Ripple Star

RIPPLE STAR

Kirby 64 had a rather unique aesthetic, as the game made sure to highlight the 3D nature of the game, despite still being a 2D sidescroller. This tended to come in the form of curving paths and circular towers and such that would twist as Kirby moved along them.

I think that’s the most important aspect to really represent here. I went with Ripple Star, Ribbon’s home world, as the planet itself is a striking visual, so it could be set on the ring around it, but it could also be set down on the planet itself, on a tower or somewhere in the city that will allow for some fun background 3D visual effects.

Possible theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GleWK8NOmUk

HR-H and HR-E

HR-H AND HR-E

One of Kirby 64’s final worlds was Shiver Star, a frozen level full of tech that looks suspiciously manmade in nature. Among these is the final boss, HR-H, a large transforming robot that can become a tank called HR-E.

As a fighter, HR-H will be in its robot form for the most part but will be able to transform. It will be strong and durable, and its moveset will pull from its boss fight.

Likelihood rating: Never gonna happen.

Plugg

PLUGG

Much like Hot Head and Burning Leo, Sparky tends to be the representative of the Spark ability, except when helper allies are involved, then Plugg, a living electric plug, tends to join the fray instead.

As a fighter, Plugg will be fairly durable with middling speed and a natural defense at the top of its head. It will be an echo of Sparky, its moveset pulling from the Spark and Plasma abilities.

Likelihood rating: Piranha Plant clause.

Acro

ACRO

Toward the later end of Dream Land 3, one boss you’ll encounter is, well, basically just an orca named Acro. This orca would reappear in Kirby 64, with multiple references in subsequent games.

As a fighter, like many water-based fighters so far, Acro will move as if swimming through the air, and will be large and hefty in his movements. His moveset will pull from his two boss battles.

Likelihood rating: Probably not.

Tick

TICK

Though Captain Stitch worked well to represent the Gordo enemy, throughout most of the series, the Needle ability is most often provided by a little white blob called Tick.

As a fighter, Tick will be fairly slow and weak, making up for it with its high defense and piercing projectiles. Its moveset will pull from the Needle ability in all its forms.

Likelihood rating: Probably not.

Chilly

CHILLY

Even more regularly, the Ice and Freeze ability will be represented by a cute living snowman named Chilly.

As a fighter, Chilly will be a bit on the slow side, made up for by its ability to freeze opponents in their tracks. It will be an echo of Pengy, its moves pulling from Ice and Freeze primarily.

Likelihood rating: Could happen.

Rocky

ROCKY

Another common copy ability of Kirby’s is the Stone ability, which allows Kirby to transform into a rock, giving him high defense and the ability to bludgeon his enemies in various ways. This is best represented by the enemy Rocky, a small boulder with feet.

As a fighter, Rocky will be slow but strong, with high defense. His moveset will pull from all aspects of the Stone ability throughout the entire series.

Likelihood rating: Piranha Plant clause.

Twister

TWISTER

Another of Kirby’s most common abilities is his Tornado ability, giving him the power of wind. Strangely, its most common contributor is a simple little top called a Twister.

As a fighter, the Twister will be small and light, constantly spinning to move around. Its moveset will pull from all the various aspects of the Tornado ability.

Likelihood rating: Never gonna happen.

Waddle Dee

WADDLE DEE

As most of the history has been covered already, and we’d likely just be repeating singular lines over and over again, we’re going to skip the top paragraph for this roster, and instead focus on the enemy’s specific role. First up is the Waddle Dee, the most basic and generic enemy in Dream Land. Like many generic enemies in game series, they have proven quite versatile and have had a number of random add-ons to their members over the years.

As fighters, they will be very middling in stats, with not much power or weight or speed. Their moveset will pull from across the series and all the random add-ons they’ve accumulated.

Likelihood rating: Strong.

Miracle Matter

MIRACLE MATTER

As Kirby, Ribbon, and their friends make their way from planet to planet, gathering all the shards of the Crystal Star, they finally return to Ribbon’s home of Ripple Star, where they face a boss shaped like a 20-sided die.

This is Miracle Matter, the earliest form of Dark Matter you face in the game. It’s battle concept is based on the roll of its die, each face determining which ability it uses, each based on Kirby’s copy abilities.

As a fighter, Miracle Matter will be similar in concept and abilities to Zero and Zero-Two, except with a moveset based on its copy ability-based moveset in the game.

Likelihood rating: Never gonna happen.

Ribbon

RIBBON

For the Nintendo 64, the Kirby series released Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, all in all, a 2D sidescroller like the others, but with 3D graphics. The game told the story of Dark Matter instead attacking a nearby planet called Ripple Star, the planet’s princess escaping and landing in Dream Land.

This princess is Ribbon, a small fairy who would become Kirby’s main travel companion throughout the game’s adventure, Kirby helping her gather the shards of the crystal she needed to save her home.

As a fighter, Ribbon is light and flighty with not a lot of strength behind her, using a lot of ranged magical attacks. Her moveset would pull from her own abilities as well as a few unique mechanics of her game.

Likelihood rating: Could happen.

Zero/Zero-Two

ZERO/ZERO-TWO

At the end of Dream Land 3, Kirby will fight Dark Matter once again, flying into its center and finding there a giant eyeball that will act as the true final boss.

This is Zero, Dark Matter’s core. In Kirby 64, a similar situation will occur, except the eye will be slightly different, and called Zero-Two. It is known for being one of the most un-kid friendly bosses in a kid’s game, attacking Kirby with squirts of blood as its main attack.

As a fighter, Zero will be large and powerful with decent aerials. Its moveset will pull from both its own boss battle as well as Zero-Two’s. Both will be represented through color swaps.

Likelihood rating: Probably not.

Adeleine

ADELEINE

At the end of the fourth level of Dream Land 3, Kirby will face a young painter possessed by Dark Matter, with the power to bring her paintings to life.

This is Ado. Conflicting information disagrees on whether or not she is the same person as Adeleine, but if the same, Adeleine would go on to be a major supporting character in Kirby 64, supplying Kirby with health items through her paintings, and would have sparse appearances here and there afterwards.

As a fighter, Adeleine’s main gimmick would be her paintings, creating monsters and items to attack from afar and letting her stay out of the fighting for the most part. Her moveset would pull from all of her various appearances.

Likelihood rating: Good Possibility.

Dark Matter

DARK MATTER

Although, like the previous games, you’d believe that King Dedede is the main villain, upon his defeat, you discover that he was actually being controlled by a cosmic being of darkness.

This is Dark Matter, the closest we have to a true over-arching villain in the series. He would reappear in Dream Land 3 and Crystal Shards, with other villains hearkening back to him or being offshoots of him in some way.

As a fighter, Dark Matter would be large and floaty, with rather unique hitboxes. His moveset would pull from all of his various boss battles throughout the series, and would involve him separating off small parts of himself.

Likelihood rating: Could happen.

Kirby

KIRBY

The Kirby series was launched in 1992 as a main game for HAL Laboratories, a studio under Nintendo, led by Smash’s own Sakurai Masahiro. The series was designed as a basic platformer, a nice and simple line of games mostly for casual gamers (with a bit of Eldritch horror at the end). The main character of these games was a cute little pink puffball who can suck up enemies.

This is Kirby, a resident of the whimsical world of Dream Land, and a bottomless pit for food and enemies alike. In subsequent games, he would gain the power to copy the abilities of those he inhaled, which would become the key staple of the series.

As a fighter, Kirby would be light and floaty, with a decently diverse moveset pulling from all of his various copy abilities and other standard moves. He would also have the gimmick of being able to copy any opponent and gain the use of their standard B-move.

Likelihood rating: Already in.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

KIRBY 64: THE CRYSTAL SHARDS

And now, the first 3D game, or, well, the first game with 3D graphics. It's still a 2D sidescroller, but hey, that's Kirby. The plot tells the story of Ribbon, a young fairy whose home was invaded by Dark Matter, who fled to Pop Star and met Kirby who then agreed to help her, with King Dedede, Waddle Dee, and Adeleine joining in the quest as well.

Kirby is our playable character, and brings with him most of his standards. His copy abilities this time include: Burn (Fire, Fireball, Burning, here's another name), Stone (which makes him indestructible but still mobile now), Ice, Needle (now turning him into a big spiky ball), Bomb, Spark, and Cutter. All of these can be combined into a bunch of unique combinations. To save myself time, I'm just going to mark them all down in the wrap-up section below.

Ribbon is Kirby's companion, serving a sort of Navi-type role. While she and Adeleine were combined in Star Allies, I understand that was done to represent them both while only having one 64 rep, so we don't have to do that ourselves. If anything, Ribbon is the most obvious gimmick rep candidate. As for the other allies, King Dedede can float and body slam and smack things with his hammer. Waddle Dee brings with him a bunch of gadgets, including a boat, a sled, and a mine cart, and can also break through walls. He turns into a Waddle Doo during his early boss fight. Adeleine paints items for Kirby and shows him hints, and during her boss battle, she draws monsters and attacks with her paint brush.

Dark Matter is our main villain once again. In his boss fight, you start out fighting Miracle Matter, a dice of eyeballs that can use attacks based on all of Kirby's copy abilities. After that, you fight 0², the new Zero, who fires explosive orbs, flies with wings, and spews green gas from its tail. As for the other bosses, Whispy Woods tosses fruit, shoots out roots, and has Whispy Woods Jr.'s that follow you around. Pix is a trio of shapes in red, blue, and green, which slash and shoot projectiles. Acro returns, spitting enemies as projectiles, body slamming, and charging Kirby. Magman is a large blob of lava that attacks with tendrils, creates earthquakes, and breathes fire. HR-H is a giant robot that attacks with its arms and shoots missiles, then turns into a lobster and attacks with its claws.

The mini-bosses are all just really big versions of regular enemies. Our returning non-copy enemies include Bouncy, Bronto Burt, Gabon, Glunk, Gordo, Kany, Mariel, Mopoo, Mumbies, Nruff, Pteran, Scarfy, and Zebon, alongside newcomers like Bivolt, Bo, Bonehead, Bumber, Chacha, Drop, Flopper, Flora, Flutter, Glom, Gobblin, I3, Ignus, Keke, Mahall, Maw, Mite, N-Z, Noo, Pupa, Putt, Sandman, Slushy, Snipper, Squibby, and Yariko.

The stages this time around include: Pop Star, the generic starter stage; Rock Star, a desert world; Aqua Star, a beach world; Neo Star, a jungle world; Shiver Star, an ice world; Ripple Star, Ribbon's home world; and Dark Star, where Dark Matter is.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters

Kirby: inhale, stars, float, copy abilities, Love-Love Stick

King Dedede: inhale, hammer, body slam, super jump, eggs, bombs, float, Dark Matter mouth and eye

Meta Knight: sword, slash, stab downward, cape shield, fly, disappear, spin, twister, beams

Bandana Waddle Dee: punch down

Gooey: health, Girl Blob, tongue, Burning, Clean, Cutter, Ice, Needle, Parasol, Spark, Stone, Love-Love Stick, Mock Matter

Ribbon: gimmick rep, Ribbon's crystal

Rick: fire breath, throw Kirby, snowman, quills, bounce Kirby ball, Beam ability, rolling boulder, feather duster

Coo: meteor, feather darts, ice breath, spiky Kirby, spin attack, lightning blast, divebomb, become feather duster

Kine: fireball, laser, freeze water, spikes, shield, lightbulb, sink, plunger

Chuchu: hot-air balloon, magic broom, axe, throw snowballs, shoot out needles, ride in parasol, laser, club

Nago: pillar of fire, dishrag, crescent energy beam, propel into the air, shoot spikes, pogo stick, ball of static, hammer

Pitch: giant fireball, bucket of water, boomerang, snow machine, dart, golf ball, remote control drone, catapult

Meta Knights: axe, mace, javelin, trident

Nightmare: orb, stars, crescents, float, sweep around, cape shield

Dark Matter: sword, shooting beams, energy orb, true form, dark beams, orbs, King Dedede mouth

Miracle Matter: Kirby's copy abilities

Zero: squirts blood, mini-Dark Matters, burst the iris

0²: explosive orbs, wings, green gas

Marx: ball, wings, drop orbs, lightning, burrow, teleport, light arrows, throw up big ball, black hole

Whispy Woods: apples, gusts of air, roots, twin, caterpillars, spit vegetables, walk, Whispy Woods Jr.

Lololo and Lalala: blocks

Kabula: cannon

Kracko: lightning, spawn enemies, orbs, spin, beams

Paint Roller: draw items

Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright: take turns, fire, moon boomerangs, roll, falling stars, meteors, stars, eclipse

Heavy Mole: dig, claw, shoot missiles.

Nruff and Nelly: charge

Sweet Stuff: bites, shoots lasers, summons enemies

Ice Dragon: launch into air, icy breath, kick icy spikes, pound the ground to make icicles

Dynablade: fly, beak, talons, swoop really fast, projectiles, eggs

Fatty Whale: rolls, blowhole, body slams

Computer Virus: D&D RPG game

Chameleo Arm: tongue, claws

Wham Bam Rock: stone hands

Heavy Lobster: fire, charges, minions

Acro: spits things, ram, swim, body slam, spit enemies

Pon and Con

Adeleine/Ado: paintings, Ice Dragon, Sweet Stuff, Shine & Bright, Kracko, paint items, hints, paint brush

Pix: slash, projectiles

Magman: tendrils, earthquakes, fire, enemies

HR-H and HR-E: arms, missiles, lobster, claws

Mr. Frosty: charge, blocks of ice, freeze, swallow, spit

Mr. Tick Tock: sonic blasts, music notes

Bugzzy: grab, slam, fly, ladybugs

Bonkers: hammer, jump, run, coconuts

Rolling Turtle: roll, throw shell

Fire Lion: pounce, chew, fireball

Blocky: jump, crash

Captain Stitch: shoot spikes

Efreeti: meteor

Jumpershoot: jump, spin, sandals

Master Green: lightning, electrical field

Waiu: cutter blades, katana, burning stars, jump quickly

Chef Kawasaki: extendable pan, pot, throwing plates

Iron Mam: extendo-punches

Jukid: energy blasts, grab and slam

Boboo

Haboki: sweep, slam

Yuki: throw head

Waddle Dee: parasol, boat, sled, mine cart, break through walls, Waddle Doo

Waddle Doo: parasol, beam

Poppy Bros.: bombs, balls, Grizzo, flying kick

Broom Hatter

Sir Kibble

Copy Abilities:

Backdrop/Suplex (Bugzzy): suplex

Ball: bouncy ball

Beam (Waddle Doo): sparkly whip, projectile blast

Bomb (Poppy Bros): bombs, fireworks, dynamite, snowman bomb, Gordo, three missiles, lightbulb, exploding shurikens

Clean: sweep, dust, feather duster, Coo feather duster, plunger, magic broom, dishrag, water bucket

Cook: pot, suction

Copy (Tac): scan, copy

Crash: explode

Cutter (Sir Kibble): boomerang blade, Kirby, three darts, laser, axe, crescent beam, boomerang, flaming sword, animal buddy statues, ice skate, bear trap, exploding shurikens, giant boomerang

Fighter (Knuckle Joe): martial arts moves, energy blast

Fire/Fireball/Burning/Burn (Burnin' Leo): fire breath, meteor, fireball, hot-air balloon, pillar of fire, giant fireball, giant winged fireball, volcanic rock, melting ice, fiery arrow, fireworks, tinder sheet, flaming sword

Hammer (Bonkers): swing, pound

Hi-Jump: jump

Ice/Freeze (Chilly): cone of frost, snowman, icy breath, freeze, throw snowballs, propel upward, snow machine, melting ice, curling, giant snowball, giant snowflake, snowman bomb, refrigerator, ice skates

Jet (Capsule J): fly forward

Laser: laser beam

Light: light up dark rooms

Mike: sonic attack

Mirror (Simirror): toss reflections, reflect attack

Needle: spikes, quills, spiky Kirby, shoot needles, shoot spike forward, dart, fiery arrow, drill, snowflake, lots of pointy things, Gordo, lightning rod, bear trap

Ninja (Bio Spark): katana, shuriken, ninja abilities

Paint: splatter paint

Parasol (Parasol Waddle Dee): float, attack, defend, bounce ball, spin attack, ride inside, pogo stick, golf club

Plasma (Plasma Wisp): electric blast, static (combine with Spark?)

Sleep: sleep

Spark: electric field, Beam, lightning, lightbulb, laser, ball of static, remote control drone, tinder sheet, electric rock, refrigerator, lightning rod, lightbulb, force field, lightsaber

Stone (Rocky): heavy block, boulder, sink, divebomb, club, hammer, catapult, volcanic rock, rock skin, giant stone Kirby, curling, drill, dynamite, electric rock, animal buddy statues

Sword (Blade Knight): sword, spinning midair strike

Throw: throw things

Tornado: spin, float

UFO: fly, shoot projectiles

Wheel (Wheelie): roll really fast

Wing (Birdon): fly, divebomb, shoot feathers

Yo-Yo (Gim): yo-yo attacks

Stages:

Green Greens

Castle Lololo

Float Island

Bubbly Clouds

Mt. Dedede

Vegetable Valley

Ice Cream Island

Butter Building

Grape Garden

Yogurt Yard

Orange Ocean

Rainbow Resort

Fountain of Dreams

Grass Land

Big Forest

Ripple Field

Iceberg

Red Canyon

Cloudy Park

Dark Castle

Spring Breeze

Dyna Blade('s Mountain?)

Gourmet Race

The Great Cave Offensive

The Revenge of Meta Knight (Battleship Halberd)

Milky Way Wishes (Nova)

The Arena

Pop Star

Rock Star

Aqua Star

Neo Star

Shiver Star

Ripple Star

Dark Star

Items:

1-Up

Maxim Tomato

Bomb

Invincible Candy

Mike

Mint Leaf

Energy Drink

Sparkling Star

Superspicy Curry

Warp Star

Cannon

Star Rod

Point Star

Rainbow Drop

Grass Land

Ripple Field

Sand Canyon

Cloudy Park

Iceberg

Hyper Zone

Thanks for reading! Next up, sans the copy abilities, which we'll keep going on until at least Forgotten Land, we'll take a break and sort out some character movesets.