“ | Explore an ancient cave and recover the 60 treasures hidden there, then make it back to the surface safely. Think of the value of each treasure in gold as your score.” |
— Instruction manual description • Kirby Super Star Ultra |
The Great Cave Offensive is a sub-game in Kirby Super Star and its remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra.
In this sub-game's intro, Kirby is seen taking a walk- but he accidentally falls through a hole. He ventures through what seems to be a cave, and must escape. Throughout the sub-game, he has the option of collecting Treasure Chest items. Each treasure has a value in Gold, which is also the player's score. 100G (100 gold) is equivalent to 1 USD - this is found in the Dime and 100-Dollar Coin items, which are worth 10G and 10,000G, respectively. The Great Cave Offensive's more adventure-based layout makes it somewhat unique within the classic Kirby series.
In the sub-game Meta Knightmare Ultra, every piece of food disappears, and every Maxim Tomato and Treasure Chest is replaced with food. Areas that do not lead to the mine cart are also removed.
Gameplay
As Kirby, the player walks through an environment that resembles a cave. There are a total of sixty treasures strewn throughout the cave. There are Save Cottages in every region which contain a pad to Kirby's progress, and special rooms before a boss fights which contain Copy Essences and a Maxim Tomato. The player traverses the regions in sequence; a forested area (Sub-Tree Area), a lake (Crystal Area), a castle (Old Tower), and a garden (Garden Area). Most are guarded by a boss - the bosses are unique to this game (including the Active-Battle System-based computer boss called Computer Virus).
The four areas are:
- Sub-Tree Area - Boss: Fatty Whale
- Crystal Area - Boss: Computer Virus
- Old Tower - Boss: Chameleo Arm
- Garden Area - Final Boss: Wham Bam Rock
Treasures
Gathering treasure is the main objective and the source of difficulty in The Great Cave Offensive. In general, more treasures are hidden in obscure places and are more difficult to obtain in later regions, while the hidden treasures are worth more in Gold. Many of the treasures make references to other notable franchises through their appearance or names.
KSS item | KSSU item | KSS value | KSSU value | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Gold Medal | 10000G | |||
Gold Coin | 1000G | The oval coin seen on the item screen is a Koban, an ancient Japanese gold coin and bears resemblance to the coin on the head of a Meowth. These coins also feature prominently in the Goemon game series by Konami. | ||
Whip | 6800G | A reference to the popular classic NES game, Castlevania, strongly resembling the Belmont Clan's famous whip, "The Vampire Killer." Identified by the ball on the end of the whip. | ||
Crystal Ball | 200000G | A reference to various RPGs of the Famicom and Super Famicom era, but more closely resembles the Crystal Ball in the Famicom version of Ys: Vanished - Omen. | ||
Lucky Cat | 5000G | The white cat seen on the item screen is a common Japanese luck charm, the Maneki Neko. | ||
Seiryu Sword | 142000G | Seiryu is an azure dragon from Chinese mythology who represents the season of spring and the eastern direction. | ||
Screw Ball | Screw Attack | 80000G | The Screw Attack (incorrectly labeled as Screw Ball in Kirby Super Star) is a power-up item in the Metroid video game series that allows the player to perform a jumping attack. | |
Echigo Candy | 8000G | Echigo (越後国) is the name of a place in old Japan currently part of the Niigata Prefecture. Because of the close pronunciation to ichigo (苺), meaning strawberry, this item is sometimes misinterpreted as strawberry candy. | ||
Zebra Mask | Phanto Mask (En) Phantom Mask (Jp) |
278000G | Resembles the nose of a zebra. Phantos are enemies from Super Mario Bros. 2. | |
Star Stone | 82100G | |||
Beast's Fang | 7300G | |||
Bandana | 1990G | The Bandana looks similar to the one Kirby wears when he gains the Fighter ability. | ||
Springtime | Seasons Heart | 250000G | Seasons Heart is a combination of Springtime, Summertime, Autumntime and Wintertime. | |
Dime | 10G | |||
Glass Slippers | Glass Slipper | 120000G | Refers to the famous footwear of Cinderella. | |
Goblet | 800G | |||
Saucepan | 10G | |||
Brass Knuckle | 20000G | |||
Amber Rose | 22100G | |||
Fish Fossil | 8250G | |||
Beast Fossil | 24220G | |||
Nunchuks | Machine Parts | 55480G | 121300G | Machine Parts are parts of the Hydra in Kirby Air Ride. |
Bucket | 200G | The bucket is actually the same one from the Super Famicom game Mario & Wario. | ||
Summertime | Power Paintbrush | 250000G | 222000G | Power Paintbrush refers to Drawcia's Magical Paintbrush from Kirby: Canvas Curse. |
100 dollar coin | 100-Dollar Coin | 10000G | ||
Ancient Gem | 68000G | In Japanese, this is referred to as a magatama. | ||
Falcon Helmet | 41000G | The helmet of Captain Falcon, one of the main characters in the F-Zero video game series. | ||
Dud | Cell Phone | 30G | 40210G | Kirby's Cell Phone from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. The Dud looks like a bomb dropped in many different games. |
Truth Mirror | 500000G | |||
Star Tiara | 408200G | |||
Turtle Shell | Koopa Shell | 800G | Resembles the shell of a green Koopa Troopa, a common enemy from the Mario video game series. | |
Sword | Falchion | 325000G | Marth's Falchion from the Fire Emblem series. The English translation of the original Kirby Super Star did not pick up on that. | |
Warrior Shield | 50000G | |||
Unicorn's Horn | 80300G | |||
Autumntime | Three-Star Cane | 250000G | 222000G | Three-Star Cane refers to Daroach's Triple Star cane from Kirby: Squeak Squad. |
Rice Bowl | Broken Bowl | 50G | ||
Tut's Mask | 160000G | Refers to the gilded mask of Tutankhamun, the ancient Egyptian pharaoh. | ||
Mr. Saturn | 120000G | A member of a friendly species of beings - all known as Mr. Saturn - from the EarthBound video game series. | ||
Armor | 212000G | |||
Treasure Box | 100000G | |||
Mannequin | 3000G | |||
Gold Crown | 528000G | |||
King's Cape | 508000G | Appears to be King Dedede's own cape. | ||
Model Ship | 800000G | |||
Sun Ring | 800000G | |||
Wintertime | Gold Watering Can | 250000G | 200000G | The Gold Watering Can is a hidden item in the Animal Crossing series. |
Katana | 990000G | The most valuable of all 60 Treasures. | ||
Charm | 8000G | The necklace seen on the item screen holds an Ankh. | ||
Xmas Tree | 40000G | |||
Kong's Barrel | 1500G | A "DK Barrel", from the Donkey Kong Country games. Originally a normal barrel from the same series. | ||
Ramia's Scale | 12800G | The scale of a mythical creature, Lamia. | ||
Shiny Bamboo | 600000G | Possibly meant to be part of a kadomatsu, a traditional Japanese New Year's decoration made from bamboo cut in this manner. | ||
Tire | 1100G | |||
Spirit Charm | 78500G | |||
Pegasus Wing | 42800G | One of three Sacred Treasures in Kid Icarus. | ||
Raccoon Doll | 8150G | Looks similar to many depictions of a tanuki, a mythical shape-shifting raccoon from Japanese folklore. | ||
Shell Whistle | 82000G | |||
Orihalcon | Orichalcum | 512000G | Orichalcum is a mythical stone of Atlantis that is incredibly hard, and quite valuable in most RPGs. | |
Platinum Ring | 40000G | |||
Triforce | 800000G | The powerful Triforce artifact in The Legend of Zelda series. |
In the Super Smash Bros. series
The Great Cave Offensive appears as a stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. All four sections of the cave form a stage. The Sub-Tree Area is at the top, the Crystal Area is to the right, the Old Tower is in the bottom middle, and the Garden Area is in the bottom left. This stage features Treasure Chests, mine carts, cannons, and Danger Zones, which can instantly KO players with more than 100% damage. Treasure Chests can be broken and will drop items. Players can ride and dismount from mine carts, using them to attack other players. The cannons act as they do in Kirby Super Star/Kirby Super Star Ultra: they continuously rotate in eight directions, and players who enter can be shot out by pressing a button. However, not every angle is preferable, as firing straight down will result in a self-destruct.
Both The Great Cave Offensive and its Ω form can be played in 8-Player Smash.
Trivia
- The Old Tower is fully optional. The player does not need to fight Chameleo Arm, even if he/she chooses to enter the Old Tower.
- The song that plays in the Save Cottages is a remix of part of Float Islands' theme from Kirby's Dream Land. This remix was also re-recorded as the All-Star Mode Rest Area music in Super Smash Bros. Melee. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, the song is also used for the rest areas in The Arena and The True Arena, and it plays on the file select screen. The music was reused in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, where it plays in the room with all the Copy Abilities in The Arena. A remix of the music was also used for the main menu of Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot.
- The music that's plays in the mine cart sections is a remix of the music from Stage 2 of Vegetable Valley from Kirby's Adventure.
- Commas were added to the gold values in Kirby Super Star Ultra.
- In Kirby Super Star Ultra, the new treasures have different values, but the total value of all the treasures is still 9999990G.
- If the player completes the game without collecting a single treasure, during the ending sequence, "You didn't find even one treasure..." will appear instead.
- According to the original Japanese manual, the name of the great cave is "Majirute" (マジルテ).
- Before Nintendo formally announced the inclusion of The Great Cave Offensive stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the company's Facebook page leaked an image and teaser description of it. On October 5, 2014, Nintendo posted a weekly wrap-up highlighting the biggest updates announced in the last seven days—among these was an image of Kirby and Pikachu riding in a Mine Cart. This image was never revealed prior to the post.
Gallery
References