A new Kirby game on the Switch was one of the best surprises of E3.
Right away, it looked like it took the gameplay of the past few Kirby games and expanded upon
those idea by taking elements from Kirby Super Star, Kirby 64, and Kirby Squeak Squad.
And thanks to the recent Nintendo Direct, we now see even more of this game's potential.
There was less than a minute of footage, but that's more than enough for the old Analysis
Machine to discover what secrets and hidden details are waiting in the newly titled Kirby:
Star Allies.
But be sure to watch our previous analysis as we'll be referring back to it throughout.
Let's begin with the levels as they've changed the least since the reveal trailer
although there are new things to see.
The first is confirmation that the grasslands level that usually serves as the first world
is indeed the first world.
Shocking, I know, but we do see a tutorial here marking it as such.
What's more interesting about this though is that Kirby already has allies before he's
told how to run.
It seems that if you have friends joining you, they'll be able to get in on the action
very quickly.
And as suspected, the game can be played with just the Joy-Con based on the layout on the
tutorial board.
Again, not too surprising considering it is Kirby.
We also see the return of the beach and cave levels though these are new areas than before.
There's not too much to say about them except the graphical quality has significantly increased.
In the cave, it's even possible to see the texture on the nearby barrels and even the
individual fibers on Kirby's hat in a later scene.
Heck, every Waddle Dee on the outer layer of this giant clump can be seen as well.
The game is looking even better than it did at E3.
There is one new stage that can be seen during the trailer though and this one is based in
the mountains.
Granted, Kirby and his friends are high in the air during this sequence, but there's
still not much in the background.
It brings to mind a vast mountain range and scraggly vines can be seen growing along the
rocks.
It's possible that these are the same mountains we saw on the overworld during the first trailer.
The question we have is whether this is World 2 or if Kirby levels will gradually change
based on what's on the overworld rather than an exact theme.
The last bit of level design we wanted to point out before moving on is this section.
We're not sure if this is a bonus area or a place that you'll naturally travel through.
But we do see that 4 characters are needed to uncork the way forward.
Above are tons of stars as well as food, but there's no sign of a special collectible.
Just ladders continuing on.
So unfortunately, it's impossible to say whether you'll need to recruit 3 allies
to simply continue on at times or if they're just required for bonuses.
We also don't see any of the characters collect food which means we don't know whether
the hug to share health returns from Super Star though we're pretty positive that it
will.
But let's get into the meat of this Nintendo Direct gameplay, the new allies and abilities
available to Kirby in Star Allies.
We begin with Blade Knight as a partner and as we noted in the previous analysis, this
is also signified by the former enemy wearing Kirby's hat for that power.
We'll see this many more times with each power, but this is the first time we've
seen the same power used by multiple characters on the team.
Previously we weren't sure if this would be a limitation.
As we'll soon see, it's absolutely not.
More exciting is the fact that the Yo-Yo Ability returns for the first time since Super Star
along with the enemy that grants that power, Gim.
And like we said, he's sporting Kirby's Yo-Yo hat rather than his own.
In addition, there's the return of the ESP Ability which is more than little appropriate
considering Yo-Yo is here as well.
After all, both were inspired by Ness and the fact that HAL co-developed Earthbound.
But this also means that the Esper enemy and maybe even the midboss Telepathos have returned
from Planet Robobot as well, if a new enemy with the ability hasn't been created that
is.
We then see how ESP's powers have been expanded thanks to team-ups as a Rocky ally, wearing
Kirby's Stone hat of course, has an exclamation appear before transforming and then lifted
by Kirby who then drops it on the nearby Kabu.
We saw this type of team-up before in the previous trailer when Chilly launched Curling
Stone Kirby forward.
The question is whether every ability has this kind of team-up with every other ability.
With how many powers we've seen so far, the combinations are staggering.
And that's not even taking into account the actual combination Abilities.
We see the return of the Ice Sword from Squeak Squad thanks to Chilly, but this leads to
a new screen where the Ability is named and better shown off.
It also allows us to better see the Ice Sword which is reminiscent of Meta Knight's Galaxia,
a neat way to make it stand out as a combination rather than something standard.
We then see one of the abilities of this combination as the rising slash maneuver leaves behind
an ice wall that's then destroyed as Kirby and Blade Knight slam back to the ground.
It does create a better sense that these are powerful combinations.
Continuing on, we see even more of the return of the Cleaning Ability and how it actually
grants a wind element to other powers.
This might indicate that Tornado will not be available in Star Allies unless multiple
powers can grant the same element.
But we'd assume that the process will be streamlined as much as possible so Tornado
likely won't see a return.
It does make us wonder if Poison will come back to grant its element to other powers.
We'll just have to wait and see.
In any case, this also confirms our suspicions that Broom Hatters would once again grant
the Cleaning Ability, just like in Dream Land 3.
And like the other Allies, Broom Hatters hat has changed to match Kirby's.
We'll take a closer look at the Wind Bombs soon, but first we wanted to highlight the
Wind Cutter that's created in this scene.
Kirby uses Cutter to control where the wind-covered blade goes and even activates the fan that
lowers the wall to the other side in this bonus room.
And this is definitely a bonus room as we can see a puzzle piece collectible on the
other side.
The only question is if this is the new replacement for the Sun Stones and Code Cubes from Triple
Deluxe and Planet Robobot respectively, essentially acting as a collectible that both unlocks
the way to the world's boss and an extra level entirely, which we did see hints of
on the overworld map.
However, it's also possible that it's related to a kind of extra like the keychains
from the 3DS games though we're leaning more toward the latter due to their shared
question marks.
The Cleaning Ability has one more goodie in store for us though.
It definitively confirms that the same power can be used by the entire team and, as we
thought previously, it does pull other moves from the Animal Buddies in Dream Land 3.
We saw Nago before, but now there's ChuChu who appears during flying attacks though we
wonder if enemies can still only be damaged by the broom's bristles.
It could have been made more potent for this game.
And then there's Pitch, who still turns into a bucket of water which is then thrown
forward.
This might be the down attack for Cleaning.
After all, we expect that the water arc can be controlled and even thrown farther just
like the original game.
That just leaves Rick, Coo, and Kine to be seen.
There are a few other combinations that can be spotted during the gameplay though.
In one, we see that Fire has been fused with Whip, Sword, and even Bomb.
Unfortunately, the combination of Fire and Bomb doesn't seem to create Fireworks from
Kirby 64.
There's a single frame where we can see a bomb engulfed in fire in Poppy Bros Jr's
hand.
However, it could be that only Kirby can use the Firework Ability.
But so far, Curling Stone remains the only one that's returned.
That said, these Squeak Squad-inspired combinations do look impressive as Kirby is able to perform
a massive fire spin with his whip that does a lot of damage to Whispy Woods.
But there's one thing about these combination powers that has us utterly perplexed.
Somehow in this scene, both Kirby and Blade Knight have imbued their swords with Ice.
How?
Can Kirby transfer the power to him and then he gave it back or did Chilly do it before
perhaps being defeated?
There's a variation of it as well where Kirby has given a Wind Bomb to each of his
allies so that they can all rise into the air.
But why?
They can all fly unless this tactic is needed to get to hard to reach areas.
Or it could just be a fun trick.
Even the narrator simply calls it a bomb hot air balloon.
This scene also provides our first look at Waddle Doo and confirmation that he does indeed
wear Kirby's Beam hat.
The final time we see this strange combination of powers is during the fight against King
Dedede.
Kirby and his friends all have different elements attached.
There's Fire and Hammer, Spark and Sword, Ice and Bomb, and Wind and Cutter.
Could there be a way to grant the elemental state without the need of an elemental Ability?
Maybe it's similar to how certain Abilities are available before Kirby takes on a boss?
You can choose your power and then combine it with an element.
But we're honestly just spitballing here.
But that leaves us with the fight against King Dedede and man has he gotten swole!
However, we believe that this new buff Dedede is actually the 2nd stage of his fight as
we see his clothes have burst off of him despite the fact that his health bar has already decreased.
Even more interesting is the pile of food behind him and the fact that he's glowing
with a purple aura.
So yep, Dedede is being controlled once again, but the pile of food may be a callback to
the original Kirby's Dream Land when he really was the villain because he stole all
the food.
The fight is also in Dedede's castle, and it is indeed his castle as the narration confirms
that Star Allies takes place in Dream Land where there's a dark new force manipulating
it, which confirms the Dedede mind control.
Or maybe it's food control where this dark force spiked his food and caused him to hulk
out.
It seems to be a pretty intense fight too as what we believe to be the third stage of
the battle takes place outside of the castle yet the stack of food is still nearby.
Perhaps Dedede eats some to recover his health and get even stronger.
The way he attacks during this part of the fight is by swinging from the columns in the
center.
Kirby and his allies have to dodge his rampage while also attacking the pillars, at least
that's how it appears based on the cracks at the bottom.
However, Dedede can still be damaged as the ice left behind by the ice bomb does minor
damage before the pillar breaks and Dedede moves to the left one.
The reason these pillars have to be broken is actually so you can attack Dedede.
As we can see with Sir Kibble, he cannot navigate around the pillar.
They have to be broken to reach the other side.
We'll have to see just how much of a difference Dedede's new workout program makes, but
for now, Kirby: Star Allies is looking like a great addition to the series.
While the combinations rarely pull from the ideas of Kirby 64, they look much more devastating
with way more variety than the combinations in Squeak Squad.
And with a release of early next year, there's still plenty more we can learn about Kirby's
first foray on the Switch.
Of course if we missed anything, be sure to let us know in the comments below.
Thanks for watching and make sure to subscribe to GameXplain for more on Kirby and other
things gaming.
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