HAL Room

A HAL Room (also called a HAL Area) is a secret area found in multiple Kirby games. The rooms have Star Blocks arranged to spell out the word HAL, the shorthand name of HAL Laboratory, the company that developed the Kirby series. Usually, a Broom Hatter is seen sweeping and cleaning the letter L.

HAL Rooms appear in every game directed by Shinya Kumazaki.

Kirby's Adventure
 Kirby's Adventure' s HAL room is a hidden area rather than a complete room. It is located in stage 2 of Vegetable Valley. Once Kirby reaches the point in the beginning of the stage with a Warp Star on top of a small hill, he has to move back from the hill until the star disappears. Once Kirby moves beyond that point, he can access the HAL area. Why exactly this was left in the game is unknown.

Kirby: Canvas Curse
Blocks spelling out "HAL" can be found in Level 3 of Block Attack. In Stage 11, Kirby can head to the right and defeat a Topper positioned in front of the goal. It is possible to see blue indestructible blocks here, which spell out the name HAL.

Kirby Super Star Ultra
 Kirby Super Star Ultra' s HAL Room is located in the Illusion Islands stage in the Revenge of the King sub-game. Kirby must first get any ability that can pound in stakes, preferably the Stone ability from a Rocky a few rooms back, and head to the area with the Mad Apples. Once he finds the stake, he'll have to pound it flat, which will destroy many blocks in the path. Instead of heading right, however, he must head left toward the green square one block away. Kirby can enter this block of color like a door.

After a battle with Mr. Tick-Tock, Kirby will reach the HAL Room, which houses the signature Broom Hatter, a Maxim Tomato, a 1UP and an Invincibility Candy.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land
There are two HAL Rooms in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. There are Copy Essences in the rooms besides the blocks and an assortment of collectible stars. A remix of the Green Greens theme plays in the rooms.

The first HAL Room is located in Cookie Country, within the first room of the fourth level. Kirby must trek through the room and past the door. After touching the right side of the screen, a rainbow will appear, signaling that the HAL Room's door has appeared. Kirby must then head back the way he came. He will discover that some platforms he previously crossed have collapsed and disappeared, revealing a door below.

This room has Hammer, Fighter, Ninja, and Wing Copy Essences, and the customary Broom Hatter. This room has five red stars, three of which are hidden in the letter L, as well as sixteen flowers. This room is shown as one of the adventure snapshots in the credits before VS Lor and Magolor.

The second HAL Room is located in Egg Engines, within the third room of the fifth level. At the end of the room, Kirby must pass the door and traverse through the conveyor belts the Halcandran Waddle Dees were traveling on. At the end of the top conveyor, the pink hero can enter a dark spot and head to the HAL Room.

This room contains Whip, Water, Spear, and Leaf Copy Essences. A Halcandran Waddle Dee is on the L instead of the usual Broom Hatter. There are several cannons in the room, and an assortment of stars, food, and 1UP, some of which are hidden in the blocks. Similarly to the above room, this room is included in the adventure snapshots appearing in the credits. It comes before the image of VS Lor and Magolor EX.

Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition
The HAL Room is much easier to find in this game. It is located in Last Land's Normal Challenge. Kirby will come across three Gigatzos (all of which are positioned on breakable blocks) and crumbling platforms. He can let the crumbling platforms break or destroy the breakable blocks with any attack to find a switch down below. Hitting that switch will cause a wall to move, revealing a door that leads to the HAL Room.

The music playing in the room is the Green Greens theme from either Kirby's Epic Yarn or Kirby's Return to Dream Land. The room starts out crowded with bricks, but as Kirby hits more switches, the bricks will move (revealing Score Coins and more switches); after the player has hit every switch, an exit door, more Score Coins, and the word HAL will be revealed.

Unlike usual, HAL isn't spelled out with Star Blocks, and no enemy stands on the L. Additionally, the space inside the A is only one block large, not two.

Because it holds numerous Score Coins, visiting the HAL Room is mandatory if the player wishes to get a platinum medal on the Challenge.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe
There are three HAL Rooms in this game, more than any other before it. The first one is in Stage 3 of Fine Fields. In the second room, Kirby must first find a 3D Warpstar hidden in the bushes. He then must travel to the background and touch the very edge of the screen, then travel back to where he entered to see that a 3D Warpstar has appeared. Upon using it, Kirby must then travel left. The music will suddenly change to the title theme from Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition.

As usual, there is a Broom Hatter sweeping on the L accompanied with Wheel, Wing, Leaf, and Fighter Copy Essences. The Star Blocks contain an 1UP, a keychain, and a few Point Stars, along with a Maxim Tomato on the bottom of the A.

The second one is located in Stage 1 of Royal Road. After defeating Gigant Edge, Kirby must go to the far right and float upwards. There will be a moon in the background, and he must fly up and enter the secret entrance hidden in the moon, revealing a HAL Room.

The music that plays is the Spring Breeze title music from Kirby Super Star Ultra.

The Star Blocks that spell out HAL are broken up between the foreground and the background, and destroying the blocks in the foreground will reveal three 1UPs, a Maxim Tomato, and a keychain. The big Star Blocks in the background take three hits to destroy, and there is an insect Waddle Dee on the L. The room provides Circus, Archer, Bell, and Beetle Copy Essences.

The third one is in Stage 5 of Royal Road. During the 5x5 portion of the 3D Securitrons, when the player successfully completes the last one, he/she must wait 86 seconds until the blocks disappear. Blocks will then pop up in which they form the letters HAL in that order. A door will then appear in which Kirby must navigate a series of Tilt Gondolas and cannons. At the end, there is a keychain, a Maxim Tomato, a 1UP, and two blue Point Stars (worth 30).

These rooms can be entered with King Dedede in Dededetour as well.

In the downloadable sub-game Kirby Fighters Deluxe, the name HAL is spelled out by tiles. It can be found at the fifth stage, VS Kracko, only on Very Hard difficulty.

In the downloadable sub-game Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, the name HAL is spelled out by Musical Coins. It can be found at the end of Secret Level 7, C-R-O-W-N-E-D, but only on hard difficulty -- on normal difficulty, the coins spell out "DDD."

Kirby: Planet Robobot
There are three HAL Rooms in Kirby: Planet Robobot. There are Copy Essences in the rooms besides the blocks and an assortment of collectible stars. The first room is at the end of the secret room with three 1UPs near the end of the third stage of Patched Plains. In this room, the player must fly up to the right-up corner of the screen and go right. They will then reach a squarish pipe, which leads to a HAL Room. The second room is at the end of the first area in Access Ark's first stage, and has the Smash Bros., Poison, Doctor, and ESP Copy Essences. It can be accessed by flying to the right-top corner of that room and going into a hole in the second picture; the theme from Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe plays here, instead of a remixed version of Kirby's Dream Land's theme as the other rooms do. The third and final room can be reached by waiting for 86 seconds in the last area of Access Ark's fourth stage; unlike the other HAL Rooms, this room's initials are made of the digital platforms that appear on this level, instead of the usual star blocks.

Trivia

 * Kirby's Adventure ' s HAL Room cannot be accessed in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. This may be due to unorthodox NES programming needed for it to behave as a special area inside another room; the game was released almost ten years after the introduction of the NES console, and HAL developers were pushing the system to the limits as to what it could do. Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land ' s Room is still inside the level's memory, but can only be accessed via codes. Also, in the original NES game, accessing the room requires the use of glitches, and it is not supposed to be normally accessible. Programming differences between ports (NES to GBA) and glitch fixes likely cut out any method to normally access this room.
 * The obscure way used to access the Cookie Country HAL Room in Kirby's Return to Dream Land may be a reference to the above fact that in Kirby's Adventure, this room is not normally accessible at all. In turn, the way to access Fine Fields' HAL Room is a reference to Cookie Country's HAL Room is accessed.