marx, the final boss of the game. Mario makes a cameo appearance in the ending credits, decorating the title of Executive Producer Hiroshi Yamauchi.

The Arena is an extra game and is an endurance challenge. At the game's beginning, the player starts in a room where any ability may be accessed. From then on, the player must go through nineteen battles with only one life, a couple of random abilities that are offered between battles, and five Maxim Tomatoes, which completely restore Kirby's health. These battles include sixteen boss battles, two battles against teams of minibosses, and a battle against a single, stationary Waddle Dee. The "All-Star Mode" in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl has many similarities to The Arena (both games being designed by the same person). The last fight is always against Marx, the hardest boss in the game. If you defeat all the bosses, you'll see how long it took and unlock the Sound Test option.

Other games

The Gourmet Race game is a race against King Dedede incorporating platform elements. The player has to beat King Dedede to the finish line using any means necessary, including special abilities, while also consuming more food than Dedede along the way. There are three different levels and in each Kirby can race his own “bubble” (which is his previous try) or race King Dedede. The music in the 1st and 3nd levels is played in all three Super Smash Bros games in various stages.

Samurai Kirby is a timing minigame, very similar to the minigame "Quick Draw" in Kirby's Adventure. In the single player mode, there are five progressively harder opponents. Human players are required to quickly react to a symbol that appears on the screen, and the opponent with the quickest response time wins the round. Computer players always respond with set intervals based on the game difficulty chosen and the character the AI represents. Samurai Kirby was brought back as a subgame in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.

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Megaton Punch

Megaton Punch is another timing mini-game, similar to Samurai Kirby. In it, the player must attempt to perfectly match the peak of an oscillating meter, the superimposition of two floating crosshairs, and the downstroke of a pendulum to the press of a button on the controller. Points are awarded based on the accuracy of the timing. A powerful punch will consequently put a crack in the world of Popstar. Megaton Punch was later brought back as a subgame in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror. Mario characters Mario, Luigi, Birdo and Toad, as well as some of Princess Peach can be seen in the audience of this mini-game (in an oddly manner due to a portion of the background has their sprites repeated on both sides of the screen, causing them to appear twice), as well as in the background of the fight with King Dedede in Spring Breeze.

Remake

Kirby Super Star Ultra
Developer(s)	Hal Laboratory
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Kirby
Genre(s)	Action, Adventure

A remake of this game is said to be in development. The American version has been officially named Kirby Super Star Ultra. All of the classic sub-games are said to be returning, along with two new adventure sub-games ("Revenge of the King" and "Meta Knight Ultra"). Three new mini-games have also been confirmed. The game still supports multiplayer, both offline and online.

External links

• Template:StrategyWiki
• Kirby Super Star at MobyGames