Ask Guru Gobbo #34

To be fair, that's just one of the reasons that I dislike the animated series, but your point is true nonetheless. There is a bounty of Kirby mangas and comics, whatnot, that do the series justice. These are about Kirby and the Kirby universe as seen in the games, not some made-up filler they decided to throw at the audience for the fun of it.

Now, I don't believe there was a "more gamie" version of the animated series planned before hand. I've said it before, but one of the fatal blows was Kirby being forbidden from speaking, something he does all the time in the mangas.

And, much like you said, I'm fine with people liking the animated series. I've said that before. I just don't like it, that's my opinion, and I wish people would stop dragging this horse out of the ground to beat it more. It's been done, it's been explained, I've moved on, but it keeps coming back to haunt me.

1) The Warp Stars are never really explained. They just seem to be Pop Star buses in the early games -- waiting in an area to take a passenger to another, predetermined area. These is apparently a lot of their functions. I mean, Dream Land doesn't seem the place for cars and such, outside of the later established Mecheye and such things like Halberd, so that probably is their car equivalents.

2) I have more than made it clear that I love the classic, bald look of Kirby for pretty much the same reason you do: old school. * high five * The hats, for the most part, just clash with the prior simplicity of the Kirby look. Super Star, which was a lot more detailed than previous titles, kinda fit the hat usage, particularly since abilities like Wing and Jet needed them to even be in the game. When there was a return to simplicity with Dream Land 3, we all thought it would stay that way since it was the norm. Well, I guess making different gear for Kirby to wear just allows more merchandise to be sold.

3) Flight is limited in cases where it is not needed to be infinite. In a lot of older titles, there are cases where Kirby has to navigate tricky courses in a single breath. In titles like Super Smash Bros., they can't have Kirby fly up from the brink of a stage out or just hanging out at the top of the screen while everyone else kills each other. In The Crystal Shards, there didn't seem to be as much of these complicated corridors, or really much space to fly to at all, so they cut the breath down. That, or pudge ball is getting a little more pudge than ball, if you know what I mean. Too many tomatoes!

1) The yellow wrapped kimono is a newer addition. Previously, the king just wore his zigzag girdle which always seemed to grow and shrink in size. This can be seen in game sprites and concept art ranging from Dream Land to Squeak Squad. The yellow on his front, if there, was just his underbelly spot. Of course, Brawl added a lot of detail to a lot of characters, like stitching to Mario's denim and Meta Knight's gloves. King Dedede, actually having something to add detail to without ruining his appearance, had his wardrobe elaborated upon. Since he is daimyo, they went with the full out traditional look. And a rocket hammer.

2) There's a sharp contrast in naming conventions on each side of the ocean. Japan likes crazy names, and those tend to be frowned upon over in the States. Marketing, I guess, tested it as low. However, in case of Pupupu Land, the answer can be found in saying Pupupu Land. Poo. Poo. Poo? Yeah, not exactly something the folks at Nintendo of America probably wanted to have.

3) Kirby's suction is actually operated sans lungs as he opens up the vast, dimensional pocket that resides inside his stomach. This creates a vacuum affect that pulls objects directly into his belly without any pull to his trachea. That, of course, is total bull. I would say that his reaction timing is quick enough and his oral cavity is large enough to allow sufficient time for him to catch the inhaled items before any significant danger is had to them blocking his wind pipe.

4) For taking pictures of clay figurines, you want a camera with a macro mode or setting. This is normally used for taking close up shots of insect or flowers, but works great for smaller figures and models, particularly with the closeness that can be obtained.

And if you think this is anything, you're in for a real treat.

The elusive Robo Mecha Dedede, as the folks here have dubbed it in honor of the staffer of the same name, is real. It, in fact, appears in two Kirby games. Much as you suspected, one of these titles is old. The second has yet to come out. Its first appearance is in Dream Course, where it serves as the sole boss of the entire game. It is a giant, mechanical version of King Dedede, only with a drill and claw instead of hands. While it was nothing much, a vaguely similar, although much more threatening, robotic construct has been spotted for the to-be-released, very delayed Kirby GameCube/Wii title. It still actually has the drill and claw arms, too! Talk about an upgrade, though.

Block is, fundamentally, just Triple Star. It uses the same wand, same apparent affects, just with a hat. The power appears in the code right between Ghost and Triple Star, so they were apparently wanting it to be right near the end for use/order. It really is a mystery, however, as hacking the ability into use results in it immediately coming out of Kirby.

1) Kirby was a creation of Nightmare, yes, and sometimes those botch and do not serve him. In anger, Kirby was thrown out like a piece of garbage. I think Kabu says this all at some point, I don't really know. It's just what I'm going with.

2) Meta Knight's sword, by which I assume you mean Galaxia since you are referencing the animated series with all of your questions, was obtained from a cave and a demon beast. Nightmare acquired the legendary weapon through Kirisakin and hid it away from the hands of the just. Meta Knight and fellow Salaxy Soldier Army Garlude were able to get it back at the cost of the latter's life. This was the mother of Sirica who later came back to get revenge on Meta Knight, blah blah blah.

3) One of the things about the Demon Beasts is that they do not have to be created by Nightmare. I mean, yeah, he has his hands in the mix, but he can turn people, plants, and animals into these evil creations that started out as well meaning, good things. So, by right, Kirby could have been something of the Meta stock that he supposedly twisted, failingly, and tossed out. Or something like that, I dunno. The plot in the animated series didn't really make sense to me.

4) The "Meta Knight in a Pengy Suit" is just a situation in the next-to-be subtitled episode of the Kirby animated series. Bascially, everyone wants to see their favorite dark, mysterious guy in an adorable costume.

You know, I was thinking that as I saw the episode in the list of selections as I was browsing the site earlier today (I was looking for another episode to verify some information). This episode, however, was not originally released or played in order. It was cut from the initial showing of the animated series. Despite eventually being aired, or just allowed to be seen, it is still remembered as one of the "skipped" episodes.

Heh. I know some people who would be so happy to hear that. Kirby Cosmic Chaos, despite seeming like some sort of official sequel to The Crystal Shards or another venture into the realm of 3D by HAL Laboratories, is actually a fan game. Unlike, oh, most any and all ever created, years of effort have been poured into making this fan game one of the best ever created. More information about it can be found in the official RR forum topic.

I... didn't know that. I just figured he'd be accompanied by the standard Kabuki music cue that follows all cool Japanese warriors. Or maybe that wind instrument, whatever it is. Just pick up any samurai movie and you'll hear it at some point in time, trust me.

As for if they were to make a new Kirby cartoon, I don't even know why you bothered asking that. I mean, to me? Really? Yes, of course, I would prefer if they made it more like the games and less like how they had it. All the cartoons for Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man, and, well, okay, not Sonic the Hedgehog, but the rest at least followed the scaffolding set up by the games. I don't remember any of the Sonic cartoons having small animals trapped in big machines. But, that's not the point. Mega Man would Mega Bust his enemies then take their powers, and ironically stay the same color, and Mario would get stars or flowers to power up, although often switched on what gave what. Kirby would... suck stuff up and copy powers. Powers which, for the most part, made him shoot stuff. Hey, do you know how Kirby could shoot stuff? By spitting it! I'd say the aspect they took most from Kirby in the currently only animated series was the "sucking". And, yes, I am witty.

How?