Ask Guru Gobbo #81

1) Not quite. Dark Matter, himself, does not reappear, but derivations appear frequently. The most notable of these are Dark Mind, who is reeking of Dark Matter influence. Dark Zero/Nebula, yes, also smacks of Dark Matter. After all, its true name is a combination of the bosses two forms. Much like the contraband other characters, characters like the restricted characters, even if nearly or blatantly similar. I don't quite know what the catch is, but there certainly is something to have the complete division of true game appearances. Note: true game appearances. Being in a Canvas Curse "connect the dots" or card mini-game don't cut it.

2) King Dedede's motives were consistent. In any canon game, back in the day, he was just a jerk. He learned his lesson, for the most part, in Dream Land I and then progressingly moved towards helping Kirby more, being a full on-helper in The Crystal Shards. Of course, all the little side games about seem to have the King as some cartoon super villain who's always doing evil, like a broken record set on the first song, being the first title. He really only makes a jump in motive from the games to the show, where he went from buddy-buddy when last seen to insert Southern sheriff catch phrase here. Of course, I've driven into the ground the fact that the animated series spit on, destroyed, and ruined this well set up trend. So, really, quite like the fissure between the Shinichi Shimomura character sets, the other games' sets, and the animated series' characters. Different director, different direction.

But, truthfully, just following canon games, meaning platformers, the flow goes reluctant allies in 64, absent in Amazing Mirror, and the accused in Squeak Squad. Really, Dedede hasn't even had time to flex his evil muscle in just the games yet. Gluttony is still right up his alley, I'd take it, and swiping a snack would still be the mild mischief I'd think he'd partake in. So, the games have, at this point, still kept him in a single state of mind. This will, sadly, be an ending trend with the Wii title as it supposedly is about King Dedede stealing Kirby's Warp Star. It not only puts sinistry behind the King but also plops him in the driver's chair for antagonist once more. I'm going to hope that he has some noble reason for snagging it or is under some control as it would be terrible if they ruined eight or so years of storyline.

Now, the King is pretty consistent. The games had him go bad to good mostly and a similar thing happened in the animated series. Their relationship did slightly amend later in that thing as well. Who makes no effort at consistency is everybody's favorite show stealer Meta Knight. I don't know how many times I can say this: Super Star has him leading a massive assault against Dream Land, and then, in Amazing Mirror, he's rushing to save the day. Straight from hardcore villain to goodie two-shoe with only the animated series betwixt the two, the same series that made him good. For no reason. As he was a bad guy at the time. * cough *

1) Squeaky Bogg is not and could not be an Animal Friend. I mean, he's not an animal for starters, and how could Kirby ride him? He's certainly not going to ride on Kirby. No, he rides pets. He's not going to be one. I'd be quite the same as saying, "What would Bio Spark be like as an Animal Friend, let's just say." Really, it's just the same. About the only thing I could think to say to this is that Bogg would "tag out" Kirby and act for him sans any interaction from the cream puff, basically swapping out the character for another. Then, he'd just be like his in-game behavior.

2) People would harbor ill feelings towards Stone since it is lacking in reach. People tend to like the explosive, far reaching attacks, I guess. Cutter, Fire, Sword. Things with real meat to their offence. Stone is a little one-sided in that it can only reach down. That, and it is a defensive ability, not offensive. Now, from what I have heard, people love Stone, particularly for the True Arena, due to its defensive capabilities, ie, invulnerability.

3) Yes. I've even pointed it out previously. He's very apparently a mixture of the two or at least a nod to the previous bosses. I don't believe they were even trying to hide this fact. It's much the same as King Golem being a Whispy Woods counterpart. I don't think anyone would be shocked by that.

1) Air Ride came out in 2003 while the animated series came out in 2001, first. It takes longer to have a show cross the Pacific than it does a game. It's likely that, due to the two being in development at the the same time, particularly when accounting for all the delays Air Ride saw, not to mention the Air Rider episode, they probably tried to mesh some things.

2) Baton Twirling was, yes, an ability only in the animated series. It was, in fact, a fan made ability, along with Iron, Water, and Top. They all appeared in episode 97, a fan ability showcase, and never appeared in these presentations in the games.

3) I never saw that episode. So... yeah. I wouldn't really care either way.

4) Making Bugzzy a swordsman was just another example of the animated series trying to stick characters into episodes. No one, truthfully, outside of Meta Knight, Sword Knight, and Blade Knight use that weapon, so making foes who wield the cutting edge are a bit scarce from what is left. I suppose Heavy Knight, who was either barely or not established at the time, would be about the only other possibility for a large dualist.

5) The arms are larger, fatter, longer. They are everything wrong, everything except for what Kirby's arms look like. The two just don't fit together. This is a strange phenomenon that occurs when you give something of Kirby's general shape shoulder pads, best exemplified in a decomposition piece done by Ivyna J. Spyder, albeit unintentionally. First, let's take a look at official design art. Here we can see Sir Meta Knight and then several pictures of Kirby. Match up the similar angles. For having the same body, the arms start in entirely different positions. Also, note how far down those gloves go. By right, the entire hand should be empty as the nub should, by right, end somewhere within the wrist of the mitt. Meta Knight use to just have floating ball hands with no need to specify where his arms were, mostly because there was no arm there. It was too short and stubby. You know, like Kirby's would look with gloves.

It is just a name, now. The full name reflects both aspects I hate of Meta Knight. They call him "Sir", I spoof with "Señor". I know, yes, the music follows him even in the over-seas original. It doesn't matter. What is up with a Spanish knight when he's all regal and Olde Code variety? That's all proper and English chivalry. What does Spain have anything to do with that stuff? So, really, yeah, I feel the true animated representation is flawed, so my disapproval still stands. See? My hate is well founded. I put get lengths behind my detestment. It's not short sighted or condition. The original is stupid. I never was one to say, "The original is better" for Kirby. I've stuck with, "The original has a minor decrease in heavy suck. Most is retained."

Back to the arms. The main beef I have with these "noodle arms", mind you, is the dread it unleashed over time. This was a launching point, a catalyst, that began his downward spiral in all fronts, in both the following game series and improper replication, that being fan art. He practically has elbows in Brawl, and have you looked at any fan art? It's dreadful! They are literally hanging twigs at his side, all pointy and thin. The best of examples can be seen in the artwork of Dal. Why do I use this person for the example? 'Cuz they're a good artist, really. Fine work. The arms are just splinters, is all, rather than bulbous flippers.

6) Yes, the animated series makes his favorite food watermelon. It is watermelon in the animated series. However, for purposes of real Kirby, it's tomato. Yeah, I said real. Deal with it.

7) According to the recently held botched election, Meta Knight beat out Kirby in "favorite character" votes by 20-25%. That was a considerable lot. So, about a quarter more Kirby fans like his other half more than the original. Still, tho', my favorite is Blopper. It is always Blopper. Blopper is best.

8) No one was expecting them to keep everything precisely as it was in the games. Nothing transitions that smoothly. Why, even the Hellboy movie which was closely under watch of the comic book creator allowed Abe Sapien psychic powers. Why I pull that out of the bag, I don't know. Regardless, things change, I expect that, but the changes made in the Kirby cartoon were one step shy of the changes made for the Mario Bros. movie.

1) Treasure is an odd thing. You horde it and collect and stash it, but nothing else is really done with it. As of such, I'm sure the trophies would be just that: wonders to display as mementos of a great, perilous quest.

2) The Star Rod was an artifact created with a piece of an actual star fragment for the tip whose power was able to create the Dream Spring. By right, the star from which this piece came from would logically have other pieces. Since this one piece broke off and fell onto Pop Star, it stands to reason that the surrounding satellites could have caught some of this scatter. Since the pieces should have been just as enchanted, there could have been several springs sprung. So, yes, the situation is very plausible. I think it's more likely that they just threw in a background for the scenes without thinking of anything to that end.

3) Dream Landers are consistently stated to do a handful of things: sleep, dream, play, and eat. It never says they are members of the culinary elite, that they delight in the intricacies of consumption. No, they just like to eat, and eat a lot. All in one gulp is no problem for their take on the matter.

4) King Dedede displays classic weak mindedness, which is always an easy target for mind control. Kirby is of a stronger mind and, therefore, less easily if at all possible for the psychic attack.

5) If I recall my horrendous Legend of Zelda cartoon facts, Link had a magical bag that holds all of his inventory. His items would grow and shrink as entered. Anyhoo, King Dedede utilizes the most literal case of Hammerspace, the frequently recurring phenomenon where characters, particularly those in anime and like mediums, pull a large object from seemingly nowhere. Yes, the explanation is that it comes from no where.

1) People always ask about Marx? Funny, since when was his name Meta Knight? Anyhoo, people do seem to wonder whether or not Marx had a "true form" hidden before his NOVA wish, but their speculation is one holey bucket. The larger form encompassed a sort of power, power that Marx was lacking. With the transformation came the laser mouth, golden wings, etc. If he had size and formidable ability priorly, he could have went on his own to acquire power or seize control. He wished his wants since he was, at all times, a weak, small, and lowly being who desired awe and respect.

2) There have been no mentions of anything on the Kirby game front at all. Even with Wii, lips are pretty tight after what has been out there for a year now.

3) I'm sure they have a process, as all games do for any aspect to them. I have no clue what this could be. The Kirby folks don't spill the beans on the lesser facts, like what's Kirby's past, and technical details are even touched upon less than those, if you can imagine.

Problem with the names? Never! The stage names are all great, in my opinion, at least for the older names. Around Amazing Mirror, they sort of exhausted most creative names and seemed to just kick stuff out. "Uh... Secret Sea? Yeah, we're not trying anymore." I've never thought to "rename" levels. If a stage has a forth put name, I don't think to dub it something on my own. Kirby puts the stage names pretty much in your face, with the exception of the Dyna Blade few in the original Super Star. Ack. It's gonna be a pain preceding that from now on.

1) The title of "Star Warrior" is on of destiny, not one earned. You are born into the role. Any one, of any species or method of creation, can be such.

2) Nightmare does not try again for the unspoken rule of "Never again". How many times has a scheme come so close to succeeding only to scarcely fail. Yet, even if the solution was only one in the whole world, the villain never tries to merely do it again. That'd be ludicrous. Like Lisa Simpson said when trying to open a locked bathroom to free Maggie in the "Today, I Am A Clown" episode of The Simpsons, "I don't understand why we only try ideas once." 'Cuz no one ever does. It's all used up and unoriginal at that point, and you gotta stay cutting edge and fresh. I don't believe it had anything to do with plans, specs, resources, powers, or anything outside of unbelievable chance. But, strangely, when chance falls just so, no one ever challenges probability. "One in a million shot, huh? Well, I better not risk that happening again. Now to play the lottery." Oh, that Nightmare. Such a ticket junkie.

Yes, you... really didn't get what I was saying. Look at the official artwork anywhere on the site. It all has one common trend regardless of what title or how old: white or lack of a background. To officially display official art, it is offered up in this backgroundless stage by, typically, the game's source for display for their own purposes and venues and quick propagation among fan sites. It is this tightly defined artwork that is solely referred to as it is the only type that could be put up on the site, which was what the directed question was referring to. Those images in the scans, while quite official, have magazine materials all in their back drop. Those are not going to be crammed on the site for display. Moreover, the actual magazine scans themselves are not going to be posted up on the site. It's official artwork, yes, but it's not displayable official artwork, and that I thought was inherently understood. Again, I don't know why I ever assume things.

1) I am very familiar with the mix roulette's occurrence of Ouch! I, too, have seen and been witness to it's ill effects, resulting in my demise a few times. It still isn't an ability, tho', no more than "Cannon" or "Minecart" are. For that matter, "Normal" isn't even an ability. Abilities are gotten enemies and items. "Ouch" is just a state of being, and sticking it in the randomization wheel for a mix adds in some added surprise, difficulty, and chance to the game. Always good to shake things up.

2) The enemies are digested, as per normal, but the two separate ability essences, as even two of the same cause the reaction, compete for the spot, as it were, and instead pull out a "recently" experienced such notion from Kirby's gastric memory through the "this doesn't make any sense logically in the first place and since it fundamentally cannot be explained, how is the more complicated byproduct of its use suppose to merit sensical analysis" phenomenon.

Yes, as any game manual has stated. Sleep, eat, play, and, in Kirby's case outside of any other Dream Lander, saving the day.

1) There is not "a" Warp Star in the games. They are found in several places. They hang around in places, are created spontaneously from uniting stars, and other such things. Only the animated series made the concept of the Warp Star. They're like cars.

2) The Warp Star is summoned by Fumu who shouts out "Warp Star". You seem to already be well familiar with how it's summoned given question three, which inherently nullifies it.

1) No, not really. This is probably just meaningless decorations, just like those that appear within the lower levels of Great Cave Offensive. The jargon is probably the same.

2) Artificial intelligence is a tricky thing to program. In Super Star, the behavior is little more boiled down. They just attack, largely with shooting or close range attacks. The split, multi-chromatic Kirbies had a bit more shoved into their AI, including teamwork and combining efforts. All this extra consideration, as well as a lot sloppier of execution, led to a lot worse of control from the counterparts. Also, the worse computer control really incites players to seek out real co-pilots to guide them around. Of course, I normally fly with a human second player, so the AI of Amazing Mirror just seems horrible since I don't regularly play with such in other titles.

But, a quick correction to you accusations about the pitiful AI regarding their fare with bosses. The Kirby clones do not die a split second after you leave the scene. They are instantly retreated once you leave. You do not even have to be in the boss fight yet. If lurking in the preliminary passage, such as the corridor above Moley or the platforms below Kracko, they split town with you and will quickly be at the mirror. See, no one but the alpha Kirby, the head of the pack, can defeat the boss. You have to be there to take credit and take the shard. Otherwise, unlikely as it is, the AI could go and get parts of the game beaten for you. I know, a blue moon's chance in hell, right? ... What? That's not a mixed metaphor. There's no sky down there. Good luck seeing it.

3) Because they aren't game characters. Is that really so hard to understand? There's division between what characters appear in games based on the director, so crossing over between mediums is quite the cleft to overcome. See Question #1, part 2.

1) Are the Squeaky Bogg icons even the proper size for most avatar or icon pixel sizes? Normally, I thought they were set at a solid fifty or hundred square. But, hey, sure, yeah, why not.

2) I know of none. My guesses would be that there wouldn't really be anything of that sort since the game was turned into a remake. They probably transferred anything previously made into replacements, like Phan Phan or Gip.

You know, some slight effort to describe the situation would have been appreciated, on anyone's part. You just throw out a link to a blind video and, more surprisingly, the individual does a lackluster job at describing the contents. So, for a while, I was just watching some guy speed through the same level again and again with no knowledge of what I was watching. Not helpful, not at all. How about this:

In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, getting launch heights of seven through one in order leads to Kirby getting 30 1Ups rather than one.

You see that? I just described what happened. Why was that so hard for anyone to do? I had no idea what I was looking for in that video, and had no reason to watch it if the mere basics of earning thirty guys was given to me at the front. The video wasn't even needed. Just asking, "Can such-and-such happen" would have worked fine. I hate non-described content so much.

Anyhoo, I don't know how true that is. No site seems to mention such a feat as possible, but plenty of open secrets are missing from games repositories. Why, I even recently stumbled upon one for Dream Land I that occurs in no guide or secret store that I've been able to find. Nightmare in Dream Land, also, is one of the games I care not for as it is just a remake. I don't know if this was something added in or not, so I can't test it there. I also can't test to see if its in Adventure, not because I am currently hundreds of miles stranded from my NES but due to knowing absolutely no way of getting the ordered marks so accurately. Really, that'd be the most frustrating thing I could think of.

I'm inclined to believe it is real. People are bored, yeah, but that doesn't seem like the type of thing people go to make stuff up for. It seems legit, but, then again, all Nightmare in Dream Land footage looks fake to me. However, the video is of Japanese gameplay from a Japanese player, so I have to believe it. Those are some crazy dedicated gamers with the lack of crazy jerkness of most Americans.

1) I have no idea where sprites even come from, really. I don't know where this site gets them from, I don't know where other sites get them from. The thing I do know is that people just harvest other sources, meaning that in time, everybody reaps the crop of someone else's seeds. Basically, I don't know where Galacta Knight sprites would come from, but I can guarantee that once they hit the fan, you'll easily be able to smell it alllll over the place. Until then, only incomplete, non-background erased sprites are floating out there. And, really, it has no value with a background stuck on it.

2) I actually know very little, in truth. I mean, my knowledge is completely lacking in the realm of the animated series and newer games, particularly in that front. Luckily, I have a good poker face and, even though I'm only holding a deuce o' deuces, I easily make folks sweat into thinking that I have a regal deluge. That, and I can look up most of what I don't know. What I don't know, I'm smart enough to know how to find.

Wow, it's... it's like the Ask Greatest Hits volume, or something Or, would be if they were great to start with or hit anything. I'm too lazy to look up what I said on all of these before, and the answers probably are a bit stale, so you get the boiled down, updated versions. That covers two directions for the price of none!

1) Enemies aren't really killed. They are more removed from action. Walk off screen, and they pop right back into place, in fact. The bosses in Amazing Mirror even come back. It's really just incapacitating them. They vanish as you don't want a bunch of corpses bogging down game play. As for eating them, ... uh, it's like Super Smash Bros. Yeah, that's the ticket. They really just, uh, pop out of Kirby... but they are good as dead, so you don't see 'em. Yeah.

2) Gooey never turned against his maker. He wasn't made by Dark Matter, Zero, or any other entity. He just happens to be made from Dark Matter, the sticky black substance... although he's a bit more blue than black.

3) There are plenty of facts known for certain about the in-development Wii title Kirby has. It's just none of these tidbits are when the game will come out. We know a plethora of powers, that Kirby can make up to three helpers, Super Star style where they are empowered enemies, that the players can stack and ride each other, and that the game is 2.5D. As for when or if it will actually come out, * shrugs *

4) Mixing copy abilities probably won't return, at least in the Crystal Shards fashion since Kirby games have moved away from this line of play. For one thing, it's a great hamper on the amount of abilities they like to put into Kirby games. They seem to feel that the twenty-plus differently acquired abilities are better than thirty-some mix-and-matches. They'd rather have the one-shot abilities and stand-alones like Magic or Sword than have fusions with less than favorable results, like the curling puck or ice skating abilities. Even though I don't like Angel, I know there's times it has use. Melting Ice Cube? Not so much. It's probably for the better.

5) I think he was revived, yes. He did go boom, after all, but reuniting the stars resurrected the celestial clock comet. Of course, that doesn't mean that Meta Knightmare Ultra was canon. Really, all of the Arena, non-storyline, run-through and beat up sub-games have to be taken with a grain of salt. You see, they are gastropods, and the dehydrating properties wear them down. It's true!

6) Do I want them back? That's a yes. The Animal Friends were some of my favorite parts of Kirby games. Will they be back? See answer #4. The pets work much the same. They expand the ability count of Kirby, but since they'd rather have the star wearing all the hats in his game, literally, there's just no room for such things. It's the Shinichi Shimomura effect. Put that name in the search box and have yourself a read. Make sure to look in answer text, too. I'd link to the search results directly, but it doesn't store the query in the URL. Lame.

I can actually tackle both of these in one swoop: No one knows. Kirby is a game where the creator and game developers haven't even solidly settled on who Kirby is, the lead star of the series. He is, truthfully, the least developed character. Really. At least we know that Gooey is made of Dark Matter and is Kirby's best friend or that Adeleine is a painter from Earth studying art on Pop Star. We have no idea why this is the case for either character or how it is even possible, but at least we know it. Kirby, however, they even backed off from clearly stating that he is a Dream Lander as that would make him too run-of-the-mill. So, naturally, if he's wrapped up in that much mystique, what's gonna make anyone think that two characters who have similarities to him are gonna be bleeding out any more useful or startling revelations. No, they are going to have even tighter lips on their histories and back stories than the one they are similar to.

Now, I and countless other Kirby fans will certainly tell you that Meta Knight is not Kirby's father, but an equal amount will tell you that he is or is his brother. Another part will tell you they are long lost relatives. A slim few will say that they are secretly best friends when the mask is off. * cough load of crock * And, at least one crazy fan will tell you that Meta Knight is the son of Kirby from the future sent to the past. These all have one thing in common: they are baseless assumptions fueled on our personal views and opinions of the characters. Really, I can't say that Meta Knight isn't Kirby's father as there is no evidence or even the slightest hint of information to support or counter the notion. Then again, there's not the slightest shred of information on anything that in depth about the character's lineage. Why, exactly? 'Cuz the games are about a balloon who vomits stars. Screw your head on straight and stop worrying about this stupid kinda stuff.

... Okay, I pinched myself. Yes, this was actually asked. Kirby's Adventure was the second game, made about a year after the original and shortly followed up by Pinball Land later that year.

**** you, you illiterate hole. I love that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Oh, I'm lazy? Yeah, because breaking my frickin' bones is all the manner of sloth. Why, the very definition isn't anything like inactivity due to lack of concern. No, you are correct. I'm sure it's more something like, "abbreviate removal from participation due to physical limitation from a cast." Yes, it has nothing to do with being physically unable to type. You're right. I must be lazy.

I mean, how could I not be lazy? Making an update a day for a month solid and then some. That sure is slacking. And, then remember that time I had to go on a work retreat and didn't know if I'd have internet access and so prepped people for just a week off but only wound up skimping on a few days since I was literally spending six to eleven every day in meetings, presentations, or resisting the urge to kill myself in that personal hell? No, you're totally right. I'm such a lazy slob.

And, why are your dragging Brawl in the Family into this? I just don't get it. What does that web comic have to do with anything, be it sloth or Ask the Gurus? I mean, yes, he is much better than me. He's better than a lot of us, and certainly dominates your sorry being. The only breaks I recall that guy taking are when, oh, a hurricane left him without internet. Besides, that guy updates three times a week with, although I love 'em, relatively simple and crude line drawings.

Let's see, I've spit out eighty sessions since July 13th, which comes out to be 118 days. That's an update, just in Ask mind you, every 1.47 days, even with all these supposed "breaks" which really have only grown to what? Three days tops before my injury? I still do other functions around the site while working a full time, overtime demanding job. The every-odd weekday schedule, mind you, is only an update every 2.33 days. Then, let's look at the lauded Mailsac schedule. Suppose to be weekly and can't even make that on numerous occasions. How much uproar do they get for missing an update with no given reason but "Whoops!"? Oh, right, none.

Another thing, you meant to insult me with "You are lazy" not "Your lazy." You aren't naming yourself after the sloth I am accused of possession, you boob. Gah! You can't even insult properly. Stick your tongue in a socket and free the world of your insolence. See that? Intended use of "your". Oh, wait, what am I saying? That's over six letters in length. There's zero possibility of you understanding such a cumbersome word. Lemme bring down to your level: YOU STUPID. DIE NOW. WORLD HAPPY. There we go. I think that was stated clear enough for most dogs. Dumb dogs. That just had brain surgery. Who still have a higher IQ.