“ | Ball-shaped Kirby leapt back into action again! This time, players bounced Kirby around stages to destroy blocks and defeat enemies. A good sense of timing was essential to getting a high score. Items, power-ups, and Copy Abilities also helped players rack up points.” |
— Summary • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition |
Kirby's Block Ball is a breakout-style Kirby game, developed for the Game Boy by HAL Laboratory and Tose Co., Ltd.[3] with support from Nintendo R&D1, and published by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on December 14, 1995, in Europe on December 25, 1995, and in North America on May 4, 1996.
Kirby's Block Ball re-released on the 3DS Virtual Console In Japan in 2011 and other regions in 2012.
Story[]
“ | In this adventure, Kirby takes center stage in a frenzied, block-clearing free for all! Through the positioning of the paddle, you send a ball into the playing field and clear a variety of blocks, with the goal of establishing a high score! After facing familiar enemies, Kirby must face his arch-nemesis, King DeDeDe! It will not be an easy task.... Use the four abilities and the Kirby Power Bounce wisely! Good luck, Kirby!” |
— Welcome to Kirby's Block Ball • Kirby's Block Ball Instruction Booklet |
King Dedede steals the five Sparkling Stars and hides them inside Castle Dedede. Kirby flies his Warp Star up to Blockworld, a floating archipelago, and conquers each stage in an attempt to reach Dedede. Ten main stages comprise Blockworld, plus the king's stronghold. Each stage is ruled by one of Dedede's henchmen. Defeating them without clearing the border line only grants access to the next stage.
If all ten main stages are cleared merely meeting this condition, the bad ending sequence rolls; Dedede's face ominously hovers above Blockworld, and the player is presented the message, "Let's try again!" In order to unlock Stage 11 and get the true ending, the player must clear the border line on the first ten stages. Each stage requires a different score. Kirby completes the objective and a bridge to the castle forms. After one final stage, the hero defeats his rival. The Sparkling Stars destroy Dedede's stronghold and reveal that a fountain is built on its foundation. Kirby dances in the fountain's gushes as the credits roll.
Gameplay[]
Kirby's Block Ball strays away from the normal Kirby platforming style, and is a breakout-style game featuring enemies, boss battles, and sub-games. The object of the game is to keep Kirby in play by bouncing him against paddles on different sides of the screen, as well as prevent Kirby from hitting spikes. These KO Kirby in his ball form or make him lose his Copy Ability. The number and position of paddles varies between areas, as well as the number of spiked walls.
In each stage, Kirby bounces around in an area filled with blocks and enemies. When Kirby collides with a block or enemy, it is eliminated. When enemies are KO'd, they transform into food, which yield bonus points. Some, however, transform into panels that affect the blocks in the area. Further, certain enemies yield one of the four Copy Abilities that Kirby can obtain.
The player moves onto the next round when the blocks and enemies are all cleared. There are 11 total stages -- the last is unlocked by clearing the border line on each level. Each stage consists of five areas. The first three areas of each stage are normal block areas. The fourth is an area containing a mid-boss battle with Star Blocks that can be collected to protect Kirby from spike-covered walls in the upcoming boss battle (and grant an extra life if all are collected). The final area is a battle against the stage boss.
Items and power-ups appear in the stages to help Kirby succeed. These include bombs to destroy certain blocks, panels that switch the color of the blocks on the screen (altering its point value), panels that split Kirby into two Kirbys, Bonus chances that allow Kirby to pass through blocks without ricocheting, and Warp Stars that take Kirby into the sub-game hub, with 4 sub-games to choose from in which the player can get extra lives. Hitting Bouncy will allow the player to get the Kirby Changer panel, which lets Kirby get an ability of choice.
The paddles are controlled by different directional inputs, depending on the position of the paddle, the top and bottom paddles are controlled with the left and right buttons, while the left and right paddles are controlled with the up and down ones. The A button can be used to give Kirby a boost when he hits the paddle, this boost also allows Kirby to destroy certain blocks, as well as becoming impervious to spiked walls for a short time. The B button is used to trigger a Copy Ability if Kirby has any.
There are several ways of getting points in each stage. Different kind of blocks give the player different point values; white square boxes give 50 points, white colored rectangles give 100, and big white boxes (composed of small white boxes after getting hit) give a total of 400. all of these values double when the blocks are colored. there are also blocks that can only be broken with certain conditions, like having to use an ability or giving Kirby a boost with the A button. Enemies KO'd by Kirby turn into tasty treats, which give the player bonus points if obtained, three different kinds of food can be obtained, Cupcakes (2000 points), Lolipops (1500 points), and Apples (1000 points). Bonus Chances and sub-games also grant extra points and lives at the end of each stage.
Modes[]
Main game[]
- Story Mode
Sub-games[]
Characters[]
The following section contains transcluded content from the Database. Source: (view • edit • help) |
Playable Characters[]
Enemies[]
- Blipper (Cake)
- Blocky (Flip)
- Bomber (Crash)
- Booler (Flip)
- Bouncy (Changer)
- Bounder (Crash)
- Bronto Burt (Apple/Cake)
- Broom Hatter (Apple/Candy)
- Captain Stitch (Crash)
- Chilly (Flip)
- Chuckie (Replica)
- Coner (Apple)
- Flamer (Burning)
- Glunk (Apple)
- Hatched Chick (Apple)
- Kookler (Crash)
- Mumbies (Flip)
- Propeller (Changer)
- Rocky (Stone)
- Scarfy (Crash)
- Slippy (Cake)
- Sparky (Spark)
- Spikey (Needle)
- Twister (Flip)
- Twizzy (Cake)
- UFO (Flip)
- Waddle Dee (Candy/Cake)
- Wheelie (Flip)
Bosses[]
Cappy | Squishy | Kabu | Poppy Bros. Sr. | Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright | Mr. Frosty | Kracko | Whispy Woods | Kabula | Brobo | King Dedede
Copy Abilities[]
Burning |
Needle |
Spark |
Stone |
Items and Objects[]
Apple | Changer | Crash | Cupcake | Flip | Lolipop | Invincible Candy | Replica | Star Block | Warp Star
Levels[]
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6 | Stage 7 | Stage 8 | Stage 9 | Stage 10 | Castle Dedede |
Development[]
Toward the beginning of the development of Kirby's Block Ball, HAL Laboratory inspected the game and told the design team that it "wasn't like Kirby." The team spent approximately half a year overhauling major parts of the game to meet HAL Laboratory's standards.[4]
Music[]
Main article: Kirby's Block Ball/Music |
Glitches[]
Main article: Glitch#Kirby's Block Ball |
Reception[]
This section is currently under construction | |
Staff[]
Main article: List of Kirby's Block Ball Staff |
Related Quotes[]
“ | Kirby's back with fast-paced, four-way action!
It's a breakaway bash in this wild new Kirby game of Block Ball! By destroying the blocks on the screen, you clear stages and obtain powers that help in your final confrontation with King Dedede. Paddles on all four sides of the screen make this an intense four-way action contest. Your quick reactions, and your careful use of Kirby's powers will determine your ultimate fate!
|
— Description • Nintendo website[5] |
“ | When Kirby swallows a ball enemy, he turns into a ball and can bounce off of floors and walls. It's tough to control, but well worth it for the strong attack power it gives Kirby. After his debut in Kirby's Adventure, Ball Kirby has popped up in several more Kirby games, such as Kirby's Pinball Land and Kirby's Block Ball.” |
— Ball Kirby trophy description • Super Smash Bros. Melee |
Trivia[]
- Two enemies, Waddle Doo and Pengy, were programmed into Kirby's Block Ball, but went unused. Their respective defeat animations have Waddle Doo's eye burst out of its socket and Pengy freeze into an ice block.[6]
- Kirby's Block Ball is the first Kirby game to include a fire-centered ability (Burning) without an ice-centered counterpart (such as Freeze).
- Kirby's Block Ball has the fewest Copy Abilities of any game that has them, with only four.
- Kirby's Block Ball is the only known Kirby game to have been made in collaboration with Tose, a Japanese game developer with a hand in over 1000 games, who would later create the original series The Legendary Starfy. As with most of their projects, they are not named in the game's credits. Nevertheless, the list shares several staff members with Tose's Game & Watch Gallery series, among other Tose games.
- Kirby's Block Ball was one of the last games to have Game Boy hardware designer Gunpei Yokoi in the role of producer, before his departure from Nintendo in 1996 and his death in 1997.