06-05-2014, 01:10 PM
Gosh, picking a few favorites out of the entire franchise? I'm not sure I can whittle it down that far, especially since a lot of abilities are only the best within the context of their unique game's physics. I can pick out my top three favorites for each game though:
Kirby's Adventure
#1: Hi-Jump - A seriously underrated ability, especially in the NES game. Lots of people ignore this ability because all it seems to do is make you jump high, which seems redundant when Kirby can already fly. However I tell you that this ability is awesome. You can smash your way through levels with ease, and using this ability to fight bosses is a blast. For a fun extra challenge, try playing through the game using only Hi-Jump as your primary jump with no flying.
#2: Crash - This is probably the only time I will count a temp-ability amongst my top favorites for a game, but the original Crash ability was the tits. Kirby would burst into multiple Kirbies who would go totally apeshit and blast all over the screen, creating explosions everywhere while they bounced off the walls like they were injected with sugar-coated cocaine. In every game appearance that came after this one, including the shitty remake, it was changed to just be a giant lame explosion, which was usually pretty slow in comparison.
#3: Freeze - Man, trying to choose a third pick for this game is difficult because there are so many good ones to pick from. Fireball, Laser, Wheel, Parasol, Backdrop, Ball, Cutter ... all these were super awesome in the NES game even if they do get overwhelmed by better things in later games. But I think I'm going to go with Freeze for nostalgia purposes. One of the best things about the two ice abilities in the NES game were simply the fact that he turns white when he has the ability. This was the only ability that Kirby changed color for at the time, and the white-and-blue color scheme just looked super cool on him which, as a little kid, was cool enough for me to always pick the ice abilities whenever I had the chance. On top of that, however, was also the fact that he could turn enemies into ice blocks and then send them careening at other enemies as projectiles. Although not a spectacular skill nowadays, this was pretty cool back in the days of the NES. The ability to transform enemies in general was not commonly used back then; usually the best you could hope for was freezing enemies in place a la Metroid. In fact, I think the first time I froze an enemy in Kirby I assumed I'd be able to stand on the ice blocks. Luckily this was so much cooler.
Kirby Super Star (& Ultra)
This game is an easy one. I can name my favorite three without putting any thought into it.
#1: Yo-Yo - Using a yo-yo as a weapon and break-dancing attacks. Does one really need to explain why this ability is awesome? This is my number one ability that I really want them to bring back in modern games.
#2: Wing - Many people think the wing ability is lame, but to them I saw "psshaaw". Improved aerial movement, plus diving attacks and the always fun to use shuttle loop atack? Sign me up any time. In Ultra, they actually upgraded the ability a bit, but I don't think most people even noticed. The shockwave created by diveboming into the ground was improved to do greater damage; also after performing the divebomb technique you would bounce into the air for a split second longer, allowing you to take off into the air immediately again without ever technically landing. This brought forth one of my favorite things to do in the game: a "No Landing Run" where basically you use the wing ability and are never allowed to land; something you can't really pull off in the original. Plus as a side note, Birdon has always been one of my favorite helper designs.
#3: Suplex - Do I really need to explain why suplex is awesome? Seriously?
Kirby's Dream Land 2
#1: Coo + Parasol = Tornado - Who would've thunk putting a parasol on your head would allow you to spin like a top?
#2: Rick + Stone = Rolling Boulder - What's better than the invulnerability that the Stone ability provides you? How about free mobility while in stone form? Granted, you aren't completely invincible while using this attack, because Kirby can still be hurt while balancing on boulder-Rick ... but due to the shortness of most enemies this is rarely even an issue.
#3: Kine + Spark = Light Cannon - In addition to lighting up dark areas, this ability gives you a neverending supply of explosive projectile attacks. While holding the attack button down you can harm enemies simply by wandering into them face first, and when you release it launches the lightbulb forward and explodes when it collides with something. Oh, but if the projectile seems like it's going to miss it's target, you can also press the button again to cause it to explode early, increasing the size of its hitbox. Kine has always been a lame partner for the most part, but this was one super useful ability.
** TO BE CONTINUED **
(P.S. E-man, in the Kirby games they're called "abilities" not "powers")
Kirby's Adventure
#1: Hi-Jump - A seriously underrated ability, especially in the NES game. Lots of people ignore this ability because all it seems to do is make you jump high, which seems redundant when Kirby can already fly. However I tell you that this ability is awesome. You can smash your way through levels with ease, and using this ability to fight bosses is a blast. For a fun extra challenge, try playing through the game using only Hi-Jump as your primary jump with no flying.
#2: Crash - This is probably the only time I will count a temp-ability amongst my top favorites for a game, but the original Crash ability was the tits. Kirby would burst into multiple Kirbies who would go totally apeshit and blast all over the screen, creating explosions everywhere while they bounced off the walls like they were injected with sugar-coated cocaine. In every game appearance that came after this one, including the shitty remake, it was changed to just be a giant lame explosion, which was usually pretty slow in comparison.
#3: Freeze - Man, trying to choose a third pick for this game is difficult because there are so many good ones to pick from. Fireball, Laser, Wheel, Parasol, Backdrop, Ball, Cutter ... all these were super awesome in the NES game even if they do get overwhelmed by better things in later games. But I think I'm going to go with Freeze for nostalgia purposes. One of the best things about the two ice abilities in the NES game were simply the fact that he turns white when he has the ability. This was the only ability that Kirby changed color for at the time, and the white-and-blue color scheme just looked super cool on him which, as a little kid, was cool enough for me to always pick the ice abilities whenever I had the chance. On top of that, however, was also the fact that he could turn enemies into ice blocks and then send them careening at other enemies as projectiles. Although not a spectacular skill nowadays, this was pretty cool back in the days of the NES. The ability to transform enemies in general was not commonly used back then; usually the best you could hope for was freezing enemies in place a la Metroid. In fact, I think the first time I froze an enemy in Kirby I assumed I'd be able to stand on the ice blocks. Luckily this was so much cooler.
Kirby Super Star (& Ultra)
This game is an easy one. I can name my favorite three without putting any thought into it.
#1: Yo-Yo - Using a yo-yo as a weapon and break-dancing attacks. Does one really need to explain why this ability is awesome? This is my number one ability that I really want them to bring back in modern games.
#2: Wing - Many people think the wing ability is lame, but to them I saw "psshaaw". Improved aerial movement, plus diving attacks and the always fun to use shuttle loop atack? Sign me up any time. In Ultra, they actually upgraded the ability a bit, but I don't think most people even noticed. The shockwave created by diveboming into the ground was improved to do greater damage; also after performing the divebomb technique you would bounce into the air for a split second longer, allowing you to take off into the air immediately again without ever technically landing. This brought forth one of my favorite things to do in the game: a "No Landing Run" where basically you use the wing ability and are never allowed to land; something you can't really pull off in the original. Plus as a side note, Birdon has always been one of my favorite helper designs.
#3: Suplex - Do I really need to explain why suplex is awesome? Seriously?
Kirby's Dream Land 2
#1: Coo + Parasol = Tornado - Who would've thunk putting a parasol on your head would allow you to spin like a top?
#2: Rick + Stone = Rolling Boulder - What's better than the invulnerability that the Stone ability provides you? How about free mobility while in stone form? Granted, you aren't completely invincible while using this attack, because Kirby can still be hurt while balancing on boulder-Rick ... but due to the shortness of most enemies this is rarely even an issue.
#3: Kine + Spark = Light Cannon - In addition to lighting up dark areas, this ability gives you a neverending supply of explosive projectile attacks. While holding the attack button down you can harm enemies simply by wandering into them face first, and when you release it launches the lightbulb forward and explodes when it collides with something. Oh, but if the projectile seems like it's going to miss it's target, you can also press the button again to cause it to explode early, increasing the size of its hitbox. Kine has always been a lame partner for the most part, but this was one super useful ability.
** TO BE CONTINUED **
(P.S. E-man, in the Kirby games they're called "abilities" not "powers")