Meta Knightmare Ultra is the Meta Knightmare of Kirby Super Star Ultra. This mode lets the player play through the game's first five sub-games; Spring Breeze, Dyna Blade, The Great Cave Offensive, Revenge of Meta Knight, and Milky Way Wishes as Meta Knight in that order. Each sub-game is divided by a rest area and the time spent there is not recorded. Meta Knight uses his normal sword ability, but can use four special moves: Knight Call, Meta Quick, Heal, and Mach Tornado. Defeating enemies accumulates points in the sword bar to unleash these moves by touching the touch screen.
Story
Meta Knight wants to become the galaxy's greatest warrior, so in order to do so, he embarks on a long quest through Dream Land until he reaches the Halberd (Revenge of Meta Knight), and eventually flies into space and visits some of the other planets in the galaxy (Milky Way Wishes), with the intent of reviving the destroyed Nova.
Eventually, he finds the Seven Stars from the other planets, and uses them to resurrect and summon the mechanical comet. In return, Nova grants Meta Knight's wish to "fight the greatest warrior in the galaxy". In doing so, Nova summons the ancient warrior Galacta Knight, who was sealed away for fear of his overwhelming powers.
The newly-freed Galacta Knight then engages in what Meta Knight hoped for - a duel between the two. After a long battle, Meta Knight manages to defeat Galacta Knight, causing him to flash and explode, presumably destroying him. The triumphant Meta Knight returns to Pop Star, safe in the knowledge that he is now the galaxy's greatest warrior.
Differences from Kirby's Playthrough
The sub-game makes alterations to the five sub-games, possibly to make them all straightforward and alike. These changes include:
- Copy Essences Deluxe are all replaced by regular food items.
- Invincibility Candy and Maxim Tomatoes are replaced with regular food items. Some food items are even removed entirely.
- Instead of King Dedede flying out of Mt. Dedede after Kirby defeats him in the Spring Breeze ending, Meta Knight flies out on his own accord after his victory.
- Meta Knight does not get healed when he completes a level, nor do intros show.
- Dyna Blade is played through without stop. VS. Iron Mam is accessed after Candy Mountain.
- Rest areas in The Great Cave Offensive are removed, possibly in favor for the Heal ability. Areas that do not lead to the mine cart are removed.
- Treasure Chests are replaced by regular food.
- The inside of Old Tower can't be accessed, due to optional areas being removed. As a result, Meta Knight does not fight Chameleo Arm until Milky Way Wishes.
- In Revenge of Meta Knight, the first battle with Heavy Lobster is fought until it is defeated. The level after the Reactor is removed.
- The escape sequence before the Halberd crashes into Orange Ocean is removed.
- Similar to Dyna Blade, Milky Way Wishes is played through in one big, linear manner. After the fight with Computer Virus, Meta Knight goes on a Warp Star to Nova, whom he does not fight.
- Meta Knight does not visit ???.
- Instead of battling through Nova and fighting Marx as the final boss, Meta Knight brings Nova back to life with the power of the seven stars surrounding Pop Star (a depiction of Nova reassembling together again proves this) to duel the ancient Galacta Knight.
Meta Knight's moves
Meta Knight's moves are based off Kirby's Sword ability, with slightly different moves and different names. He flies in a similar manner to Wing Kirby.
| Move | Controls | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Chop | B | Meta Knight slices with his sword. If he does this at full health, a ranged energy blade is fired forward, which is known as the "Knight Beam." |
| Meta Upper | B (after Meta Chop) | Meta Knight makes a small uppercut with his sword. |
| Meta Multithrust | B, B, B | Meta Knight performs multiple jabs with his sword. |
| Lunging Slice | Dash + B | Meta Knight moves forward and performs a lunge with his sword. Meta Knight's Lunging Slice is quicker, covers more distance, and is more powerful than Sword Kirby's Lunging Slice. |
| Meta Chop and Thrust | Midair + B | Meta Knight slashes forward with his sword. |
| Knight Spin | Dash, Jump, B | Meta Knight spins around with his sword. Similar to Sword's Twinkle Star move. |
| Down Thrust | Down + B in mid-air | Meta Knight falls down, and points his sword down to the ground. Meta Knight's Down Thrust is stronger and quicker than Sword Kirby's Down Thrust. |
| Up Thrust | Up + B | Meta Knight points his sword into the air. This is a move exclusive to Meta Knight (and Sword Knight), and cannot be used by Sword Kirby at all. |
Special moves
Meta Knight can accumulate points (by defeating enemies), and can store a total of 50 points. He can use up his points to use these moves:
| Name | Cost | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Quick | 
|
8 | Meta Knight's movement speed temporarily increases. |
| Knight call | 
|
2 | Meta Knight summons a Blade Knight or a Sword Knight as a Helper. If Meta Knight is near a Helper, the player can press "X" to make them disappear. |
| Heal | 
|
10 | Meta Knight (and his Helper, if he has one) will have all of their health restored. |
| Mach Tornado | 
|
30 | Meta Knight creates a few tornadoes that spread through the entire screen, thus damaging all foes on-screen. |
Trivia
- In this sub-game, Meta Knight not only destroys his own airship (which should definitely be resting in pieces in the Secret Sea), but also fights his own crew. It is possible that it was all an elaborate part of his training, though it is also never explained why Galacta Knight can also summon variations of Meta Knight's army. Since the continuity of the storyline is in question, the canonicity of this sub-game is uncertain.
- Meta Knight is significantly less clumsy than Kirby is during cutscenes. For example, while Kirby fell into the pit on accident, Meta Knight simply flies in. Also, Kirby lands face-first sometimes after using a Warp Star, but Meta Knight slides instead.
- During the credits reel, certain scenes are shown that were not in cutscenes. One such scene shows Meta Knight knocking off Kirby from the Halberd, while another one shows Meta Knight facing off against Dyna Blade. The final scene in the reel shows Meta Knights mask on the ground behind him, although he is facing away from the camera, obscuring his face.
