Kirby's Rainbow Resort

Before I begin the dissecting of this Copy Ability, please allow me a moment to express my deepest gratitude to all of you who read, rate, discuss, and enjoy these topics. It means a lot to me knowing there are other Kirby fans out there that can have just as much, if not more insight than I on some of the many aspects of the Kirby universe. Be it his powers, his personality, the other characters in both the games and the animé, knowing that I'm reaching other fans who are also deep thinkers or just very outspoken people REALLY keeps me going where it comes to things like this. So to all of you out there reading this... SiR6 says "thank you"! :)

That said, time to get out the insulated outerwear and discuss Plasma Kirby!

Plasma is a very interesting ability, to say the least about it. It uses electrical energy to attack, and has a catchy crown (variant on the Fire/Ice crown sprite, or totally new design entirely, depending on the game), so most people would simply consider it an offshoot of Spark (like Burning to Fire and Freeze to Ice), and be done with it. However, nature of energy, crowns, and shielding is where the simiarities end. While Spark is a strong defensive ability, Plasma is a more offensive power, the result of it's hailing from Kirby Super Star giving it many varied attacks. Kirby can shock his opponents into submission with his ability, and can jst as easily defend himself with a deceptively powerful shield. Similar properties to Mirror Kirby's Reflect Guard, but shielding with Plasma, while stronger, cannot reflect attack, nor does it protect from as many things as Mirror's guard can.

KSS was the start of the Plasma ability. Kirby would get this by inhaling Plasma Wisp, a floating sprite of plasma with large (for a Kirby game character) hands. With this attack, Kirby had six attacks available with five levels of Plasma charge... and the icing on the cake was that Kirby could actually defend himself while charging his Plasma attacks, and could move as well... in fact, Plasma was charged by tapping the Control Pad rapidly (the idea was that Kirby's dashing built static electricity to charge the ability, but Kirby was immobile while guarding and could still charge up), so you could dash and stop repeatedly to build a good sized charge to unleash on the enemies. For some reason, Kirby also turned a lighter shade of pink with this ability, as he does with Mirror. The breakdown of the abilities with Plasma is as such:

No Charge (Level 1): Plasma Needle. Does 5 damage to enemies, and is short (VERY short) range
Level 2 Charge: Plasma Arrow. Does 10 damage, and is somewhat long-ranged.
Level 3 Charge: Plasma Spark. A cluster of sparks encricling each other flies out about half a screen length, doing 30 damage to any unfortunate enemies in the way.
Level 4 Charge: Plasma Laser. This is a LARGE Plasma Arrow with rings around it. Does 32 damage to enemies, and travels the screen's length.
Level 5 Charge: Plasma Wave Cannon. The top attack, but that power comes with a lot of charging (though it builds quickly enough). Does 40 damage to enemies, clears the entire screen ahead of you, and is just plain useful if you have a lot of obstacles in the way, or are facing a boss. The attack looks like Plasma Spark with an energy barrier around it. Some sparks also fire BEHIND Kirby when he uses this, doing the same damage as the attack itself.

That's the five attacks. The sixth move is a shield attained by charging to Level 5, and then just leaving the charge there. The shield does 6 damage points to enemies, and when coupled with the guarding, makes a good defense. If anything can get through the shield, it will most likely bounce off Kirby's body if he's guarding. Large lasers and grabs/licks/inhale attacks can still be a threat, but anything that grabs you from close range will still suffer. This shield move, as well as the crown and electrical nature of Plasma are the main reasons the ability seems like an offshoot of Spark. (Spark's crown is Plasma's old crown, and at that, it tends to look like Fire's crown with green flames, pulsing electricity, and a sapphire instead of the emerald in the center) As far as Plasma Wisp goes, they make somewhat decent CPU helpers. Sometimes, they get close and bombard the enemy with Plasma Needles. Othe times, they actually charge up to attack. Their floating makes them somewhat less prone to accidentally bumping into another Copy Ability icon, and also less prone to touching spikes on the floor.

Kirby Air Ride brought Plasma back after a long absence, and it hasn't changed much. The shield is no longer useful, just a visual effect that casts an intensifying electrical green aura around Kirby. The Level 1 and 2 attacks are the same attack, but at Level 2, the small Plasma Bombs come out as a dual shot, and reach farther. Level 3 is still a triple shot, but instead of a cluster of sparks, you get three small lasers that are fired out in a three-way spread (kinda like the 3-way spread guns weapons in the Contra games). Level 4's Plasma laser looks much the same (minus the arrow) as it did in KSS, but now it homes in on targets, as does the ULTIMATE Plasma Bomb, the Plasma Wave Cannon. You build the charge by moving the Control Stick around, which means while you have Plasma, you can't Quick Spin. That's not much of a problem, unless you're ahead of the competition, and they ehxale an enemy at you. Kirby still gets Plasma from the adorable Plasma Wisps, who are immobile now, and prefer to live among machinery, or in dark places. If not for the Plasma Copy Ability Icon that floats over them, one might think they were just course decoration - they RARELY appear in the middle of the road. There's a HUGE one in Machine Passage Time Attack that floats in the center of the road near the beginning of the third lap... really a scary sight the first time you see it.