Kirby Super Star

Kirby Super Star
Developer	HAL Laboratory
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Super NES, Virtual Console (Wii, Wii U)
Release Date	Super NES JP March 21, 1996 US September 20, 1996 EU January 23, 1997 Wii Virtual Console JP October 13, 2009 US May 17, 2010 PAL May 28, 2010 Wii U Virtual Console JP May 1, 2013 US/PAL May 23, 2013
Gallery	GH Gallery
Rating	ESRB: E

Kirby Super Star (known in Japan as Hoshi no Kābī Sūpā Derakkusu (Kirby of the Stars: Super Deluxe) and in Europe as Kirby's Fun Pak) is a collection of original Kirby games released for the Super NES. The game has nine games in total, which consist of a mix of platformers and smaller mini games.

Development

This game was conceived as a follow-up to Kirby's Adventure, the previous Kirby home console release (although Kirby's Dream Land 2 came out between these two games). The game started development as a prototype on the NES in order to test out ideas before the game was fully developed on the Super NES. The game was made with three objectives in mind: one was to bring two-player cooperative play into the series, another was to add elements from fighting games in the form of more varied moves for Kirby and the other was an omnibus format which Sakurai embraced as an alternative to lengthy games of the time. The idea of cooperative gameplay came about from a challenge from Shigeru Miyamoto, who wanted to incorporate such a feature into the Super Mario series but was unable at the time due to the fast-paced gameplay.

There was one mode for the game that ended up being scrapped: known as Kagero Mansion, it would have been a horror game in which Kirby was trapped in a haunted mansion and unable to use his inhale ability, with a mix of puzzle and action elements.

Gameplay

Most of the games in the collection are side-scrolling platformers, in which Kirby must be guided through stages while avoiding hazards and dealing with enemies. Unlike past Kirby games, Kirby's health is measured in a bar rather than being represented by capsules. Kirby's powers were also more versatile, with each power giving Kirby a variety of moves rather than just one. Most games also allow Kirby to have a partner, which is produced by pressing an A button while Kirby has any type of ability. This will cause the partner to spawn in the form of the enemy associated with Kirby's current ability, and Kirby will lose that ability while the partner is active. It is possible to turn the partner back into the ability cap with the A button. The partner has a health bar similar to Kirby's (with the option of the characters sharing excess health between each other) and can be controlled either by the CPU or a second player. The partner character can change form when touching the pedestal of another ability.

Games

• Spring Breeze
  Spring Breeze is a remake of Kirby's Dream Land using the enhanced gameplay and graphics of Kirby Super Star. Castle Lololo was removed from the game, with Lololo and Lalala becoming the boss of the Float Islands level, which had its original boss removed completely. The boss rematches were also omitted from Mt. Dedede.
• Dyna Blade
  A giant bird is terrorizing the country side and it's up to Kirby to stop it. A straighforward platforming adventure consisting of several levels, Dyna Blade in one of two Kirby games that use an overworld map. Hidden in this game are two areas from which Kirby can gain any ability.
• Gourmet Race
  A platforming game with elements of racing which revolves around a competition between Kirby and King Dedede. In Gourmet Race, Kirby must reach the end of each level before King Dedede while eating more food than him. Along the way, there are powers to help Kirby. There are three courses, and points are tallied by how much food was eaten, with bonus points for reaching a goal first.
• Great Cave Offensive
  In this game, Kirby must try to reach the end of a tunnel system while collecting as much treasure as he can. Unlike most Kirby games, there are no "levels"; everything is interconnected, although there is a boss within each area. This game contains a total of 60 treasures, some of which are nods to other Nintendo franchises including Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, Fire Emblem, and Earthbound.
• Revenge of Meta Knight
  In Revenge of Meta Knight, Kirby attempts to destroy The Halberd before Meta Knight can take over Dream Land. Unlike most Kirby games, each level of Revenge of Meta Knight has a time limit. Going over the limit will cost a life.
• Milky Way Wishes
  The Sun and Moon are fighting. In order to stop their fighting, Kirby must defeat the bosses of various planets in order to reach NOVA, a machine that Kirby believes can solve his problem thanks to the advice given by Marx. This game has a twist on the typical Kirby game, as Kirby cannot copy enemies' abilities after inhaling them. Instead, there are Deluxe Ability pedestals hidden throughout the game. One Kirby finds one, it unlocks that power permanently, and the player can toggle between the unlocked abilities at will.
• Samurai Kirby
  Samurai Kirby is a test of reflexes. Like in Kirby's Adventure mini game Quick Draw, the player must hit a button as soon as a symbol appears on screen to defeat their opponent.
• Megaton Punch
  A game of timing, the player must try to hit the A button when an oscillating meter reaches its peak, when two cross hairs cross, and on the downstroke of a pendulum. The closer the player gets, the higher their score. A perfect score will send a crack across Popstar.
• The Arena
  The Arena is an endurance test. At the beginning, the player is allowed to choose from all the game's abilities before plunging into the gameplay. The player must then fight a series of 21 battles with one life, as well as access to five Maxim Tomatoes and some random abilities between battles. The battles include 16 boss battles, two battles against teams of mini bosses, and one battle against a single Waddle Dee.

Three of the games are unlockable. Revenge of Meta Knight had to be unlocked by completing Dyna Blade, and Milky Way Wishes was unlocked by completing both Revenge of Meta Knight and The Great Cave Offensive, while The Arena was unlocked by completing Milky Way Wishes.

Legacy

This game was critically praised and had a strong influence on the series going forward. Kirby Super Star marked several landmarks that would be reflected in later games such as introducing co-op gameplay, Kirby gaining hats with his abilities and the Halberd. Music from this game would also be used in various later games, with the Gourmet Race theme being particularly popular. The Great Cave Offensive is thought to have been the inspiration for Kirby & the Amazing Mirror. As for some of the game's minigames, Samurai Kirby was reused in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, while Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and Kirby Star Allies had games similar to "Megaton Punch". Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot would all feature their own variations on The Arena. While another Kirby omnibus of this scale has not been made, aside from its remake, several later games such as Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot would be packaged with several sub-games.

Within the Super Smash Bros. series, various music tracks from the game were used throughout the series, and the All-Star Mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl was based on The Arena from this game. There was also a stage based on the Great Cave Offensive in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Ports and Remakes

• An expanded remake of the game was released on the Nintendo DS as Kirby Super Star Ultra. It added several new games.
• Kirby Super Star was released on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console in 2009 and 2010.
• In 2012, Kirby Super Star was one of the games to be featured in Kirby's Dream Collection, an anniversary compilation of classic Kirby platformers for the Wii.
• In May 2013, it was released for download on the Nintendo Wii U as part of the Wii U Virtual Console.
• In 2017, it was among the games that were included in the Super NES Classic Edition.
• In December 2019, it was added to the digital library of Super NES games on the Nintendo Switch that could be player by subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service. This version supported both local and online multiplayer for the game's two-player features. In June 2022, an SP version was released which starts the game with "Revenge of Meta Knight" unlocked.

Sequels

The next Kirby platformer was Kirby's Dream Land 3. Kirby Super Star Ultra would be the closest this game got to a type of direct sequel.