The Arena

"In The Arena, you've got to win to survive. These bosses are about to find out why they call Kirby the pink demon."

- The Arena

The Arena is a sub-game similar in concept to the Boss Endurance sub-games from previous games in the Kirby series, but vastly updated. It is generally viewed as one of the hardest sub-games in each game it appears in. Since The Arena's appearance in Kirby Super Star Ultra, it has always appeared alongside a similar, more difficult sub-game, The True Arena, which is generally unlocked after The Arena is beaten.

Kirby Super Star
Before Kirby can fight any enemies, he will be in a room where he can choose a copy ability from a Copy Essence with two elevators for quick travel. Kirby is allowed to take a Helper in at will, though the player should note that the presence of a Helper on-screen gives the boss more health. It should also be noted that Kracko Jr. is the only boss not to appear in The Arena. There is also a Warp Star in that very room. When Kirby hops on it, he will go to fight any of the following enemies in random order:


 * Chameleo Arm
 * Combo Cannon
 * Computer Virus
 * Dyna Blade
 * Fatty Whale
 * Galactic Nova Nucleus
 * Heavy Lobster
 * King Dedede
 * Kracko
 * Lololo & Lalala
 * Meta Knight
 * Mid-Boss All-Stars #1 (Chef Kawasaki, Bonkers and Bugzzy)
 * Mid-Boss All-Stars #2 (Poppy Bros. Sr., Mr. Frosty, Iron Mam and Jukid)
 * Reactor
 * Twin Woods
 * Arena Waddle Dee
 * Wham Bam Rock
 * Whispy Woods
 * When all those bosses are defeated, Kirby faces Marx.

In between enemy fights, Kirby will be taken to a rest area where he can access two randomly-generated Copy Essences, along with a limited number of Maxim Tomatoes (starts with five Maxim Tomatoes) that will not respawn (or be replaced) after being eaten. If the player beats this sub-game, he/she will be rewarded with the game's Sound Test feature.

Kirby Super Star Ultra
This game features The Arena from Kirby Super Star with one small change: If Kirby picks a Maxim Tomato in the room between fights, a regular tomato (which restores less health and will not respawn or be replaced) will replace it the next time he visits this room. Additionally, the Arena Waddle Dee is replaced with Bandana Waddle Dee, who behaves the same way.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land
This variant is almost identical to Kirby Super Star ' s The Arena, but in addition to the four Maxim Tomatoes, there is an extra one inside a box. Up to four players can play this sub-game. After Kirby beats The Arena himself, the player unlocks Meta Knight, Bandana Waddle Dee, and King Dedede to play as — this means the player can play the sub-game without Kirby being present at all.

The first ten bosses are fought in random order: The last three are fought in a set order:
 * Mid-Boss All-Stars 1 (Gigant Edge, King Doo, Bonkers)
 * Mid-Boss All-Stars 2 (Kibble Blade, Moundo, Water Galboros, Dubior)
 * Sphere Doomers (Spark, Regular & Fire, Ice)
 * Whispy Woods
 * Mr. Dooter
 * Fatty Puffer
 * Goriath
 * Grand Doomer
 * Metal General
 * Landia
 * 1) Lor &amp; Magolor (Only boss to be battled with Landia)
 * 2) Magolor
 * 3) Magolor (second form)

Kirby: Triple Deluxe
This variant is nearly identical to Kirby's Return to Dream Land ' s The Arena, with a few changes: The room with every Copy Essence stretches horizontally rather than vertically, with two Tilt Gondolas for quick travel instead of two ladders. The rest area is now on two planes; the foreground contains two Copy Essences, and the background contains food items and the door. Kirby can travel between the two planes with a 3D Warpstar. One of the five Maxim Tomatoes is contained inside an Assist Star. Once in a while, treasure chests that contain keychains will appear at the foreground.

The first seven bosses are fought in random order:
 * Mid-Boss All-Stars 1 (Grand Wheelie, Bonkers, & Hornhead)
 * Mid-Boss All-Stars 2 (Mr. Frosty, Flame Galboros, Gigant Edge, & Blocky)
 * Flowery Woods
 * Paintra
 * Kracko
 * Coily Rattler
 * Pyribbit

The last three bosses are fought in a fixed order:
 * 1) Masked Dedede/Masked Dedede's Revenge
 * 2) Queen Sectonia
 * 3) Queen Sectonia (flower form)

Kirby: Planet Robobot
The Arena in this game is drastically changed from the normal format of The Arena. Unlike previous games, all 11 rounds are in a set order of bosses fought. The Copy Ability select room spreads out vertically, with pipes connecting individual rooms. The ultimate room contains a new Roulette Copy Essence and a portal leading to the first rest area. The rest area is now on a circular plain leading to a building containing the door to the next round. It is implied that one very tall building is being climbed throughout The Arena, as the first rest area is on the ground, and as the rounds go by, the player traverses higher into the sky, until they are in space at the final rest area. A Roulette Copy Essence can be found (Execept on Round 7 and 11, as those are fought with the Jet and Halberd Robobot Armor modes, respectively), as well as a new Assist Star for each round. Before Round 2, a Maxim Tomato Assist Star is given, and before all rounds after a cherry Assist Star is given until before Round 6, where a Maxim Tomato Assist Star is given, and before all rounds after a cherry Assist Star is given until before Round 10, where a Pep Brew Assist Star is given, and before Round 11, where a Maxim Tomato Assist Star is given. In addition, stickers are given in specific rounds: one before Round 2, one before Round 6, one before Round 10, and 2 before Round 11. The music changes overtime as well, with it starting out as a remix of the music in the first stage of Patched Plains, then changing to a techno theme seeming reminiscent of the traditional King Dedede battle theme after Round 5, then changing to the music played during the cutscene where Kirby meets President Haltmann after Round 9, and finally changing to the music played during the cutscene where Star Dream becomes sentient after Round 10.

The bosses are fought in this order:


 * 1) Clanky Woods
 * 2) Holo Defense API
 * 3) Susie
 * 4) Mid-Boss All Stars 1 (Kibble Blade, Blocky, King Doo, & Dubior)
 * 5) Mecha Knight
 * 6) Dedede Clone / Dedede Clones &amp; D3
 * 7) C.O.G.S.
 * 8) Mid-Boss All Stars 2 (Security Force, Miasmoros, Bonkers, & Telepathos)
 * 9) Mecha Knight+
 * 10) President Haltmann
 * 11) Star Dream

Related Quotes
"THE FINAL CHALLENGE! In his toughest battle yet, the Pink Wonder faces his strongest enemies."

- Description

"Why can't people stop fighting? When the pink terror raises his fist, even the strong tremble in fear..."

- Description

"When the pink hero takes flight, when the blue knight slices, when the bandana-wearer kicks, when the king’s hammer swings…lesser warriors become dust!"

- Pause screen description "When the mighty pink puffball pounces, even the strongest bosses will fall. Will you stand victorious at the end of it all?"

- The Arena

Trivia

 * The All-Star mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl is similar to The Arena, where the player has to fight every character using limited resources. Super Smash Bros. Brawl also introduced a Boss Battles mode, which is even more similar to The Arena than All-Star mode is, featuring the bosses of Adventure and Classic Modes fought randomly until the final boss of Adventure Mode is fought last. Seeing as how HAL Laboratory also made the Super Smash Bros. games, it is possible that these two modes were based on The Arena.
 * Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot ' s The Arenas are the only versions of the sub-game that do not support multiplayer.
 * The title screen theme and the boss battle themes in Kirby: Triple Deluxe are remixes from Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra.
 * The Copy Essence room's theme (before fighting the bosses) in Kirby's Return to Dream Land uses the Rest Area's music from Kirby Super Star.
 * Kirby & The Amazing Mirror ' s Boss Endurance sub-game is greatly inspired by The Arena. Unlike other versions of Boss Endurance, this one allows Kirby to choose a Copy Ability at the beginning, recover HP with Maxim Tomatoes, learn which opponent is next before battle, fight groups of mid-bosses, and summon CPU help.
 * In Kirby: Planet Robobot, the player cannot choose to use all Copy Abilities without using amiibo. This is because the Smash Bros. and UFO abilities are not present as Copy Essences, nor do they appear in roulette Copy Essences.

Gallery
Die Arena L'Arène 格闘王への道