Launcher

Launchers are a type of object featured in Kirby Super Star and its Nintendo DS remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra. If Kirby steps onto a Launcher, it quickly moves into a single direction, and upon reaching a stopping point, quickly launches him a short distance. Launchers also return in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which most of them appear in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary. In every appearance, a Launcher is activated once a character steps on it, during which they assume a shielding position.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, Launchers are found in various stages, such as jungle areas, cave areas, and even inside buildings and factories. They are first found in the Skyworld stage.

Launchers are used in a variety of circumstances, and using them can either be beneficial or hazardous. Launchers that appear right before a large gap must be used so that the player's character can be launched to the other side. In maze-like areas, some Launchers hint at the path that the character must go, based on the direction they launch them, especially in The Great Maze. Some Launchers are harmful and can launch the player's fighter into a Jyk or a hazardous obstacle, so they must be avoided. This is notably present in The Swamp, which features Launchers that launch the character at a Jyk as well as Launchers that launch the fighter either near or beyond the blast line, the latter instance causing them to be eliminated from the stage. In The Subspace Bomb Factory - Part II, there is a Launcher that launches the character into jets of fire, unless a certain switch has been hit beforehand to deactivate the flames.

The difficulty level affects the speed in which Launchers travel and therefore the distance in which they launch a character, with Easy being the shortest distance and Very Hard being the farthest. As a result, in higher difficulty settings, some Launchers are used as obstacles to throw the character off balance or off course. On the easier difficulties, it is possible for the character to jump off a Launcher before it activates.

Aside from The Subspace Emissary, there is one Launcher that appears in Level 3 of Target Smash!, where it is placed in front of where the player's characters spawns. Stepping on the Launcher shoots them to the upper-left side of the stage, where the first Targets are located.