Woo-hah! I dissected the preliminary to this power before, now it's time to get back in the ring! Lace up your boots, and hold your ground, it's time to lock up with Suplex Kirby

Suplex has so many similarities to Backdrop, it's almost considered that one or the other doesn't exist. And people usually omit Backdrop. Not very fair, but it's expected. Suplex made its sole appearance in Kirby Super Star, as a power held by Bugzzy (the innovator of Backdrop) and Juukido (a martial arts master with disembodied hands and polka-dot draws), and it paints Kirby a brownish color with a blue headband. The color change, I don't understand at all, but the headband is so the power can look different than Fighter. Bugzzy can be made into a helper, but rarely does the CPU know what to do with him. Never use a Bugzzy helper against bosses. He's useless. Recall him, and Kirby will win the championship belt.... and probably eat it.

Anyway, into the power itself. Suplex introduced the Dash Capture that players of Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland find replacing the inhale Backdrop Kirby used before. Kirby will still lift his enemy over his head, but can now do more than press slams and such. In addition to the original suplex, air body slam and backbreaker moves, he now can pull off a stomp move, which was later seen in Super Smash Bros. Melee as the down throw (and for the record, the standard throw in SSB/Up throw in SSBM is Ninja Kirby's Air Drop, not Suplex/Backdrop Kirby's Air Body Slam). Kirby will repeatedly stomp his captured foe until he kills it. The pile driver that Backdrop Kirby had is replaced by the slam that Backdrop Kirby used in Kirby's Adventure if he inhaled a foe while in the air. That's the new down throw. Kirby can also give them a nasty lariat while holding them, and can do an air throw that arcs in the same way as a medium bomb toss. He's also given a new Pinpoint Kick move, which doesn't involve the capture at all. Just press Down and Y, and you'll nail anything below you. Good when going against bosses with few projectiles, attacks that can't be grabbed, or when going for a Suplex only challenge in The Arena. You'll need the kick against Meta Knight, unless you get lucky and grab a lot of his multi-stab or Sword Beam attacks. You REALLY need it against Heavy Lobster, whose mini lobsters break on contact and will damage you if you try to grab them. Suplex Kirby can also grab certain things that cannot be inhaled, like Scarfy, the Twin Woods' bugs, and if there were any Mumbies around, them too. Just stay away from Simirror, until they calm down from their Reflect Force.

Thanks to the myriad of easy-to-capture projectiles from the Computer Virus, I was able to calculate some damage factors for Suplex. The Air Body Slam and the down throw do 60 damage, while the German Suplex and forwad throw do 70 HP damage. The Quick Stamping is instantaneously executed (you have to tap Y as soon as you grab the foe), and is pretty much impossible to pull off and still manage to damage (forgive the bad rhyme) the boss. Pinpoint Kick does 16 damage (a la Bomb Kirby), and the Lariat has an interesting damage factor. When the enemy is punched, it does 60 damage to the boss, but then, the enemy flying behind Kirby afterward does 70 damage. If you go against Waddle Dee in The Arena, there are no instant kill moves, unlike Jet (Jet Blow), Normal (inhale), and Parasol (Parasol Roll). But, that fight gives you a chance to practice the other moves. And, for the record, you can't use the moves against minibosses until they've been downed, but you can grab their attacks. The Dash Capture bounces off of minibosses and bosses, much like the Slide Kick.

Suplex might or might not come back. I don't know if HAL would use Suplex or Backdrop; it depends on what they like more. They used Fighter Kirby in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, but bypassed Suplex AND Backdrop to use throw. Again, if Throw, Fighter, and Suplex (or Backdrop) got into the same game, I say they'd give the wrestling-based ability a green headband, and leave Throw and Fighter with their current attire. Especially since the animé got the GBA look for Throw Kirby.

In the meantime, Suplex Kirby rates a 9/10 from me. A bit of a pain against a few bosses, but it's still slammin' fun!