Kirby Fighters Deluxe

In retrospect, the absence of Kirby spin-offs following Kirby Air Ride is quite odd when considering how much of them populated the series' early life: nothing in the vein of Kirby's Dream Course, Kirby's Pinball Land or Kirby's Block Ball ever arrived in the DS era or even GBA. Perhaps HAL felt the sub-games found in Amazing Mirror and Super Star Ultra were enough, the mainline games being a priority as opposed to rebuilding a franchise empire. Whatever the reason may be, the eleven-year absence is evident, and so we must ask ourselves: what compelled HAL Laboratory to develop downloadable expansions on Kirby: Triple Deluxe's own brand of sub-games?

Thankfully, that's an easy one: because they're probably the best sub-games in series history. At the very least, Kirby Fighters Deluxe is a common-sense idea: the original Kirby Fighters was a slightly-altered tweak on Triple Deluxe's engine framed within Super Smash Bros. mechanics, complete with multiple Copy Abilities, stages, items and even its own little campaign. As opposed to the previous design rhetoric of Kirby sub-games -- little time wasters deviating our attention from the main game for just a teensy-bit -- it was the closest any mini-game had reached "game within a game" status within the series hitherto, and its addictive nature repeatedly kept fans coming back for more.

So, y'know, why not sell it as an actual game? Granted, its release only a half-year after Triple Deluxe's arrival in Japan is evidence enough HAL knew they had something special alongside fellow sibling Dedede Drum Dash, and its timing certainly helped: with just months to go before Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Nintendo fans could make do with a diminutive clone before the much-anticipated crossover arrived. And what better clone than one made by Smash's original developers? Indeed, even with Masahiro Sakurai gone from the helm, there's something humbling about HAL returning to what remains its most beloved gameplay concept of all time.

Not to say, of course, that it actually surpasses it: Kirby Fighters Deluxe's breadth of content only perhaps matches the N64 Smash Bros. -- a game already relatively light on volume for a Sakurai game -- but it doesn't have a patch on the relevant depth. Not that it needs to, anyway: to expect anything of the sort would be grossly unfair for an eShop effort, and planning the next A-Team Kirby game (Planet Robobot) undoubtedly took priority over excessively fine-tuning these budget titles. The key, then, is to carefully infuse that aforementioned addiction within limited confines -- at first glance, this may seem like an impossible task even for Smash's home studio, but as we must recall, Super Smash Bros.'s gameplay system had obvious roots from Kirby Super Star's mechanics and controls, which Kirby games continue to build upon today.

Nearly two decades' worth of experience with both series make this effort perfectly achievable, and that's how we end up with Kirby's best sub-game; why, just look at the balancing: Kirby's movement and Copy Abilities are appropriately adjusted, guards last only a limited time, certain moves operate with more lag, and Kirby can no longer fly indefinitely. Add in some Smash-influenced elements in the form of series-inspired items and stage hazards, restrain itself from xeroxing Smash completely via emphasis on a health bar and no blast zones, and you have yourself a competent semi-duplicate effort. The gameplay instills that "just one more" craving Smash is so famous for, the stages are fun are active in telegraphed hazards prime for knocking opponents into, the items incite flashy madcap races and nostalgic callbacks, and the campaign keeps us coming back for more.

As one would expect, Kirby Fighters Deluxe plays nearly identically to the original Kirby Fighters: the same gameplay rules still apply, the Copy Abilities operate the same, all items return, and only one stage was lost in the transition: the all-flat Another Dimension from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, replaced by the functionally identical Fountain of Dreams in its Super Smash Bros. Melee/Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land incarnation; really, I ain't complaining. The point is, paying for what's exactly the same game wouldn't make for an exciting incentive, so the game adds just enough as a competent bite-sized downloadable purchase. For instance, being the number one Kirby fan I am, there's no way I wouldn't have gotten this, but witnessing Butter Building faithfully recreated from Kirby's Adventure and spinning about with the 3D illusion of parallax scrolling induced an unnatural bout of very heavy breathing.

(Also, perhaps in hinting HAL's future capitalist practices in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, two Copy Abilities and a stage require the presence of Triple Deluxe StreetPass data, but, well, I imagine anyone who's purchased this already has that. And why object to owning such a great game, anyway?)

Indeed, much of what you first witness in Kirby Fighters Deluxe is what you get, barring unlockable Copy Ability hats and a special final boss upon tackling Very Hard mode. Let us not instantly dismiss it as a barebones experience, however: anyone buying this knows they're not getting the broad replay value of your typical Smash game, and it's not as if the main campaign doesn't provide incentive with the aforementioned hat collecting. I imagine the presence of dedicated get-togethers, increases its longevity, but as someone who already spends the vast majority of his Smash time with CPUs, the ingenuity of the gameplay system is enough for me.

Said ingenuity lies within elements such as Ghost Kirby, which channel Kirby's own creed of looking out for the beginning gamer. Does it grow tiring watching players revive themselves again and again? Perhaps, but remember they must work for it, and the ghost move rather slowly. If anything, I rather enjoy the unresolved chaos it brings in not taking defeated players out for the count, so any such annoyances are trivial. That you can even turn them off alongside hazards speaks to the game's flexibility, although I imagine the latter's presence is irksome for those desperately begging Sakurai to include a similar option for Smash; personally, I believe most any Smash stage hazard complaints are hyperbolic to the extent of being disingenuous -- even if I understand the call for such an option --  but that's a subject for another time.

Is there anything else new to elaborate upon? Series regular Hirokazu Ando returns from Triple Deluxe to polish up the presentation (new menu themes) and include new tracks where appropriate (the aforementioned special boss). It should be noted much of the original sub-game utilized rips from past games, which holds true even for this game's new stages (only one rip was replaced: the Adeline battle from Kirby 64 is remixed for the Ability Select screen). I do not object to this direction: there is something homely appealing in hearing the familiar GB/NES chiptunes alongside their contextual counterparts. (Even if they aren't the exact match -- see Dream Land 3's Dedede theme in Super Super Star Ultra's Dedede Arena, but hey, that was always one of my favorite iterations, anyway.)

Arriving smack-dab in the middle of Kirby's current Golden Age, perhaps the most exciting thing about Kirby Fighters Deluxe is its setting a new standard for Kirby sub-games; as in, meaty sub-contained titles easily expanded upon and successfully broadening the brand. As seen with Star Allies' disappointing return to form, this may not be an iron-clad rule moving forward, but such quality in the vein of Kirby's Blowout Blast, Team Kirby Clash and what we have here are always welcome diversions in keeping us coming back for more, especially with fisticuffs down memory lane.