Day 28: Masked Dedede (Triple Deluxe)
One of the most memorable battles against King Dedede has to be when he becomes Masked Dedede in Super Star Ultra. Up until that point, Dedede has been kind of a comic relief villain, or at the very least a friendly rival to Kirby. Nowadays there are plenty of other Dedede battles that give this one a run for its money, some examples being the battle against Dedede Clone in Planet Robobot and his battle in Star Allies. But the original fight against Masked Dedede from Super Star Ultra will always be known as the battle where the penguin king first got serious, and made it his mission to…
Lyra: (Cuts in) CLOBBAH DAT DERE KIRBEH!
(I stare at Lyra in annoyance)
Lyra: Don't give me that look. You reference memes and annoy me on the daily. The least I can do is do the same to you at least once a month.
Anyway, as great as the original fight against Masked Dedede is…his fight from Super Star Ultra isn't the one I'll be talking about. And why's that? That's an easy question: I just like the revamped fight against him from Triple Deluxe even more.
After following Taranza up the Dreamstalk after he kidnaps Dedede, Kirby finally comes face to face with Sectonia's right hand man and he explains how he thought Dedede was the hero of Planet Popstar. Wanting to take his big fluffy penguin frenemy back, Taranza brainwashes Dedede into becoming Masked Dedede, and the fight begins.
The fight against Masked Dedede is divided into two phases. The first phase plays out like your standard King Dedede fight where he'll try and inhale you and spit you out, body slam you, tackle you, and clobber you with his hammer.
Lyra: Don't you mean, 'clobbah'?
Me: Whatever!
…And he'll even employ some moves from his battle in Super Star Ultra such has shooting missiles and a flamethrower from the face of his hammer.
Just keep dodging these attacks, and wail away at the possessed king until he goes down for phase two to begin
Taranza uses his power to resurrect Dedede and he becomes 'Masked Dedede's Revenge,' where he trades in his destroyed hammer for a souped up battle axe!
In this phase, Dedede will still have his tackle attack, but now he'll attack you by swinging his axe, launching energy balls from it, perform a spin attack, turning himself into a tornado (a technique called the 'Flying Axe'), and even create small explosions. And all of this is going on while a glorious remix of Masked Dedede's theme plays in the background.
This second phase can really keep you on your toes, and Dedede can utterly wreck you if you're not careful.
Some people may prefer the Masked Dedede fight from Super Star Ultra over this given that Dedede is being controlled by Taranza, but I honestly like this fight more for having more phases, the build up is great since you've been following Taranza and Dedede since the beginning of the game, and, let's be real, it's great to see Masked Dedede back in action after six years.
Overall, the fight with Masked Dedede in Triple Deluxe is fun, challenging, a great call back, and a great way to resolve Dedede's story in the game.
Me: Hey, Lyra, I just realized something.
Lyra: What?
Me: It's been almost nine years since Triple Deluxe and fifteen years since Super Star Ultra…I am so fucking old.
Lyra: Don't make me 'clobbah' you for acting all negative now!
Me: (Annoyed) You done acting like a fool?
Lyra: NEVER!