The Arena

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

- 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, if not the hardest sub-game, in each game it appears in.

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. 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 Warpstar in the 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 rest room.

The first eight 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 this order:
 * 1) Masked Dedede/Masked Dedede's Revenge (Masked Dedede and Masked Dedede's Revenge are fought one after the other, with no break in between)
 * 2) Queen Sectonia
 * 3) Queen Sectonia (second form)

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

Trivia

 * The Arena is somewhat similar to All-Star mode in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, 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 ' s The Arena is the only version of the sub-game that does not support multiplayer.