Kirby Super Star

Kirby Super Star, named Kirby's Fun Pak in PAL regions, is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game. It was developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. Kirby Super Star was released in 1996 in Japan and North America and in 1997 in Europe and Australia. As the blurb mentions on the front cover, Kirby Super Star features eight unique games, although two of them are Sub-Games. In 2008, the game received a remake for the Nintendo DS titled Kirby Super Star Ultra.

Kirby Super Star has been ported to the Wii Virtual Console in 2010 and the Wii U Virtual Console in 2013. It was later released on the Nintendo Switch Online service in 2019.

Gameplay
Like the earlier main series installments, Kirby Super Star is a side-scrolling platformer, which applies to its six main titles. As is the standard with platformers, Kirby has to try to reach the end of a level while dodging enemies and obstacles along the way. Kirby can walk or run, jump, swim, crouch, slide, and inhale an enemy or object to spit out as a Star Bullet. Kirby can also hover in midair, but it does not allow him to attack or use his other abilities, although he can deflate by releasing an air bullet. In most of the games, by eating certain enemies, Kirby can gain their ability, which gives him their main properties. Kirby Super Star is the first game where Kirby can guard to defend himself from weak attacks. If Kirby touches an enemy or an obstacle, he takes damage, and taking enough damage causes him to lose a life. Unlike earlier games, Kirby's health is represented by a refillable gauge rather than individual bars. If Kirby loses all of his lives, the player gets a Game Over.

Kirby Super Star introduces Kirby being able to convert his current ability into a Helper, which is a friendly enemy who helps Kirby along the way. In two-player mode, the second player can take control of the Helper. Most of the abilities each spawn a certain Helper. It is possible for Kirby to have an ability even with a Helper alongside him. Kirby can also discard his ability to return to his usual form, but if Kirby does this while he is assisted by a Helper, it becomes a different one associated with that ability. Like Kirby, Helpers take damage from enemy attacks.

Controls

 * (left and right): Move (dash by tapping twice)
 * (down): Sit / inherit an ability (if an enemy is in Kirby's mouth; can also be done by pressing )
 * (up): Enter a door
 * Create a Helper (if Kirby has an ability allowing for it)
 * Jump / fly / ascend while underwater
 * Use ability / inhale / exhale / Shoot air bullet (while in midair) / water gun (while underwater)
 * or : Guard

Pressing, , , and simultaneously resets the game.

Spring Breeze
Spring Breeze is the first game, and it is a simplified remake of Kirby's Dream Land. The plot is the same as in the original game: King Dedede has stolen food from the citizens of Dream Land, and Kirby has to reclaim them. Spring Breeze uses the same gameplay style as Kirby Super Star's other five titles, including abilities and a helper, neither of which appear in the original game.

Aside from gameplay, Spring Breeze has a few other major differences from Kirby's Dream Land. Float Islands is the second stage, with portions of Castle Lololo being integrated in it. Kaboola is no longer fought as a boss. Upon reaching Castle Dedede, Kirby can immediately face off against King Dedede rather than fight each of the previous bosses again.

Dyna Blade
Dyna Blade is the second game. Its main antagonist and namesake is a giant bird named Dyna Blade, who has been ruining Dream Land's crops, so Kirby goes on a journey to stop her. The game has a world map with four levels that Kirby must clear, each with a boss fight at the end, and two secret areas. A mini-boss sometimes appears on the world map to move around, and if Kirby walks to the mini-boss, he has to fight it, similar to Super Mario Bros. 3.

Gourmet Race
Gourmet Race is the third game. It involves King Dedede and Kirby racing through three different stages, with the goal being to cross the finish line first and eat the most food along the way. The platforming elements remain intact, but Gourmet Race remains the shortest of the main games. A scoreboard and timer are displayed at the bottom, and Kirby and King Dedede earn a point for every food that they eat. A bonus 30 points are awarded to whoever crosses the finish line first. There is also a time trial mode, which does not feature King Dedede, and it simply involves Kirby having to reach the end as quickly as possible.

The Great Cave Offensive
The Great Cave Offensive is the fourth game. It is a -style game that involves Kirby having to navigate his way through a large cave while collecting treasure along the way. There are up to sixty treasures for him to collect, and they raise the game score and completion rating at the end. The cave is split into four areas, each with several rooms and a boss to fight at the end. Instead of standard level progression, the stages are connected in the same way as rooms.

Revenge of Meta Knight
Revenge of Meta Knight is the fifth game, and it is unlocked by clearing the Dyna Blade game. In it, Kirby attempts to destroy Meta Knight's battleship, the Halberd, before Meta Knight can conquer Dream Land. Each area has a time limit, and if it reaches zero, Kirby loses a life. The game is driven by plot, as comments from the various crew members of the Halberd are shown throughout. The game is divided into seven chapters, and whenever Kirby clears one, either the Halberd takes damage or Kirby returns on it. At the bottom of the screen, there is a meter that displays the status of the Halberd.

Milky Way Wishes
Milky Way Wishes is the sixth game, and it is unlocked by clearing the previous five games. In it, the Sun and Moon around Planet Popstar are fighting. A jester-like character named Marx across nine planets and restore the giant wish-granting comet-clock Nova. Unlike the other games, Kirby cannot copy the abilities of enemies he inhales; instead, he collects Deluxe Copy Ability Pedestals. These are items with abilities on them that, once in Kirby's possession, allow the player to select them from a list of abilities. One of the later stages is a scrolling space shooter. In the end, when Kirby manages to summon Nova, it is revealed that Marx caused the Sun and Moon to fight and that Kirby was set up so that Marx could wish to take over Popstar. In the last part, Kirby has to fight Marx to stop him from taking over Popstar.

The Arena
The Arena is the hidden seventh and final game. It is an endurance challenge that requires Kirby, who is only given one life, to fight every boss as well as a Waddle Dee with high endurance. After each boss fight, Kirby can access a Rest Area that has five Maxim Tomatoes, two random Enemy Symbols, and a Warp Star that takes him to the next boss. The bosses are fought in a random order, but Marx is always the last one fought.

Sub-Games
Kirby Super Star features two Sub-Games, which can be played either single-player or with 2 players:

Samurai Kirby is similar to Kirby's Adventure's Quick Draw. There are five opponents, and they become increasingly more difficult. The objective is for Kirby to strike the opponent at the precise moment without being too early or too late. Reaction times are based on the 1/100 of a second. The hundredths of a second go by whole numbers (e.g. 24/100 of a second would be displayed on the screen as "24").

Megaton Punch also involves the use of timing. In it, Kirby must punch a stack of platforms by hitting the mark as close as possible in several different timing mechanics to try and cause more damage than his opponent. The best score that Kirby can get is 201.

Abilities
There are a total of 26 abilities in Kirby Super Star, and twelve of them originally appear in Kirby's Adventure whereas the other fourteen make their debut appearance. Of the fourteen, two of the abilities can only be used once during a certain part of the game. Kirby Super Star also introduces Kirby having a different costume depending on his current ability and the ability to use more than one move due to a Super Nintendo Entertainment System controller having more buttons than a Nintendo Entertainment System controller.

Abilities marked in bold made their first appearance in Kirby Super Star.