Kirby Star Allies: JP website open, plenty of details and footage, special video

14 February 2018 Lite_Agent

Today, Nintendo finally opened the official website for Kirby Star Allies in Japan, and it’s filled with details and videos for the game: Copy Abilities, Helpers, Friend Abilities, Friend Actions, amiibo support, and more…

But first, here’s a special video uploaded on YouTube:

Kirby Star Allies – Story and Characters

The game starts as the usually peaceful Planet Pop Star is thrown into turmoil by a mysterious dark power, coming from a remote place in the galaxy. There, mysterious lights scatter as a result of an equally mysterious ritual, and one of them ends up in Dream Land: the Demon Heart. Will Kirby and his friend manage to save their homeworld from this deep space menace?

Here’s the main characters appearing in the game:

Kirby: a round little fella, who travels around the world, and loves eating. If someone is in trouble, he always go and help them. He’s a hero who has saved Pop Star, Dream Land, and many other places and worlds;
Dedede, a self-proclaimed King, who lives in a castle on Mount Dedede. He’s stood in Kirby’s path many a times, and the two have fought many battles against each other. He became all macho-like due to the baleful influence of the Demon Heart. His castle ends up in a sorry state with his rampaging around;
the Three Generals (English name TBC): the three generals seemingly linked to the mysterious ritual that led to the Demon Heart crashing in Dedede’s castle. They’re enveloped in mystery, and no one really knows anything about them. They arrived on Pop Star following the orders of a certain someone;
Meta Knight: a solitary knight who is always training to become stronger. He also falls under the baleful influence of the Demon Heart, and the dark ambitious hidden in a corner of his heart resurface.

Kirby Star Allies – Copy Abilities

Here’s a video showcasing the 4 new Copy Abilities introduced in Kirby Star Allies:

Artist: use various art-related moves to defeat enemies;
Spider: use spider web to catch enemies, or attack them directly;
Staff: use a staff to move around enemies, and hit them on the head (or any other part of their body, really)
Festival, defeat enemies by… celebrating with your friends (literally)

What would a Kirby game be without the traditional copy abilities? By sucking enemies in, Kirby can steal their abilities, and then use them to interact with the world and/or defeat other enemies. Depending on the Copy Ability you’re using, you’re not going to go through levels the same way.

And Kirby Star Allies has a lot of Copy Abilities: 28 in total, a record for the series! Besides the 4 new Copy Abilities mentioned above, there’s also returning ones from past Kirby games, including:

Cleaning
Suplex
Yo-Yo
Plasma
Cook
Whip
Beetle
Ice
Fire
Beam
Ninja
Bomb
Sword
and more…

Kirby Star Allies – Helpers

In Kirby Star Allies, Kirby can turn enemies into allies (called Helpers) using the power of love… literally: he throws a heart at them to win them over! Helpers accompany Kirby on his journey, and help him whenever he needs it. They are either controlled by the CPU (when playing on your own), or by your friends (in multiplayer).

You can travel with up to 3 Helpers, and if you try to befriend another enemy, you can actually choose which one it will replace.

Here’s some of the Helpers found in the game, as well as their Abilities:

Poppy Bros. Jr.: Bomb. Throws bombs at enemies. Allies can also pick up and throw those very bombs!
Parasol Waddle Dee: Parasol. Carries around a colourful parasol, that can he use to attack enemies, but also protect itself or its allies (by making the parasol grow bigger).
Chilly: Ice. A snowman with some pretty cool hair. He can use the power of ice to freeze enemies, cool down fire, and more.
Wester: Whip. A cowboy-like fellow who uses a whip to defeat enemies. You can combine it with one of Kirby’s Copy Ability (or another Helper’s Ability) to add the power of ice or fire to the whip.
Birdon: Wing. Can create wind by flapping its wings, but also fly in the air (yes, you can have it carry people around, too!).
Dribblee: Water. A cute little creature that can use water to attack enemies. Said water can also be used to pull off surfing moves anywhere!
NESP: ESP. Can use ESP to throw electric balls at enemies, but also make allies levitate, and more.
Sir Kibble: Cutter. Throws a golden cutting boomerang around, which can be used to cut grass or strings/ropes.
Broom Hatter: Cleaning. There’s nothing they love more than cleaning, which is why their favourite way to deal with enemies is to “clean” them away using their broom!
Buggzy: Suplex. The King of Insects, with deadly throwing techniques. But it’s not just enemies he can throw around… he can also do so with allies!
Rocky: Stone. Can transform into stones, and crush enemies. You can get some surprising results by combining this power with another Ability!
Chef Kawasaki: Cook. A chef who can throw frying pan at enemies, but also cook them up… literally.
Plugg: Plasma. Can use the power of electricity to zap enemies. Great for making combos with allies!
Blade Knight: Sword. Can use a sword to cut various things: grass, ropes, etc.. He can swing it pretty fast, to defeat enemies before they can even understand what’s happening. You can give the sword various elements by combining it with Allies Abilities.
Bio Spark: Ninja. A warrior that stays hidden in the shadows, and can stick to walls. Attacks enemies using various ninja-related attacks. The types of attacks used can change depending on the combination of Abilities.
Beetle: Beetle. An insect champion that uses his horn to ram into enemies and send them flying. Can cute grass and ropes, and can even fly around.
Waddle Doo: Beam. Can use various beam attacks, thanks to that big eye of his.
Burning Leo: Fire. Uses the power of fire to defeat enemies. That very power can also be shared with allies, to create powerful combos.
Knuckle Joe: Fighter. A skilled fighter who uses various close combat techniques. He can also throw allies at enemies.
Gim: Yo-Yo. A robot that happens to be the most skilled Yo-Yo user in the world, no less.
Vividria: Artist. An artist on a journey to become a better painter. She can materialise anything she paints on her canvas. Ask her to paint food, gather some friends, and you have yourself a picnic!
Jahalbito (English name TBC): Staff. Used to belong to a certain organisation. Can use a staff to pull off various moves.
Como: Spider. Can catch enemies using spider web, but also let allies use that very web as trampoline.
Bonkers: Hammer. A poweful gorilla smashing things around using his hammer.

Kirby Star Allies – Friend Abilities and Friend Actions

By combining Kirby’s Copy Abilities with the abilities of Helpers, you can get Friend Abilities. There’s plenty of different combinations, and they’re all extremely powerful/useful… more than the individual abilities on their own! For example, you can get a flaming sword, which is more powerful than just the sword of fire Copy Abilities on their own.

Here’s some examples of Copy Abilities:

Sword + Burning Leo = Burning Sword. Can burn grass and set enemies ablaze;
Sword + Chilly = Blizzard Sword. Can freeze enemies;
Sword + Plugg = Electric Sword;
Artist + Any Helper = allows you to materialise food simply by painting it on the canvas;
Yo-Yo + Burning Leo = Burning Yo-Yo. The usual Yo-Yo Ability, but with fire;
Yo-Yo + Chilly = Blizzard Yo-Yo. The usual Yo-Yo Ability, but with ice;
Yo-Yo + Broom Hatter = Winger Yo-Yo. The usual Yo-Yo Ability, but with the power of wind. You can create tornados with it;
Stone + Dribblee = Water Curling. Turns Kirby into a Curling stone with the power of water, that can slide around and send enemies flying;
Stone + Vividrian = turns Kirby into a painted statue;
Water + Chilly = Icicle Lance. Allows you to throw lances of ice around;
Water + Plugg = allows you to send electric arcs around, and zap all enemies nearby;
Ninja + Broom Hatter = Winger Ninja. Allows you to attack enemies using tornado-related moves;
Ninja + Dribblee = Splash Ninja. Allows you to use various water-related moves;
Ninja + Plugg = allows you to use various electric-related moves;
Cook + Any Helper = allows you to cook all nearby enemies and Helpers in order to create food;
Suplex + Any Helper = send Helpers flying like projectiles.

Also, there’s Friend Actions: all 4 characters (Kirby + the 3 Helpers) combine their forces to create extra special abilities, that you can only activate at key points in the levels.

Here’s some examples:

Friend Star: Kirby and the Helpers hop on a Super Star, and fly around the stage. You can throw different types of projectiles depending on the character you’re having at the front;
Friend Wheel: Kirby and the Helpers form a wheel, that can roll around the levels, destroying everything on its path;
Friend Platform: Kirby and the Helpers form a platform, that can be used by NPC to cross a gap for example;
Friend Train: Kirby and the Helpers form a train, that dash through the levels at high speed. Allows you to run on walls, and send flying all enemies on your path!

Kirby Star Allies – Play Modes

Kirby Star Allies can be played in Single Player, but also in co-op with 2 to 4 players. No need to worry if you don’t have anyone to play with when you start: additional player can join and leave at any time! Naturally, the game can be played in all three modes: TV Mode, Handheld Mode, and Tabletop Mode. For multiplayer, only TV Mode and Tabletop Mode are supported. You can use a single Joy-Con for each player.

As mentioned above, when you’re playing with friends, one player controls Kirby, and the others play as Helpers.

Kirby Star Allies – Mini Game and amiibo

Just like many other Kirby games, Kirby Star Allies features some mini games:

in the first one, you need to cut down a tree while avoiding the caterpillars on it… and the spikes!
Galactic Homerun: you have to charge your bat, and then hit a meteorite with the right timing so as to send it back into space (as far as you can).

As for amiibo, the game is compatible with pretty much all figures. Tapping one allows you to make a treasure chest appear.

But if you use one of the amiibo listed below, you can get a lot of items (it’s not clear which ones yet):

Kirby (Super Smash Bros. and Kirby series)
King Dedede
Meta Knight
Waddle Dee
Qbby

Kirby Star Allies (Switch) comes out on March 16th, worldwide.