Ask Guru Gobbo #92

1) No, Super Smash Bros. is not considered a Kirby title. It is a franchise melting pot where many lineages cross to create their own motley being.

2) The so is not, so there so is what how why... something.

3) Meta Knight was delayed from appearing in the Smash Bros. series since it was mainly starring titular characters. The big dogs came out to play first, being top player characters and their rivals. Even at that, Kirby is probably the smallest name out of the initial allotment: Mario, Samus, Link. Those guys carry some weight and reputation. That's not anything against Kirby, but when put up against the kings and queen of Nintendo, someone has to be fourth.

Also, Smash Bros. was fledgling when Nintendo and Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby's creator, were in their rough patch. The series first came out in 1999, and that was when The Crystal Shards was being developed, which he saw none of the work done until it was finished. Flash forward to the dawn of Brawl, with it's over the top and sweeping inclusion of a wide number of characters and Sora Ltd., headed by Sakurai, being the driving force behind it, and the puff really got his due respect. Coincidence? ... No.

4) Roy is unlocked in Super Smash Bros. Melee by completing the Classic or Adventure modes with Marth. This can be done on any difficulty setting. There is a second way, but that requires nine-hundred versus mode battles. Yeesh!

5) I never even knew what Baton did. I've only heard it's name, seen a picture, thought it was incredibly lame, and never bothered to acknowledge it again. But, yes, it does sound something like what Ghost performs. However, there's a lot more sense, reason, and logic behind using phantom powers to control an enemy than there is in tapping them with a stick.

6) Despite Kirby's massive gut, he's always been showing the effects of the food he consumes, even since day one. The classic examples are the burn from Spicy Food/Curry launching fireballs from his mouth or the Mint Leaf/Sweet Potato giving him a case of the burps. It doesn't get much more standardized in principle than appearing in Kirby's Dream Land.

7) I didn't know you had a reputation. Why wasn't I informed?

1) It is difficult to gauge, truthfully. Dream Land I debuted in early '92 while Super Mario World, Yoshi's first game, came out in 1991. The complications come in when you factor in Dream Land's noted delays during production. I've crunched the numbers to show that Kirby, or "Twinkle Popo" was at least in development two years prior. So, we know which one hit the shelves first, but the question of which idea sprang forth Athena style is a bit of a mystery.

2) Gobbler (the shark from Amazing Mirror, aka "Gabriel") has a floatation device since his swim bladder is faulty. It's a serious problem that affects many fish. They can't control their elevation and suffer dearly. However, Gobbler's floatation ring, filled with a denser than air mixture, allows him some buoyancy beneath the blue.

... Okay, that's total bull. What can i say? I hate Gobbler and though his character design was atrocious. Floatation ring? That's beyond stupid!

No, there is not. His intentions and objectives are pure in those titles. Canvas Curse has him rolling around to return Dream Land back from its paint state while defeating the witch Drawcia. Air Ride is, well, that's just racing. Unless he was plowing through school cross zones, I don't think much wrong goes on there.

0) You're right. You are new.

1) Kirby is in no way the son of Meta Knight. In fact, it's common knowledge that in the animated series, which is what you refer to by an episode reference, that Kirby was solely a creation of Nightmare. In fact, this was well covered just last time.

2) Yes, this has been mentioned before. No, it is in no way true. It was well noted that there was mention of temporal paradox in and such, but more blatantly stated is the fact that Galacta Knight was sealed away in the past. You can't be a future version of someone if you lived back in the day. That is, unless you want to rattle off some nonsense about Kirby being sent to the past to become Galacta Knight, become imprisoned, be sent half-way to the future, and battle his rival and self. That, now, is total nonsense.

So, truthfully, it's more likely that Galacta Knight is the father of Meta Knight and Kirby, giving the former the battle skills, the latter his color, and both his form. That, of course, is still utter garbage, and any will be smitten upon sight of its future mention.

0) Silly goose. I'm incapable of love!

1) Thank you for acknowledging that it was a joke up front. that'll spare some aftershock. But, yes, there is no relationship between the two different camps of Kirby. I'm well familiar with his sneezing at the opening of Castle Lololo and have been for sixteen years. ... Yeah, that's counted right. He's again shown shivering in the cold and letting out a snot rocket in Dream Land 2's intro to Iceberg. Kirby's just like anyone else in the games -- just someone. He's perfectly vulnerable to the elements and has nothing special about him other than his courage. Unfortunately, courage isn't antibodies and vitamin C.

2) The hardest boss in all of Kirby, that I have faced, not being limited by just non-final boss types, goes to Dark Matter in Dream Land 2. Of course, this was just the hardest boss battle I ever had. Nowadays, it's probably a lot easier. You see, first off, unlike all the other final boss battles, the Rainbow Sword just makes a little slash in front. No shots, not blasts, just a cut. You are suppose to use this to reflect Dark Matter's shots back at him, but I didn't know that! I just tried slashing him for the first I-don't-know-how-many times I beat the game. Let me tell you, it is hard to make the time limit.

The hardest mini-boss goes to Rolling Turtle. That guy is a death sentance, especially when you don't have a power, which, when he's standing knee high in water, is very easy to lose. Waiyu would have been here, but having a pet really helps out.

3) Since the numbers keep on increasing, and have probably doubled since the last time this came up, the new favorite is Trot. He's just so pudgy and huggable, just like he was meant to be -- a marketing sham aimed to corner the other side of the adorable market that my website's other mascot, Lynn, totally missed.

4) Your latter assumption is the way I have read it. All food gives him back vitality, but it is only the tomato that gives back all of it due to his preference for the savory, red flesh.

5) The Kirby color I seem to use most is Grape in Amazing Mirror. The Orange appears near monochromatic and blends in with his shoes, not to mention its clashing with the red Kirby. At that note, Emerald clashes with the other green puffball. I don't want to get my sprite confused with the other three, so I feel the best spray paints are in the cooler region of the color wheel. Things like Ocean and Chocolate are nice shades, too, but once I get Grape, I seem to stick with it. I feel it wears hats pretty well, too. The standard pink just doesn't go with them, in my take.

6) The non-ability crash is a transfer of Kirby's momentum into a foe. Whether or not they are against a surface, the gained force of the puff's fall generates a heavy impact. It is just the same as punching someone. They tend to not be standing against a wall when you mash your fist into/through their skull, but it'll still hurt a lot. Hey, kids! Try this Uncle Gobbo approved activity at home! ... With your younger sibling~!

7) Opinions are a big slice of the daily pie I get here since most factual questions have no answer. Things like, "Where did Kirby come from?" or "What is the deal between Meta Knight and Galacta Knight?" don't have real answers flying around out there. An opinion, however, just takes conjecture and heresy to roll out what's the deal.

Nnno. Not really. Kirby, previously "Popopo", was designed to be a children's game. Everyone, not just Masahiro Sakurai, on the game team, then "Twinkle Popo", were in favor of the dummy place holder character. No one was in support of the original character, not at all. If his boss, Miyamoto, thought it was a bad idea, he would have had that part rectified in the game's delay. The game did suffer horrible delays on Miyamoto's judgment. Since he is boss of bosses, a disagreement on the character's appearance would have clobbered its release. The only thing argued about was what color Kirby should have been.

1) How was the star collection in Mario 64 any different than the treasure collection in Great Cave Offensive? It was the same concept and uncovering method; essentially, just many items were gathered rather than many of the same. It works exactly the same as the player just tries to reach a treasure total count. Whether that's a bag of shinies or assorted loot, it doesn't matter.

Also, "Retro" and reference to a Play Station game is an abomination. Is that what passes as "retro" these days? Hm, actually, they were about as blocky as some early NES games...

2) Nothing is stopping you from searching for some particular asker's name. Why, I just did a search for Potato Soup Man, and pulled up all sorts of questions that he asked without reference to his handle. As for the intro and outro statements, they have no significance. Whatever is in them is insignificant. Moreover, they aren't tagged in any way to even be searched within. Each question and answer has coding that marks them as such. Everything else is invisible to the search as no one should want to look them up. I mean, what are the cases where one would actually care to look up a particular session? Nega Bogg's take over?

3) "Wave 1" was all of the original six icons: Smile, Stare, Flat, Mad, Shock, and Point. They were the only images not made for Ask, but were just tossed into the mix anyways. No real effort was put behind them, not that much goes into any of the one's that followed.

4) Technically, "Smilin' Bogg" was never used to display happiness. He was more the default icon to be shown when there was no other real icon to fit the question or answer. Nowadays, I have so many that I should be hard pressed to find that instance. And, besides, cookies are happiness~!

5) I don't control the Ometon. He's a separate person from Uncle Gobbo. He comes and goes at his leisure, or when summoned, I guess. I mean, I thought that was understood by this point in time. Er, I mean, ... What?

1) Really? I never saw any resemblance between the two. For starters, all of the Poppy Bros. have a distinct, you know, body beneath their melon heads. There're other differences, but the entire lack of a torso pretty much seals the deal with me. Marx is a head with shoes who grows wings. No chest there.

2) The Ometon is a wiz at the coffee pot. Have you seen the java he's churned out? It's unbelievable~!

I read nothing into that.

The best ability, from what I've heard, is Tornado with it's unbelievably unbalanced power in Squeak Squad. They made it all crushing death with no draw back, from what I've been able to gather. Stone is... barely comparable. Drop down. Fun. The two only cross paths twice, and therefore are only legitimately able to be compared, in two titles: Adventure/Nightmare in Dream Land and Amazing Mirror.

In the general case, Tornado does have a better utility usage than Stone, which is more a specialty ability. Stone is largely of use when traveling downward while the twister has purpose in general lateral travel. As the game is a side scroller, that's the path generally taken.