Kirby Super Star

"Eight games in one? That sounds like fun! This title introduced Copy Ability hats, which changed Kirby's appearance based on which power he was wielding. This game also gave Kirby the ability to transform an equipped Copy Ability into a Helper, which added a new kind of cooperative play to the mix. A Helper could be either controlled by the game's AI or controlled by a second player, and each type of Helper had its own moves."

- Summary

Kirby Super Star is known as Kirby's Fun Pak in PAL regions and Hoshi no Kābī: Super Deluxe (星のカービィ スーパーデラックス Hoshi no Kābī Sūpāderakkusu, meaning Kirby of the Stars Super Deluxe) in Japan. It is a collection of nine small games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) that was released in 1996 (1997 in the PAL region) and for Wii Virtual Console in 2010 (2009 in Japan). Kirby Super Star is one of the most popular games in the series. This is the Kirby title that first introduced Helpers. They are enemies turned to allies, and can be controlled by a computer or a second player.

This game was the debut of Kirby's 'hats', different headgear and appearances that come with copy abilities. In previous games, Kirby would only change color or wield a weapon, but now abilities (such as the Fire ability granting Kirby a crown of flames or the Yo-Yo ability granting him a backwards baseball cap) have specific hats. The Ability Caps returned in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror and Kirby: Squeak Squad to differentiate his abilities and better symbolize them.

Kirby Super Star was remade for the Nintendo DS, titled Kirby Super Star Ultra.

Gameplay
Kirby retains all of his signature abilities: inhaling, swallowing, floating, sliding and gains the new ability to block attacks.

Helpers
One of Kirby Super Star's core features is Two Player Cooperative Gameplay - making the entire game multiplayer material. If Kirby has a copy ability, simply pressing the X button triggers a second player "Helper" character to appear in exchange of current ability.

If a second player is not present, the Helper Character is controlled by AI until a second controller is activated by pressing any button. The AI is of a high quality, as even the computer controlled characters can both protect the first player (Kirby) and also venture into area where the first player might not want to go.

HP System
Kirby Super Star was the first Kirby game to feature a continuous HP measurement system, instead of having a discrete number of 'health bars' as seen in earlier games and used in newer titles such as Kirby Squeak Squad, but this is the only time the HP system was used on such an in-depth scale.

The meters don't give the exact HP Kirby and the second player have. However, it seems Helpers have less default HP than Kirby. Another effect is that most enemies usually require more than one hit to defeat, depending on what ability is used.

The only time attack power can be measured is when fighting the Computer Virus boss, as the message system displays how much damage was dealt to a Computer Virus minion. Based on measurements against (unshielded) Virus' minions, Powerful abilities include Stone and Wheelie Rider - when controlled by a second player. Kirby's Hammer throw deals 80 points of damage, while Crash does a one-time 160 points. Performing a Suplex throw and then the Fury Stomp from its moveset right after can do up to 174 points.

Spring Breeze
Spring Breeze is a smaller, updated version of the original Kirby's Dream Land. King Dedede has stolen the people's food, and four sparkling stars from the people of Dream Land. Kirby must follow the wind of the Spring Breeze to locate the four stars and make his way to Mt. Dedede.

Dyna Blade
Dyna Blade is ruining Dream Land's crops. Kirby must travel to the mountain where she lives and investigate.

Gourmet Race
Race against King Dedede to the finish line in three different levels, while trying to eat more food than him.

The Great Cave Offensive
Kirby journeys through a long, winding system of levels and gathers valuable treasure while seeking the way out.

Revenge of Meta Knight
Meta Knight is attempting to take over Dream Land with his battleship Halberd. It's up to Kirby to destroy the Halberd and stop Meta Knight's plan.

Milky Way Wishes
The sun and moon are fighting, and it's up to Kirby to awake NOVA to stop the fight.

The Arena
Kirby battles all of the game's Bosses in a continuous streak.

Megaton Punch
Kirby will face an enemy in a contest to deal the biggest cracks into Planet Popstar. If playing with the computer it will be Waddle Dee, Knuckle Joe, then Iron Mam.

Samurai Kirby
The player takes on five opponents in a samurai showdown in this reaction timing sub-game.

Trivia

 * The Rest Area music heard in The Arena is a slowed-down remix of a short portion of Float Islands' theme.
 * Oddly, when Kirby's Super Star was released on the Wii U in Europe, it used the US version instead of the European version Kirby's Fun Pak.