| “ | Kirby's not the only hero! Helpers can be heroes, too! We'll prove it in an all-star battle!” |
| — Flavor text • Kirby Super Star Ultra |
Helper to Hero is a mode in Kirby Super Star Ultra that is unlocked after defeating thirteen bosses or more in The Arena.
It pits the player against a set of 14 bosses, but instead of controlling Kirby, the player chooses to control any one of the twenty Helpers in the game (including Sword Knight, and excluding the Starship helper). Unlike the other boss medleys in the game, the battles actually follow a specific order throughout the entire arena.
Beating Helper to Hero with all Helpers places a ribbon on the mode selection and bottom screen of the Helper to Hero title screen, and unlocks movie 00, which consists of cutscenes from the original Super Star. Although beating the mode with all helpers unlocks the final cutscene in the game, it is only necessary to beat it with only one of the Helpers to get a full completion of the file.
Playable Characters
All Helpers. Helpers have alternate color palettes unique to Helper to Hero
- Knuckle Joe
- Parasol Waddle Dee
- Chilly
- Blade Knight
- Simirror
- Sir Kibble
- Plasma Wisp
- Waddle Doo
- Poppy Bros. Jr.
- Gim
- Birdon
- Bio Spark
- Bonkers
- Burning Leo
- Capsule J2
- Bugzzy
- Tac
- Wheelie
- Rocky
- Sword Knight
Bosses
With the chosen Helper, players must defeat 13 bosses chosen from the classic Kirby Super Star game modes, and a new final boss, Wham Bam Jewel, who appears after defeating Wham Bam Rock.
- Whispy Woods
- Mid-Boss All Stars 1 (Chef Kawasaki, Bonkers, Bugzzy)
- Kracko
- King Dedede
- Dyna Blade
- Fatty Whale
- Chameleo Arm
- Mid-Boss All Stars 2 (Poppy Bros. Sr., Mr. Frosty, Iron Mam, Jukid)
- Twin Woods
- Heavy Lobster
- Computer Virus (Magician, Evil Knight, Great Dragon)
- Meta Knight
- Wham Bam Rock
- Wham Bam Jewel (fought immediately after Wham Bam Rock)
Players access the rest area between each fight, except after defeating Wham Bam Rock. There are only three Maxim Tomatoes in the rest area. Upon taking one, the next time the player enters that room, a regular tomato will take its place. Once taken, it will not reappear.
Unlike The Arena, the rest area contains a tent with a path to the colosseum and a sunset in the background. Upon reaching Wham Bam Rock, the rest area turns to night and the background music becomes Dyna Blade's mountain stage.
Trivia
Screen shown when Helper to Hero is cleared with all 20 helpers
- The overall tone of Helper to Hero is very condescending compared to most other modes:
- Discouraging and sarcastic phrases rather than encouraging ones appear when a Helper is defeated (i.e. "Try to be a hero!"), similarly to the messages displayed in The True Arena.
- The Computer Virus boss also refers to any chosen Helper as "the Helper" instead of their name, and when defeated, displays "The Helper defeated all the enemies!" before closing its windows, as if doubting its own loss.
- Meta Knight notably stands on his starting platform much longer than in any other mode, implying that he does not even notice that the Helper is challenging him.
- The bosses Combo Cannon, Marx, Bandana Waddle Dee, Lololo and Lalala, and Reactor are all omitted, possibly because they aren't fought twice in the original sub-games (excluding appearances in The Arena). Galactic Nova Nucleus is taken out because only the Starship can fight it.
- Inversely, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Dyna Blade are only fought once in the original sub-games.
- For some reason, Wham Bam Rock isn't counted as a boss and is called "???." Unlike the four "???"s in The True Arena (which are Masked Dedede, Wham Bam Jewel, Galacta Knight, and Marx Soul), the identity of Wham Bam Rock is not revealed even when the Helper fights against it.
- During a two-player challenge, Wheelie Bike cannot be ridden by another of its kind. This is probably because Kirby gets the Wheelie Rider ability when ridden, while Helpers stick to one ability.
- The wait-room theme of Helper to Hero is a remix of Ripple Star's level select music from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
Gallery
