Secret area

A secret area is a hidden place found in many Kirby games. It is not in plain view and is generally is not expected to be found by the average player. Some of these places are mandatory for Kirby to visit if he is trying to collect every collectible item in a game.

Secret areas are most often areas accessed through unsuspecting or sometimes invisible doors. They may also require Kirby to perform an obscure technique in a room in order to generate the entrance.

Common secret areas
A recurring secret area entrance in the Kirby series is the moon, which first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land. In most games in which the crescent moon is visible, Kirby can enter it like a door by pressing ↑ when hovering over it.

A recurring secret area in the Kirby series is the HAL Room, which first appeared in Kirby's Adventure. It is a small area containing Star Blocks arranged to spell out "HAL," a reference to HAL Laboratory.

Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
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In addition to these secret areas, Kirby's Adventure contains a HAL Room. Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land technically does as well, though it is not accessible under ordinary circumstances.

Kirby's Dream Land 2
In Stages 2 and 3 of Ripple Field, Kirby enters dark rooms. If Kirby pairs up with Kine and uses the Spark ability, he can illuminate these rooms, revealing hidden doors. The door in Stage 2 leads to a room filled with water and five stars, and the room in Stage 3 leads to Ripple Field's Rainbow Drop—as such, visiting this room is mandatory for 100% completion. Kirby can enter these hidden doors without illuminating the rooms if he knows where they are.

Red Canyon contains the most secret areas. In Stage 1, Kirby passes through a room full of Gordos. If he breaks a Star Block over a white diamond shape and presses ↑, he is taken to a room containing a Pep Brew, a 1UP, and two Propellers. In Stage 3, Kirby and Kine can illuminate a dark room to reveal a door. This leads to a column of three 1UPs. In Stage 4, Kirby passes through a windy room after fighting Captain Stitch. If he breaks a Star Block over a diamond shape and presses ↑, he is taken to a room containing spikes, three Collapse Blocks, and two stars. In Stage 5, entering the left door in the first room leads Kirby to a dark room with a Blipper. Illuminating the room reveals a sign captioned, "ORCA," with an image of an orca on it. Pressing ↑ on it leads Kirby to a beach area in Ripple Field. This location contains two Propellers, two Scarfys, two Glunks, and eight stars.

A secret passage exists in Stage 5 of Dark Castle. There is a room divided in half by blocks—no matter which door Kirby enters from, three 1UPs always appear on the opposite side of the room, just out of Kirby's reach. When entering from the right side, Kirby can destroy solid-looking blocks beneath the door. Standing where they were and pressing ↓ drops Kirby into a black area below the screen. From there, he can walk under the stage and float up through solid-looking blocks on the left side, granting the hero access to the 1UPs. This method works when entering from the left side as well.

Spring Breeze and Revenge of the King
As Spring Breeze is a shortened remake of Kirby's Dream Land, Bubbly Clouds retains its moon secret; if Kirby hovers over it and presses ↑, he is taken to a room with food, a Noddy, and Bonkers. Kirby can exit through a door at any time, which sends him directly to Kracko.

This moon secret carries over to Crash Clouds in Revenge of the King. Entering it brings Kirby to the same room as in Spring Breeze, only Bonkers is replaced with Grand Wheelie and a door is not immediately present. To exit, Kirby must defeat the mid-boss and leave through the door that appears.

The Great Cave Offensive
In Old Tower, a dark room exists. Kirby can fiery Copy Abilities such as Fire and Jet to light candles to brighten the room. A door is hidden toward the top. It can be entered whether or not Kirby can see it.

In Garden Area, Kirby can find several hidden rooms and passageways. At the beginning of the area, Kirby can hit a switch that opens a hole in the wall, releasing a Broom Hatter, a Twizzy, Tookeys, and Birdons. Hovering over this hole and pressing ↑ takes Kirby inside, leading to a small room filled with these enemies. A Treasure Chest appears here as well. Elsewhere in Garden Area is a small chamber containing a Treasure Chest that is covered by stone blocks with windows. One block is discolored and has a waterfall pouring from it—pressing ↓ drops Kirby through the block into the water-filled chamber below. After firing out of a cannon, Kirby finds himself in a cloudy area. He is able to pass through any part of a cloud that is covered in stars.

As all of these secrets lead to Treasure, so visiting these is mandatory for 100% completion.

Revenge of Meta Knight
At the beginning of Chapter 6, Kirby falls through the sky. As he falls, four pieces of food forming the shape of a circle become visible. Pressing ↑ on the cloud in the center takes Kirby to a cloudy room containing three Copy Essences, a Bomber, and Invincibility Candy. The hero must then fight Chef Kawasaki and Bugzzy before finding food and a Maxim Tomato. After entering this secret area, Mace Knight, Captain Vul, and Meta Knight comment on Kirby disappearing from the Halberd's radar.

The entrance to the room is slightly more obscure in Kirby Super Star Ultra. The cloud in Kirby Super Star is exactly the size of a door, whereas the cloud in the remake is much larger, and thus looks less like a passage to enter.

Milky Way Wishes
On the map screen, a small star exists in the background roughly between Skyhigh and Cavius. Floating over it and pressing A takes Kirby to a small planet called ???. It contains Tacs and Bombers, as well as the Copy Copy Essence Deluxe. As such, visiting it is mandatory for 100% completion. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, ??? is a blinking star on the map screen, and hovering over it briefly reveals that it is an area that Kirby can enter.

In addition to these secret areas, Kirby Super Star Ultra contains a HAL Room.

Kirby's Dream Land 3
In Stage 4 of Ripple Field, Kirby can find patches of dots on the walls in dim rooms. Like in Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kine's Spark ability illuminates the rooms, revealing that the dots actually form doors. Pressing ↑ on them with or without Kine takes Kirby to four rooms. The first contains a Maxim Tomato, eight stars, and falling metal balls. The second contains a Gansan and a Maxim Tomato with Elemental Blocks covering it. The third is a mirror of the second, but with a 1UP under the Elemental Blocks. The fourth leads Kirby through a column of Gordos with stars and a battle with Captain Stitch, then leads him to a room containing Kogamugael. Visiting this room is mandatory for 100% completion.

In Stage 1 of Sandy Canyon, Kirby finds Polof. The enemy hops over to a location in the room before passing through a spot on the wall. If Kirby presses ↑ on this spot, he enters a room containing a 1UP and 12 stars.

In Stage 3 of Cloudy Park, Kirby can bypass the exit door and pass through a cloud wall. This leads him through an area inhabited by Batamons. He can exit the stage through another exit door. This secret area is the only legitimate way that Kirby may encounter a Batamon face to face.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land
In Stage 2 of Cookie Country, Kirby climbs up the interior of a giant tree. Breaking Star Blocks on the right side of the tree leads to a pocket containing a Maxim Tomato. Kirby can float upward here to find a door slightly concealed by foliage. This door takes the hero to an area in Onion Ocean that contains two Comos and Invincibility Candy.

Like Rainbow Resort in Kirby's Adventure and its remake, Stage 5 of Nutty Noon contains a mid-boss tower. Pressing ↑ when hovering over a barred window causes Kirby to enter a different part of the tower than usual. Kirby must then battle Water Galboros, King Doo, Dubior, Kibble Blade, Gigant Edge, Bonkers, and Moundo before receiving four 1UPs.

At the end of Stage 3 of Dangerous Dinner, Kirby can float high above the exit door and press ↑ on a molten planetoid in the background. This leads the hero to a tall room with wind blowing downwards, trails of stars and food, and another exit door.

In addition to these secret areas, Kirby's Return to Dream Land contains two HAL Rooms.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe
In Stage 4 of Old Odyssey, Kirby will reach a room where he must jump from platform to platform over pits. Between two platforms near the end of the area, a hole is visible in the wall in the background. Entering this hole leads Kirby to a room with a tilt cannon that shoots upwards. Gordos in the foreground obscure what Kirby is shooting at. Shooting to the right gives Kirby a keychain; shooting close to the middle gives a rare keychain; shooting to the left hits a Scarfy. After Kirby is shot in the air, he will land back on a platform near the secret door. Visiting this room is mandatory for 100% completion.

In Stage 3 of Wild World, Kirby enters the second room of the stage that contains a Truth Mirror behind it. The room contains a long flight of steps that have invisible spikes on them; however, one of the steps in this flight has a different design and no invisible spike on it. The hidden door is on this step. The room contains a switch that causes both a 1UP and a Treasure Chest containing a rare keychain to momentarily fall where Kirby can reach it before again falling, this time into a pit. Visiting this room is mandatory for 100% completion.

At the end of Stage 8 of Royal Road, Hypernova Kirby unfurls a giant sheet of wallpaper. The end of this wallpaper is decorated with an image of the starry area in Bubbly Clouds from Kirby's Dream Land. If Kirby presses ↑ on the moon image, he is taken to a cloudy location in Floralia. Here he falls through the air while collecting food and occasional stars, three 1UPs, and keychains. One of these keychains is rare, making this room mandatory for 100% completion.

In addition to these secret areas, Kirby: Triple Deluxe contains three HAL Rooms.

Kirby: Planet Robobot
In Stage 4 of Patched Plains, Kirby enters a research facility. Four metal bars with gaps between them make up a patch of the floor early in the stage. If Kirby floats underneath the first bar and presses ↑, he enters an invisible door. This leads to an area with a Smash Bros. Copy Essence, a Clubmech, and a 1UP.

In Stage 1 of Overload Ocean, a submarine rests at the bottom of a pool of water in the first room. Instead of entering the door on the ship above it, Kirby should press ↑ on the open submarine door. This leads to a chamber inside the vessel containing a Smash Bros. Copy Essence, two Squishys, Bomb Blocks, and items.

At the beginning of Stage 2 of Rhythm Route, Kirby can enter an open window at the top of the casino by pressing ↑ on it. This leads to a vertical room containing a Smash Bros. Copy Essence, Star Blocks, and items.

At the end of Stage 5 of Access Ark, Kirby can float to the top of the screen and press ↑ on an orange and blue star. This takes him to an area in which he must fire himself out of gyro-controlled cannons to break Durable Blocks and obtain items. In addition to a Smash Bros. Copy Essence, Kirby can find a rare sticker here—as such, visiting this room is mandatory for 100% completion. At the end of Stage 8, Kirby turns on a projection of the starry area in Bubbly Clouds from Kirby's Dream Land. If Kirby presses ↑ on the digital moon, he is taken to a location in Fine Fields. Here he can fall through the air while collecting items, defeat non-cyborg enemies, and unscrew screws. A rare sticker appears in this secret area too, making this room mandatory for 100% completion.

In addition to these secret areas, Kirby: Planet Robobot contains three HAL Rooms.

Trivia

 * The entrance to the secret area in Patched Plains may be a reference to the first secret area's entrance in Vegetable Valley.