Kirby's Rainbow Resort

Mi mi mi mi.... LAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Microphone Kirby, please take the stage.

Microphone has been a long-running Kirby ability, and probably one of his most dangerous, or at least the most notorious. Ever since Kirby's Dream Land, it's been a known, accepted, and feared fact that our pink friend Kirby can NOT carry a tune. And releasing his deadly caterwauling into a microphone or other sound amplifier just serves to make the decibels even more deadly. Microphone Kirby can REALLY clear the house with some of his "greatest hits". And depending on the game he's in, he might just have more than one tune to carry to your heart... and make your ears bleed all the same.

Back in Kirby's Dreamland, Microphone was an item/ability, and a one-timer at that. You found the Microphone in Castle Lololo, and had to use it in the room in which it was found, or else it was all but useless. The song Kirby had for his foes was unforgettable though. He's changed the tune a little bit (VERY silght difference in screeching) since then, but the effect remains the same. One song, and your enemies bite the dust. However, in the Microphone room, Kirby would have likely killed everything nearby just to REACH the item.

Picture courtesy of Kine the Genius!

Kirby's Adventure treated us with a relatively new Microphone ability. Instead of ONE screen-clearing aria, Kirby had THREE... yipes! All that noise three times over is enough to give even the toughest bosses a severe migraine. In fact, it'd take a huge bite out of their HP if he sang all three tunes. THAT serves to make it even deadlier than Crash, if you consider only the fact that it can clear enemy infested screens three times to Crash Kirby's one. However, Microphone was RARE. REALLY rare. You could find Bombers or Poppy Bros. to give Crash in more levels than you'd find that alarm clock mini-boss (Clockwork?) that ccarried the Microphone ability. And Walkie back then was just one of Paint Roller's sinister designs. So finding them wandering around... wasn't gonna happen. But getting to see Kirby belt his hits into a megaphone, desk mike, and stage mike with stand and rocker pose was just adorable... even when it brought down one of Rainbow Resort's rainbows, almost on his hed (how he goes from Microphone to Parasol Kirby so fast, we'll never know)

Kirby Super Star did little if anything to differentiate from Kirby's Adventure Microphone ability. Kirby now wore a baseball coach's hat for his megaphone song (which had the new "modified" screech), the headphones we know and love for his desk mike solo (song seems to be early shades of his current voice), and a very, VERY deep solo with the stage mike... and he had a killer green and yellow mohawk as well! Clockwork was gone, but now Walkies could be found... walking and singing their deadly notes at Kirby. Kirby could get his Microphone ability from them, or from Mixing. Walkies were rare, though... and totally absent from Milky Way Wishes and The Arena. At first, I thought this setback would prevent me from figuring a damage factor for it (no Computer Virus RPG battle with Microphone), but then... I figured Dynablade was a fine substitute. An FAQ I read weighs Dynablade in at 225 HP... There's Walkies in the 4th Dynablade stage... after three songs, I recalled the Burning Leo helper I had as 2P, and finished her off with Fire Blow... took 13 shots. So she had 65 HP left after the concert. The difference between 225 and 65 is 160. So all three songs do a grand total of 160 damage. That's the same as four hits with the sitting fireball attack, or two Hammer Flip attacks (80 dmg each hit). Each song alone does 53.33333333 damage. Seemingly weak, but if you consider the fact that icrophone clears screens, and the stacked total is the same damage as Crash... you're talkin' one lethal ability here. Too bad you can't make helpers of Walkies... being able to sing to ol MK woulda been fun... (I think you'd die from the ROMK time limit before you could get to him with Microphone, unless you had a decent helper, or a friend over to control your helpers.)

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland is just Kirby's Adventure with new sprites, a few changes in level layout, upgraded graphics and music, and some weakened abilities and the KSS/animé/original design hats. Microphone Kirby is prety much the same as in Super Star. However, he now sings in his Kirby voice instead of the screeches. No big deal. He's still deadly. Actually, Microphone is stronger than Crash in this game (Bonkers had enough HP for two more attacks after one Crash blast, but icrophone killed him off with all three songs.), but why and how? Probably HAL tweaking some abilities. Hammer WAS weakened, after all... Again, Microphone's rare. Only Clockwork and Walkie wield it, unless you're a crackshot Mixer.

We revert to but one aria (the headphones and desk mike song) for Kirby Air Ride, but now Walkie's a "wild card" enemy... he'll show up randomly in some courses (Walkie, Skull Bomb, and Noddy will just appear in some spots, and wherever you spot one of them, the other (or one of the course's "regular" enemies) will show up later in the race), but you might be able to snag three of them in one race... maybe even one LAP sometimes. (Try Magma Flows or Sky Sands for this). Kirby can still clear screens (and shatter coral) with his song, and it knocks his rivals silly... however, the burst into the air is GOOD for anyone on the Winged Star, so be careful. Microphone's a good ability to use against Dedede, and for just plain being evil in City Trial and Top Ride. However, the Microphone is an item there, as opposed to a Copy Ability (well... it's a "panel ability" in City Trial; there ARE no enemies there besides maybe Dynablade). It's also got a decent range, but it's not gonna clear the whole course of enemies. However, depending on WHERE in some couses you get it, you might KO some enemies that are pretty distant at the time, based on the way the course is shaped. Bad if you want Needle or Tornado in Sky Sands sometimes. Walkie is also afraid of Celestial Valley for some reason; I RARELY see him there in Air Ride, and he's only in the LAST lap of Time Attack mode.

Animé Microphone Kirby... first of all, 4Kids did NOT have it wrong. NOA just shortens Microphone Kirby to "Mike Kirby". The ability name is Microphone, and thats what the dub calls it. So that aside, this ability seemed to thoroughly confuse Meta Knight, and it De-De-Destroyed Castle Dedede, as well as some monsters at HNC/NME headquarters. Heck, from what I've heard, Walkie was spit out after Kirby finished his song, and it ran from Kirby in fright. I guess enemies don't know that they fuel Kirby's abilities while they're in his belly. Admittedly, at the time f this writing, I haven't yet seen the episode "Welcome to Dedede-Vegas"/"Abusement Park"... but supposedly, as of this writing, Microphone will be back soon, and I WILL record the episode to survey the damage he does this time. Before I forget, his transformation sequenc is one of only THREE sequences visible in the show's dub opening. He apparently goes for the look of his second KSS/K:NiDL song, with the headphones and deask mike. And his sequence not only has the stars in the background like Fire, Cutter, Bomb, Parasol, Mirror, etc... (albeit radiating outward from Kirby instead of falling/rising behind him) but it also has a bunch of colorful notes as well. From what I've heard, he actually sings in the original, and just goes "Poyo" to the tune of the Japanese opening, "Kirby March" in the dub... I can only imagine him singing the dub opening as Microphone Kirby... yeah, DEADLY! My poor ears!!!

For a limited-use power, Microphone is pretty decent. And it's CUTE, and rather unexpected... So I rate it a perfect 10!

Though I must wonder who'd win... Shade Man (Mega Man 7, with the Noise Crush weapon) or Microphone Kirby...