Day 39: Kirby Planet Robobot

Remember that time when Kirby went Gurren Lagaan all over everybody's ass? Those were the days…but yeah this is Kirby Planet Robobot.

The story this time around involves a spacecraft known as the Access Ark, which is owned by this game's villain, Max Profitt Haltmann. The spacecraft easily takes over Planet Popstar, and with both King Dedede and Meta Knight out of commission, it once again falls on Kirby's pink shoulders to save the day and stop Haltmann from taking over.

Gameplay is no different than the other Kirby games: You run around swallowing enemies for copy abilities, and take an occasional break to solve a puzzle to get this game's collectables, the Code Cubes and Stickers.

To my surprise, a lot of classic copy abilities make a return here like Mirror, Jet, UFO, and freaking Smash Bros., on top new copy abilities, Poison (The best copy ability in the game BTW), Doctor Mari- I mean Doctor, and Ness- I mean ESP.

And then we get to this game's gimmick, the Robobot Armor. Upon riding these mechs, Kirby is able to lift up large objects needed to solve puzzles, enter certain doors, take out larger obstacles, and get stronger version of copy abilities. Flame gives the armor a giant flame thrower, Bomb allows Kirby to fire these walking bombs needed to solve puzzles, Cutter turns the armor's arms into buzz saws, Swords give the armor two giant swords, and Mike allows the armor to fire powerful soundwaves complete with unlimited use. And these are only some of the copy abilities the Robobot Armor has. Arguably the best one in my opinion is what happens when the armor gets the Jet ability, and that's when the game turns into a full on 2D shooter. These are some of my favorite levels with the armor and it adds variety to the gameplay. Bottom line, I really like the Robobot Armor as it feels powerful, while not being too OP, and it fits in with this game's industrial motif very well.

Speaking of the levels, let me just say that these are some of the most interesting Kirby levels so far. Each level seems to take on the aforementioned motif of industrialization, with two of the six worlds Kirby visits taking place in urban or city areas. Patched Plains, the first level, gives us a chance to see the beginning stages of Haltmann's conquest of Popstar, Overload Ocean looks like a harbor, and Gigabyte Grounds has what looks like oil rigs in the background. Now it makes sense why Poison is a copy ability, because of all of this damn pollution! Back on topic, there's also the cold and sterile environments that the Haltmann bases and a majority of the Access Ark level offer, and on the subject of the Access Ark, it gets more and more trippy as you venture further, almost like you are in an alien planet. Oh yeah, and there are also stages based on casinos, complete with sements where you have to outrun balls on a roulette wheel. Planet Robobot has easily some of the best designed levels of the series so far.

The only greater than the levels are the bosses, and this game has probably the best roster of bosses in the series. We have Clanky Woods being yet another great iteration of the usually wimpy Whispy Woods, Holo Defense API being a great callback to classic bosses, Susie for giving us an introduction to Haltmann Works Company as a whole, Mecha Meta Knight and Dedede Clone for being challenging and fun takes on classic Kirby bosses, Haltmann for having so much build up to him, and the final battle against Star Dream for the sheer fact that you fight it as you control the freaking Halberd! Again, easily the best roster of bosses in the series for me.

As usual you have many different game modes to take on after you beat the game like the staple Arena and True Arena, Kirby 3D Rumble, which is the franchise's first take on anything 3D, and Team Kirby Clash, which is basically what happens when Kirby becomes an RPG, and to top it all off we have Meta Knightmare Returns, which allows you to play through the game again as Meta Knight, and with his own bosses to face. Hell, yeah!

Lastly, this is the first Kirby game in which I paid attention to some of the lore, like how the only reason Haltmann used Star Dream was to get his daughter back after she was sent to Another Dimension, and this caused him to turn into the crazed CEO we know today, and he'd eventually forget that he had a daughter (Spoiler alert that daughter is Susie). Or how Star Dream is made by the same group of Ancients who made Nova, and that's why the Access Ark looks like him during the final phase of the final battle. Very interesting stuff.

With great gimmicks, interesting story and lore, fantastic levels and bosses, and new and interesting modes, Kirby Planet Robobot is without a doubt my favorite Kirby game so far, and no amount of Hypernovas or Super Copy Abilities can change that. I'll take my pink colored mecha out for a spin any day.