Ask Guru Gobbo #110

1) Toon Link came from regular Link, who had real detail. Toon Link is only in existence to be the fat headed Link like in yester year. The name is a misnomer, but "ugly, short, stupid big-head Link" is a mouthful. Anywise, nothing about Toon Link was suppose to be flat and detailless, but the graphical representation of it eliminated such, much like how most everything lacked detail in 8-bit games. So, rather than saying "Toon Link had detailless shoes before Brawl", you could have said "Normal Link had detailless shoes before Brawl" and the same would have amounted from it.

New information brought up: none. Reasons for digging up this old, beaten argument: zero. When it will die? Never, apparently.

2) Something sock-like was pretty much what shoes of old were like. They were just leather slips, if even that, and couldn't take feet across jagged rocks safely. But, really, it's not too hard of a concept: Kirby is a low detail game. Everything is bubbly and cartoony. No bottom to the shoes, no laces or straps, and no other fine touches, either, like feathers on King Dedede. They just ain't there.

How about I bury this deader than dead, tho'? Because, every time someone pushes and gets no ground on the argument, I get sick of it and push back so hard, all ground is covered and there should be no room for anything else to be questions. Someone always does, sadly, normally for poor reasons. So, we go to this: Official Dream Land 3 art of Ado. Now, people chat idly about Kirby's kicks, but Ado definitely has shoes donned. They aren't socks, they aren't black feet, they are shoes.

"But Uncle Gobbo," you probably won't say, "that's official game art. It isn't art from the game." Even though she looks exactly the same in it, we'll say not. Well, shoot dang, imaginary Timmy, you're right. So, how about Rick? We all know what that fat hamster looks like, right? How about his feet? Round, smooth shoes, right? That's what I think of them as, except for- oh no! Normal game graphics, like just seen, as well as scribbles of Rick, have him with round feet, but when Ado puts more effort into it to make a detailed hamster, you see the claws on not only the hands but the feet shown.

So, a lot of it is representation. Rick's feet are, for all intensive purposes, rounded ovals, but through Ado's eyes, they turn into pointy-tipped paws. The finer points are there if they want to be shown. However, in the general presentation, which is next to all of them, the bubbly, smooth way is gone. It's been that way for so long, even in the face of deeper detail, they still come out as cartoony and flat. A stylistic preference has been adopted as the physical description, like how the Power Puff Girls are, in canon, fingerless, fat-headed freaks of nature.

Kirby has shoes. Rick has claws. Waddle Dee has a mouth. Broom Hatter has eyes. It's all there; you just never see it.

0) Two... hundredth? Despite the fact that you just read the 108th session and have only been around since after the first centential marker?

1) No, none. Saying it's a platformer adds volumes to what could be a possible behavior used, but all of Kirby, Mario, and Mega Man are platforming games, but their bosses are each radically different. Without deep and well explained game mechanics, no suggestion would really be valid. I do have two tips, however: A) Do what 0² does. B) Stop asking me.

2) Kirby: Cosmic Chaos has it's own giant, explanative post in the forums, and a website, in which all the most up to date information is provided. Are you even bothering to look before you ask?

3) My entire history has been chronicled previously. And, no, no one gets paid for this. That's why GameSpy has quite the racket going here.

4) The first 0 reminds me too much of pie to creep me out, what with the cooling slits and looking like a cherry. Seriously, he looks like a pie.

5) Have you even bothered looking for Meta Knight sprites? I mean, I'd think any of them would have the maskless one sitting right there. And, I was right. The first three Google results, which one of was the site you knew existed as you linked to the custom 0² sprite from it, all had the maskless sprite right there. Every game. That's, like, the easiest thing to find ever. Seriously, are you even bothering to try and find this stuff yourself?

6) You could at least try spelling it right if you're so anxious for me. Like said before, this ain't "Squeaky Bogg's Fun Face Hour", it's Ask the Kirby Gurus. Answers come first. The rest is just flavoring.

7) ... You're an ass.

8) My personal collection of Kirby games was divulged early on in Gurus.

9) You're lack of even attempting to scour vaguely for the information yourself is, yes. Barely a "burning question" when it's in plain sight.

Well, the real one is the Japanese voice, as that is the first, true, and original. Ivyna J. Spyder made several jokes about the 4Kids dub giving Galaxia a female voice due to a mistranslation, of her own fault, that they thought was canon since they didn't know better and were always watching Ivy for intel. Why they really did it was probably just demographical filling, wanting a female to be a symbol of power.

1) Luigi the Seaweed is my favorite Nintendo character, rightfully, an inside joke gotten by three people!

2) Yes, Kirby's fate is grim. Tilt 'n' Tumble 2 was canned, Wii is taking forever to come out, and remakes seem all that can come out. They'll probably wind up making, I dunno, "Meta Knight's Adventure" or some junk like that.

I know what you meant in both cases. Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright are the moon and sun, respectively. It seems like it should be more obvious, which shine really being applicable to either the solar or lunar orbs and bright being more closely linked with the sun, but then it switches up in one's mind.

1) No, I won't be. X-mas just passed, and this isn't "Squeaky Bogg's Magical Icon Showcase". Plus, I'm separated from my scanner at this time.

2) Normally, all of the icons are just titled or alternative texted with "Squeaky Bogg"; however, the one positioned near the question box use to be the "Evil" icon, which is scary and looks to bite people. This one was afixed with "Hug Me", but as the icon was changed over time, the alternative text was left unchanged since, well, I forgot to change it.

3) "Trot" was actually modeled after the pudgy fan art that Squeaky Bogg gets, namely from folks like the awesome Silver Lunar. Kirbypedia art would be Ivyna J. Spyder art, which it doesn't match at all. Her stuff is pretty slim by comparison.

4) Not that I am aware of. That's a Mailsack thing, however. I'm not in charge of organization things there. Or, really, anywhere.

1) Waddle Dee originated from Pop Star, as did Kirby, Broom Hatter, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Kabu, Como, Kracko, Mr. Frosty, etc. They all came from Pop Star. Pop Star is their home. Don't get confused by the animated series.

2) I would guess the Kirby creative team. I don't think those type of things are credited to single individuals or anything. They had to replace all enemies, after all. What would have you preferred? Pancakes to waffles? Now that's just silly is what that is.

Because Kirby is so heavy in story department to begin with, am I right, folks?

Anyhoo, that idea sounds better for something like Rainbow Island, the rightful sequel to Bubble Bobble, than it does Kirby. Sure, Fire could have an interesting application, and maybe a few other abilities, but things like Wheel, Stone, Spark, Needle, etc. are really just flat, boring, and unusable in such a respect. But, really, what happened to my soap box decree?

Adaptations of video games rarely come out like the original product. What works in "that world" doesn't seem to translate to Hollywood, which has a tired, lame, and unoriginal formula that it runs on any acquired properties. Kirby suffered the fate of being limited by its creator, however, who wanted him not to speak. Couple that with wanting to make him "the next Pikachu", which I don't even see as a desireable feat in any respect, and you get what we got.

Anyhoo, the head director of the series was Yoshikawa, who oddly was concerned about a seamless transistion of Kirby from games to the animated media for his movements. I guess the primary basis of the franchise in other respects was worthless?