Review: Hi-Jump

Ability : Hi-Jump

Titles : Kirby's Adventure, Dream Course, etc...

Reviewer : Ramphy


"It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Hi-Jump Kirby! Faster than a Wheelie Rider, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! No boss can stand before his wrath!" Ah, Hi-Jump. The only ability that makes Kirby look like a genuine super hero obviously deserves a super hero introduction. Well, with that out of the way we can now delve into the glory of one of my favorite abilities in the Kirby games!

If you have only played a few games with Kirby in them, you may ask, "What the heck is Hi-Jump?" In this case you really can judge a book by its cover, because the Hi-Jump ability gives you just that, the ability to jump really high. Sure, it sounds mundane, but it is actually really cool! Seriously, I'm not lying. Stop looking at me like that! Fine! I'll demonstrate my point, you unbeliever!

The Hi-Jump ability first appeared in Kirby's Adventure as one of the original powers Kirby could gain. Only one enemy carried this ability, the mighty Starman. They appeared as little creatures about as big as Kirby himself, lacking any facial features and sporting stylish blue capes with two arms, legs, and a pointy head that split into two points, almost like a chin cleft on the top of its head. These enemies were so cool that they didn't even acknowledge your presence. They just sat around, occasionally taking a little jump and fwooshing their cape out behind them, or flying lazily through the sky. They just didn't really even care... about you!

Once you ate one, though, the fun really started. No stylish cape, but Kirby could now blast into the air whenever he wanted, crushing any enemies in his path and leaving a trail of stars behind him. You could angle the jump somewhat, too, so you could hit enemies up and to the side of Kirby. After each jump, Kirby had to touch the ground before he could use the ability again, which makes sense since it was jumping. As much fun as the move was, however, its practical application in the game was limited to more vertical levels and fights against bosses, where Hi-Jump completely dominated. But more was yet to come.

Hi-Jump's next appearance came in Kirby's Dream Course for the SNES. Not much to say here. You could hit Kirby over a Starman enemy to gain the power, and then release it whenever you wanted to hit that last airborne enemy or make it over an inconveniently placed cliff. After this game, Hi-Jump saw a long absence from the Kirby series, missing out on Super Star and Kirby 64. It wasn't until the Game Boy Advance came out that this power made a welcome return.

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land was a remake of the old Adventure where Hi-Jump first appeared, and it brought some big improvements for our lovely ability. Now whenever Kirby gained the Hi-Jump ability, he brought along his own fancy cape to inspire awe and jealousy wherever he flouted his amazing jumping prowess. You could still use only one high jump until you touched the ground, but a new quirk was added in that you could now stop in the middle of your jump. By pressing B after using the Hi-Jump, Kirby would immediately stop in mid-air, releasing a circle of tiny stars around him that also did a miniscule amount of damage to any enemy they came in contact with. This was actually quite useful for rapidly ascending platforms (especially when fighting Kracko), since Hi-Jump generally took you a bit higher than you needed to go. And of course, Hi-Jump still had that boss-bashing power that we all know and love. All of that, plus getting to admire the capes of both Kirby and the Starman in full color made NiDL a fun time indeed.

Finally, Hi-Jump's most recent appearance was in the DS game, Kirby Squeak Squad. Here Hi-Jump retained most of its nature, though two small things did change. First, the jump cancel was removed. This was horrible move in my opinion, especially coupled with the other change they made. The Hi-Jump ability could now be upgraded by finding a scroll which made the jump faster, higher, more powerful, and last longer. Because the jump goes even higher than usual, you almost always end up going higher than you wanted too, and there is no way to stop it. Even when Kirby hits a ceiling he'll just stay pressing against it until the jump ends before floating back down. This really limits its usefulness in most of the levels, not to mention that Starmen only appear in, like, two of them. Where's the love, HAL? The upgraded jump did have one benefit, however: it completely annihilates bosses. Every single boss in the game can be defeated pretty easily with this bigger, badder jump. UFO? Has been. Tornado? Boooring. Triple Star? *yawn* If you're having trouble beating boss endurance, Hi-Jump is where it's at.

So in conclusion, Hi-Jump excels in all the qualities you should want in an ability. Spiffy cape, high-speed travel, and boss-butchering power. The only places it doesn't shine are mainly inside buildings and caves with low roofs and underwater, but why hang out in dungy places like that? I'm sure Kirby would agree, Hi-Jump is a truly fitting ability for a hero.


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Last Updated - July 20th, 2008