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Miiverse was an online social network service for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. Miiverse allowed users to post game screenshots and videos, as well as hand-drawn images, stamps, or text; other users can reply to or "Yeah!" these posts. Miiverse posts were tied to the game that was active when going to Miiverse, and such posts would appear in that game's community. Miiverse shut down on November 7, 2017, at 10:00 pm PT.

Nearly every Kirby game on the Nintendo 3DS had a community, however all 3DS and Wii U Virtual Console Kirby rereleases had their own communities. For some Kirby games available on the Nintendo 3DS, there existed specific communities labeled "Behind the Scenes." In these communities, only the game developers could make posts, although others could reply or "Yeah!" them. These posts generally delved into the game's development and also expanded on the lore.

The following is a list of the "Behind the Scenes" Kirby Miiverse posts, as well as the main communities. With one exception, every page below is from the North American Miiverse. This list is in order from oldest to newest in each individual category.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe[]

Link Date Text Image
Link 05/02/2014 9:04 AM Nice to meet you all, I'm Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. We're happy that Kirby: Triple Deluxe is finally available in the Americas!

I'll be sharing information directly from the development team, including some fun facts to help you enjoy the game to the fullest, so stay tuned!

Miiverse 1
Link 05/06/2014 9:06 AM Kirby’s copy abilities give him multiple ways to fight, and now he even has a new ability called Hypernova that amplifies his inhale. But did you know that Kirby's regular abilities are actually pretty strong, too? It can be a fun challenge to try to clear a level using only Kirby’s ability to inhale enemies and blocks, then spit them out as Star Bullets. Have fun discovering other fun ways to play the game! Miiverse 2
Link 05/09/2014 9:09 AM Although King Dedede has always been Kirby's biggest rival, this time Dedede gets taken away by Taranza at the beginning of Story Mode! Will the king wait patiently for Kirby to come save him?

Don't worry, King Dedede fans, you can have fun using him as a playable character as many times as you want in Dedede's Drum Dash!

Miiverse 3
Link 05/12/2014 9:00 AM The mysterious Taranza whisks King Dedede away to Floralia, but his motives are unknown. As Kirby goes through the stages, you can sometimes catch glimpses of Taranza carrying off King Dedede. Will Kirby ever catch up to Taranza, and what is his true objective? Miiverse 4
Link 05/15/2014 5:12 PM In Floralia, not only can you travel from foreground to background, you’ll also interact with these different areas during the game. For example, you can shoot blocks in the background using the 3D Tilt Missle [sic], or dodge obstacles that leap out from the background such as the Springy Hand and the Waddle Dee Train. Turn up the 3D slider on your Nintendo 3DS system to experience these exciting effects to the fullest! Miiverse 5
Link 05/20/2014 5:20 PM Kirby gets a cool horn with the new Beetle copy ability. Try using Horn Upper to scoop up enemies or unleash a quick attack with Rocket Horn. The horn can also catch multiple enemies at once and hammer stakes. Inhale enemies like Beetley and Hornhead to try it out! Miiverse 6
Link 05/23/2014 5:18 PM Have you tried the new Archer ability yet? Doesn't Kirby look charming wearing a fashionable hat while sniping enemies with arrows? The Archer ability enables three levels of attacks depending on the amount of power you charge up: the Shot, Snipe Shot, and Magic-Star Arrow. You can also use Arrow Slash to attack enemies up close. Kirby using his Hitman attack while hiding behind a bush is quite a sight, too! For the Archer ability, inhale a Spynum before it hits you! Miiverse 7
Link 05/26/2014 5:13 PM The attacks from the new Bell copy ability look quite different from the other abilities. That’s because Kirby strikes enemies with the melody that flows out of the bells in each hand. By continuously attacking enemies with Ring-ding, the attack powers up to Ring-ding-dong, then to Ding Finale. To attack enemies who are farther away, throw the bells left and right simultaneously using Twin Tinker. The bell on Kirby's head can also serve as protection by using Bell Block. To obtain the Bell ability, inhale a Ringle when you see it in the game! Miiverse 8
Link 05/28/2014 5:16 PM Circus is a new acrobatic copy ability that enables Kirby to attack enemies with circus routines. His basic attacks, Somersault and Backsault, will hit enemies who are right in front or behind Kirby. There are trickier moves such as Fire-Hoop Jump, where Kirby attacks by jumping through a ring of fire, and Ball Balance, where he attacks by walking on a big ball. To enable the Circus ability, inhale a Clown Acrobot before you get too intrigued by its routine! Miiverse 9
Link 05/30/2014 9:15 AM Kirby's adventure in this game takes place in a world called Floralia. Each level floats far away from each other, so you’ll need to defeat the boss of a level and grow a Dreamstalk to travel to the next one. You also need to collect a certain amount of Sun Stones to unlock the boss battles. If you succeed at collecting all the Sun Stones for each level, you may unlock something else, too! Miiverse 10
Link 06/02/2014 9:09 AM You can obtain the Hypernova ability by eating a Miracle Fruit. This enables Kirby to inhale massive objects that he couldn't inhale normally. It is a very useful ability, as it allows Kirby to inhale large stones or missiles and spit them at enemies, as well as move big obstacles to uncover Sun Stones. You should definitely give this new ability a try! Miiverse 11
Link 06/04/2014 9:20 AM In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, there are certain stages where you can use your system’s gyro controls to get past obstacles. For example, you may have to tilt your system to move a flame ignited on the fuse attached to a moving block and fire a cannon. This section is still nerve-racking for me, and I’ve played the game multiple times already. I hope you can all enjoy this thrilling experience, too! Miiverse 12
Link 06/06/2014 9:19 AM Isn't it exciting when the keychains you’ve found are revealed at the end of each stage? There are more than 250 keychains to collect, all featuring characters from the Kirby series! There are rare keychains, too, so make sure to really search every level. You can also trade keychains via StreetPass or use Play Coins on your Nintendo 3DS system for the keychains you want. Good luck collecting them all!

Remember to select Keychain Collection on the Selection Screen to check out your keychains.

Miiverse 13
Link 06/09/2014 9:19 AM I hope you noticed the Bandana Waddle Dee that shows up on occasion to throw recovery items to you.

Did you know that if you StreetPass someone, the items thrown by Bandana Waddle Dee get upgraded? Take advantage of this StreetPass function to get through the game!

Miiverse 14
Link 06/11/2014 11:52 PM In Kirby Fighters, you can select one of ten copy abilities and fight against other Kirbys.

In Single Player mode, the battles start out 1 vs 1, then escalate to 1 vs 2 and 1 vs 3. You can also challenge yourself by trying to beat your best battle times. In Multiplayer mode, you can play with up to three friends using local wireless. Make sure you stay on your toes while fighting, though – other characters will show up and get in your way, and there may be traps to look out for in the arena! You can also use Download Play for Kirby Fighters. That means that up to four people who each have a Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL or 2DS system can play together in the same room, even if only one of them owns the game!

Enjoy heated battles with Kirby and your friends!

Miiverse 15
Link 06/13/2014 9:25 AM In Dedede's Drum Dash, King Dedede is the main character.

Listen to the rhythm of the music and push the button on the beat to make King Dedede bounce from drum to drum on his way to the Goal Drum. It feels great to make King Dedede bounce up to the top screen when you push the button at just the right time. First, try to get used to bouncing from drum to drum. Then, once you get the hang of it, have fun trying to aim for a high score by collecting the musical coins floating in the air!

Miiverse 16
Link 06/16/2014 9:20 AM Today I would like to introduce Flowery Woods, the boss of Level 1: Fine Fields.

This boss starts out as just a single flower blooming in the field. However, when Taranza casts a spell on it, it turns into Flowery Woods.

After losing all its grace as a little flower, Flowery Woods not only attacks Kirby with large seeds and air shots, but jumps into the background and attacks from afar with long vines.

Make sure you check out the flower's transformation scene into Flowery Woods – it's quite a sight!

Miiverse 17
Link 06/18/2014 9:21 AM This time, I'm introducing Paintra, the boss of Level 2: Lollipop Land.

When Kirby chases Taranza into a workshop, he comes across a forgotten painting in there, which is said to depict a pair of sisters separated at birth. The painting is brought to life as Paintra and starts attacking Kirby.

Paintra can turn her body into a paintbrush and splatter paint all over Kirby. She'll even splatter paint on the screen so you can't see what's going on! She also has the ability to make drawings come to life.

Don't forget that you can see descriptions of the bosses if you pause the game during battle!

Miiverse 18
Link 06/20/2014 12:16 PM Kracko is the boss of Level 3: Old Odyssey.

Kracko has appeared in the Kirby series since the Game Boy version. This time, he has the energy of the sky on his side, so he has more power than ever. Kracko drops barrels and nuts, and can expand his body across the stage and drop lightning bolts, so it's pretty hard finding a safe place during battle. You can get copy abilities from some of the items that Kracko drops, so have fun trying them out!

Miiverse 19
Link 06/23/2014 9:18 AM Hello, this is Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. Today I am posting a message from the game director:

"Hello, everyone. I am the director of Kirby: Triple Deluxe and I would like to share some small tricks for this game.

I'm assuming many of you know that Kirby inhales enemies and spits them out as Star Bullets to attack, but did you know that the more enemies you inhale and spit out at once, the more powerful the attack becomes? The attack powers up even more if you spit the Star Bullets out while dashing! This technique can come in handy, especially during boss battles.

There are other tricks to learn, too. For example, Kirby’s Air Shots are more powerful when targets are closer, and if you push down on the controls while hovering you can use Quick Fall. The game's controls are simple enough for new users to play and finish the game, but there are also plenty of complex techniques and moves for more advanced players to master."

Thank you for the tips. I hope everyone will give these techniques a try!

Miiverse 20
Link 06/25/2014 5:10 PM

Today, the director will give us a few pointers about the Jukebox option in the Mode Selection screen.

“In this game, an Auto button has been added to the Jukebox. Once you turn it on, the tracks will flow automatically, and you can plug in your headphones and put your Nintendo 3DS or 2DS system in Sleep Mode to continue listening to the music.

In addition, you may notice the musical notes floating in the background while each track plays. Those actually have a little secret to them. The music in the Kirby series is created by two different composers. The songs with the red musical notes were composed by someone who’s been on board since Kirby's Dream Land. The blue notes appear for songs created by the second composer, who joined the team for Kirby’s Adventure.

My personal top 3 favorites are tracks 24 and 90 (with red notes) and track 102 (with blue notes), which is the final boss stage theme called Moonstruck Blossom. You can have fun comparing the different styles of these two composers!"

Thank you, director. I didn't know that the color of the notes indicated the composers! You can access the Jukebox after you clear the Dededetour mode. If you haven't cleared it yet, I wish you luck!

Miiverse 21
Link 06/27/2014 9:11 AM

Hello there. This time, the director will be sharing some details behind Kirby’s new Hypernova ability. Take it away!

"Hello, everyone. I imagine many of you are having fun with the Hypernova ability. Kirby has always been known for his Inhale ability, but up to now there was a limit to how much he could inhale. For this game, we thought, ‘Why don't we make Kirby's original Inhale ability more powerful than ever?’ And the Hypernova ability was born.

It’s really satisfying when you can inhale items and enemies that Kirby usually can't, such as houses, full-length trains, and even the landscape! This game truly is a deluxe experience, with a wide variety of stages to play through as you enjoy both Kirby’s copy abilities and his original Inhale ability. ”

Thank you, director. I hope you all will enjoy Kirby's powerful new Hypernova ability!

Miiverse 22
Link 06/30/2014 9:19 AM

Today, I had a talk with one of the lead level designers.

"Hello, everyone. Today I am going to talk about Sun Stones, which are essential items that you collect in the game.

Sun Stones are hidden in various places within the stages. If you don't collect enough of them, you can’t unlock the boss stages. Make sure to look in every corner of every stage and tackle the puzzles to collect Sun Stones, and continue to the boss battle!

Furthermore, to reach the extra stage for a level, you will need to collect every single Sun Stone in it, and you'll need to collect every Sun Stone in every level to achieve 100% completion of the game. Are you bold enough to go for 100%?"

Thank you for the pointers! You may need to try out different copy abilities to solve puzzles and collect new Sun Stones, so make sure you experiment with Kirby's abilities.

Miiverse 23
Link 07/02/2014 9:29 AM

Hello! For this update, I talked to the assistant director who worked on the extra stages.

"Hello, everyone. I would like to share a little information about the extra stages that appear in Story Mode for this game. Extra stages are special stages that are unlocked when you collect all the Sun Stones hidden in a level. These stages are full of puzzles and traps, and a DX Boss waiting for you at the end. DX bosses are strong enemies with different attacks from the ordinary bosses. These stages also have Sun Stones and rare keychains hidden in them. Have fun challenging yourself in these intensive stages!

Lastly, the background tracks that play in the extra stages differ from the other stages. In these stages, you can actually listen to the tracks from Kirby's Dream Collection! Of course, you will be able to play them on the Jukebox, too."

Wow, so you can play to the best tracks from Kirby's Dream Collection? Nice! I hope you will all try out the extra stages sometime!

Miiverse 24
Link 07/04/2014 9:18 AM

Hi, everyone. For today's post, we have a message from the assistant director, who was in charge of developing Dedede's Drum Dash.

"Hello there! Dedede's Drum Dash is a mode where you need to press the buttons in sync with the music and bounce to the end of the stage. In this update, I would like to give you some tips on how to get higher scores.

The points you earn for each level are determined by factors like the amount of time left over when you clear the stage and the number of Musical Coins you got. However, the key is to use the backbeat.

Press the A Button when you reach the peak of each jump; if you get the timing down correctly and King Dedede plays the tambourine, you get more points. You should definitely give this a shot if you're aiming for a high score! After you clear a level, you will get different medals depending on your score, from Bronze to Silver, to Gold. There might even be one above Gold...?

If you clear Levels 1 to 3 with a certain score, an extra stage will be unlocked. There's a lot of content in this game, so enjoy it to the fullest!"

I'm assuming many of you have already played Dedede's Drum Dash, but if you haven't, I'd recommend that you start by just focusing on clearing the stage, then replay to earn higher scores!

Miiverse 25
Link 07/07/2014 9:25 AM

In today's update, the director gave us a little trivia on the level names in Kirby. Check it out!

"Hello, everyone. Today, I would like to tell you a little secret about the level names. Not only do the names of the six levels in Floralia match their themes, but they are alliterative too - that is, both words in each name start with the same sound (F in Fine Fields, L in Lollipop Land, etc.).

Well, you probably noticed that, but do you know what you get if you line up the first letters of all the levels...? Find out the answer by unlocking them all!"

Miiverse 26
Link 07/09/2014 9:07 AM

Continuing from the last post, the director has a little more to say about level names.

"It's not just Kirby: Triple Deluxe - the names of levels in past Kirby games also have hidden meanings. For example, the first level of Kirby: Canvas Curse, Reddy Land, starts with an R, and when you line up the first letter of each of the first seven levels, it spells out RAINBOW. In Kirby's Return to Dreamland [sic], Level 1 begins with the letter C for Cookie Country, and if you line up all the first letters of the first seven levels, it spells out CROWNED.

There are little hidden surprises like this throughout the Kirby series, so I hope many of you will enjoy finding these and other items in the newest game."

If this has made you curious about past Kirby games, remember that you can find them on the Virtual Console service on Nintendo eShop!

Miiverse 27
Link 07/11/2014 5:19 PM

Today, I had a chance to talk to one of the lead level designers.

"Hello, everyone. You know that satisfying feeling when you zip through levels using the Hypernova ability, inhaling enemies and traps left and right? I'm going to give you some tips on how to make it even better!

Tip 1: How to move Slide Blocks in one breath
Instead of inhaling them from up close, stand back a little so you can get more traction. You can do this in the snowy stage with the giant snowmen's heads. Stand back, inhale, and pull them past all the obstacles in one big breath."

(Tips continue in the next post...)

Miiverse 28
Link 07/14/2014 5:08 PM

Continuing from the last post, here's one more tip for using the Hypernova ability from one of the lead level designers:

"Tip 2: How to easily defeat those giant mole-like foes, the Mowlee Bros. A total of three Mowlee Bros. appear, and the third one is a bit tricky because he appears from both the higher and lower levels. Did you know that Kirby can actually counter-attack and move around even after he's inhaled one of the large blocks? With some skill, you can spit out the block while jumping down to the lower level, or jump up from the lower level and spit it out on the top one. Try little tricks like this to make the most of the Hypernova ability!"

Thanks for the tips! You might think the Hypernova ability is just a super-strong inhale, but it sounds as if there may be more advanced ways to use it. I hope you all give these techniques a shot, too!

Miiverse 29
Link 07/16/2014 9:14 AM

This time, I talked to the assistant director in charge of Dededetour.

"Hello! I was in charge of Dededetour, and I'd like to tell you a little bit about this new mode, which unlocks after you've completed the main story.

In Dededetour, you get to play through the whole game as the great King Dedede himself, racing to get through the stages as fast as possible. And guess who's waiting for him at the end!

King Dedede has some pretty nice abilities. Use them well and you should be able to blast through! Take Dedede Hammer Flip for example - that's got some impressive attack power! Even powerful bosses take a good chunk of damage from it."

Miiverse 30
Link 07/18/2014 9:19 AM Continuing from the last post, here's some more info from the assistant director who was in charge of creating Dededetour.

"Giant Dedede Swing is a great technique that lets you attack while moving. It's actually quicker than a Dash, so it's extra useful during a time attack!

King Dedede can overcome any hazard with his abilities. For example, his Giant Dedede Swing can cool down a Fire Block. To see a list of his moves, just pause the game and scroll through the pause menu. Be sure to experiment with different abilities!

By the way, the best speed run achieved by anyone on the development team is 0:58:44.45 - just under an hour!"

Now that's a real challenge! Why don't you go and practice King Dedede's moves and see if you can beat your own record - or the developers'?

Miiverse 31
Link 07/21/2014 9:09 AM Today, we'll hear a little from the assistant director who worked on the Arena.

"Hi, everyone! The Arena is an area where you can fight mid- and top-level bosses from the Story Mode in a knockout tournament.

You have to fight all ten bosses in a row, with Kirby's remaining health carrying over from one round to the next, so it's a real battle of endurance. If Kirby loses all his health, you're out!

At the end of each round, you'll be given a short rest where you can pick up some health items and take a breather before tackling the next boss. Be careful, though - there are only a limited number of health items!

Of course, to ace each round, you'll want to choose your Copy Ability carefully. If you're aiming for the fastest time, I'd recommend the mighty Hammer! But if you're having trouble surviving, try using good defensive abilities, like the Leaf's Leaf Hide or the Archer's Camouflage."

Miiverse 32-33
Link 07/23/2014 9:19 AM Continuing from the last post, here's a little more from the assistant director who was in charge of the Arena.

"If you can beat all the bosses in the Arena, you'll become the champion and the time you took will be recorded. Then you only need to activate StreetPass for this game to show off your clear times to other players and see theirs as well. That should give you some extra motivation to get the best possible time!"

So, you may be familiar with the Arena from previous Kirby games, but that doesn't make it any less nerve-racking, frustrating or outright insane at times. But don't give up! Just keep trying out those Copy Abilities, find one you like and go for it!

Miiverse 32-33
Link 07/25/2014 9:19 AM Heads up! Today we'll be getting some hints from the game director about how to tackle those all-important boss fights.

"Hello, everyone! Want to hear some secrets about boss battles?

Since this game is playable on Nintendo 3DS, we made the boss battles more three-dimensional, with movement in all directions.

Once you take a boss down to half of its health, it gets much more serious, so you'll want to spend the first half of the fight attacking while learning the boss's attack patterns. Once the second half kicks in, you can put your observations to use and fight back - that's when the real battle begins! Keep in mind that the bosses' attack patterns can change dramatically from one half to the next, so sometimes it almost feels like two separate battles.

There are some tough fights, but here's the thing about the Kirby series: the bosses are living beings too, so if you lose and have to fight them over and over, they get tired after a while. Their maximum health gradually decreases and they attack less often, until they get pretty weak.

Experts may beat bosses on their first try, but even if you're not that great at the game, you'll still triumph in the end! That's how the game is designed."

Miiverse 34-35
Link 07/28/2014 9:08 AM Continuing from the last post, here's some more info from the game director about bosses in this game.

"Have you noticed that when you pause the game during a boss battle, you get a special screen? Unlike other games in the Kirby series, for this game we wrote a message for every single boss!

If you overcome all the other enemies and reach the final boss, you'll find she hides a rather sad secret..."

Interesting! So the bosses get tired too. That news should brighten your day if you have trouble with boss battles. When you lose, just take a little break and try again!

Miiverse 34-35
Link 07/30/2014 9:17 AM Today, we're going to hear from the lead level designer.

"Hello, everyone! As you may know, Kirby: Triple Deluxe features all-new tilting features on Nintendo 3DS. You have to be very precise when tilting the system, so it can be tricky at times, but we hope it adds a bit of variety to the controls.

We faced some challenges in development, though: usually when you have 3D visuals enabled and tilt the system, the 3D Screen starts to flicker, so we had to come up with a way to avoid this.

By the way, here's a little tilting tip: it can be quite difficult to aim an arrow while at the same time tilting the system to line up with a gap. The trick is to aim your arrow at the target first, and then tilt your system to line up with the gap. When you need to fire several arrows, I recommend returning your system to a neutral position and touching Reset Tilt after each arrow.

There are a few tilting tricks you can pick up, but the main thing you need to know is practice makes perfect. Don't forget to touch Reset Tilt if you're having trouble!"

So if you had trouble using the tilting controls, please give these tips a try!

Miiverse 36
Link 07/31/2014 9:00 PM Hello, this is Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. Here is a message from the assistant director in charge of Kirby Fighters!

"Hello! I'm sure you know that you can play Kirby Fighters alone or with up to three other players! I'd like to tell you about a little technique that you can use in both single player and multiplayer.

If you keep using Guard for too long, it will break and you will be unable to move. When that happens, try repeatedly pressing directions on the +Control Pad and you'll be able to move a bit sooner. You can use this technique when an Action Star puts you to sleep too.

Furthermore, if you use a Mint Leaf, then hold the B Button while moving, you can move around without changing where you're facing. Use this to keep enemies in your sights and don't let them escape!"

Miiverse 37 39
Link 07/31/2014 9:02 PM We normally post in the morning but we posted late this evening for a very special occasion. Do you know why August is so special? Well, today is when we say...

"Happy Birthday, Kirby!

It's 22 years this month since Kirby's Dream Land was released in North America!

Since its release in 1992, Kirby has starred in over 10 platformer games, but there are over 20 titles in total if you include every game in the Kirby series!

I wonder what everyone's favorite is. For me, it's difficult to choose one particular title, but if I really had to, I'd say...the original Kirby's Adventure! It makes me smile how King Dedede rises above his usual show-off, bad self and expresses his courage in one scene, just like in the new game.

When Kirby's Dream Land came out back in 1992, Kirby didn't have his Copy ability, let alone Dash or Slide. It had a small world with five stages, where Kirby fought simply by inhaling enemies and spitting them out. How things have changed in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, with Kirby's super-powerful Hypernova Inhale! Still, even after all these years, Kirby has never got tired of inhaling his foes! Some things never change.

I hope you continue to follow the series and look forward to surprising developments in the future, too!"

That was a message from the director of Kirby: Triple Deluxe. The hand-drawn illustration in this post is by him as well!

Miiverse 38
Link 08/04/2014 9:25 AM Continuing from the last post, here's some more info from the assistant director of Kirby Fighters!

"In multiplayer mode, you turn into a ghost when your health runs out. Naturally, if you have no health at the end, you lose the match. However, by attacking the remaining Kirbys, you can regain your lost health and come back to life, so it's still possible to rejoin the battle and win the match! Just remember that the more times you run out of health, the longer it takes before you can manifest in ghost form, so you have to play strategically.

Also, you can customize settings like ghosts, handicaps, items and number of hazards. If you set handicaps to Auto, they will be adjusted based on the results of your matches. It's a really interesting feature, so I hope you try playing with it and see how it changes over time. (To get to the settings, press the Y Button in the Player Settings.)"

There were quite a few tips there that should come in handy during a battle. Try playing around with the settings - you never know what weird combinations you can come up with!

Miiverse 37 39
Link 08/06/2014 9:12 AM This time, we have a message from the assistant director in charge of creating Dedede's Drum Dash.

"Hello, everyone. I'd like to share the secret to getting the four bonuses in Dedede's Drum Dash, so you can achieve a high score.

First, you just need to collect all the Musical Coins in a stage to get the All Coins bonus. Just stay calm and keep going until you get them all!

You can get the Time Bonus by finishing the stage with over 30 seconds remaining. The No Damage bonus is achieved by finishing the stage without bumping into a single enemy.

The last one is more difficult, but if you complete all of your Backbeats you will get the Backbeat Perfect bonus. The key to getting Backbeats right is rhythm. I think it helps to sing along to the music using a rhythmical "Boom! Tss! Boom! Tss!" so that landing on a drum is timed with "Boom!" and the Backbeat is at the same time as "Tss!"

It might be tough, but completing a stage with all four bonuses is more than worth it, so don't give up!"

To be honest, I don't have a great sense of rhythm and struggled with Backbeats, so I'm going to give that technique a try myself. I hope you have fun improving your scores!

Miiverse 40
Link 08/08/2014 9:20 AM Today, we have some more hints for tackling bosses from the game director.

"Hello again! I'd like to give you some tips that should come in handy during boss battles.

Bosses can attack in many ways but no matter the attack, a determined Kirby will always have a chance to counter-attack.

For example, the Level 2 boss Paintra whips out a giant canvas and plays a little game of hide and seek before flying through it to attack. Kirby can counter if he's in the right place at the right time as Paintra goes by.

The Level 4 boss Coily Rattler slithers into the background and throws pieces of his body at you. As with Paintra, Kirby can counter with the right timing. However, watch your timing or Kirby could take more damage than he deals!

There's also a fight with a certain dark opponent who appears out of three mirrors... Kirby can do a lot of damage if you time it just as the opponent attacks with his sword out of a mirror.

It might seem easier to attack when a boss stops moving, like when they are winding up for one of their big attacks, but actually this doesn't really deal the big hits.

There's more than one way to fight in boss battles and the strategy used will depend on skill and experience. Any player should be able to beat a boss if they are careful, but getting a perfect victory takes time and effort!"

Kirby's Copy Abilities can also do more damage and make fighting boss battles easier. So why not give these tips a try when you fight your next boss battle?

Miiverse 41
Link 08/11/2014 9:22 AM Today, we have a message from the lead level designer.

"Hello, everyone! As with other Kirby games, many stages in this game have secret areas. One of the trademarks of the Kirby series is finding parts of the stage you never noticed before and hunting down rare items, so I hope you find them all!

However, these areas are often concealed in the scenery and are easy to miss, so I'd like to tell you how to find two secret areas today - both of which contain a rare keychain!

In Stage 3-4, just before getting to the Warpstar, you'll spot a hole which seems a bit different from the rest. This is actually a secret door! The area inside is a blast, so check it out!

In Stage 4-2, after using a 3D Warpstar to have Kirby swim in the background, head to the top left to spy a hidden dark hole. This is...you guessed it, a secret door. When you get to this part of the stage, avoid being tempted by the Goal Door and check out the secret area first!

There are many secret areas hidden in Kirby's world, so don't leave a single stone unturned!"

If you haven't found these two areas already, I hope you'll have fun getting these rare keychains!

Miiverse 42
Link 08/13/2014 9:18 AM Today we are going to hear from the assistant director in charge of the keychains in the game.

"Hello! Did you find all of the keychains yet? If not, I'd like to give you some hints for collecting all 256!

The further you progress in Story Mode, the greater the variety of keychains that you can get in a stage. Once you beat Level 4, all of the keychains will become available, so I recommend trying to collect them all as you progress. The stage with the most keychains is Stage 6-7 EX - you can get up to seven if you get enough StreetPass hits!

Another effective method is to exchange three Play Coins for a keychain. You can only do this five times, but the counter resets every time you play through a stage to the end."

Miiverse 43-44
Link 08/15/2014 9:25 AM Today we are going to hear more from the assistant director in charge of the keychains in the game.

"In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, you can receive new keychains using StreetPass! When you encounter another player via StreetPass, a Waddle Dee will appear towards the end of certain levels with a nice gift from that person. The keychains you receive are generally ones from the other player's collection which you don't have yet, so this is a great way to collect them all!

There is a rare keychain hidden in every stage in Story Mode (excluding boss stages). The keychains appear in the same place every time, so if you're missing one, talk to your friends and see if they've found it!

Lastly, I bet you've noticed the keychains hanging on the upper screen when you're selecting a save file, right? You've probably also figured out that there's a pattern in which keychains appear up there. If you get over 70 keychains, be sure to have a good look!"

Well, that seems like a good reason for everyone to use StreetPass for gathering keychains, doesn't it? I wonder what the pattern is for those keychains...

Miiverse 43-44
Link 08/18/2014 9:19 AM Today we hear from the assistant director in charge of the goal game in Story Mode.

"One of the trademarks of the Kirby series is the goal game at the end of each stage. The goal games vary quite a bit between games. For example, in Kirby's Adventure and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, you have to jump up onto a cloud platform by pressing a button at just the right moment. In Kirby: Canvas Curse, you have to use Dash and a limited supply of ink to try to jump as far as possible.

This time round, you have to fire Kirby from a cannon straight ahead of you, into the background. The task is simple: you watch a fast-filling gauge and press the A Button at just the right moment. The fuller the gauge is when you press the A Button, the further Kirby flies!

We worked hard to adjust the 3D view and camera angles so that when Kirby is shot out of the cannon, you follow him seamlessly through the air. So try to shoot him as far as possible for a thrilling ride!

The clouds you can reach are numbered 1 to 7, with 7 being the closest and 1 the furthest. The further you go, the bigger the reward in health items and Point Stars!

Now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret about this goal game... If you finish a stage and play the goal game seven times in a row, and hit cloud 7 the first time, cloud 6 the second time, cloud 5 the third time and so on up to cloud 1, you'll get not only the usual rewards, but also a whopping 30 1-Ups! And to celebrate, Kirby will do his little dance to the end-of-stage music from the Game Boy version of Kirby's Dream Land!

Don't you want to give this a shot, just to hear that catchy 8-bit tune?"

That sounds very nerve-racking, but very satisfying if you can pull it off! Well, get practicing and good luck, everyone!

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Link 08/20/2014 9:16 AM Today, the director of the game has a few words about the audio in Kirby: Triple Deluxe!

"I'd like to tell you a bit about the music in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. As you may have noticed, some of the background tracks are borrowed from older games in the series and remixed. We hope you like them!

For example, the music in the forest in Stage 1-4 comes from Kirby's Adventure. In that game, this track was in the mountain stage, but it has appeared quite a few times throughout the Kirby series.

Then there's the ice area of Stage 3-4 - that music is from the Peanut Plains stage in Kirby Super Star. The newly remixed song is a more tranquil tune that focuses on the piano. By the way, there's another remixed version of this track in the credits, which you can watch from the Theater.

Finally, the music in the volcano in Stage 5-5 was originally from the castle at the end of the sixth level in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. So, as you can see, we picked tunes from throughout all the Kirby series!"

Miiverse 46 48
Link 08/21/2014 5:25 PM Hello! This is Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory.

Here's a collage of drawings submitted by campers in Camp Miiverse! This collage was posted in the Camp Miiverse community to celebrate Kirby's birthday in North America. I bet Kirby's happy seeing so many wonderful drawings. I hope you go check this out!

https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAACAADMUKl9Z3XR8g

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Link 08/22/2014 9:16 AM Continuing from the last post, here's some more info from the director about the audio in Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

"One more thing people often forget about audio in Kirby: the voices. Voice is a major component of the final boss battle. Not only does the background music contain a vocal part, but you can also hear the final boss's voice when she launches attacks.

Some of the voices in the game were recorded by people in the development team - for example, the voices of the People of the Sky were done by the same sound assistant who composed the background tracks "Moonstruck Blossom" and "C-R-O-W-N-E-D". As in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby Super Star Ultra, I did the voice for King Dedede myself!

However, for the more important voices, we decided we should hire a professional voice actor. So the final boss was recorded by a professional, and I think that really helped set the tone in the final battle. But would you believe it - that actress is the same person who does the voice for Kirby! That just shows the kind of range professional actors have.

So when you finally reach that final battle, keep your ears open!"

Well, that's it for the audio! Some of the games mentioned in the last post are available on Virtual Console, so if you like, you can compare the new background tracks in this game with the original ones.

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Link 08/25/2014 5:10 PM This time, we have a message from the lead level designer, who was responsible for building the landscape and obstacles in levels.

"Part of the charm of Kirby games is that you can keep replaying the levels. If you play a level once and then never go back, you're missing out!

Today I'd like to introduce some replay challenges!

- One-Ability Run The game is designed so that it's possible to play through any stage using any Copy Ability - or none at all. So if you want, instead of using lots of Copy Abilities as usual, try playing through the game using only one specific Copy Ability! After you complete the game for the first time, an area appears below the Dreamstalk called the Copy Ability Testing Room. Go in there, pick a Copy Ability and then play through the stages one by one. I bet you'll discover some new tricks!

- No-Ability Run To get a taste of what the very first Kirby game on Game Boy was like, try playing through the game and beating all the enemies using nothing but Inhale and Spit! The game gets that bit more difficult if you try to hit enemies just by spitting things out at them. Prove Kirby can handle anything even without any Copy Abilities!

- No-Hover Run Hover is one of those abilities that makes the game a bit easier for newcomers. Experts, however, should be fine without it! Although there are a few places where you have to use it, most stages can be completed without ever hovering. This handicap should keep you on your toes - if you fall into a hole just once, it's game over!

As mentioned above, the game is designed so you can complete it with any Copy Ability or with none. So if you want to spice things up a bit when replaying the game, try setting yourself some weird challenges!"

It's an odd idea at first glance, but by playing the game in an unconventional way you might discover all sorts of new things about it, places you'd never been, or cool Copy Abilities you rarely used. Try it out!

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Link 08/27/2014 9:28 AM Today, the assistant director in charge of the True Arena has sent a few words for us.

"Have you all heard about the super-difficult hidden mode known as the True Arena?

The True Arena is unlocked after you've completed both Dededetour and the Arena. It works in basically the same way as the Arena, but the bosses have been considerably powered up! They have more health and more moves, and attack Kirby in ever more vicious ways. On top of that, there are some bosses here that don't appear anywhere else!"

Miiverse 50-51
Link 08/29/2014 8:53 AM Continuing from the last post, here's some more info from the assistant director in charge of the True Arena.

"Another thing that's different about the True Arena is the rest area. Instead of being a nice safe haven, the True Arena version has an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. Instead of Maxim Tomatoes, you can only get ordinary Tomatoes, which give a lot less health. Worse still, one of the two Copy Essences is always Sleep!

It's a real hardcore mode for only the most determined players - which makes it feel that much more satisfying when you beat it! Come on, don't you want to experience that? Step up and defeat the most powerful enemies in the game!"

Yikes, the True Arena sounds pretty hard, with its array of deluxe bosses. Plus, having no Maxim Tomatoes really hurts. Nevertheless, I will give it a go and I hope you all will too!

Miiverse 50-51
Link 09/01/2014 9:27 AM This time, I've got quite a message from the game director. This is part 1 of 3!

"Today, I'd like to talk about high scores. In some game modes, you can see a record of your best results, which acts as a little incentive to challenge yourself. Now, would you like to hear the best results achieved by the development team?

I think I've already told you about the fastest time achieved by one of our Dededetour staff for all six levels: 0:58:44.45. The fastest level time was Level 2, which was cleared in only 05:07.65 - barely over five minutes!

In fact, all the levels except Level 6 can be cleared in around 5 to 7 minutes. Level 6, however, took much longer: 26:51.27!

In Dededetour, your time is recorded separately for each level, so if you want, you can just replay the levels you're best at and try to get the fastest time on those."

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Link 09/03/2014 7:05 AM Continuing from the last post, here's part 2 of 3 of our message from the game director.

"Let's move on to Dedede's Drum Dash, the rhythmical jumping game. For this, the development team's high score (in the super-difficult Extra stage) is 43,435 points. So even after achieving a platinum medal, you can still do better!

Another fun experiment is trying to get the LOWEST score possible on Dedede's Drum Dash. It took quite some effort, but we managed to get as low as 1,640 points!

So if you want to challenge yourself in new and interesting ways, why not try for the lowest possible score?"

Miiverse 52-54
Link 09/05/2014 9:25 AM Continuing from the last post, here's part 3 of 3 of our message from the game director.

"Last but not least: Kirby Fighters! My best time on the Easy difficulty, with my favorite Copy Ability, the Hammer, is 01:39.53. I'm actually not that great at it, so it took me well over a minute... I hear it's possible to do it in under a minute if you manage things well, such as making good use of Hammer Flip, herding the enemies so they fight each other, not letting them go near any items, etc.

So there you have it. We really wanted to motivate people to go on playing even after finishing the story, so I hope you'll find a wide variety of new challenges to keep you entertained!"

Are you impressed by our team's achievements? Perhaps some of you have already beaten them!

I'm generally terrible at getting high scores, but this has motivated me to have another go and do better. Good luck, everyone!

Miiverse 52-54
Link 09/08/2014 9:25 AM Today, the programming director would like to talk about Hypernova Inhale.

"When we were designing the new Hypernova Inhale ability for this game, we worked hard to make it easy to control and tactically useful, but we also wanted to give you a real feeling of exhilaration when using it!

Those who've played the game will know that when you use Hypernova Inhale on a large number of objects, such as the Star Blocks in the attached screenshot, they'll all be sucked up in one swift, smooth spiral.

That may not seem remarkable, but if you use the normal Inhale ability on a large number of objects, they'll clatter and move jerkily - there's nothing smooth about it at all.

It's that change from the clunky Inhale to the super-smooth Hypernova Inhale that makes Hypernova so much fun to use! It wasn't easy to program, though, I can tell you.

By the way, Hypernova Inhale also makes a really satisfying sound, so if you've been playing with the sound off, I recommend you turn it on and have a listen sometime!

I hope everyone enjoys going Hypernova!"

Interesting! So it's a combination of sound and movement that makes Hypernova Inhale such a thrilling new move. Next time you use it, maybe you'll remember reading this and notice the details?

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Link 09/10/2014 9:27 AM This time, the lead designer will tell us a bit about the menu screens in the game.

"When designing the user interface, we wanted the menus to have the same atmosphere as the rest of the game. So when you're selecting your save file or the game mode, the top screen is bathed in sunshine and the keychains are suspended on a plant tendril, tying into the theme of plants and Sun Stones.

At first, those screens had a very simple design, but as the game went through development and we got a better idea of the content, we modified the screens to match, adding things like foliage and curvy shapes to give them a more organic feel.

You know the way the keychains tilt and dangle when you physically tilt the system? That wasn't planned - it was an idea from one of the programmers, who just thought, "Hey, I'll try making them move!" and that's how it ended up like that!

There are lots of other small details, like the way the save file and mode selection screens change when you've completed the game, or the particular order in which the keychains are displayed according to series and characters. Plenty of care and attention went into their design, so I hope you like them!"

Huh! It's easy to skip past menu screens without paying attention, but when you think about it, they obviously have a lot of thought put into them too. Next time you start up the game, be sure to stop at the menus and appreciate the details!

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Link 09/12/2014 5:37 PM Today we have a message from the lead level designer about Hypernova Inhale:

"I'd like to talk about how you can use Hypernova Inhale to quickly defeat certain bosses.

First, let's look at the huge, bird-like Gigant Chicks. You need to hit these with a Mandola Root to defeat them (Mandola Roots are the turnip-like plants growing in the ground). If you wait on the right-hand side of the screen you should be able to defeat the first of the Gigant Chicks as soon as it swoops in, and then wait on the left-hand side of the screen to do the same with the second one.

However, for the third one you will need to judge the timing of your attack carefully. When the third chick flies up, wait on the other side, putting the Mandola Root between you and it. Then, just as it begins to move, start pulling up the root to hit the chick. It feels great when you get the timing just right!"

Miiverse 57-58
Link 09/15/2014 5:24 PM Continuing from last time, here's some more info from the lead level designer about Hypernova Inhale:

"Another boss fight you can quickly beat with Hypernova Inhale is the four dragon-like Winged Eggers. These guys are tricky to deal with, as they whirl all over the place and spit egg-like bullets at you. In order to tackle them effectively, you should go for the strategy of inhale, move and counter, which I've mentioned before. Once you've inhaled a bullet, don't wait for the Winged Egger to complete a full circle. Instead, turn around and aim to hit it when it's halfway round. This should allow you to defeat them pretty quickly!

There are plenty of other ways to get creative with Hypernova Inhale! Master it and you'll be able to zip through the game in no time!"

So how about that? It seems as if Hypernova Inhale can be used differently depending on which enemy you're facing. Even if you've found other tactics of your own, why not give these tips a try?

Miiverse 57-58
Link 09/17/2014 9:18 AM Today we have another message from the game director:

"Hello everyone! Today I'd like to talk to you about jumping. In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, the height of Kirby's jump varies depending on how long you hold the button for. The maximum Kirby can jump is 4.3 times his own height. The development team often used the "Kirby" as a unit of measurement for the height of characters in the game (one Kirby, two Kirbys etc). For example, Flowery Woods is roughly nine Kirbys tall.

In Kirby Super Star, the height of a jump was fixed at around 3.2 Kirbys. You can't control the height of the jump by pressing the button longer, so it was set comparatively low. Kirby's size relative to the screen has varied throughout the series, along with the themes and content of the games, so his jumping power has always been adjusted to take these factors into account."

Miiverse 59-60
Link 09/19/2014 5:35 PM Continuing from last time, here is some more info from the game director about jumping:

"While jumping, Kirby can perform headbutt attacks against smaller airborne enemies. In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, the range of Kirby's headbutt attacks gets smaller the higher he jumps, but if performed immediately after a jump they can deal damage to enemies that are horizontally in line with you. Give it a try!

If you jump from a platform and fall a distance of six Kirbys or more, Kirby goes into Quick Fall mode, and can damage enemies by landing on them. It's also possible to use Quick Fall whenever you like, by pressing Down on the +Control Pad twice while in mid-air. Normally, when Kirby hits the ground in a Quick Fall he will bounce back up, but if you want to avoid this you can press Down on the +Control Pad just before hitting the ground - Kirby will land on his feet, ready for action!

As you can see, there are many different techniques hidden within the basic jump!"

That's certainly true! The headbutt attack and Quick Fall might be a bit tricky to begin with, but it feels great once you've mastered them!

Miiverse 59-60
Link 09/22/2014 9:27 AM Today we have a message from the leader of the character design team, who is going to tell us about the Beetle Copy Ability.

"Hi everyone, I was in charge of designing the Beetle Copy Ability, and today I'd like to share a few insights with you about several aspects of the design.

Of course, the main inspiration for this ability was the rhinoceros beetle, but we also wanted to make it more colorful, so we decided to incorporate some elements of traditional Japanese armor into the design. The gold trimmings on the helmet, evocative of samurai armor, aim to complement the jet black color of the rest of it, and I think we managed to give the whole piece a glossiness and elegance which is unmistakably Japanese. The small horn at the back gives the helmet a sense of balance, and was modeled on the secondary horn of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle. Any beetle enthusiasts out there will probably have already noticed that fact!

As you can see, we put a lot of thought into the design, and we're really hoping that the ability becomes a long-time favorite among Kirby fans!"

Well, it certainly seems as though the team paid a lot of attention to the small details of the Beetle design. Next time you use the ability in game, why not have a look for yourself?

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Link 09/24/2014 6:23 PM This time, we have a message from the sound designer about the in-game music.

"As you may have noticed, there are many tracks in Kirby: Triple Deluxe that are similar to one another. Today I'd like to talk about how that came about.

At the start of the project, one of the tunes that we had already composed had a characteristic rising and falling melody, and I realised that it fitted perfectly with the image of the giant Dreamstalk rising high into the sky. So, we decided to create other tracks based on this melody, and on the music for the first stage, "Floral Fields", and thus hit upon a characteristic "Triple Deluxe sound".

For example, the music for Hypernova Inhale and the theme tunes for the bosses are all variations on "Floral Fields", and "Moonstruck Blossom" (track no. 102 in the Sound Test) and tracks 104 and 124 are variations on those variations. The outro music is a further variation of this!

So what was this initial tune, which ended up being the basis for most of the music in the game? It was actually "Spring Smash Factory" (track no. 23 in the Sound Test). I hope you will all bear in mind these musical connections as you play through the game!"

So there you have it. If you like the music from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, remember to go listen to the tracks in Sound Test.

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Link 09/29/2014 9:22 AM Today's message is from the assistant director in charge of Dededetour:

"I'd like to talk a little about Warp Holes - indispensable for the purposes of time attack!

In Dededetour, you can find extra Warp Holes that aren't there in Story Mode, which allow you to skip through the stages at a speedy pace. Many of these Warp Holes are found in the same locations as the Sun Stones in Story Mode, so it's often the case that a route which seems to be time consuming turns out in fact to be a shortcut!

Also, some Warp Holes may be found in unexpected places. As a special treat, I'll tell you about a few of them!

- Level 1 (stage 1-1 in Story Mode) On the stage which requires you to use dash, go past the second 3D Warpstar without getting on it, and you will find a wooden crate. Break it and you will find a Warp Hole inside! This is the first Warp Hole in the game, and is surprisingly easy to miss."

(Stay tuned for more next time!)

Miiverse 63-64
Link 10/01/2014 5:26 PM Continuing from last time, here are some more tips from the assistant director in charge of Dededetour.

"Here are two more locations where you can find Warp Holes in Dededetour:

- Level 5 (stage 5-1 in Story Mode) - the room which you need Key Dee's key to enter There's a Warp Hole in here, but actually another hidden secret as well. If you look closely, there's a breakable terrain block. Break it to open up a secret route! The Warp Hole along the secret route is very useful as it allows you to skip the mini-boss.

- Level 5 (stage 5-5 in Story Mode) There's a hidden Warp Hole on the stage where you fight a series of battles against mini-bosses. After you have fought the first mini-boss and gone through the door, use Kirby's Hover ability to float directly upwards.

Of course, there are plenty more Warp Holes to discover, beyond those I've revealed, as well as various hidden pieces of Invincible Candy. I hope you'll have fun trying to find them for yourselves!"

So there you go. If you think there might be some Warp Holes that you haven't used yet, remember to go take a look!

Miiverse 63-64
Link 10/06/2014 5:26 PM Today, the game director is going to talk to us about a little secret in Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

"Hi everyone. I'd like to talk to you about stars and planets, which are hidden throughout the design of Kirby: Triple Deluxe. As you probably know, stars and other celestial bodies have always been an important symbol in the Kirby universe - sometimes subtle and sometimes very obvious!

In this game, you cultivate the Dreamstalk in order to progress. This requires Sun Stones and Grand Sun Stones - jewels that contain the power of the sun's rays. So the sun, which is of course a star, is a key item in this game! Perhaps someone who dislikes the sun has tried to rob Floralia of its light by transforming that light into jewels..?

As the adventure progresses, you reach the stratosphere, where a new symbol makes its appearance - a giant moon. The way in which the backdrops change over the course of the story (from the setting sun to the moonlit night and so on) reflects the passage of time, and helps to set the scene for the climax."

(Tune in next time for more!)

Miiverse 65-66
Link 10/08/2014 6:16 PM Continuing from last time, here are some more interesting facts about stars and planets from the game director!

"There are several moons which can be observed on Kirby's home planet of Popstar. For example, there's a sun and moon duo known to cycle so aggressively you wouldn't know if it was day or night, and a moon that in a previous story got smashed into the shape of a crescent. In the opening cut-scene of this game, when a shooting star trails across the sky, the moon that can be seen above Kirby's house is that crescent moon.

In this game, it is a different moon that can be seen during the final battle, but the fact both a moon and finally a sun appear in this symbolic battle scene illustrates how important stars and celestial bodies are to the game's imagery.

Once you start looking, I bet you'll see stars and planets everywhere!"

So why not see if you can discover all the various celestial bodies hidden throughout the game's many stages?

Miiverse 65-66
Link 10/13/2014 9:22 AM This time, the lead programmer has a message for us about one of Kirby's in-game actions:

"Hi everyone, I'd like to talk to you today about the different ways Kirby's crouch can be used. Kirby can crouch by pressing Down on the +Control Pad, and there are various reasons why you might want to use this particular action - for example, to launch into a slide attack, to drop through a fall-away floor, or even just to chuckle at how cute Kirby looks when he's all squashed up!

However, the crouch is actually very useful in another situation - boss battles! Because Kirby squashes himself up when he crouches, he presents a smaller target and is less likely to get hit. In this way, it's possible to avoid certain boss attacks - if Kirby is standing, he gets hit, but if he's crouching, the boss's attack misses him. There are actually quite a few attacks which look as though they would hit Kirby even when he's crouching, but in actual fact are set up so that they narrowly miss.

It's only a small technique, but learning and combining lots of small techniques like this is the key to setting new champion records. Why not give it a try?"

It's interesting that a technique like crouching can be useful in such an unexpected place. I'm sure that there are many players out there who don't think of using the crouch very often - if you're one of them, why not try out today's tip next time you're in a boss battle?

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Link 10/20/2014 5:37 PM Today, the lead designer is going to talk to us about the in-game elements you interact with using Hypernova Inhale.

"Hi everyone. Of course we took a lot of care with the design of all the in-game elements in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, like switches, doors and blocks, but today I'd like to talk to you specifically about the ones you use with Hypernova Inhale. I hope that you'll find it interesting!

There are various constraints when designing stages and characters, and normally designers have to work within those constraints. However, it was different in the case of Hypernova Inhale. In order to really emphasize Hypernova Inhale and show it off in all its glory, we tried to make it as flashy and over-the-top as possible.

For example, the Magic Tube in Royal Road - with the design of the tube itself, the animation of Kirby using Hypernova Inhale through the tube, the Waddle Dees sleeping on the platform in the background and all the various effects, the whole thing is about five or six times larger in scale than a regular interactive element.

In the latter half of the development process, some processing problems arose with a few Hypernova Inhale-related interactions which impacted negatively on the gameplay experience. However, thanks to the ingenuity and persistence of the programmers and designers, were able to fix the problems while preserving the flashiness of these set pieces.

I hope that you enjoy the design of all the in-game elements in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, from the smallest switch to the largest Hypernova Inhale puzzle!"

Well, next time I play, I will definitely pay attention to all the different things happening on screen! I hope all of you will too!

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Link 10/27/2014 9:10 AM Today, the assistant director is going to talk to us about The Arena and The True Arena.

"Hi everyone. It's the assistant director here. Previously, I talked about high scores and best times for each mode, and this time I'd like to let you know about some strategies we developers use to get good results in The Arena and The True Arena. First of all, our record for The Arena is 05:37.75 - that's right, faster than six minutes! And as for our record for The True Arena, it's a prety nifty 08:41.49! We used the Hammer Copy Ability to get both these records, because its combination of power and ease of use makes it perfect for these kinds of speed runs.

For those of you aiming at fast times, and those of you who have yet to complete these modes, I've got a pretty useful hint to share with you: Take full advantage of the periods of temporary invulnerability you gain after being damaged and during certain attacks! After being hit, there is a short period during which you can't be damaged by attacks or by coming into contact with enemies. While you're in this state, you can attack your foes to your heart's content! However, don't get carried away - that invulnerability won't last forever, so be sure to retreat when the time comes."

Miiverse 69-70
Link 10/29/2014 9:26 AM Continuing from last time, here's another tip for success in The Arena and The True Arena from the assistant director!

"Once you get past the King Dedede fight in the second half of each of the Arena modes, enemies' attacks get much stronger, faster and more difficult to avoid. If you get hit, you don't just get thrown far away; you also lose your ability, leading to a huge loss in time. When you get to this point, use your Copy Ability techniques to get you through! Some Copy Ability moves make you invulnerable while attacking. Good examples that are easy to use are the Beetle ability's Spiral Horn or the Fighter ability's Spin Kick. The trick is to do the move just before an enemy attack makes contact! It may take a while for you to get the hang of this, but you should really give it a try!"

These two modes contain some really tough enemies, so if you're having trouble completing either mode, be sure to try these techniques. Then, once you've triumphed, you can start work on getting a good speed run!

Miiverse 69-70
Link 11/03/2014 8:57 AM Today, the director has some secrets to tell us. What could they be?

“I'd like to talk a bit about how we choose character names. For starters, one of the most famous characters in the Kirby series is the cute little enemy, Waddle Dee. Obviously, it gets its name from its waddling gait.

For this game, it was my job to name all the characters and skills, and they each have a little story. For instance, there’s Taranza, the mysterious silver-haired enemy who abducts King Dedede in the opening sequence. We started from the image of a tarantula, but changed the ending to make it more ambiguous – we didn’t want players to be able to tell from the name whether he was an ally or an enemy!

In Kirby’s Return to Dreamland [sic], we had a character called Magolor, whose name in Japanese was "Mahoroa". His name was based on the word “magic” ("maho" in Japanese), but there’s also a connection to his ship, the Lor Starcutter (the "Roa" in the Japanese version). Beyond those obvious links, we also wanted his name to sound like “mahoroba”, an old Japanese word meaning “wonderful place”, as a reference to his being an alien from a faraway planet.

That’s just a snippet, but I hope it gives you an idea how we go about choosing character names!”

There you go, a little insight into character naming. Do you have a favorite character name? If you don't have one yet, try thinking about it the next time you play!

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Link 11/10/2014 9:10 AM Today, one of the designers from the character group is going to talk to us about the animation for the Coily Rattler boss on Level 4: Wild World.

"Hi everyone. I was in charge of the character design for Coily Rattler and I'd like to talk to you about how I approached animating that character.

If you've played Kirby: Triple Deluxe, I'm sure you'll know which character I'm talking about. It's a snake boss, so we had to make it move just like a snake. Snakes use their coils to move forward, and lift their heads up to threaten or attack. When coming up with an idea for an animation, it's usually better to move your own body to get a feel for the movements, rather than just try to think of them in your own head. So, for Coily Rattler, I used my arm to try and model the winding coils. Basically, I just spent ages slithering my arm about in different ways to get a feel for how the snake should move and attack!"

So there you have it! The character designers are not only responsible for how the characters look but also how they move. Watch out for Coily Rattler's tricky moves next time you meet him in game!

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Link 11/17/2014 9:19 AM Today, the sound designer is going to talk to us about the making of the sound effects in Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

"Hi everyone. I was the sound designer on Kirby: Triple Deluxe and I'd like to talk to you about how I made the sound effects.

When people think about the sound in games, the first thing that springs to mind is probably the music, but actually the majority of our work goes into creating and adjusting the sound effects. These days, games have so many characters and features, all of them requiring their own sound effects, that it's normal for there to be more than 1000 types of sound effect in a game. That means it's difficult even for us to keep track of all the different kinds of sound effects we make.

Of all the sound effects, the ones that took the most work were the sounds that Kirby makes. Kirby can take any Copy Ability the player chooses to any stage, so a lot of forethought, hard work and tweaking was required to make sure that each sound effect wasn't lost or difficult to hear when combined with the other sound effects of enemies or features. This was made particularly difficult by the Kirby Fighters multiplayer mode, where up to four Kirbys equipped with any Copy Ability can appear simultaneously!"

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Link 11/19/2014 9:26 AM Continued from last time, here's some more info from the sound designer about sound effects in Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

"Compared to producing Kirby's sound effects, or the sound effects of regular enemies and other in-stage features, producing the sound effects for bosses isn't as difficult as you might think - although it does still take some work. That's because the bosses only appear in certain places, and the number of other characters and features that appear together with them is usually low. Because of that, boss sound effects can be created without worrying too much about them having to compete with other sound effects.

Next time you play, I hope you will listen to the sound effects and enjoy them just as much as the music. That'd make me really happy!"

After you complete the game, an area appears below the Dreamstalk called the Copy Ability Testing Room, where you can pick any Copy Ability you like. Why not give it a visit and have a listen to the sound effects for each of the skills one by one!

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Link 11/24/2014 9:17 AM Today, the lead level designer is going to talk to us.

"Hi everyone. It's the lead level designer on Kirby: Triple Deluxe here.

Last time, I gave some hints to make gameplay easier when using the tilting feature of the Nintendo 3DS, but that wasn't all! Here are some more tips:

Tip 1: Whenever you get into an object that uses the tilting feature, or whenever you enter part of a stage where the feature's active, the tilt angle starts at the default center position. Therefore, you can play even if you're lying down!

Tip 2: Before lighting the fuse of a Tilt Fuse Box, tilt the Nintendo 3DS to line up the block so it connects with the first break in the fuse, then light it. It's easy for the block to slip when you move Kirby to get into the Cannon, so use the tilting feature to get the flame to a long, unbroken part of the fuse before you move. For example, in world 3-3, where the fuse on the block is arranged in a cross, start by lining the block up all the way to the left, then light the fuse. But don't head for the Cannon immediately! You're better off waiting until you've got the flame to the long part of the fuse in the bottom-right corner of the screen before you move. If you don't get it right first time, just touch the Reset Tilt icon on the Touch Screen and have another go.

It might seem a bit daunting, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so hard. We hope you have fun getting the hang of this!"

I bet you get a bit flustered once the fuse is lit on the Tilt Fuse Box - I know I do. So let's just stay calm and keep these tips in mind next time we play!

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Link 12/03/2014 9:32 AM Today we have a message from the director about the bosses who appear in the latter half of the game.

"Hi everyone. I'd like to start by talking about the level 5 boss, Pyribbit. He's a tricky one who likes to jump around all over the place. After having a snake as the boss of level 4, we thought it would be cool to have a frog next! Well, that's not strictly true - but we did think that having had a boss with a long, thin body in the previous level, it would be good to balance that out by following it with a rounder, more Kirby-shaped boss. Coily Rattler's fighting style, in which he slithers from foreground to background, is designed to take full advantage of the 3D feature of the Nintendo 3DS. However, Pyribbit arguably makes even more use of the background in his movement. It's something that is very characteristic of the bosses in this game. Pyribbit uses all of the surrounding landscape to his advantage, including the lake of molten lava and the volcano which lies even further in the background.

There are not many chances to counterattack against Pyribbit, so it's important to take the chances that he does give you. For this reason, it's worth watching how he leaps between the foreground and background - if you observe carefully you'll see that there is a fixed pattern to his movement. Also, if you're trying to do a speed run, it's important to try to defeat him before he can perform his more extreme special attacks."

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Link 12/05/2014 9:42 AM Continued from last time, here's some more from the director about the bosses in the second half of the game.

"In level 6, in the throne room of the castle in the sky, you finally get to fight against King Dedede. These days King Dedede doesn't get much opportunity to show his power, so it's pretty exciting to see him get all fired up! And the point when he takes up a new weapon, the music changes, and he really goes on a rampage which could be seen as the moment when he regains his kingly authority.

After this, we meet the real enemy - and we tried to give her a sense of beauty and other-worldliness that is quite different from the final bosses of other games in the series.

I really hope that you'll play the game right to the end, so that you get to experience King Dedede on a rampage, and the final boss that awaits you after that!"

Interesting stuff, eh? The final boss battle is pretty nerve-wracking, but the ending sequence that comes after it is worth the effort. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, keep trying!

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Link 12/08/2014 9:21 AM This time we have a message from the programming director about the user interface:

"Hi everyone! 'User interface' is a fairly broad term that means all the various ways in which we transmit information to the player while he or she is playing the game. The file select screen which appears when you start up the game and the in-game health gauge are both examples of the user interface.

In the user interface for Kirby: Triple Deluxe there are lots of little touches that most players probably won't even notice! Let me give you a few examples.

Firstly, if Kirby ever goes behind the health gauge, the outer border becomes semi-transparent. This is to make sure that you don't lose sight of Kirby - obviously it's important to be able to see him in order to control him!

Another example is in Kirby Fighters. When there are three or more combatants, your own health gauge will be displayed slightly larger than the others. This is to help you see at a glance how much health you have left, as this is the most important information!

A further example would be the way the pause menu remembers which page you were looking at last - you can close it, then open it again, and it will open on that same page. This means you can, for example, quickly refer back to the explanation of the controls without having to flick through the pages every time.

There are lots of other such features, added to try to improve the player's experience as much as possible, but in an unobtrusive way. I hope we were successful!"

So there you have it - a lot of ingenuity goes into making the gaming experience as smooth as possible! Be sure to play the game and check it out for yourselves.

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Link 12/15/2014 9:18 AM This time we have a message about Waddle Dees, from the lead designer:

"Hi everyone. Today I'd like to talk to you about Waddle Dees, who appear in numerous places throughout the game. These cute little characters have appeared in every game in the Kirby series, and I have a real soft spot for them!

This game is (I think!) the first time ever in the series that the Waddle Dees have actually attacked Kirby, through such methods as chopping down trees as he passes, or rolling boulders at him. I say "attack", but it's not that Waddle Dees are malicious in any way - it's just that whatever they do, they end up causing problems for Kirby. You can't really hold a grudge against them for that!

The idea for this approach came when we were designing the rolling boulders in Fine Fields. Initially, we planned to have completely automated boulder-launching machines, but this would have been a bit too menacing for the overall atmosphere of the level. To avoid this, we decided to have a character just sort of happening to launch the boulders without any evil intent, in a slapstick sort of way. We tried using Waddle Dees, and they were perfect for the role. The way that they're indirectly causing these attacks on Kirby from places where he can't attack them back is just SO Waddle Dee!

They're so popular with the team we ended up putting them in similar roles in other parts of the game too - for example, manning the Lollipop Tank or building the giant bonfire that you extinguish using the water bowl.

But my favorites are the lumberjack Waddle Dees, industriously chopping down those big trees!"

I hope you'll all check out the Waddle Dees and their antics in game!

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Link 12/23/2014 9:36 AM Today we have another message from the assistant director in charge of Dededetour:

"Hi everyone! Today I'd like to tell you about some level 6 Warp Holes, as I didn't have room to mention them last time.

Level 6 in Dededetour is the EX stages and level 6 stages from the story mode linked together in one long course, and it contains more than ten Warp Holes! Here are a few of the more difficult-to-find ones:

Stage 3-7 EX (all stage numbers are those of the corresponding stages in story mode): In this section, the Warp Hole appears when a giant snowball that comes rolling after you destroys a hardened block. It's easy to go rushing through this bit and miss it!

6-1: After you defeat Gigant Edge in this gusty section, don't go through the door but instead head to the right, and go up through the opening in the ceiling. There's no visible door, but if you press Up where the moon is you'll enter a secret room...and discover a Warp Hole!

6-5: There's a Warp Hole in the part where you help the People of the Sky. In the section where you use the 3D Helmet Cannon, the Warp Hole appears near the start of the section, after you destroy the first row of Explosive Blocks.

6-5: Also in this part, there's a Warp Hole hidden below Bonkers. You can reach it by passing below the crystal platform. If you go to it first you can skip the fight with Bonkers completely.

You can save a lot of time by using Warp Holes - they're ideal for speed runs!"

So, on top of the Warp Holes we mentioned in earlier posts, it seems there were more to discover! I hope that both the previous hints and today's hints will help you get a better time on Dededetour.

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Link 12/23/2014 9:42 AM Hi, everyone! Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here. I'd like to bring you all a special holiday message from the game's director.

"Happy Holidays! I'm Shinya Kumazaki. As this is a special holiday message, I've made a holiday card to go with it. And as a kind of holiday tour, I'd like to introduce a scene from Kirby: Triple Deluxe that is perfect for this season.

At this time of year, the sight of snow in the streets and the sound of bells can really help to set the festive mood. And you can have the same experience in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. You probably know what I'm talking about - the stages with the pure white snowy landscape in the second half of Level 3, Old Odyssey.

If you take the new Bell ability with you to these stages, you'll have everything you need for the perfect winter holiday atmosphere. There are even gigantic snowmen that you can build for yourself with the help of Hypernova Inhale - the ideal seasonal activity! Perhaps the rewards that the completed snowmen give Kirby are actually presents?

What's more, if you visit Level 3's EX stage, you might be able to find a secret room inside an igloo where some Waddle Dees are sleeping peacefully. It's quite charming to see them resting after a hard day's battle, so keep a look out for it!

By the way, if you think the theme of building snowmen seems familiar, that could be because it was also featured in Kirby's Return to Dreamland [sic], in Level 4, White Wafers. That level was also perfect for this season, with glittering snowy vistas as far as the eye can see.

Kirby's adventures take him through all kinds of locations, with scenery that can make you feel like you're experiencing many different times of year. Even while you're sitting snug in your own warm homes this winter holiday, I hope you'll join Kirby in exploring a variety of worlds that run the full range of seasons!"

How did you like the director's illustration? There's actually something else that's special about this holiday card. If you line this up with the holiday card he posted in the Kirby Fighters Deluxe / Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe Behind the Scenes community on 12/22, they become one illustration!

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Link 12/29/2014 7:07 AM Today, the director is going to talk to us about cutscenes.

"Hi everyone. It's the director of Kirby: Triple Deluxe here. I'd like to talk to about a particular aspect of development today: cutscenes. The opening cutscene starts in a way that could be picking up from the ending of Kirby Super Star, in that we see Kirby at home snoozing away in bed... But when he awakes, everything's changed! And so a new adventure begins.

When creating a cutscene, myself or the cutscene designer would start by sketching out a simple four-frame storyboard to serve as a basis for the creation of the cutscene. For the opening cutscene we decided to keep the plot simple, which suits the fact that Kirby doesn't really speak. Besides, some people just want to get straight into the action, so, with such players in mind, we decided to start the story off quite simply. Also for that reason, we had the idea to reserve deeper background and secrets for the special page, which can be viewed by opening the pause screen during a boss fight.

So, the story starts out pretty simple, but in the latter half of the game this changes. As a reward to all the fans who've persevered to get to the later stages of the game, we have some exciting cutscenes to ratchet up the tension. The adventure starts in a straightforward and humorous way, but by the end, it's changed to a climactic battle of good versus evil, with Kirby on a grand quest to save the world. I hope you play right through to the end of the game so you can see the contrast between the opening cutscene and the climactic ending!"

You can view cutscenes you've already unlocked in the Theatre in the main menu. So why not check them out!

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Link 01/05/2015 9:37 AM Today, the lead designer on Kirby: Triple Deluxe is going to talk to us about the menu screens for The Arena and The True Arena.

"Hi everyone! For the design of The Arena's menu, we were aiming for a cool look incorporating the imposing atmosphere of The Arena from past games and the stone motif in Kirby's Return to Dreamland [sic].

In this game, we really wanted to go with a high-quality feel, so we got the designer in charge to take particular care over the qualities of the stone and the title screen effects. The designer particularly had fun with the title screen, which has stuff like flickering flames that provide a contrast to the more simple design of previous titles.

Also, the director expressed a desire to emphasize the difference between The Arena and The True Arena, so we started with the design for one being red and the other blue. However, we wanted to make The True Arena a bit more special, so the designer added an exotic pattern to the stone, and put in gold borders to create a sense of luxury, as well as lots of other little touches, so it ended up being a completely 'powered-up' version of the original design. In particular, the specific deep shade of red used for The True Arena was the result of a number of painstaking adjustments.

We hope you have fun comparing the designs of The Arena and The True Arena!"

Wow! It sure would be interesting to compare the design of The Arena and The True Arena with previous games in the Kirby series too. Enjoy!

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Link 01/12/2015 9:19 AM Today, the sound designer is going to talk to us about using different types of sound in music. Let's hear what he has to say!

"Hi everyone. I'm here to talk to you about some of the sounds we used in the music of Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

Number 22 in the Sound Test mode of Kirby: Triple Deluxe is called Toy Rhythm, and was composed with an old-school NES era sound in mind. Actually, for that sound we weren't just recreating the feel of an NES, we were actually using a real console and sampling the noises we could produce, then mixing those samples into the track to create the vibe we were going for. You've gotta love those old NES sounds!

The console we used is unfortunately broken now, but we've still got all those great samples we recorded, so I think we'll put them to use from time to time in future. By the way, you can hear this particular track on stage 2-2, among others, so why not listen out for it next time you're playing the game?"

So, a Nintendo 3DS game containing NES sampling, who'd have thought it! If you're interested, why not give "Toy Rhythm" a listen in Sound Test mode in Kirby: Triple Deluxe!

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Link 01/19/2015 9:48 AM Today we're going to hear from the assistant director on Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

"Hi everyone! I'd like to talk to you about the room you enter first when playing The Arena and The True Arena, where you select Copy Abilities.

This room is important because it's where you select the first Copy Ability you'll use to go toe-to-toe with the bosses. It seems like a simple enough area, but actually, creating this room involved lots of trial and error. There are 24 Copy Essences (Sleep ability is not included) arrayed in the room. To begin with we just had the 24 Copy Essences accessible by ladders, and it was twice the size of the current layout. There were a few problems with this. It was difficult to find the ability you wanted, it was easy to get lost, and it took too long to get back to the Warpstar. Then we thought about using the Tilt Gondolas from the Story Mode. In the Story Mode they're mainly used to get from A to B, so we tweaked the speed and the degree of tilt of the ones in this room to make them easier to use in this setting.

We also took painstaking care over the placement and display of the Copy Abilities, adjusting the camera behavior to ensure the maximum number of abilities can be seen at once, putting easy-to-use abilities like Sword and Ninja near the center, and grouping all the new Copy Abilities together. All this, to help the player find the ability they want as easily as possible! Because this room is designed to get you to the action quickly, you may not have paid much attention to it. Next time you play, I hope you take a good look!"

They sure put a lot of effort into the tiniest of details. Why not check it out the next time you play!

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Link 01/26/2015 6:22 AM Today the director of Kirby: Triple Deluxe is going to talk about the game in terms of numbers!

“Hi everyone! In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, there are a lot of different enemies. There are more than 70 types of standard enemies, and when you throw bosses into the mix, you’re looking at over 100 types! That’s one of the appeals of the Kirby series, I think – the huge variety of enemies. Kirby copies abilities from enemies after all, so there had to be at least as many enemies as there are Copy Abilities and there are 25 different Copy Abilities in this game, not even counting the special Hypernova ability. The final line-up is truly worthy of the title “Deluxe”!

While we’re talking about numbers, it’s not just the quantity of enemy types that earns the game the title “Deluxe”. For example, across all the stages in the game, there are a whopping 300 rooms! (The separate areas that each stage can be broken up into are called “rooms”.) If you add rooms like the rest areas in The Arena to that number, it makes 350. Even in Kirby’s Return to Dreamland [sic], which sees Kirby journeying into the far reaches of space, there were only about 280 rooms (not including those in special modes). So you see, this game really is deluxe! And for every stage, there is a suitable number of enemies and features to fill it…”

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Link 01/28/2015 9:28 AM Last time, the director of Kirby: Triple Deluxe talked about the quantities of different elements in the game. Here he is again with some more info.

“Before, I talked about regular enemies in the game. Well, I couldn't mention them without also talking about the main bosses Kirby has to get past in each level! And for every standard version of each boss, there is a tougher, badder “DX” version who presents an even fiercer challenge. Add them all together, and you've got 19 different bosses. The DX bosses can be encountered in Dededetour and The True Arena, both of which are unlocked after the main Story Mode is completed. We designed the bosses in Story Mode so that most players should be able to defeat them if they put in the effort, but for the modes accessed after the Story Mode is completed, we designed the bosses to satisfy players who want a tougher test of their skills!

So the regular versions of the bosses and the DX versions are there to make sure the game meets the needs of every kind of player – from the casual, to the hardcore!”

Woah! When you look at Kirby: Triple Deluxe in terms of the sheer number of elements that make it up, you really get a feel for the scale of the game, don't you?

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Link 02/02/2015 9:25 AM This time we're going to hear more about the extra game modes in Kirby: Triple Deluxe from the director.

"Hello! In this game there are loads of extra game modes, like Dededetour, where you adventure as King Dedede, or The Arena, the time attack boss battle extravaganza. Today, I want to talk about two in particular: Dedede's Drum Dash and Kirby Fighters.

Really, the only thing these two modes have in common is that they are extra game modes and are completely different to Story Mode. Other than that, they're different in every aspect, from the way they were conceived to their playing styles.

Dedede's Drum Dash is the first game to feature King Dedede in the main role, and serves to bolster the part he plays in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. This game started as one designer's idea for a minigame where you bounce on drums. But it's no simple rhythm game – it's a challenge fit for a king, requiring good timing and the correct use of three different types of jump!

Kirby Fighters originated from a wish to provide a multiplayer element absent from Story Mode. And a Kirby vs Kirby brawl to decide the strongest Copy Ability seemed a cool way to do it! We ended up with a mode that offers not only full-on multiplayer fun, but also a robust single-player mode.

These two modes have been given a deluxe update, and are available as downloadable software on Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS. They are called 'Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe' and 'Kirby Fighters Deluxe', and feature new stages and other elements. I hope you'll check them out!"

Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe and Kirby Fighters Deluxe are both available on Nintendo eShop. If you haven't already, I hope you'll go take a look!

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Link 02/09/2015 9:44 AM Today the director wants to talk about Dedede's Drum Dash.

"Hi everyone! Last time, I mentioned Dedede's Drum Dash, the rhythm/action game played as King Dedede. It's an extra game mode in Kirby: Triple Deluxe where King Dedede must hop along from drum to drum. Pressing the A Button as he lands results in higher jumps, and his three different heights of jump must be used to avoid the obstacles and get to the goal drum.

For the music on level 3 ('Dedede's Theme' – the tune with that classic Kirby vibe!), we actually incorporated sounds performed by a member of the team. That track is something of a favorite, and it certainly seems appropriate for a mode in which King Dedede plays an active role!

The extra game modes in other Kirby titles are often simple games relying on quick reaction times, but, as you might expect from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, its extra game modes are also 'deluxe'. Dedede's Drum Dash is crammed with features and levels – we really wanted it to feel like a full action game in its own right. It's got some tricky areas, but nothing that can't be overcome with a bit of practice, and I like to think the tricky parts are what give you a sense of achievement when you complete the game.

Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, an updated version of the game with all-new levels, is available for download on Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS! As well as tunes from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, it features a load of great tracks from earlier titles in the Kirby series!"

Check out more details about Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe at nintendo.com! Remember to take a look at Kirby Fighters Deluxe too!

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Link 02/13/2015 9:15 AM The director's here today to talk about Kirby Fighters.

"Hi everyone! I've talked here about Kirby Fighters before – the extra game mode where up to four players can all brawl together playing as Kirby. You can choose from ten Copy Abilities, and compete against other Kirby fighters to test which ability is strongest, against the backdrop of many well-known scenes from previous titles.

So on one level, this mode is a fun multiplayer experience in which you battle it out with different Copy Abilities, but it also serves to introduce players more familiar with Kirby's recent adventures to music and features from games earlier in his history. We also wanted longstanding fans to be surprised by the inclusion of music like Coo's Theme, or to get a wave of nostalgia when the final boss of the single-player mode is revealed. (Hint: who could really be a match for Kirby, besides...another Kirby?!)

Of course, having this theme of calling back to previous games doesn't mean there aren't also plenty of new elements to ramp up the multiplayer excitement – like the table-turning Action Star, or being able to fight on as Ghost Kirby after you've been defeated.

Kirby Fighters has been revamped in the all-new Kirby Fighters Deluxe, available for download from Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS! It boasts new team battles, brand new stages and a different final boss in single-player mode!"

Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe have a Miiverse community, so be sure to visit!

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Link 02/16/2015 9:17 AM Here's the assistant director to talk about Dedede's Drum Dash.

"Hi there! Before, I gave you some tips for getting high scores by jumping and hitting the backbeat correctly. Since then, I've been delighted to get feedback from many of you saying things like 'Getting the backbeat right is tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, it feels great!' and 'I mastered the backbeat and got platinum!'

So, you all know about backbeats, but did you notice that there are different types? If you press the A Button in precise counterpoint to the timing with which you land on the drum, in other words, at the peak of King Dedede's jump, he'll hit a tambourine with a smug look on his face, and the word 'GREAT' will display. But get the timing a little early or late, and it'll say 'GOOD', while King Dedede slaps himself on the belly instead. Get the timing even more off and you'll fail to hit the backbeat, but King Dedede will still clap. It's almost worthwhile deliberately fluffing the timing, just to see his various charming animations!

Now, to change the subject slightly, I want to talk about Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe. In this deluxe version of the game, even if you fall down a gap, it doesn't mean it's game over! So long as you have health remaining you can make a comeback and keep playing, making the game slightly more forgiving. But that's not all! We also added a health recovery item and a host of other new elements.

Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe is available to download now from Nintendo eShop. Why not take a look?"

Remember to visit the community for Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe for more details!

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Link 02/23/2015 9:26 AM This time, we have a message from the lead programmer of Kirby: Triple Deluxe about making the boss, Flowery Woods.

“Hello. Today I’d like to talk about one of the things we really wanted to achieve when creating Flowery Woods. This boss, which appears at the end of level 1, was the first to be made. When we started work on it, one of the programmers said “Let’s make a boss that will surprise even people who fought the last boss from Kirby’s Return to Dreamland [sic]!” The boss in question had a great variety of attacks and animations, and was designed to be suitably climactic. How could we possibly top that with Flowery Woods? The programming team proceeded with a process of trial and error. Whispy Woods, who appeared in previous games in the series, basically never moved from the spot. However, Flowery Woods is more dynamic than that, moving around all over and using its roots in attacks that range across the entire screen. To increase the impact on the Nintendo 3DS screen, which is much smaller than that of a TV, we set up the camera to follow the movement of the character. After a lot of other little tweaks, we finally arrived at the current version of Flowery Woods. To those of you who have Kirby’s Return to Dreamland [sic]: try replaying the final boss and then battling Flowery Woods in Kirby: Triple Deluxe straight after! Did we succeeded in our aim of surprising people even if they had played the final boss of Kirby’s Return to Dreamland [sic]?”

I remember thinking that Flowery Woods was remarkably strong for a first boss, but it turns out there was a great reason for that! It might be interesting to compare Flowery Woods to the first bosses in other games in the Kirby series...

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Link 03/02/2015 9:16 AM This time, the lead designer from the character group is going to talk about designing the Circus Copy Ability.

"Hello! I was responsible for designing the Circus Copy Ability, and I'm going to talk today about the work that went into creating the hat for that ability.

When designing a hat for a Copy Ability, we start by thinking about what sort of motif we want it to have. Some are pretty obvious – The motif for the Beetle ability just had to be a beetle, and for the Leaf ability, a leaf, naturally! But what about the Circus ability? What image comes to mind when you think of a circus? There are trapezes, tightropes, lion tamers, clowns, trampolines...the list goes on and on. But all of those would be really hard to work into a motif. Also, if we went for a clown motif, it'd look like a clown Copy Ability. If we chose a trampoline theme, people would think it was a trampoline Copy Ability. A circus is a circus because it combines all those various things, and more. So, how could we reflect that in a single design? I drew sketch after sketch, but kept coming up blank. Until finally, inspiration hit me: a big tent!

All the shows at a circus take place inside the big tent, and besides, a big tent really is the perfect motif to conjure up the image of a circus. So, I used the big tent as a base, added a clown face, and voilà – a unique new Copy Ability hat was born!"

So you see how the designs for Copy Abilities are reached after trying out a lot of different ideas! It really makes you think about the effort that went into the hats and outfits for all the Copy Abilities in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, doesn't it?

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Link 03/09/2015 9:36 AM This time we’re going to hear more from the lead level designer.

"Hello! There are quite a few easy-to-miss secret areas in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. If you've managed to find them all, feel free to call yourself a Triple Deluxe expert! Even for players who've played all the way through Story Mode and seen the ending, there are bound to be hidden places you have yet to uncover. Why not seek them out so you can say you've truly “completed” the game!

Today, I want to share a couple more easy-to-miss secret areas.

• In Stage 4-3, where the spiky stairs are reflected in the big Truth Mirror behind you, look out for the step without spikes about halfway up. Check the mirror carefully so as not to step on a spike! Stand on that step and press up to enter a secret door. Solving the mystery of the mirror will yield some goodies!

• In Stage 6-1 there’s a secret door you can enter. After you defeat the mid-boss Gigant Edge, a door appears, but if you ignore that and head right and up, there’s a gap in the ceiling through which you can get outside. There are a few items here, so make sure to grab them, but that’s not all. Take a look at the sky, and you should be able to make out a crescent moon – this is actually a secret door! Float up to it and press up to enter the door.

Anyone who managed to discover these secret areas by themselves really deserves a pat on the back, but there are still many more to find. See if you can discover them!"

Wow! Did anyone already know about these secret areas? And apparently, there are even more to find! Better get searching!

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Link 03/16/2015 9:33 AM Today the lead designer is back to talk about objects, items and more!

"Hi everyone! In Kirby: Triple Deluxe we featured a lot of cool characters, objects and items from earlier games in the Kirby series. I'm going talk about a few of them now.

The Giant Scrolls: For the characters that appear in the Giant Scrolls that Kirby unrolls using Hypernova Inhale, we had a search inside the company for pixel assets and 3D models from previous games, and found some that we were able to reuse. However, we never did manage to find the assets for the background from the very first Kirby game. In the end, we got a designer who has worked on the Kirby titles for a long time to draw fresh assets from scratch!

Lololo and Lalala in Castle Lololo: The character design for Lololo and Lalala is rather simple, so we went to quite a lot of trouble to preserve their pixel-art aesthetic when rendering them in 3D. Also, to strengthen the link to their previous incarnations, the green blocks that Lololo and Lalala push around were drawn by the same designer who did the ones seen in Kirby Super Star!"

Tune in next time for more!

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Link 03/18/2015 9:30 AM Continuing from last time, here's more from the lead designer about objects and items in Kirby: Triple Deluxe that first appeared in earlier games in the series!

"Squeaky Hammer Machines in Factory Tour: We resurrected the hammer machines from the Factory Tour stage of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, and turned them into the Squeaky Hammer Machines in Kirby Fighters. I thought that the designer was just going to enhance the appearance of the ones from the Nintendo 64 version, so when I saw that they now opened their mouths and let out a belch of steam as they attacked, I was really surprised! I'd say they are even more "striking" than the ones in the N64 game.

Sweet Potato/Mint Leaf in Kirby Fighters

Did you know that in the Japanese version of Kirby's Dream Land, the Mint Leaf item was a Sweet Potato? When we decided to bring this item back in Kirby Fighters, we had a lot of trouble creating a convincing 3D model of a Sweet Potato. Of course, it stayed as the Mint Leaf in the non-Japanese versions. I think it gives quite a nice image of Kirby puffing out gust after gust of minty-fresh breath!"

Interesting stuff, isn't it? The games that were the origin of the items, objects and characters we talked about this time and last time are all available on Virtual Console – I'd say that comparing the originals to the versions in Kirby: Triple Deluxe could be a lot of fun!

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Link 03/23/2015 9:15 AM Today, we get to hear from the game’s director about voices!

“Hello everyone! This time, I'm going to give you a behind the scenes insight into how we go about producing voices. Now, did you notice that Kirby's voice is a lot more varied in Kirby: Triple Deluxe? There's more to hear besides his usual happy “hi!” or his regular yells when he takes damage. For example, he yelps like he's been scorched when he comes into contact with flames, and when squashed flat he sounds suitably deflated.

Depending on how important a given voice is, voice actors may be used, but sometimes the development staff pitch in when a large number of sounds are required. For example, for the voice of Magolor in Kirby’s Adventure Wii, a character with lots of lines, we used the voice of the staff member who composed the “Moonstruck Blossom” track, with some effects applied! Magolor doesn't speak any recognizable language, only what could be called “Magolorese”, but we tried to make it feel authentic by ensuring that occasional recognizable words could be made out – “Kirby” for example."

More to follow, next time!

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Link 03/25/2015 9:42 AM Today, the game’s director will continue talking about voices!

“For King Dedede in Kirby's Return to Dreamland [sic], we used relatively few effects to ensure his voice sounded like a real voice, while Meta Knight’s lines, though few in number, were provided by a member of the design staff who has a very distinctive voice.

In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kirby's regular voice was a gentle squeak, but when he used the Mike Copy Ability it was a huge bellow. We wanted to do the same in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, so I jumped in with my manly shouting skills! We then added a strong, mechanical-sounding filter to give it a booming, earth-shaking feeling.

Why not play through the game again, listening out for the various audio tricks we used in recording the voices?”

So, the development staff lent their voices to some of the characters, huh? I’m definitely going to try playing Kirby: Triple Deluxe again while paying attention to each character’s voice!

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Link 03/30/2015 9:41 AM This time, we're going to hear more from the designer in charge of working themes into the terrain and backgrounds of the game.

"Hi everyone! Just like every other in-game element, the backgrounds in Kirby: Triple Deluxe were designed with a number of aims in mind. Now, the background isn't something the player interacts with directly, but it does serve the purpose of evoking feelings in the player, adding to the sense of immersion, or creating a sense of danger.

So in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, we really pulled out all the stops to create backgrounds that would plunge the player deep into the world of the game. For example:

1) The backgrounds in the game change to match the progression from easy to difficult. They start out with a safe, peaceful vibe, and gradually evolve until they have a scary, dangerous atmosphere.

2) The scenery creates a sense of aiming for a dizzying high place from a low starting point, which symbolizes Kirby's epic journey from the lower floating islands to the higher ones.

3) The spaces in the game are balanced to match the situation or play style of each particular stage – ranging from wide open areas to narrow, claustrophobic sections.

So that's three broad techniques, but we also emphasised those desired effects in our design of floors, plants, trees, walls, rocks...you name it!

By all means, take the time to observe the landscape of the game, and just soak in the world of Triple Deluxe!"

So you see, a lot of care and attention went into the backgrounds in the game. Next time you find yourself in an area that takes your fancy, why not stop to admire the scenery? Just make sure there aren't any enemies around when you do!

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Link 04/06/2015 9:30 AM Today, the programming director would like to share some information about the behavior of the characters in Kirby Fighters.

"Hello everyone! Kirby Fighters features ten of the Copy Abilities from the main game. Each one was adjusted slightly for Kirby Fighters. If you take the Sword ability’s dash attack as an example, we inserted a bit of a pause just before the dash begins and made it so Kirby was no longer invincible during the attack. We made these kinds of adjustments to reduce the chance of what we call “hamewaza” in Japanese – a continuous attack that can't be broken or defended against – in order to make sure that none of the skills were too powerful.

On the subject of movement, there are actually a lot of situations where crouching can be effective in Kirby Fighters. It's like what was said in a previous post about there being boss attacks you can avoid by crouching: even if an attack looks like it'd be impossible to dodge, it's worth trying to see if it will miss you if you crouch."

So crouching even works when your opponents are playing as Kirby! Why not test it out against a variety of Kirby opponents using different Copy Abilities?

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Link 04/14/2015 10:08 AM This time, we’re going to hear more from one of the designers from the character group about the movement of characters.

"Hello everyone! Have you ever noticed the way the characters in Kirby: Triple Deluxe move? Even if people remember what characters look like, it seems not many are able to recall how they move about.

Actually, movement is just as important as appearance in terms of expressing a character’s personality. Here are a few examples of what I mean:

In the case of the manta ray-like enemy Mamanti, its big, slow movements evoke the feeling of a large underwater animal and help express its languid character.

The trident-carrying, knight-like enemy Lanzer has a brisk march, which makes it feel like a soldier and gives the impression that it could lunge at you with its trident at any second!

Another example is Gigant Edge, the armoured mid-boss that wields a sword and shield. We made it seem as if it's focusing energy into its every movement, which helps to convey both its weight and the massive strength needed to lug that weight around!

I hope I managed to explain what I mean about the movement of characters being an important part of who they are. Even with characters you usually don’t give a second thought to, really closely observing their movement can give you a deeper insight into what they're all about!"

It certainly looks like a lot of thought went into matching the movement of characters to their personality. I bet if you watched someone else play Kirby: Triple Deluxe you would be able to spot even finer details in the characters’ movements!

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Link 04/20/2015 9:30 AM Today, the director's here to talk about the keychains that feature in the game.

"Hello! Have any of you managed to collect 100 or even 200 keychains? The keychain designs mostly feature pixel art characters from earlier games in the series, but did you know there are also a few rare designs featuring special guests from more recent games?

Our initial goal when making the keychains was to create 100 designs. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards featured a similar set of collectable items, of which there were 81, and we at least wanted to beat that number! In the end though, choosing just 100 was too difficult. We started with important characters like protagonists and bosses (which on their own are pretty diverse), but soon got carried away, adding tons of regular enemies as well! Without really meaning to, we ended up with a truly “deluxe” line-up of 256 keychains. That's what you get when you have over 20 years of pixel art assets to draw from!

This was the first 3D Kirby game on a handheld device, so we really wanted to make full use of the 3D feature of the Nintendo 3DS. But at the same time, we wanted to include something to satisfy fans of Kirby's pixel art past. That's why we went with pixel art for the keychains.

Which keychain is your favorite? I think mine is the Golden Egg Statue, but the Boss Butch keychain, featuring a gang of bosses headed up by King Dedede, sure is eye-catching as well! And it's difficult to beat the keychain of Marx Soul's split-in-half face for sheer shock factor…

Good luck completing your collection!"

Not all games in the Kirby series are featured, but even if your favorite game's missing, I'm sure you'll still find keychains that you like!

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Link 04/27/2015 9:19 AM Today, we have more info about the user interface from one of the designers.

"Hi everyone! I’m the designer in charge of creating the user interface for Kirby: Triple Deluxe, a term which describes the method of communicating important information, button prompts and so on to the player. When creating the user interface, we prioritised ease of use, understandability and comfort, and this can be seen in the menu icons, transitional screens and everywhere else it is implemented.

The user interface for the Sound Test mode was one of the sections I designed. In this game we included an 'Auto' function, so you can set tracks to play one after another and continue listening even if the Nintendo 3DS is closed. Pretty cool, eh? Late in the design phase, we decided it would be better if you could still select a track even while the Auto function was on, and that it would be helpful to be able to see the number of the track playing currently. So I added a display showing the number of the current track to the top screen."

Be sure to drop by next time to see what else the designer has to say!

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Link 04/29/2015 9:32 AM Continuing from last time, one of the designers is going to talk some more about the user interface of the Sound Test mode.

"To avoid distracting from the music in Sound Test mode, I disabled the sound effect that normally plays when you select an icon, and to compensate for this, I designed the icons to look and behave like real buttons, so there is still a sense of response when you touch them.

I also added moving light animations to the jukebox and the background during track playback, and decorated the room with scenery from the game. If you look closely, you can see a picture of a Waddle Dee standing in front of Kirby's house, waving!

If you haven’t unlocked Sound Test yet, I like to think it's something you should really experience for yourself. And if you have already seen it, it's just a little further to 100% the game!"

Wow, so Sound Test mode isn't just for listening, there's a whole lot to see, too! I think I'm going to have to check out that Waddle Dee for myself. If you've yet to unlock this mode, why not give it a go?

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Link 05/01/2015 9:29 PM Hi, Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here. I have a special message from the game's director, Shinya Kumazaki.

"Hello, everyone. Today, May 2nd, is the first anniversary of Kirby: Triple Deluxe's release in the Americas! It's been out around the world for a year and two of its sub-games have been expanded into separate downloadable games.

By the way, have you ever wondered how we came up with the game title?

Well, we started with a variety of ideas. One was a title that would reflect the game's theme of an adventure through floating islands. Another idea was to use the letter "X", since this is the tenth traditional Kirby platformer.

We also wanted to find a title that reflects the game's full use of Nintendo 3DS features, such as the 3D function, motion sensors and StreetPass. Something short and catchy that we could use all around the world. That's how we came up with the title "3DX" - in other words, "Triple Deluxe"!

It felt like a good match for the Hypernova Inhale ability, a truly "deluxe" feature designed to make the basic Inhale ability more satisfying and dynamic than ever. It also fitted well with the fact that King Dedede (3 "De"s) plays an important role in the story for the first time in quite a while!

As the first Kirby game on Nintendo 3DS, our aim was to make a title that would entertain all sorts of players, full of experiences you couldn't get on any other system, with satisfying pick-up-and-play action, puzzle solving, fierce battles, and a story with a little depth to it.

So why not celebrate this one-year anniversary by going back and visiting Kirby: Triple Deluxe again? If you haven't already done so, you can even try to clear it 100%!

Happy birthday, Kirby: Triple Deluxe!"

Wow, a whole year since Kirby: Triple Deluxe came out. It would make me happy to see people going back to it, too!

If you haven't played it yet, why not give it a go? Or you could try out Kirby Fighters Deluxe or Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe first!

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Link 05/04/2015 9:27 AM Today, the sound designer is going to talk about the titles of the songs in the game.

"Hello everyone! Kirby: Triple Deluxe has a wide variety of characters, stages, items and features – each with a unique name. Because the images these names conjure up play a role in building Kirby’s world within players' minds, a lot of effort goes into not only the creation of the game features but into naming them too.

Of course, this goes for the game's music as well, but actually I'm not very good at coming up with names, so I don't name songs during development. You can see what happens if I do by looking at songs from previous games, with uninspired titles like 'Kumonomen' (lit. Cloud Level). :P

Song titles really are important for boosting the game's imagery though, so recently I've left naming songs up to the game's director, especially for more prominent songs. Basically, because I feel names are so important, I'd rather they were chosen by the director, who has a deep knowledge of the game and is a lot better at coming up with catchy titles! From recent fan feedback, it seems like this policy is working out.

Song titles aren't displayed in Sound Test, partly because we were worried they might not be final. It might sound strange to say ‘We decided not to display song names because they are so important,’ but if the wrong name does get out there, it forever becomes a part of Kirby history. Besides, if we had the resources to name more than 100 tracks, we would rather use them to improve the game in other ways."

Composing music seems tough enough, without having to come up with song titles as well! Why not try thinking up a name for your favorite piece of music?

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Link 05/11/2015 9:36 AM Today, we’re going to hear from the assistant director, who was in charge of creating the title screen.

"Hello. I want to talk to you about some of the secrets of the title screen. I’m sure some of you have already noticed the things I’m about to tell you, but as a lot of people don't really spend time looking at title screens, I'm guessing there are still plenty out there to whom this is all news!

The first secret is how the title screen changes as you progress through the game. If you enter the title screen after clearing Story Mode, the Dreamstalk will be blooming with flowers, giving the screen a colorful appearance and serving as a callback to the ending cutscene. If you complete Dededetour, King Dedede makes an appearance on the bottom screen. And if you manage the impressive feat of achieving 100% completion, the title screen will feature Hypernova Kirby!

The second secret is that the title screen actually responds to the Nintendo 3DS motion sensor! By moving the system while the title screen is displayed, you can pan around the image of Kirby standing on the Dreamstalk.

Also, Kirby has six different poses that he will strike while stood on the leaf. He always starts by waving, but after that he will perform two poses chosen at random from the other five. Some of these poses can’t be seen anywhere else in the game, so if you like, why not try watching the title screen now and then instead of pressing the A Button right away?"

The appearance of the title screen changes based on the game's level of completion, or if you move the Nintendo 3DS, huh? It seems to me that there's plenty to enjoy on just the title screen of this game!

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Link 05/18/2015 8:56 AM Today, the lead designer wants to share a few words about the Kirby: Triple Deluxe staff credits.

"Hi everyone! Recent Kirby games like Kirby Super Star Ultra and Kirby’s Return to Dreamland [sic] had staff credits that scrolled from the ground up into the sky, but in this game we wanted to do something different that had the right 'Triple Deluxe' feel. Inspired by Kirby’s triumphant descent down the Dreamstalk, this time the credits scroll from the sky down to Kirby’s house back on land.

Now, a bit of behind the scenes info for you! Because the background of the staff credits has a lot going on, what with the Dreamstalk, the floating islands and so on, rendering it all at once meant processing so much data it made the game to freeze. We tried to handle it in various ways on the design side, but finally realised we had to reduce the data somehow. At that point, programming stepped in and implemented a technique known as ‘culling’, where only on-screen objects are rendered. This technique is used in other parts of the game as well, but in the staff credits it is applied in a more intricate way – for example, the upper portion of a floating island stops being rendered as soon as it goes off screen.

As a result of this, we were able to create the staff credits as envisioned. And the designer in charge of the credits was really, really grateful to the programmers who implemented the culling technique!

There are a lot of differences between the backgrounds of the Story Mode and Dededetour credits. Why not see if you can spot them all?"

It looks like a lot of work went into the credits! If you haven’t seen the ending yet, what are you waiting for?! Good luck!

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Link 05/25/2015 9:05 AM Today the lead programmer is going to talk about the tutorial in Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

"Hi everybody. In Kirby's Return to Dreamland [sic], there were signposts explaining the controls throughout the first stage. These signs showed how to do Kirby's basic moves, such as inhaling and spitting, jumping and hovering, as well as sliding. In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, we used signposts in just the same way. However, it's possible some people played through the stage seeing only some of the signs.

The reason for that is, we designed the stage so that as few signs as possible would display for players who already knew the controls. If you're wondering what I mean by that, why not try playing that first stage again? One of the signposts that will or won't display depending on how you play is the one that explains how to slide. When you get to the point where there are two breakable-looking blocks lined up in a row, if you smash through them using slide, the signpost won't appear. However, if you come to a halt at that point, uncertain how to proceed, the signpost pops up. On the other hand, if you ignore the blocks and hover over and past the obstacle, or break through the blocks using a method other than sliding, the signpost will appear at the next place where you should use slide. With little devices like this, we endeavoured to teach the controls to first-time players without making experienced players go 'Come on! I know that already!'

I hope you'll have a look at the other signposts in the stage to see how they work!"

It seems a lot of effort went into those signposts! If you're interested, I'd definitely recommend checking them out in the stage for yourself.

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Link 06/01/2015 9:47 AM Today, we’re going to hear more information about the user interface from one of the designers.

"Hello everyone! The term 'user interface' refers to the ways in which we impart information to the player, for example, through menus and on-screen text. This time, I want to talk to you about one of the less flashy aspects of the user interface: how text is displayed. You probably skim-read without thinking when you’re playing the game, but the way text is used is actually very important when it comes to communicating information to the player.

For example, take the text everyone sees at the very start of the game. After we see Kirby climbing the Dreamstalk, the title is displayed on the top screen and the words ‘PRESS A’ appear on the touch screen. We made the 'A' look like the A Button, and animated it popping up and down. Doesn't that make you want to press it more than if it was just written normally?

After all, this screen is the all-important start of Kirby: Triple Deluxe, and because Kirby games are often enjoyed by young players, we went for the clearest possible design to avoid players who can’t read well getting stuck on the very first screen! To make the A Button icon stand out more, we gave it an eye-catching shiny appearance, and as an extra consideration for those players, we made it so you can start the game by touching anywhere on the touch screen!

There are lots more places in Kirby: Triple Deluxe where we put similar focus on small details like this. I’d be delighted if people noticed them while enjoying the game."

Why not check for yourself next time to see if you can find some other examples?

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Link 06/08/2015 9:29 AM Now we're going to hear more from the director about level 6 – Royal Road.

"Hi! It's now more than a year since the release of Kirby: Triple Deluxe, so I'm guessing there are plenty of you who've got to the final level by now. So, it should be safe for me to talk about it!

The entire floating island of Royal Road is covered with palatial buildings, to the point that the whole mass resembles a single giant castle. On it there lives a race of sweet, good-natured flower people, along with an intelligent (and possibly slightly greedy) species of insect. Our story begins when one prominent insect clan abandons the idea of peaceful coexistence and succumbs to its obsession with beauty and desire for control.

The Warp Holes in level 6 that connect the various islands were probably put in place by the final boss who controls Royal Road, in order to forward the campaign for control of the land below and the countries beyond! No doubt this explains why the Sectra Dees (the insectoid foot soldiers) are already there when Kirby backtracks to the other islands during certain stages in Royal Road. And the fact that Kirby is unable to catch up with Taranza throughout the adventure is surely because Taranza is also taking advantage of these magical Warp Holes."

Tune in for the final part of the story next time!

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Link 06/10/2015 9:50 AM Continued from last time, the director is talking about Royal Road and the story behind Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

"The final boss of Kirby: Triple Deluxe – a unique, insectoid master of manipulative magic who calls the Warp Holes into existence and imprisons the People of the Sky – is a little different compared to previous bosses in the Kirby series. From a visual point of view too, this boss is beautiful, rather than fearful, and the opulent setting of the final showdown as well as the ultimate fate of this glamour-obsessed aristocracy just seems so fitting for Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

And despite being a very tough opponent, in the end you are left with a sense of fragility, reminiscent of blossoms falling from a flower.

So, everyone – have you reached the true battle that waits for you at the end of the game yet?"

Royal Road is certainly a wonderful, mysterious place! We'll be really happy if you keep the backstory in mind when you are playing this level.

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Link 06/15/2015 7:01 AM Today, let's hear more about secret areas from the lead level designer.

"Hi there! Just like previous titles, Kirby: Triple Deluxe can be enjoyed by anyone. We aimed for a game anyone can clear, but that gets deeper the further you explore, and has a latter half that offers a bit more to chew on. I really think there's a lot to enjoy for all sorts of players, so I hope you'll play the game to the end!

Right! I am now going to tell you about two well-hidden secret areas that even people who've finished the game may have missed. If you've found them on your own, you're nothing short of a Triple Deluxe genius!

The first one is on stage 1-3. Early on in this stage, head for the area in the background where the rare keychain is. From there, keep going right, until Kirby is touching the edge of the screen. Then, go back to the start of the area, where you'll find a 3D Warpstar that wasn't there before! From here you'll be able to get hold of tons of items and Copy Essences, so be sure to make a visit!

The second one is on stage 6-5, in the room where the 3D Securitron blocks (the ones that pop out from background to foreground) are arranged in a 5×5 grid. Wait till the end of the 3D Securitron's cycle, and a door will appear. Don't enter it! Instead, continue waiting for 86 seconds, at which point the 3D Securitron will reactivate. When it's finished, a secret door will appear. Enter it, and you'll find a fun room with plenty of items.

What with secret rooms like these, there really is a ton to do in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. I'd be really happy if you checked them out!"

Those of you who haven't discovered these areas, why don't you take a look?

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Link 06/22/2015 9:30 AM Today, the director is here to talk about the Kirby: Triple Deluxe Puzzle Swap panel in StreetPass Mii Plaza.

"Hello everyone! You can use the StreetPass features of Kirby: Triple Deluxe to collect keychains, compete for high scores in The Arena, and more. But did you know that Puzzle Swap in StreetPass Mii Plaza features a Kirby: Triple Deluxe panel? I guess that by now, most people who take their Nintendo 3DS with them wherever they go have already collected all the pieces for it.

The Kirby: Triple Deluxe panel was created by the team who worked on the game, and was released at the same time. It's one of five panels which tie in to the Kirby series. We really went all-out to infuse each panel with Kirby fun, in order to show as many people as possible the charming appeal of each Kirby game.

If you manage to collect all the puzzle pieces for the Kirby: Triple Deluxe panel, you can see a video that shows off the game's foreground-to-background leaping, side-scrolling action. Additionally, there are a total of six keychains hidden somewhere in the video, so definitely try moving the Circle Pad while the movie is playing!"

Tune in next time for more about StreetPass and Kirby!

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Link 06/24/2015 9:38 AM Here's the game's director once again to talk some more about StreetPass features and Kirby.

"Hello! Last time, I told you about the Kirby: Triple Deluxe panel in StreetPass Mii Plaza's Puzzle Swap. Each Puzzle Swap panel featuring the Kirby series has a theme. For Kirby's Return to Dreamland [sic], to show off the 4-player action and the fact that you can jump in at any time, we had the characters piling up one by one in a multi-storey piggyback that also showed off the game's new character. For the Kirby's Dream Collection panel, we put together a merry multitude of Kirby characters both old and new. In the first Kirby panel we did, one of the original Puzzle Swap panels, we tried to fully express his character by showing him doing a wide variety of adorable expressions.

And...I hope you noticed the panel featuring Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe! That's right – two games in one panel!

You can use StreetPass in Kirby: Triple Deluxe itself, by getting keychains using the Play Coins you collect by walking around with your Nintendo 3DS, or by competing for high scores with other players. So don't forget to take your Nintendo 3DS with you when you're out and about!"

It sure is fun collecting keychains and puzzle pieces this way, isn't it? I hope you collect as many as possible!

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Link 06/29/2015 9:50 AM The director's here today to talk about Miracle Fruit.

"Hi everyone. When Kirby eats the Miracle Fruit that grows on the Dreamstalk, it gives him the unbelievably powerful Hypernova Inhale ability. Interestingly, this item was originally conceived as an invincibility power-up called 'Hypernova Candy', but to emphasise its importance and to tie it in with the setting and story, we made it the fruit of the Dreamstalk instead.

In action games, the purpose of the story is to increase the player's engagement in the game's various mechanics, and the floating sky-island setting of Kirby: Triple Deluxe evolved from the play mechanic of leaping from foreground to background, with the 3D feature of the Nintendo 3DS evoking a feeling of floating. We thought about the sky, and naturally, that made us think of the sun. Thinking about the sun then brought plants to mind. We put the sky and plants together, and it conjured up the image of a giant plant climbing into the sky, where a floating country inhabited by flowers and plants was in the oppressive clutches of...an insect ruler! This was more or less the chain of thought that led to the pieces of the story slotting into place."

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Link 07/01/2015 9:45 AM The director's going to talk some more about Miracle Fruit today.

"When Kirby eats a Miracle Fruit, his powers of inhalation are miraculously increased. But if someone other than Kirby were to eat it, it would have a different effect, right? And what if, say, four were eaten at once – considering one is all that is needed to gain the powerful Hypernova Inhale ability?! As people who've played to the very end should know already, four Miracle Fruits have the power to resurrect an already-defeated enemy, making that enemy undergo a complete transformation and totally lose control...

As I explained last time, the setting and story were born of the 3D feature-based play mechanic, and the new Miracle Fruit item came to be as a result of the Hypernova Inhale mechanic. Every time in the series Kirby pushes himself by doing something new, there's a new key item to go with it."

So, the Miracle Fruit plays an important role besides giving Kirby the Hypernova Inhale ability! If you haven't already, why don't you try playing to the very end and check it out?

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Link 07/06/2015 1:56 AM Today, the lead programmer is going to talk about the boss battles in Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

"Hello everyone! Today I want to share some of the techniques we used to give the boss fights more impact. The bosses in the game use a variety of attacks which Kirby must do his best to avoid while fighting back. As the game's developers, we want people to have a sense of tension while fighting the bosses – and to achieve that, we try to make them as imposing as possible.

With this goal in mind, one programmer's solution was to make the camera move. For the level 6 battle against Masked Dedede, they made the camera follow the boss’s movements for the duration of the encounter. It’s something that’s surprisingly easy to miss if you’re not looking out for it.

Up until then, our approach for using the camera in the boss battles was to only have it move when the boss did a particularly extravagant attack. However, with the introduction of the exaggerated camera movement in the Masked Dedede battle, the other battles now felt unbalanced in comparison. But naturally, when the other programmers saw this camera effect they were all really eager to use it themselves! That’s why the boss battles in the second half of the game have a variety of camera motions to go along with their different attacks. The fact that the later boss battles in Kirby: Triple Deluxe are more tense than those earlier in the game is not due simply to them being harder to beat – the camera might have something to do with it as well."

I really feel like playing through again and checking out the camera movement in the boss battles! Why don’t you try it too?

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Link 07/20/2015 7:21 AM We’ve been posting to this Behind the Scenes community for a good while now, bringing you insider info from the Kirby: Triple Deluxe development team, and sadly we only have a few more posts left. But for now, here’s the director again to talk about Queen Sectonia.

"Hello everyone! Our main goal when designing the beauty-fixated Queen Sectonia was to make sure she really had that final boss feel. We put a lot of thought into the setup and location of her battle, with the hope that after defeating her, the player would feel not only a sense of accomplishment, but be left with something else that would stick with them after the battle was over.

That such a royal being would be called a queen goes without saying, but what about the name ‘Sectonia’? We created this name by combining two English words – ‘insect’ and ‘near’ – to create the idea of a being that is almost an insect, but not quite. The ending ‘nia’ also has quite a regal and feminine ring to it.

By the way, Queen Sectonia is the second final boss in the Kirby series to be female. The first was Drawcia, the sorceress from Kirby: Power Paintbrush on the Nintendo DS, whom I was responsible for designing and fitting into the game."

Tune in next time for more information about Queen Sectonia!

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Link 07/22/2015 6:03 AM Here’s the director again to talk about Queen Sectonia, the game’s final boss!

"Queen Sectonia is a mistress of manipulative magic. Once upon a time, she looked similar to her insectoid underlings, but her current beautiful yet deadly bee-like form is a body that she took over through the use of her magic. I wonder how the minions who knew her before felt, serving a mistress who changes her appearance like that? I think that stopping at nothing to sit on the throne, even going so far as to discard one’s true form, is one of the traits that makes a true final boss.

After you first defeat Queen Sectonia, the scene of battle moves to a number of precarious platforms high above the clouds. The stage of this fight was designed to befit the climactic showdown on a floating island and to make strong use of the 3D feature of the Nintendo 3DS. I urge you to try to reach the final battle yourself, and see Sectonia’s metamorphosis into the ultimate enemy with your own eyes!"

Wow! I thought she was just scary because she was so powerful, but it turns out there’s all this history behind her too. I hope you remember all the other Kirby: Triple Deluxe bosses as well!

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Link 07/27/2015 9:33 AM Today we're going to hear from the director.

"Hi there. This is one of our last posts, so I'm going to take the opportunity to talk some more about the setting of Kirby's adventure in this game. The islands floating suspended in the wide open sky serve as the perfect device to make the most of the 3D feature of the Nintendo 3DS. And if you collect all the Sun Stones on one level, extra stages appear in the form of separate floating islets, in keeping with the game's floating island theme.

The extra stages are intended as a kind of compilation of the features of each level. The numerous experiences and elements of a level are crammed into one special stage that stands as a symbol for the level as a whole. We had the inter-dimensional rift areas in Kirby's Return to Dreamland [sic] which played a similar role, but in those stages the aim was to go back to basics and showcase Kirby's original inhaling and spitting abilities, in contrast to his powerful Copy Abilities."

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Link 07/29/2015 9:55 AM Today we're going to hear more from the director about the settings of Kirby games.

"In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, the first stage you play resembles a meadow. During development, at a point when the scenery was nearly complete, we asked ourselves 'If we were to view this stage as the first part of a series, how would we come back and improve on it for part two?' And with that question in mind we revisited the design and added a bunch of new elements. In the part of the level where you first touch down on the meadow, both the seeds floating by on the wind and the out of focus hillock in the foreground are examples of finishing touches we added to evoke a sense of distance befitting the first scene players will see.

So you see how every game in the series brings new worlds for Kirby to continue his adventure in. As those among you who've played previous games will know, he's pretty well traveled! Besides islands floating in the sky, he's visited the nearby Mirror World, explored underground realms and journeyed to planets all over the galaxy. There are woollen worlds, clay worlds, painted worlds, and even whole other dimensions!

Since the very first game in the series, we've always thought of Kirby as a bold, young adventurer. Wherever his journey takes him next, he's sure to keep on being the same old trusty Kirby! I hope you'll join him on his next outing!"

So a lot of thought goes into the design of stages! Why don't you try and find your favorite ones?

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Link 08/03/2015 9:42 AM Welcome to our last topic for this Behind the Scenes community, which will be split over two posts. Today the director of Kirby: Triple Deluxe is going to talk about a very important mirror!

"Hi everyone! In keeping with the fact this is our very last topic, I wanted to talk about the mirror that appears at the very end of the game!

The island kingdom of Floralia floats in the air above Dream Land, but nearby there's another realm that featured in a previous game in the Kirby series. You may have guessed that I'm talking about the Mirror World, from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror for Game Boy Advance. That game features a mysterious mirror called the Dimension Mirror, and it's that same mirror that decorates the room of Kirby: Triple Deluxe's last boss, Queen Sectonia, as can be seen in level 6 of Dededetour. We had this item make a reappearance in order to add impact to the battle in which you must fight an enemy identical to yourself.

The Dimension Mirror was chosen to play this important role to emphasise the proximity of the two realms, provide a fun reference to the earlier game, and help establish the story of Kirby: Triple Deluxe in the wider context of the series, among other reasons.

For the hidden boss in this game, we sort of wanted to confound the expectations of players who were anticipating the appearance of a certain 'greatest warrior in the galaxy', in continuation of a trend set by Kirby Super Star Ultra and Kirby's Return to Dreamland [sic]. So, instead, we used the Dimension Mirror to resurrect that shadowy warrior from the Mirror World – Dark Meta Knight."

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Link 08/05/2015 9:39 AM Here's the second part of our final topic for this Behind the Scenes community. In it, the director of Kirby: Triple Deluxe is going to continue talking about the Dimension Mirror.

"Another reason the Dimension Mirror was chosen for this key role (explained in the previous post), and ended up decorating Queen Sectonia's chambers, is that mirrors go hand in hand with the idea of beauty. But how exactly did Queen Sectonia actually get her hands on the mirror? Well, her underling Taranza stole it from the Mirror World, and gave it as tribute to his beauty-obsessed queen! Sadly, it was gazing into the mirror day after day that led to her mind being twisted towards tyranny by its power.

In this way, aspects of the story like setting and scenery serve to emphasise and enhance the game's play mechanics. Of course you can enjoy the game without paying attention to the story, but we believe that the story makes the game enjoyable on a deeper level!

Well, that's the end of this series of posts in the Kirby: Triple Deluxe Behind the Scenes community. Be sure to check out the community for Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, where we've also made some posts. Thanks for reading all we had to say! Oh, and thank you most of all for playing Kirby: Triple Deluxe!"

So, that's the final post in the series we started on the day of Kirby: Triple Deluxe's release! We really hope it's been useful. Thanks for tuning in!

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Link 09/22/2015 10:23 AM Hi, Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here. I've got another message from the director, Shinya Kumazaki. What might he have to say this time?

"Hi, everyone. It's the anniversary of the previous handheld game in the main Kirby series, Kirby Super Star Ultra! Wow, seven years already...

That game featured the debut of a character who returns in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. That's right - Masked Dedede! He appeared in a mode called Revenge of the King, where Dedede talks quite a bit. I wrote his lines back then, and I tried to create a contrast by making them similar to Meta Knight's cool lines, but injecting them with unique Dedede humor.

At the end, though, the mood shifts as Dedede puts on a power-amplifying mask (nobody knows where he got it...) and faces Kirby as the incredible Masked Dedede! After Kirby pummels him good, he lets out a familiar cry and flies off into the distance, just like in Kirby's Dream Land.

Masked Dedede's mask also makes an appearance in the download-only rhythm action title Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, if you know where to look!

Incidentally, the mask's design is a heavily altered version of Dark Mind's mask from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. If you look reeeeeally closely, you might be able to see the similarities. Some very eagle-eyed players may have noticed already!

At any rate, I'm sure King Dedede will keep on challenging Kirby in the future. They're eternal rivals, after all. He won't give in until he manages to beat him!

By the way, the attached special illustration is a joint work. I drew the King Dedede on the left, and the Masked Dedede on the right was drawn by Hitoshi Kikkawa, who was in charge of creating Dedede's pixel art in Super Star Ultra!"

Well, that made it sound like the game's all about King Dedede...but Kirby Super Star Ultra actually features lots of characters, including of course Kirby himself!

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Link 10/23/2015 9:08 PM Hi there! Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here. This time, Shinya Kumazaki has a Kirby's Return to Dream Land anniversary message for us.

"Hello! Today marks the fourth anniversary of the release of Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

The game's special features include Super Abilities and a multiplayer mode in which up to three additional players can jump into the game at any time.

During development, we talked about calling the game Kirby Wii: Super Friends. This name combined the 'Super' from ‘Super Abilities’ with the image of adventuring together, and ‘friend’ evokes the concept of friendship, which is one of the game's main themes.

This game also marks the first appearance of Magolor. We tried hard to make him seem lovable but a bit suspicious. With his habit of deceiving while telling the truth, he’s a pretty unusual character for the series.

Magolor takes the Master Crown from Kirby and friends, planning to use its limitless power to seize control of the entire universe. But when Kirby hits him with the Ultra Sword, the crown goes wild and takes control of Magolor instead. When Magolor is finally defeated, the crown crumbles, releasing him unharmed. He then turns into light and vanishes. At first we envisioned this as a bonus scene that would only appear if the player had collected all special items. In the end, though, we decided that we couldn't leave Magolor's liberation from his crimes out of the main storyline.

This mysterious character was probably telling the truth when he said that he wanted to be Kirby's friend. Maybe he'll stay out of trouble from now on. That said, in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe for Nintendo 3DS his laugh is still a bit mischievous. If you have that game, why not try and find him?

By the way, the anniversary illustration of Magolor was created by Monami Matsuura, who was in charge of modelling and motion for Magolor's initial form!"

That's all! Happy birthday, Kirby's Return to Dream Land!

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Link 12/04/2015 10:50 AM Hello, everyone! Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here. Today we're going to hear a Kirby: Squeak Squad anniversary message from Shinya Kumazaki.

“Hello! I'm Shinya Kumazaki, the director of Kirby: Triple Deluxe. Today, it’s nine years since the release of Kirby: Sqeak Squad for Nintendo DS.

Kirby: Squeak Squad marks the first appearance of Daroach and his band of thieving mice, the Squeaks, who Kirby goes up against in a series of encounters. Hidden throughout the stages are treasure chests containing things like songs that you can listen to with the Sound Player, keys that unlock EX stages, and Star Seals. You need five Star Seals to access the game’s final level, so it's very important to look out for the treasure chests.

Furthermore, the game features three new Copy Abilities: Animal, Bubble, and Metal. If you clear the game and collect some special items, you can obtain another new Copy Ability called Ghost. Ghost also makes an appearance in the minigames Gourmet Race from Kirby Super Star Ultra, and Kirby Fighters from Kirby: Triple Deluxe. It also appears in the downloadable software Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

By the way, King Dedede (who doesn’t appear in the previous title, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror) is the first boss in Kirby: Squeak Squad. However, the design of the castle that he lives in is different from normal. This is because it was based on the design used in the Kirby animated series. It’s quite different to the familiar fortress on Mt. Dedede. It seems like being a king means that Dedede can build castles in many different lands. How splendid!

Lastly, the Kirby: Squeak Squad anniversary illustration was done by Tsuyoshi Fujita, who has been the lead designer for recent Kirby games.”

That’s all! Happy birthday, Kirby: Squeak Squad!

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Kirby Fighters Deluxe / Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe[]

Link Date Text Image
Link 08/29/2014 10:02 AM Hello! This is Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory.

Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe for Nintendo 3DS was released today on the Nintendo eShop!

I'll be posting messages here from the development team who will share some information on how you can enjoy these games to the fullest, so stay tuned!

Link 09/02/2014 9:12 AM Today we're hearing from Shinya Kumazaki, the director of Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello! The two download-exclusive games Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe were just released. Excluding the Virtual Console games, these are the first titles in the Kirby franchise that are download exclusive. This was quite unexpected!

These two titles are sequels to the two minigames in Kirby: Triple Deluxe that we beefed up by adding new stages and features.

Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe is a rhythm-action game where King Dedede moves across the stage by bouncing on drums. In this game, you can jump higher by pressing the A button right when you land, so adjust the height of the jump to dodge obstacles, collect coins, and reach the goal—all while staying in rhythm.

Kirby Fighters Deluxe is a battle-action game where you use Kirby's copy abilities. Multiple Kirbys duking it out together is a real dream come true. You can choose from 10 different copy abilities in this game. However, if you have StreetPass data from Kirby: Triple Deluxe on your system, you can choose from 12 abilities and get an extra stage for a total of 12 stages!

Choose your copy ability and stage, and then battle up to four players simultaneously. The stages and items are all featured from the Kirby series. We've designed the stages to feel familiar to Kirby fans and to introduce the world of Kirby to those that are playing a Kirby game for the first time.

Both games have many features that we couldn't fit into the minigame format in the Kirby: Triple Deluxe version. We've adjusted detailed movements and game balance, and we've worked on these titles as if we were designing a new game from the ground-up. I really hope you'll enjoy playing both of these games!"

There you have it! For more information about these games, visit nintendo.com for more details. We'll be posting more information here, so check back soon!

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Link 09/04/2014 9:27 AM This time, the director of Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe will tell you more about these games.

"Hello! This is Shinya Kumazaki. We've worked really hard on these two games for six months after the release of Kirby: Triple Deluxe. We made them even better than the original minigames to ensure they deserved the title Deluxe added to their names.

I hope both of these games will catch the attention of those who have played Triple Deluxe and those new to the game.

The stages are all new in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, and there's a wider variety of songs to choose from. In addition to significantly more stages, Kirby Fighters Deluxe has a new mode called Team Battles.

There are a number of copy abilities you can use in Kirby Fighters Deluxe, and we hand-selected the abilities that match best for battles. There's close and long range attacks with the Beam ability, the technical Ninja ability, and placing and throwing bombs with the Bomb ability; we created a variety of abilities aiming to put fighting game characters to shame.

Are any of your favorite abilities in this game's roster? I want to say my favorite is the new Archer ability.... But! My actual favorite ability allows you to make powerful blows at your opponents if timed correctly... The Hammer ability originated from King Dedede!"

That's it for today! I hope everyone will find their favorite songs and copy abilities in these games. For more information about these games, visit nintendo.com for more details!

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Link 09/09/2014 9:22 AM Today director Shinya Kumazaki will talk about Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Hello there. Kirby Fighters Deluxe is a fighting game filled with multiple Kirbys everywhere. The six new stages and the new boss battles added for Single Player mode are some of the new features in the game, but probably the biggest addition to this game is Team Battle mode.

In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, you were only able to play against each other individually, but in this game, you can team up with other players, and even play against a team of three single-handedly! You can choose to play with different combinations such as 2 vs 2, 1 vs 1 vs 2, and 1 vs 3. Heat up your battles by using features added specifically for team battles, such as sharing effects from items with your teammates using Item Share and firing the Team Cannon. Get together with four friends with 2DS or 3DS systems and have fun playing battles where anything can happen!

Also, if you have friends that don't own this game, they can join the battles by using Download Play. For those that have StreetPass data from Triple Deluxe on their system, they can even use the Bell and Beetle copy abilities and get an additional stage for this game!

We've also added more features to Single Player mode. Unlike in Triple Deluxe, the final boss, who's also your biggest rival in the series, regains his dignity and returns to fight you.

Not only does this character come back, he comes back as a team! His attacks are the same as in Kirby's Dream Land but stronger. You can choose your difficulty, but I hope you'll polish your copy ability techniques and challenge this boss on every level!"

Thank you again, Kumazaki-san! You can find out more about Kirby Fighters Deluxe at nintendo.com!

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Link 09/11/2014 9:40 AM This time, the director will talk about Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello. Once again, this is Shinya Kumazaki.

Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe...now that's a lot of D's! I wonder if there are any other games out there that have as many D's in their title as this one. This game's main character is quite literally Kirby's biggest rival, King Dedede. This is his inaugural game title, and he gets to be in the main spotlight. You must've waited a long 22 years until this day... Congratulations, your highness.

This game has seven fresh, new stages that weren't in the Kirby: Triple Deluxe minigame. Triple Deluxe had three stages plus one hidden stage, so the number of stages has doubled. The earlier stages consist of songs selected from stages and boss battles from Triple Deluxe. I hope those that played Triple Deluxe will enjoy these stages.

The songs in the second half were selected from classic titles like Kirby's Air Ride, Kirby Super Star, and from another title which is the perfect song for the climax of the game.

The final song may be a little challenging, but you may recognize it from a certain final boss battle. I hope you'll have a chance to listen to it soon. The environment of the last boss stage matches well with the song, so it should get you fired up while you face your challenge.

Songs and stages were newly designed and created for King Dedede's first game, so I hope those that have and haven't had a chance to play Kirby: Triple Deluxe will have fun playing this title!"

That's all for today! For more information on Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, visit nintendo.com!

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Link 09/16/2014 9:14 AM This time, we hear from Hiroshi Ohnishi, the programming director of Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe:

"Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe was not only powered-up with new, revamped stages, but even things like the title screen and menus have gotten a makeover. "And that’s not all! King Dedede's abilities have also been improved! "I’d like to highlight one of the new features that may be helpful to you.

"Unlike in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, when King Dedede falls off the drums, he will not immediately fail the stage! As long as he has some health left, with a little help from his new mysterious powers, he will be carried back onto the drum where you left off. Thanks to this feature, first-timers should be able to reach the Goal Drum more easily than in the last game. It’s a helpful feature for beginners, but it doesn't interfere with the experts...it’s a pretty nice addition, isn't it?

"On the other hand, this means that as you get better at playing the game, you might take this new feature for granted. Even after you learned to clear every stage without falling, the programmers who added this feature will be happy if you'd remember what the game might be like without it."

Wow, if you can jump back into the game after falling off the drums, even people like me that aren't the best at rhythm-action games should have fun playing! I hope you'll all give this game a try too!

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Link 09/18/2014 9:24 AM Today, we're hearing from Yumi Todo, the design director for the Team Cannon in Kirby Fighters Deluxe:

"In the new Team Battle stages in Kirby Fighters Deluxe, you can use an item called the Team Cannon. This is an item exclusive to Team Battle, where teammates can literally join together to charge and fire the cannon. By the way, do you get the feeling you may have seen the Team Cannon before?

"That’s because the Team Cannon's design was based on Main Cannon #2 from the Halberd, which appears in Revenge of Meta Knight in Kirby Super Star Ultra. It's like a smaller, cuter version of Main Cannon #2, but don't judge it by its size and appearance. If you get hit by the Team Cannon, you'll receive a ton of damage! It's a nice item for you and your teammates to have, but when the opposing team gets a hold of it, be sure to get out of the way--quickly!

"There are many other features like Item Share and classic stages that will definitely catch the attention of experienced Kirby game players. I hope you'll enjoy finding these familiar elements from other Kirby games."

There you have it! The firing sequence for the Team Cannon is pretty exciting, so make sure you grab it when it appears!

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Link 09/23/2014 9:07 AM This time, Dedede’s Drum Dash Deluxe lead level designer Yuki Endo will share a few things with us.

"Hello, I was in charge of designing and creating the levels for Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

“There are seven brand-new levels in this game, and once you clear them, you’ll unlock a set of Secret Levels. If you count the Secret Levels with their added tricks and challenges along with the Normal Levels, there are a total of 14 levels to play. I hope you have fun playing them all! “This time, I’d like to talk about King Dedede's simplest, most basic move: his jump.

“When you move King Dedede, he will jump from drum to drum automatically. Press the A Button right as he lands on a drum, and he'll do a medium-height High Jump. If you press the A Button at the right time when he lands from a High Jump, he'll do a Super Jump for maximum height. You’ll need to use all three of these jumps to collect all the coins and reach the Goal Drum.

“One thing to keep in mind: you can’t do a High Jump right after you do a Super Jump. So, if you need to do a High Jump after a Super Jump, you’ll need to first do a normal jump, and then push the A Button at the right time to do a High Jump. It’s hard to explain this tip in words, but you’ll understand once you try it out in the game. Have fun tackling all the stages!"

Thanks for the tips! It may be a bit of a challenge to do multiple Super Jumps on your first play-through, so you may want to get used to the game and finish the stages with regular jumps first.

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Link 09/25/2014 9:28 AM Today, Mr. Kumazaki, the director, returns to tell us a little about Boss Battle stages in Kirby Fighters Deluxe:

"Hello there. In Single Player mode in Kirby Fighters Deluxe, there are new Boss Battle stages where you can not only fight other Kirbys, but also strong, challenging bosses.

“In the version of the game in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, we wanted to emphasize that your worst enemy is yourself, so the final boss was a Shadow Kirby that had the same copy ability as you. However, in Kirby Fighters Deluxe, midway through your battles you'll have to fight Kracko (a regular boss in the Kirby series), and at the end you’ll face the mighty King Dedede.

“I hope that you'll use different Copy Abilities and have fun trying to clear each round as fast as you can, as if you're playing a bonus stage with a time limit like in other fighting games!

“By the way, you can also experience what it’s like to fight in Team Battle when you challenge Kracko. Like fighting with Helpers in the classic Kirby games, you can take down Kracko with an allied Kirby! Cooperate with each other by using Item Share and fighting together. Pay close attention to your partner Kirby’s moves.

“Lastly, throughout the Kirby series, there's always a hidden stage with the letters HAL inside of it called the HAL Room...and we've hid one somewhere in this game as well.

“Here's a hint: it's somewhere in the Boss Battle stage I introduced today... The rest is up to you, so good luck finding it!"

It must be fun tackling the bosses with some help! Now I'm curious about where the HAL Room is located... I hope you'll keep your eyes open for the HAL Room while you are playing!

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Link 09/30/2014 9:32 AM This time, Sho Tajima, one of the programmers, will talk about Team Battles in Kirby Fighters Deluxe:

"Hello, I was in charge of programming Kirby and items in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

“One of the new highlights of Kirby Fighters Deluxe is the Team Battles. Of course, it’s fun to play with your friends, but it's also fun to team-up with computer-controlled (CPU) players. Today, I would like to talk about the CPU players in this mode.

“In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, the CPU players were your opponents. It's already very helpful that they can fight alongside you in this game, but we've also improved their movement patterns in Kirby Fighters Deluxe to make them reliable helpers.

“For example, CPU players will conveniently take advantage of Item Share, a crucial feature in Team Battles. When the CPU player grabs an item that could be shared, it will dash towards its ally so it can quickly use Item Share.

“In addition, when a CPU player’s ally gets an item that can be shared, the CPU player will approach their ally and expect them to help by using Item Share. This behavior seems fitting for the friendly but always-hungry Kirby, doesn’t it?

“When you fight alongside CPU players, pay attention to their movements and help each other out in battle. By learning to keep an eye on your allies and to cooperate with them, your results in Multiplayer games should also improve. "

Thank you, Tajima-san. It might be fun to play against your friends while teamed-up with CPU Kirbys... I hope you have fun trying out different ways to play!

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Link 10/02/2014 9:31 AM Today, we hear from one of our designers, Kenichiro Kita, about the rare ability hats:

"Hello. I was in charge of designing the rare ability hats in this game.

“You can unlock rare ability hats by playing through Single Player mode. Have you collected them all yet? “Once you unlock a rare ability hat, press the X Button on the Select Copy Ability screen to switch into one. Although the copy ability won’t change, you can have fun fighting in a different outfit.

“Of the rare ability hats, I recommend unlocking the one for the Bomb ability. The hat itself isn't that flashy, but your bombs will have heart patterns on them while you are wearing it. They're so cute! I wish I could display them on my desk. I created these bombs because I thought that the standard bomb design appealed mainly to boys. I wanted to have the Rare Bomb Hat bombs appeal to girls. I hope you like them.

“There are other rare ability hats with fun designs, so I hope you'll unlock them all. There are also rare ability hats for the Copy Abilities that are unlocked with StreetPass data from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, so I hope you check them out!"

That's all for today! When you play Single Player mode, you can unlock rare ability hats for the Copy Ability you were using when you cleared it, so why not start out by clearing the mode with your favorite Copy Ability?

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Link 10/07/2014 9:11 AM This time, sound composer Hirokazu Ando will talk about creating the sounds in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello. Today, I would like to discuss my focus while developing the sound for Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Up until now, we've created a lot of songs and sounds that play in the background. I believe our goal in creating sounds has always been to complement the world and characters for each level and make them more exciting to play. However in this specific game you have to play with the music. This means that the music isn't just in the background; it is a key element for gameplay. This factor has changed our usual goals for game sound design.' For these reasons, we've created audio that's conceptually different from how we usually sound design Kirby games.

"For example, we were concerned that if the pattern of the drums and phrases are too detailed, the game might be a little too confusing or challenging to play. With this in mind, we've arranged the first few stages to have especially simple rhythms for users to fully enjoy the songs while they play. We've also designed the sound effects in the game to ring well with the songs and help you play through the levels.

"We've been careful to design the sounds so they don't distract you during your gameplay, but sound developers like myself will be happy if you pay attention to those details once in a while."

Huh. So sounds are created differently to match each game genre. It might be fun to compare each song to the original songs too.

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Link 10/09/2014 9:35 AM Today, director Kumazaki will talk about the keychains in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello there. Today, I would like to talk about the keychains hidden in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Some of you may be thinking, "Wait, I don't remember seeing any keychains as items in this game?" Actually, the bit-art keychain of Kirby that appears in Kirby: Triple Deluxe is hidden in the background of the levels. I assume that some of you have already noticed them while playing.

"It may be hard to notice if you're captivated by King Dedede's tambourine skills, but there's actually a keychain hidden in every level! Well, maybe it will actually be hard to notice if the level is pretty challenging...

"Here's another thing about these keychains. Each of the regular stages have the same hidden keychain that you may recognize from Kirby's Adventure. In the Secret Levels, however, not only are there keychains from Kirby's Adventure, but they are all different characters! Find out what kind of keychains are hidden in these stages by challenging them yourself.

"Keychains of unexpected characters are hanging from unexpected places, so those of you that didn't get too distracted by King Dedede's profile and found all of the keychains could call themselves Drum Dash masters. Good luck finding them all!

"There are more messages from the developers coming your way in this community, so I hope you'll keep checking back for more information!"

You can't collect the keychains in this game, but you can have fun looking for them hiding in each level. Why not take on this challenge?

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Link 10/14/2014 9:11 AM This time, Shinichi Kawaji from Programming will talk about the backbeat cymbal in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello. A lot of things have been added to the stages in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, including many colorful gimmicks. For now, I would like to highlight one of the new gimmicks which will help you gain more points—the backbeat cymbal.

"At first glance, the backbeat cymbals are just objects floating in the air. However, if you clap the backbeat on them...King Dedede will pull out a mallet and hit the cymbal with a full swing!

"After a large GONG!, many musical coins will appear that you can collect! They will contribute to the All Coins bonus after you clear the game, so make sure you hit every single one.

"Here's another tip: there's a set pattern for where musical coins appear in each stage when you hit the backbeat cymbals. If you remember where the musical coins will appear, play the backbeat cymbal fluidly and get all of the musical coins. It should shorten your Clear Time!

The backbeat cymbal is a crucial item to improve your scores in this game. Keep practicing, and aim to master playing the cymbals swiftly!"

That's all for today! Remembering where the musical coins appear in each stage might be a helpful hint in playing this game. Good luck improving your scores by mastering the backbeat cymbal!

Miiverse 14D
Link 10/16/2014 9:38 AM Today, our designer Yukari Kemmochi will talk about the visuals in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello, I hope you're all enjoying Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe. This time, I would like to talk about the visuals that incorporate material-like texture such as wood and cloth.

"For example, I designed the Start button to make it look like it's made out of wood. Also, under the buttons on the Level Select screen, I've lined the background with a quilt-like design. The reasoning behind the material-like designs in this game is to help the players experience an atmosphere a little different from the usual Kirby games.

Also, King Dedede happily jumping through the stages in rhythm is quite charming, so we also envisioned a toy-like atmosphere that is fun to watch.

I assume that the real surprise people will encounter the first time they play will be that the levels are rather challenging even though they seem playful and inviting. It's hard at first, but it becomes addicting once you get the hang of it, and I'm assuming many of you have gotten better after challenging the levels multiple times. At least that's how I got better at this game.

Don't give up! Aim to get the Platinum Trophy on both all Normal and Secret Levels. Once you clear them with this score, you'll get a bit of a surprise on the title screen. For those that have already seen this, you should try getting King Dedede and Taranza on the title screen together. In order to see this, you will have to clear ONLY the Secret Levels with Platinum Trophies!"

Hmmm...aiming to get multiple Platinum Trophies might be a bit challenging. I do want to see King Dedede and Taranza on the title screen, so I'll do my best. I hope you'll all give this a shot too!

Miiverse 15D
Link 10/21/2014 11:09 AM This time we'll hear from Tatsuya Kamiyama who focused on improving ease and playability of the levels in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello! I was the level design support for some of the secret levels in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"I worked on the secret levels, which are action-packed, but to be honest I'm not that great at playing action games. However, this game has some features that are great for players like myself.

"In the Dedede's Drum Dash mini game in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, if you fall once the game is over. However, in this game, your health and score are deducted and you can start back up again where you fell off!

"Also, you can restore your heath by jumping through Recovery Rings. These Recovery Rings appear more frequently when you're down to half of your health.

"In addition, when you progress through the level, a 'Halfway there!' notification will pop up, which will help you pace yourself.

"The many new gimmicks not only produce new challenges, but some have made the game easier for first-timers to play. So if you had a hard time playing Dedede's Drum Dash in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, I think you'll have an easier time in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe. I hope you'll all enjoy this game!"

That's all for today! I'm honestly not the best at playing rhythm-action games, so I'm really grateful that they added Recovery Rings and the ability to start back up where you fall. Kirby and Waddle Dee appear to cheer you on when the "Halfway there!" notification appears, so I hope you'll pay attention to them in the game.

Miiverse 16D
Link 10/23/2014 9:48 AM This time, director Kumazaki will talk about the battle with King Dedede in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Hello there. The highlight of this game is team battles, so when King Dedede returns as final boss in this game, we've also prepared him an army of Mini Dededes to team battle against you! When you defeat King Dedede, he lets out a peculiar squeal while getting blown away. Just like in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, those squeals are voiced by myself. My voice samples recorded for Triple Deluxe weren't that altered, but in this version, it was altered with a higher pitch to fit the Mini Dededes.

"Here, I would like to introduce some boss moves that only appear in Very Hard mode. Stomping and jumping ferociously, King Dedede attacks you from screen to screen with his Extra Dedede Jump. We named this move with the Extra mode from Kirby's very first game in mind. It's easier to attack him when he pauses after landing, but watch out for the shock waves from his final jump. King Dedede also has a move called Hammer Farmer, where he powers up his hammer, borrowing energy from the Fountain of Dreams, and charges while slamming the hammer around madly. The movement is similar to how a farmer harvests with a sickle, and it's really dangerous if you're too close. I would also like to introduce the move called 'Keychains of Glory' that blocks your view with keychains. This move only appears in the Very Hard mode, and you can see rare keychains that didn't even appear in Triple Deluxe! By the way, I was in charge of writing the scripts that describe the names of moves and the messages on the special pages that appear when you hit Pause in this game. I've also written some special descriptions that only appear in Very Hard mode. There's a special message focusing on Kirby games released in the past, so I hope you'll challenge this mode and read it yourself!"

Hmmm, I wonder what the special message says? If you haven't seen it yet, try tackling Very Hard mode to find out!

Miiverse 17D
Link 10/28/2014 9:22 AM Today, Yuki Honda from UI Design will talk about the tutorial in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Team battles have already been featured in Kirby Fighters Deluxe, but we also have an in-game tutorial for this new way to play.

"Tutorials appear in places that subtley appear during game play and before you start up the game. For team battles, you can see the tutorial if you leave the title screen idle for a little bit.

"Tutorials may seem like a boring feature that only explains the controls. However, we really wanted you to enjoy the new features to the fullest, so the designer gave them a comical touch. Also, we made the tutorials easy to be seen by making precise adjustments to the explanation for controls to appear.

"The full tutorial is five pages long with some comic relief at the end, so please check it out!"

It seems like there's something to look forward to in the last page, so I hope you'll go see it for yourselves.

Miiverse 18D
Link 10/30/2014 9:38 AM This time, Tatsuya Murase from Programming will talk about a certain gimmick in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Hello there. A gimmick that stood out in Kirby: Triple Deluxe will make an appearance in Kirby Fighters Deluxe—Kirby getting blown away into the foreground. However, this gimmick was actually improved a little bit for Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"It might be hard to tell at first, but the Springy Hands in Kirby Fighters Deluxe pop out directly at the screen. In Triple Deluxe, they actually pop out toward the screen at an angle to give it the perspective effect, making the hands look farther away when they don't pop out. In order to give the fullest 3D effect experience, this is how we designed it for the Triple Deluxe game.

"However, in Kirby Fighters Deluxe, the Springy Hands fly out directly towards the screen. We changed the direction of the Springy Hands in this game so players could have an easier time determining where they will need to flee to dodge the hands while fighting. If you own both games, you can compare the differences.

"There are other gimmicks that appear in Kirby Fighters Deluxe that were improved from the Triple Deluxe version, so it might be fun to compare the details."

Wow, there are precise gimmick improvements made in this game that are hard to notice. I wonder what other gimmicks are there in this game. I think I'll try paying attention to these details the next time I play.

Miiverse 19D
Link 11/04/2014 9:22 AM Today, one of the designers for Kirby Fighters Deluxe Ryusei Matsuo will talk to us about the stage designs.

"Hello, I was in charge of background design for Kirby Fighters Deluxe. This time, I will talk about the following two stages in the game.

"[Fountain of Dreams] This stage was actually modeled after the Fountain of Dreams that appears in the stage-clear screen of Kirby Super Star. I'm assuming most people didn't notice the reference, but you should find many similarities if you compare them. "Also, if you challenge King Dedede on Very Hard mode, the background changes only in that level. This special background was designed based on another familiar Kirby game, so I hope you'll go see it for yourself!

"[Butter Building] Butter Building is probably one of the most unique stages in this game. The original stage is from Kirby's Adventure which was released for NES in 1993. We re-enacted the pixel art from the original game for this stage, so it may look unique to players that haven't played Kirby's Adventure. Those that have played, however, might have a trip down memory lane.

"All stages in Kirby Fighters Deluxe are based off of stages that already exist in the Kirby franchise. I wonder how many of them you've recognized?"

There you have it! Looks like a lot of thought went into these stages. If you're curious about Kirby's Adventure, You can find it at Nintendo eShop, so I hope you'll go check it out.

Miiverse 20D
Link 11/06/2014 9:12 AM This time, Yuki Endo, who was in charge of lead level design in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, will share some tips on getting high scores.

"Hello there. Once you clear a level in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, you'll be ranked based on your score. The four ranks displayed in medals are Bronze, Silver, Gold, and the highest of them all, Platinum. You can thoroughly play and enjoy Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe by aiming to get a Platinum medal.

"In order to achieve a Platinum medal, you will first need to get all of the bonus scores. And above that, everything else will depend on how fast you can reach the goal. When you see coins that can be collected without landing on the drums directly below it, you can utilize the Super Jump and skip the drums to go faster. Keep trying the levels, and find the best route to the goal.

"The final level of the Secret Levels is long, but it has plenty of ways to play it with a fast pace. If you clear this level with no misses and on the best route we've prepared, you'll have 1:11 left on the clock. 1/11 is actually the day Kirby: Triple Deluxe was released in Japan! Also, if you clear this level with this time, you're score will be 86555, which could also be read as "HAL GO GO GO" in Japanese!

"However, you may be creative and find a way to achieve higher scores than these, or find unexpected hidden routes in other stages. For those that are Drum Dash experts—good luck achieving your best scores!"

I tip my hat to you for the tips! I'll try challenging the stages over and over again to achieve better scores. I hope you'll all try your best and aim for Platinum medals!

Miiverse 21D
Link 11/11/2014 9:16 AM This time, one of our designers Tadashi Haishikura will talk about the background details for Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello, I was in charge of designing the background for Dedede Drum Dash Deluxe.

"In the new game, the amusement-park theme in the background of the stages has been revamped. For example, rides like roller coasters with a loop, large ferris wheels, and many other moving attractions have been added.

"Also, the first four levels in the Normal and Secret Levels are designed based off of the four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter. For example, Level 2 has sunflowers representing summer and Level 4 has snowflakes in the background. We've also used many seasonal motifs throughout the levels, so I hope you'll look out for them.

"Here's one more thing about the motifs in this game: if you pay attention to the background, you might see some trees with mysterious, U-shaped fruit dangling from them. These trees were also in the Dedede's Drum Dash mini game in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, but these fruit are designed after tuning forks which are used for tuning instruments. As a rhythm-action game, we've added many elements that match the concept of this game's musical world."

Wow, I did notice the seasonal themes in the stages, but I didn't notice the tuning forks. I hope you'll enjoy backgrounds while you play through the levels too!

Miiverse 22D
Link 11/13/2014 9:27 AM Today, one of our programmers Yuki Nishimura will talk about the battle with Kracko in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Hello there! Kracko is a boss you'll challenge in a team battle midway through the stages. He'll continuously attack Kirby with methods he also used in Kirby: Triple Deluxe like Cross Thunder and dropping junk.

"However, in this game fired-up Kracko will display some brand-new moves.

"For example, he'll blind you with some keychains while he attacks you with junk. There are many different combinations of keychains he'll use to blind you, but on a rare occurence he'll drop all Kracko-themed ones! I hope you'll pay attention to what kind of keychains he uses.

"He'll also attempt to attack you by spinning around with his long horn! There's no safe place on the ground during this attack, so you'll have to keep your guard up or dodge. However, this is also a chance to attack him by hitting the horn. If you challenge him on Hard mode or Very Hard mode, Kracko will attack you with his new kind of long horn so make sure you check it out!

"Another thing different about battling Kracko in this game compared to Triple Deluxe: you can fight him by moving back and forth between the foreground and background of the screen. If you haven't challenged him yet, we'll be happy if you test it out both on this game and Triple Deluxe!"

All of these tips may sound like Kracko's an intimidating boss, but don't worry. Just stay calm while you fight him to take him down! I hope you'll all challenge Kracko when you get the chance!

Miiverse 23D
Link 11/18/2014 9:23 AM This time, we'll hear from one of our designers on Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, Tsuyoshi Wakayama.

"Hello. I was in charge of designing the Waddle Dees and Trophies in this game.

"In Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, Waddle Dees clap while jumping on the drums in various ways.

"Sometimes they jump normally, other times they jump with their stomachs, and at times they even do flips. It might be hard to pay attention to them while you play difficult levels, but I hope you have a chance to watch them in the easier levels near the beginning.

"Let me also talk about the trophies you'll get as your total score increases. Many of you have probably already achieved a Gold trophy.

"Up until the Gold trophy, the trophies are different poses of King Dedede. If you achieve a Platinum trophy, some guest characters join King Dedede in the trophy. It's quite challenging to get a Platinum trophy, but I hope you'll all succeed so you can see what it looks like."

Wow, sounds like Waddle Dee has different actions throughout this game, and the Platinum trophy sounds even flashier than the other trophies. I wish you all luck to achieve the Platinum trophy!

Miiverse 24D
Link 11/20/2014 9:34 AM Now director Kumazaki will talk about the developers' scores in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello, Kumazaki here. This time, I would like to talk about the best scores achieved by the development staff for Normal Levels in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"In this game, if you play the levels on the best course set by the developers, you'll be right on beat to the music when you super jump, play backbeat cymbals, and collect coins. Did you notice this while playing the game? You can even finish every level right when the first round of the song ends.

"Here are the high scores achieved by the development staff who played these levels on the intended course and correct timing.

Level 1: 39190 Level 2: 37365 Level 3: 36480 Level 4: 38460 Level 5: 41965 Level 6: 42035 Extra: 48055

"Use these as a guideline for achieving your best scores! Of course, you can also find shortcuts in the levels to get even higher scores. "This is a fun challenge even for people that have beaten these scores. As for the Secret Levels, you will have to figure out the best scores on your own!

"Also, here's a little bit about the trophies. The trophies get more elaborate as you achieve a higher cumulative score, and there's a special trophy higher than Gold called Platinum. On this trophy, there's not only Kirby and King Dedede but also Taranza posing.

"It looks like Taranza is getting along better with King Dedede after working together in the final chapter of the story mode for Kirby: Triple Deluxe. After seeing Taranza and King Dedede pose together, I'm assuming that they get along because they were both defeated by Kirby.

"You can only see the mischievous yet lovable Taranza with his bowl-cut, silver hair together with King Dedede posing like royalty on the Platinum trophy. I hope you'll try to achieve this trophy both for Normal and Secret Levels!"

I didn't expect to see King Dedede and Taranza on the same trophy. I hope you'll all aim to achieve the Platinum trophy!

Miiverse 25D
Link 11/25/2014 9:29 AM This time, design director Yumi Todo will talk about puzzle panels.

"Hello. Did you notice the puzzle panel added to Puzzle Swap in StreetPass Mii Plaza for Kirby Fighters Deluxe / Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe?

"This panel was made by the designers on the development team for Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe. We wanted to express how fun these games are in one panel, so we reenacted the images of the games.

"After you complete the panel, you'll see a video featuring Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe in the first half, and Kirby Fighters Deluxe in the second half. King Dedede is making a dynamic leap on a drum, and the Kirbys are duking it out at Dynablade's nest—just like in this screenshot. We wanted to represent the two games in one panel, so we designed to feature them both by including one in the first half of the video, and the other in the second half. ...By the way, I wonder if anyone noticed this? You can actually find King Dedede jumping in the Kirby Fighters Deluxe part of the video. Find him by using the Circle Pad on your Nintendo 3DS system! You might fight something else besides King Dedede.

"If you haven't collected all of the puzzle pieces yet, I hope you will, and then take a look once the puzzle is complete."

Hmm...if you have completed the panel, you may want to take a better look at it by using your Circle Pad.

Miiverse 26D
Link 11/27/2014 8:25 AM This time, Shinichi Kawaji from Programming will talk about the Spikeflip drums in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello. Spikeflip drums flip on the beat of the music between a drum and it's spikey back. If you land on Spikeflip drums with the spikes up, you'll take some damage. However, don't panic when you land on the spikes; the drum will flip to the safe side afterward, so just calmly land on it. Also, once you land on the safe side of the drum, it will not flip over again as long as King Dedede is jumping on it. So if you land on the spikes, you can start right back up.

"Here's a little trivia about taking damage. There's actually four different sound effects that play at random when King Dedede is hurt. We did this because it would be too boring to use the same effects every time! By putting in small details like this, the gameplay experience feels better. If you're curious about what they all sound like, try comparing King Dedede's cries after he takes damage. Poor King Dedede will just have to cope with the experiment..."

If you mess up in the stages, remember to not panic. Even if you land on the spikes on the Spikeflip drums, stay calm and continue towards the finish line.

Miiverse 27D
Link 12/02/2014 10:41 AM This time, lead level designer Yuki Endo will talk about the best scores achieved by the development staff in the Secret Levels of Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello, I would like to talk about the scores you can achieve in the Secret Levels. Each level is designed so if you move on beat with perfect timing you can get gimmicks, items, and smoothly reach the finish line. On top of that, we have added some shortcuts to each stage.

"One of the key techniques for these shortcuts is to collect coins by barely touching them with King Dedede's rear and skipping a drum. For example, at the end of the Secret Level 1, at first glance it looks like the only way to collect all the coins after hitting three backbeat cymbals is by going back and fourth on the drums. However, if you jump in the right path, you can actually collect them all without backtracking to shorten your time.

"You can improve your scores by finding shortcuts like this one, so I hope you'll all give it a try. After mastering these techniques, the developers of the Secret Levels have achieved the following scores.

Level 1: 45,985 Level 2: 44,965 Level 3: 45,810 Level 4: 46,530 Level 5: 51,315 Level 6: 50,525 Extra: 86,555

"How are these scores? If you achieve or beat these scores, it'll definitely be boast worthy to your friends."

I hope you'll all challenge these scores by using shortcut techniques!

Miiverse 28D
Link 12/04/2014 9:21 AM This time, director Kumazaki will share a little something about the masks in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello. In Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, there are masks of different characters that you can use. If you have StreetPass data from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, you can use masks for Kirby, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee. If you clear certain levels, you can unlock a mask of Masked Dedede and Taranza which appeared in Triple Deluxe. By using these masks, you can dress up King Dedede as different characters in the Kirby series!

"There is one more feature to these masks besides dressing up King Dedede. When you hit a backbeat cymbal or continue to hit backbeats for a certain time, King Dedede will let out different voices associated with the masks. Don't miss King Dedede's different voices when he looks directly at you and does an action every time you clap a backbeat.

"By the way, Meta Knight is voiced by one of the designer staff, Taranza by one of the sound staff, and Masked Dedede is voiced by myself. Taranza's voice was never used in Kirby:Triple Deluxe, so you can hear his voice for the first time by unlocking his mask. His mechanically-altered voice was designed with the image of an androgynous young spider.

"You can enjoy listening to the special sounds made with the masks especially near the middle of the Secret Level 4. There's an area with a line of backbeat cymbals where you can have a chance to clearly hear the sounds.

"Also, you can listen to different sound effects while you play with different instruments in Replay Jam, but we also included a hidden feature allowing you to hear King Dedede's shout by pressing the L button. I hope you'll have fun making your own music sessions in Replay Jam!"

Wow, I didn't know that King Dedede's sound effects change when he wears different masks. I hope you'll have fun checking out the different voices by getting these masks!

Miiverse 29D
Link 12/09/2014 9:27 AM Today, we hear from one of our designers, Kenichiro Kita, about Team DDD from Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

“Hello there. I worked on the design of the rare hats and the characters of Team DDD in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

“I assume that most of you who own the game have faced Team DDD already, but let me talk about some of the fine details that went into designing them.

“When you battle Team DDD in Single Player mode, you'll first face the Mini Dededes dressed in pink outfits.

“At first glance, they may just look like a shrunk-down King Dedede with a different color outfit, but we definitely put more effort into the character design than that!

“You probably noticed that they use toy hammers, but in addition to that that, we adjusted the proportions of their heads, hands and feet, and the fit of their outfits, so they look like kids wearing clothes that are too big for them. We've also given them rounder eyes and bills to make them look even more child-like.

“After you defeat the Mini Dededes you face the Combo Dededes and King Dedede. We did more than just change their size and colors to differentiate these characters—we made their hammers different, too.

“Combo Dedede's hammer is trimmed with metal, and King Dedede's hammer is powered-up with the Fountain of Dreams, so the hammer's design takes after the Star Rod. If you have a chance to take a glance during battle, make sure you check them out!”

Looks like the many Dededes of Team DDD have differences besides the colors of their outfits. If you didn't notice the differences, make sure you check them out during your next battle with Team DDD.

Miiverse 30D
Link 12/11/2014 9:27 AM This time, Sho Tajima, one of our programmers, will talk about the perfect guard technique in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

“Hello there. When you fight against other Kirbys, you can protect yourself from all damage by using guard, however when you use this against bosses, you'll still receive a little bit of damage.

“But, if you use perfect guard, a technique where you use guard just before an attack, you can protect yourself from receiving any damage, even from strong attacks by bosses.

“To successfully use perfect guard, you will have to watch the boss’s attack closely. After observing the boss carefully, you will learn to predict which attack is coming. Once you know the type of attack, you can guard at just the right time.

“Some attacks are too difficult to guard against, so you will need to identify those and dodge them instead.

“It can be a challenge to time it correctly, but when you do properly predict the boss’s attack and perform a successful perfect guard, it will give you a great feeling of satisfaction.

“If you are aiming to improve your finish times or just fight with style, you should definitely give this a shot!”

Perfect guard sounds like a pretty challenging technique, but it must feel great when you time it right. I hope you'll all try this out, too!

Miiverse 31D
Link 12/22/2014 9:28 AM This time, sound composer Hirokazu Ando will talk about the music in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

“Hello, I worked on the sound in Kirby Fighters Deluxe. Today, I would like to talk about the music.

“Most of the background music in this game is from past Kirby games, or is a light arrangement of a classic Kirby tune. If you've played other Kirby games, you may recognize some of these nostalgic themes.

“I also put a lot of effort into creating some new music for this game, such as the music for the title screen and credits. The title track, which serves as the “face” of the game, was conceptually created by merging the opening music from Kirby: Triple Deluxe with some exciting boss battle music.

“I gave it a fresh twist by using frequency modulation sound sources, which weren’t used in the previous game, to make the melody stand out. By doing this, I tried to make it feel like a new theme, but one that still solidly fits in the world of Kirby.

“I’m sorry that we didn’t include a Sound Test in this game, however, there are places where you can freely listen to the new tracks, so I hope you will take some time to sit back and enjoy them.”

Wow, it sounds like a lot of thought goes into creating background music. I hope you're enjoying the music for this game!

Miiverse 32D
Link 12/22/2014 9:32 AM Today, we have a surprise post from director Kumazaki!

"Happy Holidays! To celebrate this holiday season, I've drawn a holiday card for this Community.

"In this second post, I will like to talk a bit more about King Dedede, who wears a robe just like Santa Claus!

"In Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, King Dedede is the main character for the first time in the Kirby series. He also returns as the final boss in Kirby Fighters Deluxe. If you haven't played both of these titles, you might want to put them on your wishlist this holiday.

"In Kirby Fighters Deluxe, King Dedede's exclusive battle music, called "History of Dedede," plays when you challenge him in Very Hard mode. This song is packed with songs from his historical battles in past games, but how many songs did you recognize?

"The song starts out with Game Boy-like sounds from Kirby's Dream Land recreating King Dedede's battle music from Kirby: Triple Deluxe. The song then switches to King Dedede's battle music from Kirby's Dream Land, and gradually builds up to his battle music from Kirby's Adventure. Then the song moves on to a familiar tune for some Kirby fans...Robo Dedede's battle music from Kirby's Dream Course! This song was actually used as King Dedede's battle music for other titles and we haven't had a chance to use it recently, so we remade it for the first time in a while! "The song finishes with the masked-Dedede battle music from Kirby Super Star Ultra. This track is a fast-paced run down memory lane of all of King Dedede's battles, so I hope the Dedede fans like it!

"You can play one of the most challenging King Dedede battles in recent Kirby games and listen to a song filled with King Dedede's battle history playing in the background. I hope you'll enjoy some of the long winter nights challenging King Dedede in every mode with all transformation abilities!"

Miiverse 33D
Link 01/02/2015 9:48 AM Today, the director, Kumazaki, will talk about the battle with King Dedede in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

“Because the game focuses on team battles, we made King Dedede battle you with a large team, but the original idea for having King Dedede fight with a swarm of duplicates came from the story of Kirby’s Adventure, where the Star Rod was split into seven pieces. (To be honest, I have no idea how King Dedede split the Star Rod!)

“By the way, the name of the hammer King Dedede uses in this game is Star Rod Hammer Dedede Custom. Doesn't this name remind you of King Dedede's custom ride, the Wheelie Bike Dedede Custom, in Kirby Air Ride?

“Actually, I designed that machine, and just like the hammer took design elements from the Star Rod in this game, the Wheelie Bike was also customized to match the design of King Dedede’s outfit in Kirby Air Ride.

“Now, let me talk about the music that plays during the battle between the long-time rivals: King Dedede’s battle music! There's a song that only plays during this battle in Very Hard mode called History of Dedede. As the title suggests, this song is filled with his history. The song starts out with a Game Boy-style rendition of the theme of Masked Dedede, and continues on as a medley of battle songs from past games. You can really hear King Dedede's long history packed into this one song.

“By the way, the music that plays during King Dedede's battle on all other modes is called Kirby Fighters Deluxe, just like the title of the game.

“King Dedede finally returns as the last boss in this game, but he actually secretly appears with a wink in scenes besides the final battle.

“Here's a hint on where you can find him: remember that one scene where many Kirbys appear...?

“Oops, I'll let the UI Designer announce the answer in our next post! Until then, good luck on finding King Dedede!”

Director Kumazaki shared many things about King Dedede this time around. It seems like we’ll learn more in future updates, too!

Miiverse 34D
Link 01/09/2015 10:38 AM This time, our UI Designer Yukari Kemmochi will talk about the opening sequence for Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Hello. Kirby Fighters Deluxe is an action game, so when we made the opening sequence, we designed it keeping the main concept of Kirby's world in mind while giving it a cool, action vibe to represent this game. We've used this same concept for the opening sequence when the game starts up, so I hope you like it.

"We also wanted to do something that active players could enjoy, so we've included many variations of the title screen. "If you clear Very Hard mode using any ability, a Shadow Kirby appears in the title screen. If you clear Very Hard mode with all abilities, all of the Kirbys will be wearing different hats. And sometimes King Dedede will appear with a wink! This may sound like a tough challenge, but you can try clearing with all abilities in Easy mode. I hope you'll give it a shot!

"By the way, the Japanese title of this game is Kirby Fighters Z instead of Kirby Fighters Deluxe. The title is different in Japan, so the opening animation is a little different too. (This is actually the same for Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, named Dedede's Drum Dash Z in Japan.)

"It might be hard to see every variation of the opening sequence, but we've put our hearts into each frame so we hope you'll enjoy as many variations as you can!"

So that's where King Dedede appears outside of battle! It looks like we got our answer from the last post. I'm assuming some of you already found him in the title screen, but if you haven't yet, I wish you luck!

Miiverse 35D
Link 01/16/2015 9:53 AM This time, one of our programmers Tatsuya Murase will talk about a certain guest character in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Hello there. How'd you like Dyna Blade's actions when she appears as a stage obstacle? For those that are new to this game, Dyana Blade [sic] appears as a guest character in Kirby Fighters Deluxe!

"We worked on reenacting Dyna Blade's actions in Kirby Super Star as much as possible while adjusting her to become a great stage obstacle for this game. After interviewing the creators of Kirby Super Star and receiving advice from the boss creators in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, we completed Dyna Blade in this game by adjusting him to move at 60 FPS.

"By the way, if you repeatedly attack Dyna Blade when she comes soaring over, she'll return to the sky without doing any damage. If you don't want Dyna Blade to interfere during your battle, you might want to focus on attacking her when she appears. You can also decide to attack enemy Kirbys that are attacking Dyna Blade, too."

It gets a bit nerve-wracking when Dyna Blade appears, but it looks like there's a way to shoo her away. I hope you'll all give this a try!

Miiverse 36D
Link 01/23/2015 4:27 AM This time, director Kumazaki will talk about the Secret Bonus Level in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello. Today, I would like to talk about the music and a special guest character in the Secret Bonus Level of Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"The REAL final level is the Secret Bonus Level, and it is unlocked after getting Gold medals for all levels. It's the hardest stage of them all! It is fast-paced, long, and filled with many traps; I hope you'll try your best to reach the goal far off into the distance.

"The Secret Bonus Level features a song called C-R-O-W-N-E-D (Reprise), an arranged version of the song C-R-O-W-N-E-D from the Normal Bonus Level. This song also plays during the final battle of Kirby's Return to Dream Land and is packed with phrases from a variety of songs. "When we gave this song a title, we wanted to state what it represented, so we took the first letter from all the level names and connected them together for the song title, C-R-O-W-N-E-D. In connection with this song, we've included a guest character named Magolor as a stage obstacle.

"Since Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Magolor has gained a talent for constructing theme parks and attractions. The motif of Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe is also a theme park, so this was actually a project Magolor worked on! It makes sense to feature him as a guest character. "Magolor's whereabouts are uncertain after Kirby's Return to Dream Land, but he seems pretty lively here. After roaming around the dimension beyond space and time, he might've found an exit. When Kirby and his friends returned home, maybe Magolor traveled around building theme parks in different worlds.

"I hope you'll look for Magolor as he interferes with your level with a malicious grin on his face!"

Miiverse 37D
Link 01/30/2015 10:06 AM Today, Designer Ryusei Matsuo will talk about the background designs in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Hello, I was in charge of designing the backgrounds for Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

"Have you all cleared Single Player mode on Very Hard? I would like to share a secret about the background for the fight with King Dedede on the Very Hard difficulty.

"Those of you who've already fought King Dedede on Very Hard may know that the background changes only during this fight, but did you know that it turns into the background from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land? We went to the trouble of looking at the game data from the original release of Nightmare in Dream Land. Even the animation for the fountain was revived using the original graphics.

"We've put a lot of effort into creating this background, but it almost got cut from the game! We created this background before the backgrounds for other difficulties, but we wanted to make something cool using 3D modeling so we scrapped the design.

"However, after some time we thought, 'How about adding an unique surprise in for the Very Hard difficulty?' So fortunately, the background from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land made was back in. The plan had its twists and turns, but I'm glad that we were able in incorporate this background into the game as a fun surprise."

If you're curious about Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, you can check it out on the Wii U Virtual Console!

Miiverse 38D
Link 02/06/2015 10:24 AM This time, programming director Hiroshi Ohnishi will talk about a character that appears in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello, today I would like to talk about a certain behind-the-scenes support character in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Did you all notice this? In many parts of the game, there are hints here and there in the screen that there is someone outside of the screen.

"For example, the clouds that float in the sky in the title screen. If you look up, you can see that they're being dangled from the ceiling. Also, if you look closely at King Dedede in the opening effects, he has a stick attached to him!

"Hmm...it looks like someone's using props outside of the screen to make the gameplay more interesting...

"So, who's moving the props off the screen? Find out the answer by watching the very end of the Staff Credits that play after you clear all of the Secret Levels!

"The Secret Levels are more challenging than the Normal Levels, so it might not be the easiest task to clear them all. But don't give up!

After you complete all the levels, I hope you'll have a fun time imagining what's going on behind the scenes in this game!"

Now that's some interesting information. I wonder who's in the background? If you haven't seen the Staff Credits for the Secret stages yet, good luck clearing all the stages!

Also, next week's post will be the last consecutive post in this Behind-the-Scenes community. Thank you for following our posts for six months, and I hope you'll enjoy our final post!

Miiverse 39D
Link 02/13/2015 9:19 AM To mark the end of our consecutive posts in this community, director Kumazaki will talk about Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"Hello everyone. In this special post, I would like to talk about both Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe.

"These games are based on the game modes included in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, which was released in Japan almost a year ago. We started developing these two games right after Kirby: Triple Deluxe. We turned these game modes into something more by improving many elements and developing them into new games.

"The biggest change in Kirby Fighters Deluxe was the expanded stages, team battles and features, boss battles, and Team DDD. In Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, all stages have been redesigned, there's a new replay function, and a wide range of new gadgets have been added. In addition, we've included helpful rhythm features by showing your health, time, starting point, and the READY GO! sign all in the same tempo.

"We created these titles not only for players that loved Triple Deluxe, but as an opportunity for those new to the game to gain an interest in Triple Deluxe, too.

"Lastly, in all of Kirby series games, there's always a stage with the letters HAL hidden somewhere known as the HAL Room. In Kirby Fighters Deluxe, you will find one of the boss fights taking a place with the letters HAL drawn on the floor. Although this isn't a stage or a room in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, there's a place where the coins spell out HAL too. You can find this in the last level if you hit all of the backbeat cymbals and clear Magolor's blinding obstacle! If you're a Kirby master already, you've found all of these already, right?

"Thank you for reading until the end! And... Thank You For Playing Kirby Fighters Deluxe & Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe!!!"

Thanks for reading our posts! I hope to see you all in the Kirby: Triple Deluxe Behind-the-Scenes community or sometime again here soon!

Miiverse 40D
Link 07/31/2015 9:05 PM Hi everyone! This is Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. Today I'm bringing you a special message from the director, Shinya Kumazaki.

"Happy birthday, Kirby!

You were born in 1992, so that makes you…23 years old! Time certainly flies!

Now, of course, I'm not talking about when Kirby was actually born. But it is 23 years since the first Kirby game was released. Which means it's also the 23rd birthdays of King Dedede, Waddle Dee and Kracko! Congratulations, all! As for Meta Knight, he first appeared in Kirby's Adventure (1993), so he'll have to wait a bit longer to turn 23.

If the release date of a character's first game is that character's birthday, then Kirby fans can celebrate birthdays all year round with the likes of Nightmare Wizard, Marx, Rick and Dark Matter - or, if you want characters from more recent games, Prince Fluff and Magolor.

For last year's anniversary post, I talked about my favorite game in the main Kirby series, Kirby's Adventure. But if I were to pick a favorite game outside the main series, I'd have to choose Kirby Air Ride. The sense of speed as you hurtle along on an Air Ride Machine sets it apart from the other games, and it just feels really fresh.

And my favorite course in that game is... Well, I might be biased, having designed it, but it's got to be the sunrise setting of Celestial Valley. As for my favorite Air Ride Machine, that would be the Winged Star, with its superb gliding ability. Soaring serenely through the valley on this machine lets you experience the true joy of flight!

I'm sure Kirby's adventures will continue to take him outside the side-scrolling action of the main series, whether it be racing as in Kirby Air Ride, rolling like a ball, fighting, or moving to a funky beat. As he has since the first game, our bold young adventurer will continue to span different genres and voyage to faraway worlds."

That's it! So, please wish all the best to Qbby...er, I mean Kirby!

Miiverse 41D
Link 08/28/2015 11:15 PM Hi everyone! This is Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. Today we've got an anniversary message from the director, Shinya Kumazaki.

“Hello. August 29th is the one year anniversary of the release of Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede’s Drum Dash Deluxe!

As we tend to do with games that aren’t in the main Kirby series, with these titles we tried something new. They are both download only, which is unusual in itself, and one game is the first not to feature Kirby as the main character.

When developing Kirby: Canvas Curse for Nintendo DS, another non-main series game, we decided to create an unusual female final boss who wasn’t simply “bad”, but had a bit of a backstory, to go along with the unique world we had created. This was an approach we hadn’t taken in Kirby games up until then, and I think the fact that the presentation of our games has expanded in scope since then can be traced back to that.

For the Japanese titles of the recent games, we spent a lot of time thinking of names that we might not be able to use for the main Kirby series. A rough translation of one is “Sorry, no Kirby! Dedede’s Drum Dash” – emphasising the unique point that you play as King Dedede. One idea for Kirby Fighters Deluxe was something like “Royal Rampage! Pink Fighting Championship” – by avoiding using Kirby’s name, we tried to create an image of everyone fighting together. We had lots of really creative ideas, thanks to not being restricted to the style of titles from the main series.

In the end though, we went with something that clearly communicated they were the definitive versions of the minigames from which they’d been developed, by simply adding ‘Deluxe’.

Thanks for reading to the end! Happy first anniversary, Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe!”

That’s all! Why not celebrate by playing a little of either game!

Miiverse 42D

Kirby: Planet Robobot[]

Link Image Person Date & Time Post
Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 06/10/2016 1:23 PM
Miiverse KPR 1

Hi everyone! I'm Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory, and, starting today, I'll be sharing information about "Kirby: Planet Robobot" with all of you in the community. I hope you're as excited as I am! Today I've got a message from Mr Kumazaki, the game's director.

"Hello, this is Shinya Kumazaki, the director of "Kirby: Planet Robobot". The game is officially being released today!

"In this instalment of the Kirby series, the overarching theme was machinery and technology, which was quite unconventional for the series! The contrast with the fairytale-like look of the previous game, "Kirby: Triple Deluxe", is especially striking!

"I can't wait for you all to jump into the powerful Robobot Armor, take the fight to the evil Haltmann Works Company and experience exhilarating mecha-action in a world overrun by machines!

"As you may have realized, Kirby's first game was released on April 27, 1992 in Japan, which makes him 24 years old. That means next year he'll be celebrating his 25th birthday, and we certainly plan to keep taking the Kirby series to new heights for years to come!

"Everyone, the time to go on a mecha-adventure to save a techno-world is NOW! The fate of Planet Robobot is in your hands!"

And there you have it. I'll continue to post information about "Kirby: Planet Robobot" for you here, so please stay tuned!

Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 07/01/2016 12:44 PM Hello! Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here.

I'm happy to announce that we've decided to hold a question-and-answer event right here in this community! I hope that you're all as excited as I am. We're calling this event…the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon"! I'm going to be asking Mr Shinya Kumazaki, the Kirby series' director, about all sorts of things, and I hope you'll participate in the event by sending questions that you'd like me to ask! To submit a question, simply comment on this post.

RULES: - Since we can't possibly answer all the questions that are sent in, please try to only ask one or two at a time, and only the ones that you really want to know the answers to. - Please only ask questions relating to Kirby: Planet Robobot. - Please understand that we will not be able to answer any questions about how to beat the game. - Submissions will be closed on July 15, 2016, or when we reach 1,000 comments, whichever comes first.

We haven't quite decided when exactly we'll be answering your questions, but we'll make sure to let you know in this community once the date is set. It might take us a little while, so please hold tight!

It's not every day that you can have your questions answered by none other than Mr Shinya Kumazaki himself, so I really hope you'll make the most of this opportunity by sending us lots and lots of great questions!

Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm like face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/09/2016 10:43 AM
WVW69jf2R9ErIN9Al-

Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 1

Hi everyone, it took us a while to set up but now it's finally time to kick off the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon! And here to answer your questions is the man himself, Kirby: Planet Robobot's director Shinya Kumazaki!

3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/09/2016 10:49 AM Hello! Shinya Kumazaki here. Honestly, I'm amazed at the tremendous number of questions we've received from Japan, the Americas and Europe. Naturally I can't answer them all, but I'm hoping I can give you at least some of the answers you're looking for. Mr Ishida, please fire away!
1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/09/2016 10:51 AM All right, let's get started. Here's the first question: How did you decide upon 'Kirby: Planet Robobot' for the game title?
3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/09/2016 10:56 AM Initially, we'd planned to call it "Kirby: HAGANE" ("hagane" is Japanese for "steel"), but as Popstar would be populated by robots, we then leaned towards "Kirby: Robot Planet". As titles go, this was far too literal and lacked impact, so we changed it again to "Roborobo Planet". One last tweak and the result was "Planet Robobot", which is in keeping with the playfulness of the Kirby universe. The name for the "Robobot Armor" also came up around this time.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm surprised face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/09/2016 10:59 AM Interesting! I do think that "HAGANE" would have been perhaps a little too edgy for a Kirby game. Plus, I can see it being quite a difficult title to convey overseas.

Now for the next question: What was it that inspired you to create this game, and how long did it take to produce it?

3d0lao00u0xeu normal face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/09/2016 11:03 AM Since we ended up developing two Kirby games in a row using the same hardware - the first being Kirby: Triple Deluxe - this time, we wanted to do a completely different take on the world. At the same time, we were also hoping to attract a new audience. We thought a mechanized world would do well, since then it would be the polar opposite to the previous game's warm skies and lush scenery. The concept for the Robobot Armor was then proposed as a means of performing new copy abilities unique to the mechanized world.

Regarding the length of development, we worked on Planet Robobot in parallel with other titles such as Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe, and it was completed in under two years.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/09/2016 11:05 AM When you were establishing this mechanized setting for the game world, how did the production team manage to strike a balance between the creative design and fun gameplay?
3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/09/2016 11:09 AM At the start, we shared our game design plans with the whole team - these were vital to the game. I began by working out the story and setting in my head, conveyed my ideas to lead team members and then the staff got to work, flexing their creative muscles to generate text, rough sketches and other resources. We worked to mesh the design and gameplay only in the final stages of the development process, and things were all very hectic during this period. We would schedule meetings with the whole team to keep everyone on the same page and fully bring out the team's potential, and this helped to motivate everyone even more in the finishing stages.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm surprised face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/09/2016 11:11 AM It's so interesting to hear about the steps that led to the final product! I have to ask, was there a specific part of the creation process that you found especially challenging? And if you had the chance to redesign the whole game, would you want to improve any specific areas of it?
3d0lao00u0xeu normal face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/09/2016 11:14 AM We were instructed by our producer to avoid any situation that might remind players of Triple Deluxe and I think that although this was a great idea, it was a nightmare to put into practice. We had limited development time and still had to make use of the assets from the previous game. Because we were using Triple Deluxe's engine, a lot of the gameplay felt similar, so I was constantly fighting to preserve the Kirby series' distinctive feel and yet produce something fresh and new. There were, of course, many things that I would have liked to refine or improve, but rather than regret not being able to address them, I try to use those shortcomings as motivation to look to the future and help myself do a better job next time. It's a continuous process that never really ends.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/09/2016 11:15 AM In Planet Robobot, I got the impression that you included references to older Kirby games and tried to evoke the same feel as them. Are you quite fond of the earlier titles? Were there any parts of them that influenced the current title?
3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/09/2016 11:20 AM I don't believe that Kirby would still be around if it weren't for the older series of games. Meta Knight and the Fountain of Dreams, debuting in Kirby's Adventure, returned in Kirby Super Star (known as Kirby's Fun Pak in Europe), and many of Kirby's friends and foes from Kirby's Dream Land 2 reprised their roles in Kirby's Dream Land 3. We're still continuing this trend of including characters and locations from past games. There's a huge amount of charm unique to Kirby games and we've got 24 years' worth of it to tap into. By incorporating some of that into Planet Robobot, we hope that newcomers to the Kirby series will be able to enjoy the more retro elements of the gameplay just as much as the newer ones. If that happens to spark their interest in the older titles too, we couldn't ask for more.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/09/2016 11:21 AM All right, one last question. I'm sure some of our readers are getting fed up with all the game development questions, so let's move on to a different category!

We've been receiving questions from all over the world along the lines of "Is Susie Haltmann's real daughter?" and "Is Susie a clone or a robot?". Mr Kumazaki, would you mind clearing things up for us once and for all and telling us her identity?

3d0lao00u0xeu normal face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/09/2016 11:24 AM Allow me to explain: Susie is not a clone; she is Haltmann's real daughter. I'd had in mind two story paths - one in which you finish the game and the story concludes comfortably even without knowing Susie's identity, and one that reveals more answers after you sink a lot of time into the game. But in Planet Robobot, the story is designed with just a small twist to surprise you when you find out Susie's last name. I initially considered making it so that Haltmann, in his loneliness, created a robotic Susie who believed she was alive, but that idea was discarded to avoid overcomplicating the story. At the time, I also considered a scenario with one final twist, where you discover that Haltmann was actually a robot all along.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/09/2016 11:25 AM Wow! There you have it, fans - the definitive answer you've been waiting for! We've still got plenty of questions lined up for Mr Kumazaki, but I think we're going to call it a day here. Watch this space for round 2 of the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon!
Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 9:57 AM
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Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 2

Hi, this is Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. Today we'll be hosting round 2 of the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon and, as before, director Shinya Kumazaki is here to answer your questions!

3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/25/2016 9:59 AM Nice to see you again. Today I'm hoping to answer behind-the-scenes questions about Planet Robobot that you wouldn't normally be able to find out from simply playing the game.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 10:00 AM It seems there are a lot of people out there who read very deeply into the game as they're playing. I'd like to start us off with a question about Meta Knight:

At the start of the game, we see the Halberd get shot down, but by the time it shows up again, it's in full working order. Who repaired it?

3d0lao00u0xeu normal face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/25/2016 10:03 AM The Halberd made a crash landing between the cliffs in the space directly beneath Access Ark. Meta Knight was then captured by the Haltmann Works Co., but managed to entrust the Halberd to his crew. As a result, the repairs were finished in time and the Halberd could rush to Kirby's rescue, with Meta Knight back to his old self. But when Meta Knight shouted for Kirby to get on board, he didn't expect Kirby to ignore his offer and scan the Halberd's ability instead...
1lm9ymn6jpkxm surprised face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 10:04 AM And here I thought Meta Knight was the one telling Kirby to scan it...

Speaking of Meta Knight, here's a question about Meta Knightmare Returns. Is there any connection plotwise between this mode and the main game's Story Mode?

3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/25/2016 10:07 AM It's basically an alternate storyline. Meta Knightmare Returns is a kind of bonus mode that you unlock after finishing the main game, but that alone doesn't hold much appeal for a player so we made it into a "what if" scenario.

Kirby games tend to be quite deep and have lots of content, and this game is no exception. There are two sides to the story: one for players who just want to casually play it from start to finish, and another for those who want to delve deeper into the game world. This mode fully realizes that two-sided method of development.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 10:09 AM While we're on the topic of Meta Knightmare Returns, Galacta Knight was supposed to be sealed away in a crystal, but he broke that seal and showed up again in The True Arena. Are Meta Knightmare Returns and The True Arena connected at all in relation to the story?
3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/25/2016 10:11 AM The True Arena is like another "what if" scenario, so you can't really consider everything to be connected. Furthermore, the extra-dimensional road that opens up when Galacta Knight appears transcends space-time, so it's difficult to give it a concrete place in the timeline. But if you consider the stages in which Galacta Knight appeared in the past three games, I think that will give you some food for thought.

Also, once Galacta Knight has shown up, it should be clear why he cuts down Star Dream: it forced him to travel through time and space and so he considers Star Dream his enemy. That's why Galacta Knight appears as an antagonistic sort of character.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 10:12 AM The name Star Dream came up just now. Could you tell us how Haltmann got his hands on the blueprints and technology for Star Dream?

Others also noted that the Security Force blueprints bore similarities with Metal General from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and the data for Holo Defense API resembled Pix from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Could you tell us a bit about those?

3d0lao00u0xeu normal face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/25/2016 10:14 AM Haltmann travelled to numerous planets around the galaxy to collect their blueprints and technology. He may have gone to Halcandra, or perhaps to a planet with strong connections to it. As for Holo Defense API, Haltmann gained access to numerous different worlds after Susie was accidentally sent into another dimension and this is how he acquired that data.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm surprised face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 10:16 AM I see, so that's how you're making use of elements from previous games. Now for a question about Star Dream - during that fight, you can see the company logo on some of the planets in space. Did Haltmann Works Company conquer these planets? If that's the case, what happened to them after Star Dream was defeated?
3d0lao00u0xeu normal face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/25/2016 10:18 AM Those planets were under Haltmann's control, yes. The logos signify Star Dream's heartlessness and are proof of Haltmann's wickedness in invading those planets. The logo material was made using Star Dream's super-advanced technology, so when Star Dream was destroyed, the logos vanished along with it. That means that the planets should now be back to normal.

I should also point out that the soulless evil weapons were wiped out, but some things that were out of Star Dream's reach escaped the destruction.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 10:20 AM Like Susie's Business Suit? That reminds me, why did Haltmann lose his memories of the past along with his compassion? Did he discard them himself, or did Star Dream erase them? Also, Susie was appointed executive assistant, wasn't she? I suspect there was there some hidden meaning to this...
3d0lao00u0xeu puzzled face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/25/2016 10:22 AM In order to control Star Dream, you need a program controller on your head to have it directly interface with your brain. Haltmann may have suspected memory loss from the beginning, or it may have been an unknown side effect... But the fact is that he started losing his memories bit by bit. This tells you just how incomplete Star Dream really was. Later, after Susie grew up and came back, Haltmann sensed something about her and made her his assistant, but at that time he had completely forgotten that he'd even had a daughter to begin with.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm frustrated face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 10:24 AM That's really quite sad... Well, after that big revelation, here's a question about the background music. There seem to be a lot of tracks that are slightly redone versions of ones from previous games. Is this because you were trying to please old-school fans? On a related note, there are many tracks whose names people would like to know. Would you be able to disclose any of them?
3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 08/25/2016 10:25 AM With regard to the re-arranged tracks, we have of course tried to cater to our long-time fans as well as newcomers. We wanted to reinvent classic tracks to create something fresh and new, something that fits the current generation's taste.

I'm actually really surprised at how many questions we received about track titles. That really makes me happy because I love being able to add more depth to the world through text, be it with dialogue, ability names or music tracks. That said, there were a lot of inquiries about the tracks, so I think it would be best if we save those for later.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm like face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 08/25/2016 10:27 AM So we can look forward to a number of music-related questions next time. We're going to be having one last round of questions to conclude our Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon. Please stay tuned!
Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 1:50 PM
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Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 3

Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here. It's time to begin round 3 of the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon! Mr Kumazaki, please take it away!

3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 1:52 PM Thank you, it's nice to be back again. I think today will be the last of our Q&A sessions. And we'll be discussing some topics for the die-hard fans this time!
1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 1:53 PM OK, here's question number one: Some copy abilities from the previous game aren't present in the new one. How did you decide which abilities would make it into the game?
3d0lao00u0xeu frustrated face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 1:55 PM In the past 5 or 6 years, we've gained over 10 new abilities so we're always struggling to balance out the old and new ones. We were also restricted by development time and hardware limitations. But even from the perspective of game balance, once you go over 25 copy abilities, you start to see an effect on the frequency of each ability per stage and on the balancing for the new Robobot elements. Even with the limited number of abilities that made the cut, the command inputs make up for it with a wide variety of actions so it isn't such a problem.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 1:57 PM You'd think having more copy abilities would be more fun, but it actually seems like a lot of hard work. Now then, I wonder if you could tell us about these track names that people have been wondering so much about!
3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 2:05 PM Alright, let me address them in order of their numbers in the Jukebox. [Literal translations of the Japanese titles follow:]

006 Venturing into the Mechanized World
021 Bountiful Star
029 VS. The Wicked Company
033 Dried-up Sea

Most of the questions are concerned with the first half. 029 is a personal favorite of mine! Next, here are the tracks that really heat things up as you approach the climax of the story. [Again, these are literal translations of the Japanese titles.]

083 L86
086 Crazy Rolling in Money
091 VS. Star Dream
092 Fatal Error
093 Intermezzo Without a Leader
094 First Cry of a Newborn Star
095 Vagrant Counting Song of Retrospection

I put a lot of effort into these particular final boss themes. Here's a small piece of trivia for you: for track 094, I wanted a voice that sounded like a baby's cry, but somewhat different and inhuman. What you're actually hearing are the meows of my pet cat. The sound of the weathervane during battle in track 095 comes from chickens that a member of the sound team keeps at home.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm surprised face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 2:07 PM That came from chickens?! That's quite a source of inspiration. Alright, the next question is related to previous titles: Kabula and Landia both feature in Planet Robobot, but Heavy Lobster doesn't show up, even though it's a machine. Why is that?
3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 2:08 PM We got a lot of questions about Heavy Lobster. It's nice to add some flavor from Kirby Super Star (Kirby's Fun Pak in Europe) but we always have to think about which enemies from the previous games we want to include while considering the game balance. In this case, we settled on using Kabula because it fits the shooting sequences well and because it's a mechanical boss. As for Landia, a 4-player co-op medieval-style RPG minigame wouldn't be the same without a dragon now, would it?
1lm9ymn6jpkxm puzzled face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 2:10 PM While we're on the topic of character appearance, King Dedede hardly featured at all this time. The Dedede Clones did make an appearance, though. Why did you decide upon using clones and not a modified version of the character like Mecha Knight?
3d0lao00u0xeu normal face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 2:11 PM We wanted a lot of characters to feature, and I think that main characters like King Dedede and Meta Knight are finally starting to gain some recognition.

We felt that for players who've played several games in the series, reusing King Dedede in the same way was becoming a little bland, so we worked in the clone angle to work alongside new characters like Susie and Taranza and fit in with the direction the series is going.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 2:14 PM Now for a question about the main character Meta Knight - specifically, about the color of his eyes. In the moment that Mecha Knight+'s mask cracks, the player gets a glimpse of Meta Knight's eyes, which appear to be yellow. Were they always this way? I was sure they were white before...
3d0lao00u0xeu surprised face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 2:16 PM That's quite a thing to spot. In Kirby's Adventure on the Famicom (NES), Meta Knight's eyes are indeed white. At that time, there was a limit to the number of colors you could use, so I think that white was chosen because it stood out more.

They were also white in Kirby Super Star (EU: Kirby's Fun Pak), but when we created the 3D model for this game, giving him white eyes somehow didn't feel right. And besides, his eyes have always shone with a yellow glow from behind his mask. We were worried about how old-school fans might react to this, but for the purposes of the design, we settled on yellow eyes.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 2:18 PM I'd like to group the next three questions together.

No. 1: Did you increase the overall difficulty level for this game?
No. 2: There seem to be a lot more cinematic effects this time. Was this deliberate?
No. 3: The opening movie sequence was a lot shorter this time round. Why is that?

3d0lao00u0xeu normal face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 2:20 PM All right, I'll explain. Regarding the difficulty, I think that you should still be able to complete the main game with relative ease (easy enough for a developer's 4-year-old daughter to defeat the bosses in levels 1-3). But for the modes that are unlocked after completing Story Mode, we cranked the difficulty right up and challenged players to try and give it their best shot.

Next, we used movie-like camera angles to reinforce the sci-fi theme. And during boss fights, we utilized pauses and moments of foreboding to give players with less experience in the action genre more time to orient themselves.
And as for the opening movie, the reason why it's so short is because last time we depicted key items and daily life in great detail. We decided to forego that this time because players are already familiar with those kinds of stage-setting scenes from the rest of the series. We instead chose to leap straight into the moment of the disaster.

1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 2:22 PM And now for the final question, which concerns Kirby's partners, the Robobots. A Robobot weeps tears at the end - can we take this to mean that it has become sentient? And will Kirby ever meet one again?
3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 2:23 PM What you saw was coolant leaking from the Robobot's eyes. This scene, depicting a tender-hearted Robobot, stands in direct contrast to Star Dream, who wanted to erase the hearts of the people trying to control it. Each Robobot that Kirby controlled was different from the last, but whenever Kirby was registered as a pilot in one, the memory data would be linked and carried over, and that continued till the very end. As for whether they'll meet again, I'll leave that up to how passionate the fans are for such a reunion.
1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/07/2016 2:25 PM What exactly happened to the Robobot after that? I'm curious to know myself. But now, after three rounds of questions, our Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon draws to a close. Many thanks to everyone who stuck with us this far!
3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 09/07/2016 2:26 PM A big thank you from me as well, and I do hope we'll meet again some time!
Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm like face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 09/30/2016 1:10 PM Hello there! Satoshi Ishida here, from HAL Laboratory. How did you all like our three-round "Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon"? I'd like to think we cleared up a good few questions that some of you had, and that makes me happy!

Now then, on to the next point of business. I wanted to let you know that we're planning to hold a new event here in the Behind the Scenes community - the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge"!

What we'd like to do is ask all of you to show us your original drawings on the theme of Kirby: Planet Robobot, as well as screenshots you took while playing the game, from which we'll highlight our faves. Oops, did I say "we"? What I meant to say was that Mr Kumazaki will - because who better to pick and show off the best works than the game's director himself? On that note, I've got a message for you from Mr Kumazaki.

"Hello! This is Shinya Kumazaki, the director of Kirby: Planet Robobot.

Whenever I look at all of your Miiverse posts, I can't help but notice all the cute pictures of Kirby, the cool ones of Susie, the ones of King Dedede grinning…not to mention all the screenshots of rarely seen situations!

I wanted to make sure that everyone gets a chance to appreciate all of these works as much as I do, so I thought we should hold an event of some sort celebrating your amazing creativity.

After judging carefully, I'll give some feedback about the works that I select. This time as well, I'm thinking to leave extensive comments, highlighting what I liked best about the chosen piece, or giving background info about the depicted characters.

And to make sure that everyone gets to contribute, not just the confident artists among you, we're also accepting screenshots of cool scenes from the game. With this, I hope everyone will be able to join in on the fun!

We'll need some more time to set it up, so why not take your time to think about what kind of piece you might want to submit? We're hoping for many, many strong contributions, so don't let us down!"

Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 10/21/2016 1:05 PM Hi, everyone. I'm Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. Sorry to keep you waiting! The previously announced "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge" is now open for your submissions, starting today!

To take part, simply comment on this post with your original hand-drawn illustrations inspired by the Kirby: Planet Robobot game and the best screenshots you took while playing the game! Mr Shinya Kumazaki, the game's director, will then select his faves from among the works sent from Japan, the Americas and Europe respectively, and highlight them alongside special comments!

Guidelines:
• Drawings and screenshots must have a Kirby: Planet Robobot theme.
• Please attach only one drawing or screenshot for each comment you post.
• You can add a description or explanation in your comment when submitting a screenshot.
• We will accept up to five drawings and/or screenshots from each user.

Posting Screenshots
If you want to submit an entry to the screenshot category, you can do so by following these steps:
1. While playing through the scene from which you'd like to send in a screenshot, touch the Miiverse icon on the bottom screen.
2. When Miiverse opens, scroll to the very bottom of the page, and select "Behind the Scenes" in "Related Communities".
3. Once inside the "Behind the Scenes" community, open this post.
4. Select "Comment" at the bottom of the page to post the screenshot!

The deadline for submissions will be November 4, 2016.

Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm like face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/02/2016 12:10 PM Good to see everyone again! The time has finally come to reveal the winners of the drawing category of the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge"!

We'll get to revealing the artwork soon, but first, the director of the game, Mr Kumazaki, would like to say something!

3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:12 PM Hello everyone, Shinya Kumazaki here. I just want to say that it was a really enjoyable experience to look through all of your wonderful entries. It was obvious how much effort and enthusiasm went into each one. Thank you for sending in your work!
1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/02/2016 12:13 PM Then let's begin from the Platinum Choice. Take it away, Mr Kumazaki!
3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:16 PM Our Platinum Choice goes to… Kowal!

Meta Knight plays a big part in this game, so we received a lot of entries featuring him, but Kowal's work really showcases his speed. It's also very well executed at a difficult angle. That white mask with the black cross cut into it looks particularly cool.
Speaking of Galacta Knight, we came up with him back when we were working on the Kirby Super Star Ultra game because we wanted to create an ultimate enemy for Meta Knight. We gave him an angelic, godlike look to contrast with Meta Knight's bat-like wings. That was a while ago!
Congratulations, Kowal!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm surprised face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/02/2016 12:17 PM Wow, what an intense image. It really makes you want to see how that showdown went!

Next up is our Gold Choice.

3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:19 PM I'm happy to say that kirby! has earned our Gold Choice!

All of the submissions kirby! made showed a high level of quality with their use of clean lines. And they all featured Labotories having fun, so I could see kirby! has a lot of affection for this character!
Incidentally, Labotories are in charge of researching and developing weapons and such in the Haltmann Works Co.'s laboratory towers. They're the hardworking citizens of another planet, hired by the Haltmann Works Co. and every morning they sing the company song from the bottom of their hearts.
Congratulations, kirby!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/02/2016 12:21 PM Wow, I didn't know they had that much backstory! They always seem so happily busy, don't they? Oh, Kirby's in there too! I hope they all get along.

Well, now it's time for the Silver Choice winners - and there are two of these.

3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:23 PM The first Silver Choice goes to ななし!

This drawing features some incredible background work - even though it's all in black and white, you can really feel the blue sky and white clouds.
The sunlight on the Robobot Armour in Jet Mode is fantastic, too.

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3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:26 PM Silver Choice number 2 goes to アンテラ!

アンテラ's work gives us a unique perspective. Lots of entries focused on the final boss and iconic scenes, so to see Circus Kirby reflected in one of the giant balls of Resolution Road was a really nice idea.

Congratulations, ななし and アンテラ!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/02/2016 12:28 PM Both of those entries were drawn so nicely - I especially like Kirby's expressions in them!

Next we have the Bronze Choice, with five artists.

3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:30 PM The first Bronze Choice winner is yucky♪!

At a glance, this looks like a fairly ordinary picture of Kirby, but look closer and you'll see it seems to be from the perspective of the Robobot Armour. Could this be one of the last pieces of data left in the Robobot Armour's fading memory banks as it floats in space after everything is over? If you think about it like that, it brings a tear to your eye... Just heartbreaking!

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3d0lao00u0xeu surprised face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:32 PM Our second Bronze Choice goes to てるや!

This is a particularly dynamic Robobot Armour, and what puts it over the top is the screen-shattering punch! It also sparked my imagination - is the Robobot Armour punching the camera itself, or maybe the monitor of an enemy robot?

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3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:34 PM Our third Bronze Choice goes to key!

This might look like a normal picture of Mirror Kirby, but it's actually showing off the old and new hat designs, which I thought was a unique touch. About that hat design - in older titles, due to issues with things like storage capacity, we often had to use the same hat design for multiple Copy Abilities, only changing the color. So the original Mirror hat was a color variation of the Beam hat. But when we brought it back for this game after a long absence, we gave it a big makeover to make it more unique and easier to differentiate.

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3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:37 PM The fourth Bronze Prize goes to rH!

This is Dark Matter's true form, that you only get to glimpse for an instant in this game. This was a submission from outside Japan but the artist's use of Japanese characters really draws the eye. You can tell that rH is a real fan of the character.

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3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:38 PM Our fifth Bronze Choice goes to Shira!

These Dedede Clones have such rich expressions. Their faces really give you a sense that they were formed from pure innocent destructiveness extracted from King Dedede's heart.

Congratulations, yucky♪, てるや, key, rH and Shira!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/02/2016 12:40 PM Right, last up in the drawing category is a set of special awards we're calling the Secret Kumazaki Faves! We have three to give out.

Mr Kumazaki, if you'll do the honors?

3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:42 PM I chose these entries based on ideas that made me go "Wow!"

The first Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to Lady!

Lady's picture really captures the goings-on "behind the scenes" of the game! After the Haltmann Works Co. destroys King Dedede's castle, the repair works get underway in this refreshing picture. And King Dedede has even taken off his crown! I never expected someone to try depicting that... Together with his clothes, it all makes for a very original image. As for his true hairstyle, maybe you'll get to see that one day...

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3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:44 PM Secret Kumazaki Fave number 2 goes to クリームロール!

All of クリームロール's entries were very technically accomplished, but this was the one where I felt the concept really shone through.
The pixel art in the center seems to evoke a simpler time when Meta Knight was still himself. And the lines and dots at the bottom of the image are actually a message in Morse code!
It says S, O... Ah, but I shouldn't spoil the fun. I'm sure you can work it out for yourselves!
There are plenty of fun little things like this hidden in Planet Robobot as well, so if you want, you can go back and try to find them all.

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3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/02/2016 12:47 PM The final Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to ラリアット!

ラリアット's entry shows Meta Knight, ready for battle, reflected in Dark Matter's sword, and it's a really fantastic image. The heavy use of black gives it a chic look, and the portrayal of the characters is very nicely done.
Incidentally, you may have noticed that in this game, Dark Matter's sword shines with a rainbow light. This light is materialized from Dark Matter's memories of the Rainbow Sword that he faced in the Kirby's Dream Land 2 game. Those memories must have been included in the original data used to create the clone.
Just like how in the Kirby: Triple Deluxe game, King Dedede faced Dark Meta Knight for the first time ever, in this game Meta Knight faces off against a version of Dark Matter for the first time.
So Dark Matter must have sensed that Meta Knight's powers were truly formidable, and materialized the power of the Rainbow Sword to counter him.
Seeing two expert swordsmen face off against each other is always a thrilling experience!

Congratulations, Lady, クリームロール and ラリアット!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/02/2016 12:49 PM And that's the end of the drawing category of our "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge". We'd like to thank everyone who entered!

Don't forget, though, we still have the screenshot category of the contest to go! We received a lot of entries worldwide for this contest, so it'll take us some time to select our favorites. We know a lot of people are excited, but please wait a little longer for the results!

Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/20/2016 10:50 AM
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Hi everyone! Today's the day we announce our favorites of the screenshot category in the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge"! To begin, let's hear from the game's director, Mr. Kumazaki.

3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 10:51 AM Hi there - Shinya Kumazaki here. In the drawing category of this event we saw lots of creations from many wonderful artists, but the screenshot category was something we came up with to let even more people with good ideas take part. Thanks so much to everyone for your submissions!
1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/20/2016 10:52 AM Let's start things off with the Platinum Choice. Back to you, Mr Kumazaki!
3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 10:54 AM The Platinum Choice goes to...takuya!

I found myself laughing as soon as I looked at this shot. The idea of using the blocks in one of the secret HAL Rooms to spell something out - wow! There were a few submissions that used this idea, but takuya's was the first. The timing of Kirby's pose is great, too. I can almost hear him shouting "HA!"

By the way, in recent titles, the bellow you hear when Kirby hits full volume using the Mike ability is voiced be me. Well, when I say "recent", I mean ever since Kirby Super Star Ultra, eight years ago. Time really flies, doesn't it? Ah...that takes me back!

Congratulations, takuya!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm surprised face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/20/2016 10:55 AM Kirby's vocals sure pack a punch! Looking at this screenshot kind of makes me feel like I'm in the audience at Kirby's show.

Anyway, on to the Gold Choice!

3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 10:56 AM The Gold Choice goes to キュービィ!

Using a gaggle of Bronto Burts clustered around Kirby to create the image of a UFO floating in the moonlight is quite a feat! Even the shadow is shaped like a UFO. And did you spot it…? There's a bona fide unidentified flying object in the background of the shot. What attention to detail! That comet only appears at specific time, so it's what you might call a genuine hidden feature.

Congratulations, キュービィ!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/20/2016 10:58 AM That one's a great idea, too! It must have been really difficult to get the timing just right.

Now on to the Silver Choices. There are two of these.

3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 10:59 AM The first Silver Choice goes to GreyFox!

There were a few snowman-related ideas, but the placement of the dejected-looking head off to the side in this one is really comical.

By the way, recent Kirby games seem to have a thing about snowman-related mechanics. This is the third game to have them. Did you notice?

Well done, GreyFox!

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3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:00 AM The second Silver Choice goes to Enik!

This scene really makes it look like the Helper system from Kirby Super Star has been resurrected, with Kirby taking on Kracko, assisted by Waddle Doo. I mean, that's not actually what's happening here…but it sure looks like two-player action, and it sure looks fun!

Good job GreyFox and Enik!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/20/2016 11:01 AM These are both the kind of ideas that make you want to try them out for yourself, aren't they?

OK then - the Bronze Choices are next. We have five of these.

3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:05 AM The first Bronze Choice goes to Treat!

What fabulous skill, balancing on two balls at once! Timing the shot to capture that dynamic transformation was a good idea, don't you think? I also really like the way the composition of this screenshot makes the most of the 3D nature of the stage.

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3d0lao00u0xeu surprised face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:06 AM The second Bronze Choice goes to nao.com.

Wow, it looks like Kirby is using the whip to peel away the corner of that painting in order to reveal its secrets! Another triumph of imagination, this one!

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3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:07 AM The third Bronze Prize goes to パステル!

Wha-?! It looks like the Robobot Armor is rolling towards Grizzo! Maybe he's playing Robobot soccer with Waddle Dee? Capturing the armor upside down like this makes for quite an iconic shot.

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3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:08 AM The fourth Bronze Choice goes to Alan!

This one really made me chuckle. In it, we see the dozing Meta Knight, about to realize that he has completely missed his train! This snapshot of Meta Knight's secret shame is pretty unique.

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3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:11 AM The fifth Bronze Choice goes to カズキ!

We had a lot of submissions using the train seats, but this one is pretty spectacular. It looks like Kirby has made everyone jump out of their seats by bursting into raucous song in the middle of their commute! I really like the way it tells a story.

Well done to Treat, nao.com, パステル, Alan and カズキ!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/20/2016 11:12 AM You guys are no slouches at capturing cool scenes! OK, then, now it's time for the Secret Kumazaki Faves! There are three of these.
3d0lao00u0xeu like face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:13 AM Right! The first Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to ブラウン!

Sorry to all of you that don't read Japanese - this one's kind of a Japanese joke! By taking the screenshot midway through Haltmann's line, ブラウン has made it look like Haltmann is saying "ヤバ" ("Yikes!") instead of "ヤバン" ("Savages!"). Maybe in this screenshot's version of reality, Haltmann got his backside stuck in the chair or something? It's true that he does scoot around everywhere in that chair without doing much getting up and walking, so perhaps he really is stuck in it!

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3d0lao00u0xeu surprised face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:15 AM The second Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to たる!

M-Mario? Punching a hole in the ceiling?! This screenshot really shows that Mario is not to be messed with! I don't think even the great Kirby could withstand such an attack!

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3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:16 AM The third and final Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to ロヘイ!

This screenshot seems to depict the extraordinary meeting of the Lor Starcutter with…itself! This craft is capable of traversing space and time, so a meeting of two Lor Starcutters from different times is certainly possible. Wow, wouldn't it be cool if that really happened?

I wonder - the Lor Starcutter that can be seen when Galacta Knight performs this attack...what time is it from? And, if there is someone inside it, who are they, and where are they going? Presumably, when the rift opens and we can see them, they can see into our world, too! Ooh, it really sets the imagination racing, doesn't it!

Congratulations ブラウン, たる and ロヘイ!

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1lm9ymn6jpkxm normal face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/20/2016 11:17 AM Well then, that concludes the awards for both categories of the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge"!

So, Mr Kumazaki, how did you enjoy the event?

3d0lao00u0xeu happy face クマザキ (Shinya Kumazaki) 12/20/2016 11:18 AM I enjoyed selecting the screenshots as much, if not more, than selecting the drawings - but it was all great fun! This event proved to me how much people are enjoying the game, and that makes me really happy. Thanks so much for participating. I'll see you all again soon!
1lm9ymn6jpkxm like face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 12/20/2016 11:20 AM Thank you, everyone!
Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm surprised face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 04/20/2017 7:57 PM
Miiverse KPR 10

Hi, everyone! Long time no see! This is Satoshi Ishida, from HAL Laboratory.

I'd like to celebrate the recent release of Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, a downloadable game for Nintendo 3DS, with a message from the game's director, Ms. Todo.

"Hang on, wasn't the director Mr Kumazaki?" you ask. Well, yes, Mr Kumazaki was the GENERAL director, but the director for the minigame Team Kirby Clash, and subsequently for Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, was Ms Todo. So without further ado, I'm handing over to her.

"Hello, I'm Yumi Todo.

Team Kirby Clash Deluxe is a levelled up version of Team Kirby Clash, a minigame from Kirby: Planet Robobot, and it's available to download now!

Team Kirby Clash Deluxe is a cooperative fighting game in which four Kirbys join forces to defeat powerful bosses. You start by picking one of four possible roles and then set out on a quest. Team Kirby Clash Deluxe can be played in single-player with CPU allies, and if you get a group together you can play via local wireless!

All that's pretty much the same as Team Kirby Clash, but what's new in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe is that you can choose your weapons and armor from over 80 different items!

For intrepid Kirbys, I'd recommend the fiery sword known as the Crimson Blade, while those more concerned with style might like the fabulous, sparkly Magical Girl Coiffure.

We've also added more quests, and this is the first time that you can fight for real against a certain someone. Who's that, you say? Have a closer look at the logo...

Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm happy face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 05/08/2017 4:12 PM
Miiverse KPR 11

Hi everyone! Satoshi Ishida of HAL Laboratory here.

It looks like it's that time of year again! That's right - April 27th was the anniversary of the release of the very first Kirby game, Kirby's Dream Land. (April 27th was the Japanese release date - Kirby didn't make it over to Americas until August.)

To put it another way, it was Kirby's birthday! And this year was a particularly significant one, as it marked 25 years since Kirby came onto the scene!

But, enough from me! Once again, the general director of the Kirby series, Shinya Kumazaki, is here with a few words to commemorate Kirby's birthday. So without any further ado I'll hand you over!

"Hello! This is Shinya Kumazaki.

Happy birthday, Kirby!!! It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since you came into this world.

Our youthful traveller has been inhaling all manner of things and puffing up like a big balloon, right up to the ripe old age of 25. Kirby, you've become a fine, upstanding...adult?! I must say, your plump, pink form has taken on something of a refined glow recently.

And to mark this auspicious occasion, we have no less than three new Kirby games for you to enjoy! The free-to-start Team Kirby Clash Deluxe co-op action game came out just recently, and this summer we're getting Kirby's Blowout Blast, the first genuine 3D action game in the series. On top of that, we have a new fighting action game due this holiday!

How have you all been enjoying Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, by the way? Since the game came out I've been getting into it all over again, playing it with my family. I reckon seasoned players could have a lot of fun supporting their teammates by playing as Doctor Healmore.

After you finish the game, incidentally, a certain someone shows up in the village, looking like quite the reformed character. Why not have a look for yourself!

Link 1lm9ymn6jpkxm like face イシダ (Satoshi Ishida) 07/07/2017 5:59 PM
Miiverse KPR 12

Hello, everyone! Satoshi Ishida here, from HAL Laboratory. Kirby's Blowout Blast was recently released for Nintendo 3DS! On this occasion, I received a message and a drawing from the game's director, Mr. Kamiyama, and I wanted to pass them on to you!

Aha! You spotted that Mr. Kumazaki wasn't the director for this one, did you? That's right. As you well know, Mr. Kumazaki is the general director, but it was actually Mr. Kamiyama who handled director duties on Kirby's Blowout Blast!

Anyway, that's all from me for now. Allow me to pass it over to Mr. Kamiyama, so he can introduce Kirby's Blowout Blast! (And do give the man a round of applause!)

"Hi! I'm Tatsuya Kamiyama, the game's director.

Kirby's Blowout Blast, the first proper 3D action game in the Kirby series, is released today!

Kirby's Blowout Blast is a direct descendant of Kirby 3D Rumble, a minigame found in Kirby: Planet Robobot, which we've improved and expanded, reimagining it as a download-only scrolling 3D action game.

In this game you move freely around three-dimensional stages, inhaling and spitting out the many enemies that appear, making your way towards the goal.

If Kirby inhales a lot of enemies, he'll grow bigger and bigger, and correspondingly more adorable. But cuteness isn't the only selling point here! The Blaster Bullets he can spit out in that form are also super powerful.

Taking out many enemies at once with a well-placed Blaster Bullet is great fun, and the key to getting a high score!

This is Kirby's first full step into the world of 3D, so we went back to the series' roots, and designed the game with a lot of inspiration from the first Kirby game. We wanted to create a game that really captured the fun of inhaling stuff and then spitting it out.

By transporting the game into 3D, the boss enemies you know and love from that first game were given a new lease of life, with new and exciting ways to fight them.

Kirby 3D Rumble, which provided the groundwork upon which this game was built, was a real challenge for the team here.

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Link 08/02/2017 11:37 AM Miiverse Announcements

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Link Kirby: Triple Deluxe Miiverse Tab 1
Link Kirby Fighters Deluxe / Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe Miiverse Tab 2
Link Kirby and the Rainbow Curse Miiverse Tab 3
Link Kirby: Planet Robobot Miiverse Tab 4
Link Team Kirby Clash Deluxe Miiverse Tab 5
Link Kirby's Blowout Blast Miiverse Tab 6
Link Kirby Battle Royale Miiverse Tab 7
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