Intermission: What I'm Planning

Hey.

With Kirby's Adventure over and done with, I'd like to discuss my feelings regarding to how it went and what's in store for future posts.

So, with a whooping nine posts all about gushing over one game (okay, technically two), am I satisfied with what I wrote? Mmm...it's a mixed bag, honestly. I think my biggest problem was that it just got too repetitive by discussing almost each and every world in the game and I wouldn't be surprised if some of you got tired of it. And looking back, I really half-assed the Orange Ocean one by skipping over Yogurt Yard and just making an incredibly short post in general. Because of that one mistake, the last two posts felt rushed and the whole thing feels somewhat incomplete. It didn't help that some serious crap was thrown at me by college and I couldn't get my goals done in time.

Don't get me wrong, though. There were some entries (Ice Cream Island, Grape Garden, and Nightmare in Dream Land) that I think got through intact and I'm very fond of how I handled them. All in all, for my first finished effort, I think I did okay.

In related news, I have several ideas about how I'm going to go over future features. If you ask me, I think the retrospective pieces for Adventure worked out much better then the rest and I felt they were a lot more interesting to read, so I think I'll be attempting that style from now on. For my next game, this is not only quite essential, but I will be throwing in some extra twists. If you're one of those who don't follow games, this title will be crucial!

So yeah, I don't believe I'll be attempting the "World by World" model anytime soon. Not until I become much better at my craft, at the very least.

Now that I've finished that, I present to you a few brief announcements:

-I know, I know. I keep saying that the Kirby's Epic Yarn review is coming...and it will be! You can expect it either late this month or early December. Here's a hint regarding my consensuus: I feel guilty that I haven't been able to spend much time with it in the past two weeks!

-The feature for my third game will be arriving around the same time.

-Donkey Kong Country Returns finally launches tomorrow!!! I'll be celebrating today by playing Donkey Kong Country* and Donkey Kong 64. Expect impressions by Wednesday night.

*And before you ask, no, this isn't the third game! Although, it does have Donkey Kong in it...;)

See you.

Kirby's Adventure ~Final Dream~ Growing Up and Nightmare in Dream Land

So, I've written over eight posts detailing my love for Kirby's Adventure. It sparked my love for the series,

But does it hold up well? Has the passage of time, in terms of both my age and time itself, treated it with care. Can I still enjoy it?

You're probably wondering why I'm bothering asking such as question thanks to how I was ravishing the game earlier, but there's another thing we gamers have to eventually face as we grow up: Taking off our nostalgia goggles.

In other words, growing up.

Perhaps we find that our love for Mario doesn't compare to what we had in our youths. Maybe those N64 classics don't wow us like they used to, and what was once dazzling, state-of-the-art graphics are now incredibly blocky models like one would find in an amateur Youtube video. The long, complicated storylines in RPGs might have impressed a budding teenager, but not someone in his adult years. Worst of all, we might just too old for games.

Did I have to go through the same thing?

I suppose the best way to answer this is to be honest: I hated being a (younger) teenager. I hated the pressure of middle/high school. I hated noticing things conveniently swept under the rug as a young child. I hated watching kids I grew up with turning into partying, opposite -gender obsessed, clique-based stereotypes.

And I hated growing up.

Trying to "grab" the magic I had felt with games I adored as a kid was possibly the most painful ordeal I had to go through. When you become a teen, everything changes. There are many traps one can fall into when he or she turns thirteen, and while we all fall into at least one, all too often 99% percent of us fall into too many of those pitfalls. Very few of us make it through with our childlike personalities intact, and most of those who don't take the loss for granted. Then you have people like me, those who don't care for the cliques in high school and long for the simple warmth we had all of those years back.

Now, I was smart when it came to the more dangerous traps I never wanted to try alcohol, I thought smoking looked stupid (not to mention being void of any positive benefits), and the thought of using drugs never crossed my mind. Unfortunately, I fell into nearly everything else. My entire period of being a young teenager was attempting reviving my life, all of which were ill-bred and pointless. I honestly believed that video games (okay, and maybe One Piece) were the only thing that mattered in my life and I had to get them back. Nothing else mattered. I was very much a pretentious idiot.

Needless to say, I fell behind in many aspects of my life, and I'm still reeling from the aftereffects of that. Maybe we'll discuss that another time.

This is what they call "learning the hard way," but at the very least I'm grateful that I've now learned a lesson from that mistake and can say it out loud: My games were with me all along. The only thing that changed was just growing up. Those nostalgic feelings they once evoked are still there, they're just diminished as an adult and forever remain a bountiful resource to a young child. But that doesn't matter. The games are still fun. Super Mario World is still fun. Pikmin is still fun. Star Fox 64 is still fun. Earthbound is still fun. There are certain exceptions (I always abandon the previous Smash Brothers when a new one comes out), but these games are still just as fun as they were in my youth. I've just grown up and gotten better at them. The magic is still there. The only thing stopping me from having fun with them was me, and for what reason? To relive some anomaly I had as a kid.

I just realized I had forgotten something often preached: Gameplay is the only real essential ingredient in a game. Without that, your game is a failure.

This is actually one of the reasons why I started this blog: To reconnect with the games I grew up with, or ones I missed out on. Either way, I can deduce many things about these games when playing through them now as an adult, and writing up on them not only focuses on two hobbies at once, but contains a record of what I'm analyzing. Put simply, I can check up on these guys and see how I can enjoy them now that I'm much older.

Has Kirby's Adventure aged well? Yes, it has. Sure, I can beat the game in less then two hours, it's flaws are more apparent to an adult, it's much too easy, and it's obviously designed for beginners. But, you know, screw all of that. I still enjoy it. I can still play it, and that's all I really need.

Thanks, Kirby.

..but the story doesn't end there.

---------------------------------

It is early 2002.

The Gamecube was taking it's first steps, and the Game Boy Advance was growing momentum. Sega had finally ceded to the Big N and launched Sonic the Hedgehog games on both Nintendo consoles, an unthinkable concept. Every Nintendo fan was living it up with Super Smash Bros. Melee and hailed it as God's gift to humanity. Super Mario Sunshine and Zelda: The Wind Waker were but specks in the distance, and induced many heated debates as to whether or not they were bags of fresh air or grave transgressions. It was a controversial period.

What was my stand on things? Well, things weren't perfect, but I was content enough with Melee and my newfound love for Earthbound. However, it was Kirby that I had loved most of all. After playing Adventure, I immediately hunted down Kirby Super Star and it quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. Soon enough, it was as if that year was tailor made for me alone, with announcements such as the anime adaption coming stateside and a brand new Kirby for the Advance. What more could I ask for?

Whether or not it was revealed at the explosion that was E3 2002 I do not recall, but it looked hella sweet. The graphics were beautiful, and signaled a return to the Kirby hats, costumes he wears reflecting his abilities, found in Super Star. And hey, a new Kirby platformer, what was not to like about it? Amidst the big name titles coming up such as Sunshine, Star Fox Adventures, and Metroid Prime, this unknown Kirby was just truckin' along making it's way for a winter release...and I was fine with that.

Soon enough, a new batch of screenshots followed. I immediately lunged at the new trove, but as I passed by each picture, my sight taking rampage took a gradual halt.

These screenshots look really familiar....

Um um um um um um um um holy shit


The gears in my head sped ten times faster then normal. The convulsions were beginning to erupt in my muscles. Most importantly, the biggest grin found its way to my face.

THEY WERE REMAKING KIRBY'S ADVENTURE. HOLY SHIT THEY WERE REMAKING KIRBY'S ADVENTURE.

Back during this period, Nintendo had a strange habit of porting older games to the GBA, such as the classic Super Mario games, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy and A Link to the Past. Many were critical of this approach, claiming it was just a moneygrubbing scheme on Nintendo's part. My take on it? Perhaps. Either that, or they didn't feel confident enough to release 2D followups to the relics of old.

In any case, Nintendo made a rather odd marketing decision with this title: They never said this game was a remake. Now, I saw the truth immediately and giddily made my way over to message boards to spread the word, but it fell on deaf ears. As a result, certain fans were rather pissed when they picked up what they thought was a brand new game and instead found out it was a remake of a game made nine years prior. Personally, I thought it was hilarious that grown adults were raging on Gamefaqs about being "deceived." I guess Nintendo was partly to blame for not being completely honest, but they should have done their research! Or listened to me. Whatever.

Before I knew it, it was 5th grade. I was playing Super Mario Sunshine and had recently immersed myself in new oddities such as Super Monkey Ball 2 and Animal Crossing, both of which were new prospects in becoming classic franchises; Animal Crossing in particular, which had the entire internet swept off of their needs. I was reading sprite comics and watching the Kirby anime on the shit-filled FoxBox. Life kicked ass. We were getting new information on the remake, and it was to be dubbed Nightmare in Dream Land.

The game launched on December 2nd. I remember the excitement I had when dozens of Kirbies swarmed the screen and revealed the above title screen. I knew from that point that the remake was going to be a special one.


And I was right.

Each and every world I had traversed within the NES version had been lovingly redesigned on a 16-bit format. Every level was just as beautiful as the screenshot above, and a soothing wave of nostalgia coursed through my veins. It was perfect, everything I wanted, and I played it every day on the way to school.
The game wasn't just a visual upgrade, either. We had many new features to explore, such as a Link Cable multiplayer mode..

To new minigames, such as Air Grind, where you glide on rails with Warp Stars..


And Samurai Kirby, where you clash swords in timed button presses.

Even a new mode where you got to play as Meta Knight!!! Here he is taking on King Dedede!

And best of all...the updated music.

I used to listen to this every single day.



This is the updated version of the Rainbow Resort theme, and it was the most beautiful thing in the world to me at the time. That one part at 0:37...ah, gets me every time. My own little piece of paradise.

And yes, before you ask....


There is an arena. You can't see the audience, but they do cheer.

Moving on with the times, I suppose.

I still remember the feelings I had when this game came out. Everyone was continuing to immerse in their addictions for Animal Crossing, and it was a huge hit with all of my friends. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai set the stage for the beloved cartoon's debut on a 3D console, and having recently dived deep into that series' backgrounds ("They were censoring the dub?!?"), I was very excited for the game's launch. The smell of Christmas was in the air, and so were the scent of Spongebob, Nickelodeon, Nintendo and just...everything that ever mattered to me as a kid.

You can't ever become a kid again...but you can never forget.

And that's what counts.

Nightmare in Dream Land remains one of my fondest gaming memories, and Kirby's Adventure continues to sit in it's throne as my top NES game.

-----

Whew, we're done!!

Expect a short post tomorrow detailing the future plans I have for the blog.

Also, it looks like Silvagunner's account isn't going to be revived anytime soon, so I'll be gradually replacing the songs with alternate videos. On a related note, I was reviewing the Symphonic Legends post and I realized I had made an embarrassing mistake in not embedding the Encore song there. How I forgot to put that in there is beyond me! That will be fixed as well.

Kirby's Adventure ~Dream 8~ Over the Rainbow

'Sup.

Let's do this.

--------


The last world, Rainbow Resort.

An icy region that's beauty is second to none. A paradise of nostalgia and fun. Home to the Fountain of Dreams.

This is my favorite world in the game, and for this post I'm going to go over three reasons why, then get down with the final boss fights.

So, where to start?

First off, the level design. This is the final stage in the game, and the designers let you know it, so the levels are designed in a way that build up to the finale. In most games that do this, this is usually represented by death-defying obstacles, hordes of enemies/minibosses, and memorable levels. For the most part, these are all present here.

For example, you start in a stage where the Laser ability can reflect off sloped surfaces, which is one of the most awesome novelties in the games. You can't help but just fire everywhere to see who the unlucky recipient will be. The game's just centered around this stuff!

In the second level, we come across this huge tower..hmm, no music.

Yikes, it's a miniboss!!

It's not just him, though. The entire tower is a collection of minibosses, all poised to fulfill their long-standing grudges to defeat Kirby once and for all! And with the likes of Poppy Bros. Senior, Buggzy, Bonkers, Rolling Turtle, Fire Lion, Mr. Frosty and Mr. Tick Tock banding together, you're not gonna get away without at least a pounding!!

...unless you're an expert like me. ;)

After you fight those goons for the last time, you come across a Warp Star and soar across the star-filled night sky of the resort.


Ahh....I could stare at that forever.

And then we-Hey! Why are you nodding off? You used the sleep ability, the most useless ability in the game? What were you thinking?!?

...well, considering how cute the icon is, I'll let it slide.

Rollercoasters! But we don't ride them. Instead, we have to dodge cannons. Life's just not fair.

Ah, walking through the res-OH MY GOD FALLING BOMBERS.

Agh, you know, I thought I was supposed to be in a resort, not some messed up military training camp! Dedede, you're going down!

At least this part provides a good challenge. See, this part is divided by two spaces: The star spaces, which will force you in a certain direction, and the pink ones, which are safe. The trick is look where the stars are heading towards. In the screenshot above, you're going way down, so you have to act fast.

There's another level I'd like to go over, but I'm saving that for last.
-------

Reason two: the music.



I'll be up front: This isn't my favorite version of the song (we'll get into that in the final Adventure post next time), but it comes close.

You know what's always my favorite level in nearly every Kirby? The ones that make me relax. Despite the Resort not quite living up to its name, the background and the music are enough to make me recline into my chair.

I'm not sure what it is about these kinds of levels that please me so much. Maybe it's just the starry background, reminding me of a sugar-coated past. Does it remind me of Disney World? Does it remind me of nostalgia? I'm not sure. Is it the music? I can think of three, maybe four, stages like this in Kirby games that won me over instantly, and the music is the first thing that comes to mind here.

I'm not in the best mood to discuss how mushy this kind of thing makes me feel, but..well, I'll give it a shot. I used to listen to this kind of thing all the time, but for some reason I grew a defense mechanism to it over the years. I discovered that if I listened to calming, lovely songs like this, I'd get absorbed into their clutches and just sit there for the rest of the day. I guess I just wanted to avoid it.

...maybe that's why I've fallen out of touch with nostalgia for the past few years. Heh, I've been trying to get rid of it. I mean, why deny joy?

This is my favorite song in the Kirby series. If there was one wish I could have granted, I'd be able to soar through the night sky, and I want this song and all of its remixes to play.

I guess we all want to fly, though.

-------

Final reason: The last level in the game.

...hey, what's going on?
It's all in black and white? What is goin- oh my.

It's based off of Kirby's Dream Land on Game Boy.

How...surreal. You're traveling through an abridged replica of the original title, and a remix of the beloved Green Greens theme plays throughout the entire stage.

Many have said that this level brought a tear to their eye.

As you might have guessed, it's a really cool tribute to the first Kirby game, and shows how far they've come in nearly a year's time. A game that can take thirty, maybe twenty minutes to beat is included in a game that will take several hours, and in it's appearance here it's even shorter. One could debate whether it's more fun or not with the addition of having abilties, but I personally would like to play Dream Land again.

Perhaps most interesting is how Kirby's pink color clashes with the monochrome background.

Take a look.

If there's one thing I've learned playing Nintendo over the years, it's that they love placing references to past games, or even cameos, in their new ones. It's all over the place in the vast library of Mario games, and Zelda fans love throwbacks to their old beloved titles. It's something I've always smiled at when I come across it, and to me it shows that Nintendo really does care about their games, right down to the smallest detail,

It's just another quirk I love about my favorite company.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

---------

The boss is...you guessed it...the guy who made this mess in the first place...

KING DEDEDE! That fat penguin is gonna get it!

Now, Dedede is one tough customer. Despite his overweight figure, he's actually quite agile and is hard to navigate around. Just like Kirby, he has the ability to swallow you, and will spit you back out in a humiliating fashion. Not to mention that he has a humongous jump that he likes to show off and crush you with.

And guess what? He has a hammer, and it's more deadly then Bonkers'. He'll charge right at you with it, so make sure you dodge carefully.

This battle was a pain in the neck when I was younger, but like most of the other bosses, he goes down rather easily now. Like whoever took the screenshot above, just use a long range ability (Laser, in his case).

Annnd down he goes.

Finally! Now to put this back where it belongs!

But..wait. Dedede pops out of nowhere. He really doesn't want you to put the Star Rod back. Like, really.

Psh, whatever!

Everything's back to normal...

OR NOT.

OHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT

Go get 'em, cowboy!

The mysterious orb takes off into the night sky, and Kirby gives chase with the Star Rod. An aerial battle, it seems.

Well, whatever it is, it's strong. It moves in erratic patterns, and fires off strange stars. If you're good at space shooting games, you'll excel here. The Star Rod produces stars of its own, so the goal is to fire as many as possible onto the orb. After enough shots, it retreats all the way to the moon...


Now what could be going on here...

Oh my.

It's the evil Cloaked Nightmare, and he is the true villain behind this mess. The final boss is here.

Nightmare is a quick dude, and he'll teleport all over the arena to confuse you so he can swoop across and fire a quick shot at you. You see that weird, jiggly purple thing on his torso? That's his weak spot, so you gotta swing that rod with all your might!


Hiiyaahhh! Spinning slash!

As the battle rages, he'll start getting cocky and descend upside down, taunting you with his weak spot. This pisses me off because it's hard to get a good jump in time and strike from there. Anyways, I often collide into him and that's no good. It's best to attack when he's in his normal pose.

It's an arduous fight..but you become victorious! And part of the moon blows up!

Wow.

Ever since then, the moon's always been crescent shaped in Kirby.

As Kirby flies home on a Warp Star, we learn of Dedede's true intentions. Apparently, he discovered Nightmare had been hiding within the Fountain of Dreams, and was about to spread nightmares to the inhabitants of Dream Land. Thinking fast, he broke the Star Rod into several pieces so the spring would lose power and Nightmare would remain stagnant..at the cost of no one having any dreams.

You might be thinking, "So I just went on an adventure for nothing?" Well, not quite. Dedede never revealed his true actions until the end, and he DID give the pieces of the rod to the biggest assholes in Dream Land, so I wouldn't let him off the hook. Still, Kirby seems to have forgiven him by the end. Dedede's a jerk, but he's not quite on the level of Bowser or Ganondorf.

...and so the credits roll. You can watch the entire ending here.



-----

We'll wrap this up tomorrow.

See you.

Kirby's Adventure ~Dream 7~ Discovering New Yogurt

Two things before I begin:

-Holy crap, I did not expect to get sidetracked like this. I had this nice little system of 2-3 days between each post all set up, but there was the looming threat of an essay I knew would be a bump in the road. Not only was I was right, but I now have to discuss this topic with a minimum of at least a thousand words. Not pretty, and it's due in a week. As a result, procrastination hit me a little too hard.

Then again, I'd much rather have this when I had to dreck through on my birthday week last year...eesh, that's a topic for another time, though.

2. Before I knew the true horrors of the essay, I knew I'd have to make proper accommodations, so here's what I'll be doing.

The next two worlds, Yogurt Yard and Orange Ocean, will be combined into one for this post. Well, not so much combining as much as it's that I'm nearly omitting Yogurt Yard entirely. I'm doing this for the following reasons:

-There's nothing really that interesting in Yogurt Yard, but I don't want to bury its existence entirely, so it's there in the title. Meanwhile, as much as I love Orange Ocean, there's not much new I can harp on about it. Expect it near the bottom.

-And as much as I love this game, I want to move on to my review, which I haven't had time for THANKS TO THAT ESSAY. Luckily, the next game I'll be going over will be much more flexible, so I won't have to be stuck on a particular subject for a month!

So, yeah, on with the show!

--------

Last time, I discussed nostalgia and the effects it has on gamers like us. Well, you can certainly expect more discussions on that in future titles, but today we're gonna focus on something a little different.

When I was younger, I often avoided the tougher challenges in a game, mainly for two reasons:

1. I hated losing, and wussed out of many challenges because I predicted they'd be too tough for me. Often times, they weren't and I was just being a coward.
2. I had a phobia of the main characters dying. Like, you know, watching childhood icons like Mario and Banjo Kazooie being dead. Not a very pleasant site.

In Kirby's case, it's always been the first one, although it's slightly different from what I described above. Now, I've gone over the many abilities of Kirby in the game and how accessible they are. Some are harder to use then others, but they're all incredibly fun to use and the more you spend time with them, the more you'll find uses for each and every one of them.

...except for one. Well, two if you count Sleep. But sleeping Kirby is adorable and can get away with it. No, I'm talking about Ball Kirby.


Unfortunately, I couldn't find any screenshots so you'll have to make do with the lovely piece of art above. A power given to you by ingesting the round Bubbles enemy, Kirby obviously turns into a ball and can now bounce around. Sounds awesome, right? Well, the problem is the execution..

See, when you bounce, you have to time it for you to bounce effectively. In other words, you tap the A button right before you hit the ground and you go soaring. Problem is, I never figured how to do this and it pissed me off. I'd spring up, then crash into some enemy and end up dead. As far as I was concerned, it was the only real dud in the game. If you haven't guessed it already, I sucked at timing.

Upon actually being smart while revisiting this game, however, I found the solution to my problem. When you're falling back down after bouncing, Kirby flashes white after a period of time and that's when you press A. The result? I'm ricocheting all over the place and having the time of my life.

For some reason, I think it's great fun to mess around with in the hub screens, particularly in Butter Building's vertical design where I can just go up and up. It kicks ass.

If only I discovered this sooner...ah, the misconceptions of youth.


----

So what are the other doors that the hidden switches open? Well, they lead to two other minigames, one of which is Quick Draw: a series of duels in the Wild, Wild West.
Badada! Bummmm.......

So, what's the deal here? You're Kirby with a cowboy hat squaring off against outlaws (read: Kirby bad guys with ridiculous hats), and once again, it's about timing. The moment, and I do mean the moment opponent raises his pistol, you smash that button and knock 'em out.

Yeah, not bullets. You shoot a BOXING GLOVE.

That's right, you get a gun that shoots A BOXING GLOVE. Then you arm yourself with a bazooka that shoots a boxing glove.

Did I mention how much I love this game??????

Oh lord, here it is! It's King Dedede, the guy who broke up the Star Rod! It's on like Donkey Kong!

WHOAHAHAHAHAHOOOOOO

Three one ups?!? Now that's what I'm talking about.

So did I avoid this game when I was younger? At times, but that's only because I'm scared of surprises, which in this case is the opposing gunslinger firing at me before I do. Surprises aren't really my thing, as evidenced by my fear of going to sleep.

...should I have said that out loud?


----------------------

So we're at the last minigame, which is called "Egg Catcher." Hmm, I wonder what it's about...

Dedede again? He must have a real grudge against Kirby.

Wh-wha-ah! He's throwing eggs...and BOMBS! Eeyikes!

This, in my opinion, is the hardest game of the lot. He throws these items at an incredibly fast rate, and if you swallow a bomb, wellllll...

Game over.

So you gotta distinguish the eggs from the bombs. And believe me, that's no easy feat, so how does one avoid this? By constantly switching between opening/closing your mouth and making sure none of those explosive buggers get in.

..so what happens when all thirty eggs get in?


Chickies! And three oneups!

This minigame I still find incredibly hard to do, but I've managed to nab all the eggs at least once or twice. It takes some real practice...and some eyestrain. Ouch.



------------------------



And now we come to the sixth world, Orange Ocean. Interestingly enough, Kirby's visited this location more then once in his adventures.

Of course, it being an ocean and all, you're constantly treading in water. See?

The demon frog's domain.

Waterfall!
Red! Not orange?

When discussing Orange Ocean, one has to go over the ship level!


We're aabbbooouuuttt to infiltrate...

SCRAM!

So why does this level kick ass? For one thing, you're on a boat. Second, the ship's got all sorts of crooks and nannies to climb about and explore. Third, you're invading a boat and beating up its crew members. In short, it's adventure on the high seas all contained in one package.


And of course, the captain of this ship is none other then Bonkers. After an epic duel, his hammer ability is once again yours to command! You can plow through the rest of the crew with ease, or perhaps even find the cleverly located switch (hint: you gotta get outside the ship!). Either way, once we're done, let's get outta here!
Fly! Fly Fly!


Lett''s gooooo......

Eventually, we find ourselves in an icy paradise. Apparently this ocean has glaciers.

And, hey, we can't forget about the beautiful moonlit lake.


An igloo! But don't get excited, for those pesky knights are after you again! Strangely enough, when you defeat them, the final door opens...what could this mean?

-----------------------------------------------

The boss of this world is none other then...

The masked knight!!! He is supposedly tired of sending his flunkies out to attack you, so he wants to test you himself. However, he is a knight of honor, and only wishes to duel with a sword. So he's nice enough to lend you one of his own. Then the battle begins!

The knight is quick and will waste no time attacking, so you'll have to be on your toes for this one. You can hack and slash at him, but he will not recoil in the slightest and shut you down with some fancy shmancy swordplay.

Yikes, Kirby's open!!

So what's your best bet? You've gotta be agile and not let him land any blows. However, the knight is clearly an expert at swordplay, as he can perform aerial attacks as well! You especially gotta watch for the downward stab. You won't be getting by this one so easily...

...but even after such an arduous battle, Kirby won't fall!

Hey, his mask is shattering...

Oh my!

Embarassed that his true face is shown, the mysterious knight embeds himself within a cape and teleports away.

..what just happened there? Who knows, but we got a piece of the Star Rod.

---

This is not the last time we meet that character. The masked knight is known as Meta Knight.

Perhaps the most mysterious character in Nintendo's wide repertoire of characters, Meta Knight is a character who's loyalty is always dancing on a thin line. For instance, his most diabolical act was to invade Dream Land with the gigantic airship known as the Halberd (as seen in Kirby Super Star). Other times, his motives are to aid Kirby from behind the scenes, such as in Squeak Squad and Amazing Mirror. In his latest appearance, Epic Yarn, he was under the control of an evil sorcerer and helped Kirby when he was broken free.

We know not of his origins, either. Who exactly is he? Why does he look like a black Kirby under the mask? Is he an ally, or a foe? Perhaps he took a piece of the Star Rod so he could take the opportunity to duel Kirby? What is his relationship with him?

In particular, there's one detail about this game I didn't go over...every now and then, a masked figure will pop up from below the screen and toss an Invincibility Candy to Kirby. Many fans claim that this is Meta Knight himself.

Just what is his true allegiance?!? And that's not to mention all those unanswered questions! For gosh sakes, get those skeletons out of your closet!

Well, whatever the case, there's no doubt that he's one cool customer. As such, he's gained many fans over the years. I suppose Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai said it best:

"Despite being almost all head, his mask and cape exude coolness."

Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh.

----

Alright, two more to go!

....hmm, I gotta say, other then the last part, I'm not too happy with how this turned out. Maybe next time.