Video Game / Kirby: Planet Robobot

3... 2... 1... Pink Ball Activate!

Kirby: Planet Robobot (known in Japanese as Hoshi no Kirby: Robobo Planet) is another installment in the long-running Kirby series for the Nintendo 3DS, released in Japan on April 28, 2016, in Europe and North America on June 10, 2016, and in Australia on June 11, 2016.

Another peaceful day in Dream Land has been interrupted yet again, this time by the invasion of the Haltmann Works Company, a sort of corpocratic army of technologically advanced aliens that seek to mechanize Kirby's home planet. As usual, it's up to our heroic pink puffball to set things right and prevent the invaders from taking over Planet Popstar.

Gameplay remains similar to previous installments (mainly Kirby: Triple Deluxe), with the addition of three new Copy Abilities: Doctor, Poison, and ESP, and a new vehicle for Kirby: the Robobot Armor. After hijacking it from the invaders, Kirby can use it to tear through obstacles and enemies. It also shares Kirby's innate Power Copying ability by being able to scan enemies to gain "Modes", expanding its versatility. Multiplayer is included via the new Team Kirby Clash RPG-like mode, which lets up to four Kirbys team up against extra-tough bosses by using one of four special abilities that level up as they are used. Also present are "Kirby 3D Rumble", a special 3D minigame, and "Meta Knightmare Returns", a time attack mode starring Meta Knight. In 2017, Team Kirby Clash and Kirby 3D Rumble both received standalone sequels as Team Kirby Clash Deluxe and Kirby's Blowout Blast.

amiibo functionality is also included in the game. While playing, tapping an amiibo to the system allows Kirby to inhale it and gain an ability. Certain amiibo will always give Kirby the same ability, and the game launched alongside a new Kirby amiibo line, which can unlock special costumes and an exclusive ability depending on the amiibo figure you use.

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Tropes used in Kirby: Planet Robobot:

Tropes #-K

• 11th-Hour Superpower: The Robobot Armor can access Halberd Mode in which the Halbred merges with the Armor and the ship is recolored to look like the Armor. For the finisher, the Robobot Armor returns to normal, then the right arm of the mech dons a giant drill or spearhead and uses a spin attack to defeat the final boss of the game, Star Dream.
• 100% Completion: As with Triple Deluxe, there are multiple tasks involved in fully completing a playthrough: complete the main storyline, collect all the Code Cubes and stickers, complete all stages in Kirby 3D Rumble and Team Kirby Clash, finish Meta Knightmare Returns, and win both Arenas. The rewards for 100% completion are a special sing-along movie set to the HWC anthem and unlimited use of the UFO ability (obtained from the Ability Testing Room).
• 2½D: The plane-switching mechanic from Triple Deluxe returns, allowing Kirby to travel between the foreground and the background via Warp Stars. The Robobot Armor is capable of using them as well. In addition, certain areas of the game have curved pathways similar to Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
• A Day in the Limelight: For Meta Knight. Aside from appearing in the box art, not only does he become roboticized by the Haltmann Works Company and forced to fight Kirby twice, and help Kirby defeat the mother computer Star Dream, but he has his own mode entitled "Meta Knightmare Returns", similar to his previous playable modes in Nightmare in Dream Land and Super Star Ultra and that for King Dedede in Triple Deluxe.
• Ability Required to Proceed: Required to collect everything as per Kirby standard, but the Robobot Armor adds a extra layer to it. It must use both its massive strength and its unique Mode powers in conjunction to solve puzzles that Kirby alone can't solve.
• Action Bomb: The Robobot Armor's Bomb Mode lets it spit out these. They climb up walls and can be charged up for a high throw.
• Activation Sequence: The first time Kirby takes an Invader Armor, we're treated to a sequence where Kirby is reconfiguring the armor with a mechanical-styled footage, changing the mech in the process to be more operable for Kirby: the titular Robobot Armor. The sequence ends with an explosion in the background.
• Advancing Boss of Doom: Clanky Woods is first encountered like this — Kirby can attack it, but while a persistent player can eventually defeat it, with a rare sticker as a reward, most players will assume that no damage is recorded, meaning that all he can really do is run away until he gets to a pipe that allows him to get behind a wall.
• Aerith and Bob: In a franchise where most supporting characters are given unusual names like King Dedede or Meta Knight, we get new villains named Susie and Max, though the latter is part of a pun.^note His full name is Max Profitt Haltmann.
• Affably Evil: Susie is the Executive Assistant of the Haltmann Works Company, and acts mostly like a polite office worker with a casual personality. She's also shown to be completely amoral, a traitor to the company purely for profit, and the only villainous character who helps Kirby who doesn't turn good, instead vowing to return.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Star Dream, the HWC's supercomputer, may have purposely made Susie get involved in an accident that separated her from her father and spent years studying life across the universe through Haltmann and decides to destroy all organic life in the universe in the name of profit.
• Alien Invasion: The Haltmann Works Company's attack on Popstar; they're of the Evil Colonialist variety, as they refer to the inhabitants of Popstar as "natives" and "savages", occupy Popstar for their natural resources, and force their technology onto them.
• All There in the Manual: As in Triple Deluxe, pausing the game during the major bosses shows a small bio of the boss you're fighting, along with information you'd probably never know about otherwise, such as the full names of both Susie and President Haltmann, or how the President became the man he is now.
• All the Worlds Are a Stage: Every area has a bonus stage that showcases the various environments from that area. In particular, Area 6-7 takes place in several of the different environments from the previous areas (traveled through via teleportation screens) before returning to the Access Ark for a miniboss rush.
• Amazing Technicolor Battlefield: The final battle against Star Dream and the Nova-like Access Ark, especially the third and final phase which is like a kaleidoscope tunnel.
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: Averted, the Japanese box art has Kirby's angry eyebrows too.
• An Adventurer Is You: Being a sort of Affectionate Parody of roleplaying, the four roles in Team Kirby Clash fill some of the categories:
  • Sword Hero - DPS/Tank hybrid (specifically the Scrapper subtype with his quick attacks, and with his special party shield)
  • Hammer Lord - DPS (specifically the Blademaster subtype, somewhat ironically)
  • Dr. Healmore - Healer
  • Beam Mage - Status Effect Guy (Time Stands Still, to be exact) mixed with Ranged DPS
• Another Side, Another Story: Meta Knightmare Returns, complete with having different Final Bosses against Dark Matter Clone, Sectonia Clone, and Galacta Knight (who isn't a clone).
• And Your Reward Is Clothes:
  • The Robobot Armor can be customized by collecting stickers throughout the game.
  • Scanning a Kirby-series amiibo of Meta Knight, King Dedede, or Waddle Dee gives you a costume based on that character, as well as their ability.
• Apocalypse How: Given that Star Dream explicitly wished to eradicate all life forms in existence — in other words, everywhere — and proved in summoning Galacta Knight that it possessed interdimensional capability, it'd have enacted a straight Class X-5 if Kirby hadn't stopped it.
• Art Evolution: Since his last playable appearance, Meta Knight has been updated to more closely resemble his appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series — complete with the stylised "M" logo from Kirby Super Star on one of his shoulder plates and the segmented metallic sabatons instead of his old Kirby-like feet from Brawl, but with smaller and less-segmented mitten gauntlets than the ones he wore over his gloves in For Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. His eyes are also notably more expressive than they were in Super Smash Bros. as well, moving around more underneath his mask and narrowing angrily as he encounters the aliens in the trailer.
• Artificial Brilliance: Unlike the AI helpers in earlier Kirby games, the teammates in Team Kirby Clash are fairly good at dodging and attacking, with only a few hiccups. Of note is that they won't pick up Team Meteor pieces while time is stopped because of a Beam Mage's Time Beam, as they know Team Meteor cancels out the timestop.
• Artificial Human:
  • Well, more penguin(?) in this case, but the Haltmann Works Company creates clones of Dedede using his DNA to face off against Kirby.
  • Later, during Meta Knightmare Returns, Star Dream unleashes clones of Dark Matter and Queen Sectonia to deal with Meta Knight. Likewise, neither of them are human, with the latter being an insect and the former being… well, some sort of dark cloud thing.
• As Long as It Sounds Foreign:
  • The level names in the Japanese version are comprised of words that sound like English to a Japanese ear, but are really just nonsensical variations on English words; Plain Proptom, Rasterd Road, Octarn Ocean, Gigant Ground, Repositrim Rhythm, and Acciss Arcs. The English localization tweaked these to be more natural-sounding.
  • As the Haltmann Works Company is intended to have a western vibe to it, their names also occasionally have nonsensical western-sounding names in the Japanese version: examples include "Ngyua Base" (localized as "C.O.G.S.") and Susie's "Rereinver" (localized as "Business Suit").
• Asteroids Monster: Dedede Clone breaks into three smaller ones after enough damage is done, turning the fight into a Wolfpack Boss.
• Astral Finale: The final boss battle against Star Dream takes place in deep space, outside of Popstar.
• Author Appeal: Implied In-Universe: The heart shapes Queen Sectonia wore now have a crack in the middle of all of them when appearing as a clone. Given that said crack is identical to the one depicted on Star Dream, it's possible that Star Dream added the crack intentionally.
• Awesomeness Is Volatile: When Kirby first gains the Robobot Armor, the suit's Transformation Sequence ends with a big, unnecessary explosion in the background with lightning effects.
• Background Boss: Gigavolt, a giant robot that sits far away while smashing its hands down on Kirby. Despite its massive size, it's only an early boss, fought in Patched Plains Stage 3.
• Band Land: Rhythm Route contains some musical elements in some of its levels, and it's the first area where the Mike Mode can be obtained.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Seeing as he couldn't get his daughter back, insofar as he knew, Haltmann's only wish was for the prosperity of his company and machines. He seemed to forget he had his own Nova, who decided to make this happen — through the extinction of all organic life in existence.
• Big Bad: President Haltmann (at least, before he gets betrayed by his own computer, Star Dream).
• Black Mage: The Beam ability in Team Kirby Clash becomes "Beam Mage", pitching it as this.
• Bling-Bling-BANG!: President Haltmann's personal Executive Suit is decorated with gemstones and made from solid gold (if the D3 Cannon 2.0 description is to be believed). He even has gold statues of Susie that he uses as Attack Drones.
• Blob Monster:
  • Venogoo, a frog-faced poisonous blob, and Miasmoros, a goopy variant of the previous Galboros mid-bosses made entirely of toxic sludge. Both give the Poison ability.
  • Every clone boss appears as a purple/white blob before they transform. They also turn back into blobs before exploding.
• Bookends:
  • A musical variation — Recurring Riffs aside, the final boss' theme is a remix of the game's main title screen music, combined with snippets of its previous forms' themes and Milky Way Wishes: Shooting. This goes for both the battle with Star Dream's Nova form and the battle with its final final core form in The True Arena.
  • The first ability the player has access to is Spark; in the final boss level, one of the abilities you have the choice to switch to before Mecha Knight+ is Spark, meaning it could be the first and last ability the player uses.
  • The game both starts and ends with Kirby waking up under a tree.
  • In both the first level of the game and the last EX level (6-8), you fight Clanky Woods as it chases you. The first time is with Kirby on foot, while the second is with the Robobot Armor.
• Boss-Altering Consequence:
  • Much like the Mr. Frosty examples from Super Star and Triple Deluxe, the King Doo battle in Patched Plains stage 4 and the second Security Force battle in Access Ark stage 1 can be effectively skipped by entering battle with the Invincible Candy still in effect.
  • Successfully navigating the Remocodroid in stage 2 of the Access Ark to the end of its section and pressing the background switch quickly will drop the Security Force mid-boss down a bottomless pit before it can even get the chance to attack.
• Boss Bonanza:
  • Holo Defense API brings out a pack of bosses from previous games for you to fight against: Kracko, Sphere Doomers, Ice Dragon, and Coily Rattler.
  • The last segment of the game in both modes:
    • Story Mode: The penultimate level has a final encounter with an Invader Armor, rematches against three of the four Holo Defense API summons (Sphere Doomers, Ice Dragon, and Kracko, in that order), yet another Security Force miniboss, and ends with a fight against an updated Gigavolt, all with Robobot Armor. The following boss level has a rematch with Mecha Knight and the supposed final boss fight against President Haltmann. After that comes the Marathon Boss that is Star Dream.
    • Meta Knightmare Returns: Meta Knight skips everything in the penultimate level aside from the holograms, but since he plays the bonus stages before the main bosses, he also has to face Bonkers 2.0, Miasmoros 2.0, and the chasing Clanky Woods rematch all in a row. He doesn't fight Mecha Knight+ (that fight was combined with the first to make Stock Mecha Knight), and after Haltmann, he fights clones of Dark Matter and Queen Sectonia, followed by Galacta Knight as his final boss.
• Boss Game: Team Kirby Clash consists of only boss fights.
• Boss-Only Level: The main bosses are fought on their own levels, which you have to unlock by collecting enough Code Cubes.
• Boss Remix: The regular boss theme, "Vs. The Wicked Company", is a tense remix of "The Noble Haltmann".
• Boss Rush:
  • As usual, The Arena serves as this, as well as its True Arena counterpart where you fight harder versions of the bosses.
  • In the final part of the third stage of "Kirby 3D Rumble", Kirby has to fight the versions of Masher from the two previous stages before going up against a third that serves as the Final Boss of the mode.
• Bragging Rights Reward: 100% Completion nets you the ability to obtain the otherwise amiibo-exclusive UFO ability. Granted, there's no way to access it outside the main campaign otherwise, so…
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Whispy Woods and Meta Knight go through this as a result of Unwilling Roboticisation, turning them into obedient robots.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: Amiibo allow you to gain any power at any time, easily letting you get otherwise difficult-to-obtain powers with ease. More so for Kirby series amiibo. Super Smash Bros. versions will also give Energy Drinks while the official Kirby series ones will give Maxim Tomatoes! These can make the True Arena much easier. Though doing so will place an amiibo sticker next to your high score.
• Burning Rubber: The Robobot Armor's Fire Mode allows it to trail fire behind it as it moves. Its Wheel Mode can spin around to set the area on fire.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Meta Knight returns after being virtually absent since Return to Dream Land. What makes this notable is that he's been Promoted to Playable again with the Meta Knightmare Returns mode.
  • Several long-gone Copy Abilities make their return in this game. These include Jet and Mirror from Kirby Super Star; Smash Bros.^note formerly "Smash" from Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, which had previously reappeared in Kirby's Dream Collection; and UFO^note formerly "U.F.O." from Kirby's Adventure, making its first playable appearance since Kirby: Squeak Squad. The latter two are amiibo exclusive unless you manage to find extremely well-hidden rooms hidden in each area which contains Smash or achieve 100% Completion to make a UFO appear in the Ability Testing Room.
  • Meta Knight's minions, the Meta-Knights, make their first main appearance since Kirby Super Star as part of Meta Knight's ultimate special move, officially called Meta Knightmares.
  • After being unrepresented in games prior, Adeleine finally makes her first cameo since Kirby 64, as a sticker for Kirby's Robobot Armor.
  • While Pix doesn't appear, Holo Defense API bears more than a passing resemblance to it. Its 2.0 bio confirms that this isn't a coincidence. Furthermore, two of its summons did not appear in Triple Deluxe: Sphere Doomers (Return to Dream Land) and the Ice Dragon (Dream Land 2).
  • Kabula, last seen in Super Star Ultra (and Return to Dream Land as a cameo in Scope Shot), is back as a special Jet Robobot boss.
  • Dark Matter finally returns in a main game, even if it's just a clone. Not only that, but it's in its original form from Kirby's Dream Land 2.
  • Galacta Knight returns as well to once again challenge Meta Knight. Unlike Dark Matter and Sectonia, whom are clones, this is the real Galacta Knight.
  • Landia returns as the final boss of Team Kirby Clash.
  • The Security Force mini-bosses encountered late in the game are weaker versions of the Metal General boss from Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
  • The true form of the Access Ark looks a lot like Nova. However, it's not the same Nova that Kirby and Meta Knight both encountered in Milky Way Wishes and Meta Knightmare Ultra, respectively, but a completely different one found and modified by President Haltmann.
  • Masher of Kirby's Dream Land 2 reappears as the boss of Kirby 3D Rumble.
  • Kibble Blade, King Doo, and Dubior reappear after being absent in Triple Deluxe.
• Call-Back:
  • The map screen is reminiscent of the Kirby's Dream Land 3 map, namely something hovering over the planet, Kirby having to destroy its limbs/tendrils before entering it to confront the Big Bad.
  • Robobot Armor's method of copying enemies is one to the "Copy" Copy Ability in Super Star.
  • The boss of Resolution Road, Holo Defense API. It summons holographic versions of Kracko, two Sphere Doomers, an Ice Dragon, and Coily Rattler, making it also a reference to Ado (who summoned two of those enemies in her boss fight as well as a dual boss similar to the Doomers). For bonus points, when all of the holographic bosses are defeated, Holo Defense API itself tries to do a last-ditch attack and it can be defeated with one final hit, like Ado. And, on top of all that, Holo Defense API's appearance is similar to Pix. Although that last case isn't a coincidence, according to its 2.0 version bio.
  • The Access Ark turns out to be a clockwork sun, similar to Nova that Kirby and Meta Knight encountered before. To drive the point home, it takes on the exact same gold-and-blue color scheme in The True Arena. In addition to that, the last phase of the Access Ark fight has Star Dream summon giant objects to attack you, which include weather vanes, light bulbs, piano keys, a drawing compass, a telescope, and a pocket watch. Seems pretty random, until you remember what the original Nova looked like. Also, after beating the third form, it completely closes its left eye but not its right, a nod to the wound Nova received around its left eye after the penultimate battle of Milky Way Wishes.
  • Like in Return to Dream Land and Triple Deluxe, there'll be a time where you wreck the hell out of lots of minibosses with the "super-weapon" of the game. In this case, this occurs in 6-5 where you, riding Robobot Jet Mode, blast a lot of minibosses on the ground.
  • Like Triple Deluxe, there's a level in the late game where you have to avoid a set of squares coming from the background before the finish door appears. However, in both games, waiting for 86 seconds after the door appears will make the squares appear again from the background, this time forming letters H, A, and L before an extra door appears; enter it to get lots of goodies.
  • The Whispy Woods fight in Team Kirby Clash works the same as his boss fights in previous games… up until he Turns Red, where he borrows many strategies from Flowery Woods in Triple Deluxe, including jumping and attacking from the background.
  • The theme for Star Dream Soul OS' fourth phase is a remixed theme of Galactic Nova Nucleus of Kirby Super Star.
  • The first stage of Overload Ocean starts with the player over a portion of ground surrounded by water, with a Knuckle Joe on the same platform, just like the beginning of Float Islands from Kirby Super Star.
  • The Game Over theme for Meta Knight is an arrangement of the title screen tune of "Revenge of Meta Knight" from Kirby Super Star.
  • In Team Kirby Clash, in addition to legit experience points, you can potentially get various completely useless stat upgrades followed by "(Not that it matters.)", similar to the Computer Virus boss from Kirby Super Star.
• Came Back Wrong: Dark Matter via cloning, a rare instance wherein this is a good thing. It was so incomprehensible that only the guise it took could be fully replicated, barely touching upon its true self's abilities when it Turns Red.
• The Cameo:
  • During Galacta Knight's dimensional cut attack, you can occasionally see the Lor Starcutter sailing in the dimension Galacta Knight opens up.
  • Dark Meta Knight replaces Meta Knight as a possible balloon produced by Circus Kirby.
  • When Kirby uses the standard Stone ability to turn himself into a stone, he may instead transform into golden statues of Mario◊ from the Mario franchise, Tom Nook from the Animal Crossing series, or Master Hand from the Super Smash Bros. series.
  • One of the rare stickers is Qbby from BoxBoy!, another HAL Laboratory game.
• Camera Abuse: Returning from Triple Deluxe are hazards that knock Kirby against the screen. If he's in his Robobot Armor when this happens, the screen gets "cracked" briefly. Meta Knight in his mode naturally joins in on the "fun", as does his Halberd during the final battle.
• Canon Immigrant:
  • There's a sticker of a poorly drawn Dedede that almost looks exactly like in the "Cartoon Buffoon" anime episode where Dedede says "Oh come now, lil ol' me a hero? Surely you jestin'!", along with the star on the crown to boot.
  • Meta Knight's Final Smash from Super Smash Bros., Galaxia Darkness, is also included in the game as one of his special moves. Though he doesn't need to hit anything with his cape to pull it off here.
• Capitalism Is Bad: Comes with the territory of a MegaCorp being the villain. Haltmann Works Company invades and forcibly robotizes Popstar in the name of profit.
• Casino Park: Stage 4 of Resolution Road and Stage 2 of Rhythm Route take place in grand casinos.
• Chainsaw Good: In Cutter Mode, the Robobot Armor can hold its blades out to function as this, instead of just throwing them.
• Charged Attack:
  • Many Robobot Armor Modes have the ability to charge their attacks. Notable is Spark Mode, an ability already known for charged attacks, giving the Robobot Armor a multi-tier laser attack. When fully charged, it acts as a mini-Wave-Motion Gun.
  • There's the usual Jet Kirby with its chargeable jet propulsion.
  • The UFO ability is back, complete with its chargeable laser attacks; this game also gives it one final level of charge where Kirby fires a spread of lasers forward and one backward. The same thing can be done with Robobot Armor's Jet Mode, but with big missiles.
  • Doctor Kirby has one where he throws multiple pills at once, while ESP Kirby has another where he can deploy and move around a larger psychic sphere if he charges it up first, and Poison's charged attack lets Kirby shoot out a toxic cloud.
  • In the final battle, you can shoot down some of the boss's attacks and absorb the wreckage they leave behind. You can then use the wreckage you accumulate to power a devastating star cannon. Think Kirby's usual inhale-and-spit, only magnified.
• Cloning Splits Attributes: The Dedede Clone starts off fighting just like the original, but after being reduced to half HP, it splits into three smaller clones that deal less damage and lack the ability to inhale.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Robobot Armor changes colors to reflect the Mode it's in.
• Combination Attack: Meta Knight's ultimate special move in Meta Knightmare Returns, replacing Mach Tornado from Super Star Ultra, has him summon his minions, the Meta-Knights, to attack everything on screen.
• Combo Platter Powers: Smash Bros. ability returns from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror; just like in the Smash Bros. series, its ability is a mix of other abilities' attacks (like Cutter's Final Cutter or Hammer's Hammer Flip).
• Console Cameo:
  • Kirby can find a Game Boy-like device as a carrying item, acting as a remote control for a Kirby robot in the background.
  • In Area 6-8, there are two Waddle Dees playing Kirby's Adventure on a Famicom.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Holo Defense API 2.0's bio mentions for its Coily Rattler hologram that Floralia (the setting of Kirby: Triple Deluxe) was unaffected by the Haltmann Works Company's invasion because of its sheer physical distance from the rest of Dream Land.
    • Speaking of Holo Defense API, its 2.0 bio says that it was made with blueprints from another planet, which may be a reference to the similar-looking Pix from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
  • When you level up in Team Kirby Clash, in addition to your actual stat gains, you may get a message saying that a 'stat' such as Puffiness or Eye Sparkle increased (not that it matters). A very similar message appeared after defeating the Computer Virus in Kirby Super Star.
  • Sectonia Clone's bio mentions that she was recreated from DNA data found on a flower petal, a reference to her merging with the Dreamstalk in Triple Deluxe. After defeating her, there's a brief moment where the clone appears to take form into what looks like Taranza before the clone dies. However, there are some noticeable differences (the eyes are more feminine and the horns are different); this isn't Taranza, but rather Sectonia before she was transformed into the bee-esque queen she became. Current series director Shinya Kumazaki stated on Triple Deluxe's behind the scenes Miiverse that Queen Sectonia used to look different before Taranza gave her the Dimension Mirror, but that part of the lore was never shown in-game.
  • There is a giant screw in Area 6-8 which after being unscrewed shows two Waddle Dees playing Kirby's Adventure.
  • Kirby's Adventure had some of the Butter Building rooms just be Kirby running around the spire until a door appeared, with the illusion of 3D motion making it appear like he was running up. The tower levels in this game bring back that feeling, as each one starts with Kirby running around and up the spire until the door appears.
  • Core Kabula sports two cannons instead of one, like the Kabula boss in Kirby's Block Ball.
  • A hidden room at the very end of stage 6-8 drops Kirby into Fine Fields, where the music is the title theme from the aforementioned Kirby's Adventure. As per recurring series tradition originating in Kirby's Dream Land, the secret passage is in the moon image in the background. The Copy Ability Testing Area also takes place in Fine Fields, with its original music theme from Triple Deluxe. As mentioned above, the area is unaffected by the mechanical invasion of the rest of the game, making its more natural and abstract design a bit of an Art Shift.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: The antagonists of this and the previous game reflect the drastically different themes of said games. While they both were once good people who faced tragedy and were later manipulated by their respective Greater-Scope Villains into becoming evil, as well as being betrayed by their respective dragons, that's where the similarities end. Unlike Queen Sectonia, who was a vain beauty-obsessed evil queen and was magic and nature-based, President Haltmann is a Corrupt Corporate Executive who relies on advanced technology and machinery. Sectonia's primary motivation was divine beauty and power who would become corrupted by the magic mirror, while Haltmann had a more sympathetic goal of wanting to bring his daughter back after an accident, but went mad when Star Dream kept messing with his memories. Therefore when Susie actually came back, he didn't recognize her as his daughter. Queen Sectonia underwent a Fusion Dance with the Dreamstalk and planned to cover all of Popstar in vines and have all its residents sustain her for eternity. Haltmann, however, was hijacked by the game's Greater-Scope Villain, Star Dream, after his attempt at operating it was sabotaged, causing it to assimilate him and then attempt to eradicate all organic life in the universe in order to achieve its company's goal of prosperity, seeing organic life as a liability.
• Contrasting Sequel Setting: While Triple Deluxe took place on a pastel-coloured Floating Continent full of flowers and other plant life, this game takes place in a world overrun with machines and industry.
• Cool Bike: Aside from the Wheelies (which, like in Triple Deluxe, look more like the "motorbike" Wheelie helper in Super Star), the Robobot Armor transforms into a high tech bike in its Wheel Mode.
• Cool Key: The Code Cubes contain codes that act as keys to open the security firewalls that lead to the boss stage.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: The Big Bad, President Haltmann, is harvesting and mechanizing Popstar with no regard for the people living there. However, he became this due to the loss of his own daughter, Susie.
• Creative Closing Credits: As the credits scroll by, you can use the Robobot (or Meta Knight's sword) to hit them into the screen.
• Creator Cameo: HAL Laboratory's logo (under the name "Dream Hatcher") appears as the rare sticker of 6-8.
• Cutscene Boss: In the main story mode, after you beat Star Dream's third (Nova) phase, you'll be treated with a cutscene that segues into another phase in the battle (complete with the boss' health bar) where Kirby, in a Quick Time Event, has to drill through Star Dream's defenses (as it depletes its HP) before drilling the Star Dream at the top of the Access Ark.
• Cyber Cyclops:
  • Invader Armors have a red sensor on their fronts. It's lost when they get turned into Robobot Armor by Kirby. Meta Knight also gets a similar sensor added onto him after being turned into Mecha Knight, which is planted over the eye-slot of his mask. Star Dream also has a single eye.
  • The King Doo mini boss, even though it was already mono-eyed, now has the look of a cyborg due to robotization.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Taken horrifyingly literally in the case of President Haltmann, who has his mind and soul consumed by Star Dream when it goes rogue. This is directly stated in the True Arena "Soul OS" fights, wherein it's mentioned that a tiny portion of Haltmann's soul is still hanging on, and during the final phase, what appear to be his final thoughts are tragically shown as the boss info… right up until the heart moves to attack personally, and the boss info changes to coldly stating that Haltmann has been completely wiped from the OS — memories, soul, everything.
• Damage-Sponge Boss: The bosses fought in Team Kirby Clash have their health buffed to massive levels to compensate for the fact that there are up to four Kirbys fighting. And later also Star Dream, by virtue of being a SHMUP Final Boss.
• Darker and Edgier:
  • Planet Robobot is this compared to most other Kirby games. The opening cutscene alone is far more sinister than Triple Deluxe's, as the Haltmann Works Company's absolutely massive mothership effortlessly takes down Dedede and Meta Knight and immediately begins mechanizing Dream Land. The glowing red eyes that all the robot soldiers have don't help. Compare this to Triple Deluxe, which still features lush, colorful, untampered nature scenery from the start.
  • President Haltmann is revealed through boss descriptions to have done everything in an attempt to bring back his daughter who he thought had died in some sort of accident, only to forget he ever even had one, which isn't the sort of plot you'd expect in a Kirby game. His ultimate fate is possibly the darkest thing in the franchise; Haltmann has his body and soul assimilated by his supercomputer, resulting in a state of pure And I Must Scream (during the True Final Boss, you can literally hear Haltmann screaming in agony in the background) and finally culminates in Star Dream deleting Haltmann's soul from existence — just as Haltmann finally remembers his own daughter. Ouch.
  • Meta Knight is unwillingly roboticised, and it's mentioned that the Haltmann Works Company plans to make a production line from him as well.
  • In fact, there's not even a "Kirby Master!" video for 100% completion like the previous three games. Instead, we get an "Exclusive Performance Video", where Susie sings "The Noble Haltmann" in the Access Ark's executive office. What helps this is that the song is quite somber, which befits Haltmann's tragic backstory and how he became the Corrupt Corporate Executive he is now.
  • Much of the music is considerably much darker and sinister as a whole, what with the mechanical theme and all.
• Deadly Disc: The Cutter Mode gives the Robobot Armor giant bladed gear-discs in place of the normal cutters. They can be tossed like normal or held out in front to act like a running sawblade.
• Deadly Doctor: Doctor, a new ability in this game, allows Kirby to attack with clipboards and medical potions just as effectively as he can with more conventional weapons.
• Death Glare: Kirby gives one to Susie when told that the people/'natives' of Popstar have been identified as obstacles to the mechanisation programme. Meta Knight also gives one in the opening when he sees the Access Ark looming in the skies.
• Degraded Boss:
  • Metal General returns as a common miniboss in the final area under the name "Security Force".
  • The mini-bosses, including Security Force, appear in the final standard level as fodder for the Robobot's Jet Mode.
  • During the boss fight against Star Dream, it summons flying Invader Armors (first form) and Gigavolts (second form) to attack you.
• Demoted to Extra: After his major appearance in the previous game, King Dedede only appears in the opening and ending cutscenes and spends the entire game unconscious, trapped in the rubble of his destroyed castle. Cloned versions of him, Dark Matter, and Queen Sectonia do appear as bosses, however.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Back in Super Star, the idea of fighting Nova was ludicrous. It was an absolute and undeterrable acting force, so mind-bendingly massive and unstoppable that the sun and the moon united combined with destroying its insides could only slow it down. Here, Kirby takes one on that is acting upon its own will, absorbing the Battleship Halberd itself via his Robobot Armor to face the sapient mechanical planet in single combat. He wins (and scares the crap out of the AI as he takes it down).
• Difficult, but Awesome:
  • ESP's PK Insight/Evade is a counter move that must be done when an attack is about to hit Kirby. Done right, you can do an incredible amount of damage akin to a Hammer Flip without the charge-up/cool-off times, and is a great help against bosses. However, it also requires good timing, and if you're not good with that, you'll most likey end up taking a lot of potshots.
  • Air attack cancelling. If Kirby lands on the ground while in the middle of performing an attack like the Sword Spin, Super Ice Sprinkle, or either version of Hammer's Giant Swing, he can cancel the animation by jumping. By tapping A to make the smallest jump possible, there's enough time for Kirby to attack immediately after he leaves the ground and again just before he lands — at which point he can make another tiny jump to cancel the second attack and repeat it indefinitely. It's very difficult to consistently maintain the optimal rhythm, but mastering this technique lets you shred through bosses like paper.
• Disney Death: Susie, AKA Susanna Patrya Haltmann, was presumed dead after an accident. Her father, the President of the Haltmann Works Company, created his own Nova to wish for her safety. She returned to join the company years later for her own ends, but her father didn't recognize her at that point.
• Do a Barrel Roll: You can roll in the fight against Star Dream while piloting the Halberd Mode Robobot Armor. If you're familiar with Star Fox, it does exactly what you expect.
• Double Jump: Due to lacking Kirby's traditional flight (unless in Parasol Mode, Jet Mode, or Halberd Mode), the Robobot Armor gets a single midair jump.
• The Dragon: Susie is this to President Haltmann. However, she only wants to steal Star Dream from him for profit (and to try to free him from its influence… that doesn't work out so well.
• The Dreaded: When you encounter Clanky Woods for the first time, you see those poor Waddle Dees running away from him.
• Dual Boss: Holo Defense API summons two Sphere Doomers during a section of its fight; specifically, there's a Regular Doomer and a Fire Doomer (this is how they're paired of in Return to Dream Land's Arenas), though the difference is only seen via attacks. There's also the Dedede Clone trio.
• Dual Wielding: Since the Robobot Armor has two arms, nearly every Mode gives it a weapon for both of them.
• Dub Name Change:
  • Esper to ESP and Robobo to Robobot.
  • Everyone! Kirby Hunters to Team Kirby Clash, Hero Sword to Sword Hero, Heavy Hammer to Hammer Lord, Magic Beam to Beam Mage, Heal Doctor to Doctor Healmore, Kirby's 3D Challenge to Kirby 3D Rumble, Go, Meta Knight! Returns to Meta Knightmare Returns^note Go, Meta-Knights! to Meta Knightmares, and (True) Boss Endurance becomes The (True) Arena.
  • Poisonboros to Miasmoros, Telepatris to Telepathos, and Security Service to Security Force.
  • "Iron Giant Weapon Gigavolt (2)" to Gigavolt (II) and "Ngyua Base" to C.O.G.S.
  • Whispy Borg to Clanky Woods, Holograph Defense Systems to Holo Defense API^note Holo-Lowpers to Holo-Doomers, Holo-Garaga to Holo-Coily Rattler, Meta Knight Borg to Mecha Knight^note Mecha Knight Borg Kai to Mecha Knight+, Reinforced Mass Production Meta Knight Borg to Stock Mecha Knight, Clone Dedede to Dedede Clone, Susanna Familia Hartmann to Susanna Patraya Haltmann, Gains Income Hartmann to Max Profitt Haltmann, Clone Sectonia to Sectonia Clone, and Galactic Knight Returns to Galacta Knight Returns.
  • All of the level names: Plain Proptom to Patched Plains, Rasterd Road to Resolution Road, Octarn Ocean to Overload Ocean, Gigant Ground to Gigabyte Grounds, Repositrim Rhythm to Rhythm Route, Acciss Arcs to Access Ark, and "Mind controlled by a program" to Mind in the Program.
  • The extra mode bosses have "Re:" as a prefix to their names in Japanese and "2.0" as a suffix to their names in English.
• Dungeon Town: Stage 1 of Resolution Road takes place in a suburban town complete with Waddle Dees driving cars from the background, while Stage 1 of Rhythm Route takes place in a more modernized city at night.
• Ear Worm: In-universe, Susie mentions that the Haltmann Company's theme song (which is also the game's main theme), "The Noble Haltmann", is very catchy.
• Easter Egg:
  • There's a small chance that the Kirby seen in Jukebox mode will be replaced with his 8-bit equivalent. Also, the HAL rooms reappear as usual, as well as secret rooms where you can find the Smash Bros. ability.
  • And, like in Triple Deluxe, in Stage 6-8 (the final EX stage of the game), just before the level's exit door, there's a background screen you can turn on to reveal 8-bit Kirby and Meta Knight in their Kirby's Adventure incarnation (Triple Deluxe does it with a scrolling paper). You can also jump up and "enter" the moon above the Meta Knight image for one final secret.
• Eldritch Starship: The Access Ark doesn't seem like this at first glance, but when Kirby ventures deep enough inside, he finds a bizarre, brightly colored landscape somewhat reminiscent of Another Dimension. And that's before it turns out to be the body of a Galactic Nova, repurposed for the Haltmann Works Company's own ends.
• The End... Or Is It?: The game ends on this note, since although Star Dream and Haltmann have been destroyed, Susie flies off to plot her next move.
• Enemy Mine: Upon realizing that Star Dream is sentient and views organic life as unprofitable, Susie decides on a temporary truce with Kirby and helps refit the Robobot.
• Energy Ball:
  • The Robobot Armor's Beam Mode can shoot bouncing balls of light. ESP Kirby can also deploy a ball of psychic energy that he can control around (think Return to Dream Land's Flare Beam), and Robobot ESP Mode can shoot floating psychic balls around.
  • Aside from King Doo, the new Telepathos mini-boss can also shoot psychic energy balls.
• Eternal Engine: Considering the theme of the game, it's not too surprising that many of the levels are this, Patched Plains and Gigabyte Grounds in particular. In a special note, there are also specific stages in each area where Kirby must infiltrate an enemy base.
• Everything Is an Instrument: "Studying the Power Plant", a remix of the "Studying the Factory" music from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, uses Stock Sound Effects of a car crash, as well as a prepared electric guitar, as percussive instruments. To evoke the sounds of high voltage heard in electric power plants, composer Jun Ishikawa put his cheap reading glasses between the strings, resulting in a distinctive metallic tone (and causing the glasses to break in the process).
• Evil Knockoff: Susie reveals in Rhythm Route's boss fight that the company has made a clone of King Dedede to fight off Kirby. Later on in Meta Knightmare Returns, Meta Knight fights a different version of himself named Stock Mecha Knight (an allusion to how Susie mentioned that the company's making MK a production model).
• Evil Laugh: Susie and President Haltmann really love to let these out. President Haltmann in particular has some really hammy laughs that emphasize how haughty he really is before having his butt handed to him by Kirby.
• Fantasy Character Classes: Team Kirby Clash renames and gives custom designs to standard Abilities to make them resemble these. For example, Sword is now Sword Hero, your typical Jack of All Trades warrior; Hammer is now Hammer Lord, a barbarian-esque Mighty Glacier; Beam is now Beam Mage, who is a typical Black Mage specialized in ranged damage; and Doctor is now Doctor Healmore, who is a White Mage with Area of Effect healing moves.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: The Fire Mode allows the Robobot Armor to wield two flamethrowers on its arms. Yes, two.
• First Town: Resolution Road, though it's the second area.
• Fluffy the Terrible: The final boss of the game is one of the most threatening enemies Kirby has ever fought: it's a Mechanical Abomination bent on destroying every life form in the entire universe, and it delivers one heck of a boss fight. Its name? Star Dream.
• Foreshadowing:
  • As you encounter Susie in later levels, she makes allusions to the company's president and their mother computer. Guess what Kirby ends up fighting by the end of the game?
  • Just like in Return to Dream Land and Triple Deluxe, the names of the areas make an acronym — in this case, P-R-O-G-R-A-M, which alludes to the Final Boss.
  • The top of Star Dream looks like the top of a screw, that Kirby uses the Robobot Armor to interact with whenever he meets it. Later in the Final Boss fight (in the story mode), in the final phase, Kirby uses the Robobot Armor's massive screwdriver-turned-drill to cork in Star Dream into the Access Ark in a similar manner of spinning the screws, before going overboard and drilling through the entire Access Ark.
  • A subtle one in the True Arena. Star Dream in the Arena and C.O.G.S/Core Kabula in the True Arena don't have a Roulette Copy Essence preceding them, as both of those are fought with shooter-abilities (the Jet Mode and the Halberd Mode of the Robobot Armor, respectively). However, Star Dream Soul OS does provide a Roulette Copy Essence before the battle, foreshadowing that there's going to be on-foot gameplay somewhere in the fight.
• Freaky Electronic Music: In contrast to the happy orchestra and chiptune sounds used in previous games, this game's soundtrack is mostly composed of industrial techno instruments and heavily distorted chiptune. This is symbolic of Haltmann Works Co. taking over and mechanizing Dream Land.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • During the Dark Matter Clone's death animation, it briefly turns into its true form before exploding. Likewise, in the Sectonia Clone's death animation, it very briefly turns into Sectonia's original form, which resembles Taranza.
  • At the end of the second fight against Mecha Knight, his mask breaks, per tradition, revealing his true face underneath.
  • Occasionally, during Galacta Knight's "dimension cutting" attack, you can see the Lor Starcutter floating in space.
• Fun with Acronyms: Like Triple Deluxe and Return to Dream Land before it, taking the the first letter of each area does this. In the case of Planet Robobot, it spells out P-R-O-G-R-A-M, which hints that the final boss, Star Dream, is a mother computer program. Unlike the past games, you don't get the final letter until after the final boss reveals itself.
• Funny Background Event: In one level, when you rotate a giant cylinder long enough so that it falls off its peg in order to uncover a Code Cube, you'll also find two Waddle Dees drawing dodgy doodles of Kirby and King Dedede. In another level, you'll be doing the same thing to find another two Waddle Dees playing Kirby's Adventure.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Gigavolt, who appears as a boss at the end of otherwise forgettable stages. Twice.
• Goggles Do Nothing: When Kirby boards the Robobot Armor, he gains goggles on his head much like he would a Copy Ability hat. For some reason, he refuses to wear them on his face.
• Gotta Catch Them All: Replacing the keychains from Triple Deluxe are stickers, which can be used to decorate Kirby's Robobot Armor. There's also Code Cubes, which act like Sun Stones from Triple Deluxe in that they unlock boss levels.
• Green Hill Zone: Patched Plains, even though it was mechanized.
• Hailfire Peaks: Many of the otherwise normal stages of the game are mixed with Eternal Engine, such as in Patched Plains (with Green Hill Zone) or Gigabyte Grounds (with Shifting Sand Land).
• Helicopter Blender: Parasol Mode gives the Robobot Armor two parasols crossed with helicopter blades. In addition to slicing enemies when they're activated, they allow the mech to fly (albeit not infinitely).
• Heroes Prefer Swords: The Sword ability becomes "Sword Hero" in Team Kirby Clash.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: The Robobot Armor is said to be Kirby's best friend in the English overview trailer. Well, considering what happens in the ending...
• Hidden Depths: Who knew King Dedede and the Waddle Dees were into playing chess?
• Hologram Projection Imperfection: The holograms projected by Holo Defense API are colored light green (purple as its 2.0 version) and are slightly distorted visually (with visible black and white squares). They distort further as they take damage and fizzle out entirely once defeated.
• Humongous Mecha:
  • Gigavolt easily stands as one of Kirby's largest boss fights, to the point of being a Background Boss.
  • Star Dream, who merges with the Access Ark (which is by itself so gigantic that while attached to Popstar, its limbs go up so high that they're eventually obscured by the atmosphere) and becomes a sentient planet, which Kirby has to fight with the Halberd.
• If My Calculations Are Correct: The bio for Star Dream Soul OS gives it a 99.99% chance of victory (that .01% left over being what's left of Haltmann's soul).
• Inconsistent Dub: Players may notice that in the American English version, one of the final bosses of Meta Knightmare Returns is known as Dark Matter Clone in its stamina bar and flavor text, but Dark Matter Blade in The True Arena. So which is it? Turns out the reason is simple — Dark Matter Blade Clone is closer to the Japanese text, which is the official name of its first phase from Kirby's Dream Land 2 as "Dark Matter Blade" (its second phase is called "Real Dark Matter" in the Japanese guide).
• Infinity -1 Sword: If you don't have the Smash Bros. series Kirby amiibo, the Smash Bros. ability becomes this. It can be found in a number of well-hidden rooms throughout the game, but at least you don't have to fully complete the game to get it, unlike UFO. As in previous appearances, the power is very versatile, with a good selection of moves and is capable of doing heavy damage. You can't bring it into either Arena without amiibo, however.
• Infinity +1 Sword: If you don't have the Kirby series Kirby amiibo, UFO becomes this, as it can only be unlocked by 100% Completion. It pretty much turns the whole game into a Shoot 'Em Up with Kirby as the plane, with a powerful chargeable laser. As with Smash, you can't bring into either Arena without said amiibo.
• Interface Screw:
  • In Overload Ocean, there's one dessert-based level with falling ice cream that will briefly block parts of the screen for a few seconds.
  • President Haltmann's Executive Suit can use dollar bills to obscure parts of the screen. Yes, dollar bills, with either his or Susie's faces on them.
• Irony: Before summoning Galacta Knight, Star Dream states that any resulting collateral damage from the encounter is vastly outweighed by the result of his defeat. The only thing destroyed is Star Dream itself, as Galacta slashes it with his spear before focusing his attention on Meta Knight.
• Kaizo Trap: A disgustingly cruel one can happen at the very end of the True Arena; after you defeat the fourth phase of the Star Dream Soul OS fight (and aren't at full health), its heart will emit 3 One-Hit Kill shockwaves that go through even the usually invicibility-inducing powers like Stone. Should one fail to avoid them (or exploit the Mercy Invincibility of simply discharging and quickly re-inhaling their copy ability or be at full health by the time these waves come out), the insanely hard times the player had just to get there would be reduced to ashes.

Tropes L-Z

• Laser Blade:
  • In Sword Mode, the Robobot Armor gains laser-based arm protrusions that allow it to slice seamlessly through enemies and obstacles.
  • The fourth boss, Mecha Knight, has a laser version of the Galaxia. Meta Knightmare Returns' exclusive boss Stock Mecha Knight also has one. As Mecha Knight+, he's able to make the sword grow longer.
  • Security Force, a miniboss that only appears in the final area of the game, can attack Kirby with a cyber-katana just like Metal General.
• Last Ditch Move:
  • The Security Force minibosses pull out a self destruct switch after being defeated, which eventually causes them to explode, leaving harmful flames behind. Getting rid of them beforehand prevents the flames from appearing.
  • Star Dream Soul OS's heart releases One-Hit KO rings once its HP is depleted to try and take you down with it. Well, technically, you CAN survive if you had full health before impact, but the point is taken.
• Last Lousy Point: If you beat the main game and all the game modes, you'll likely end up with around 95-98% completion. To get the last few percentages, you need to collect every sticker. Which common sticker you get is random and can have duplicates, while rare stickers have only one copy but are far better hidden than any Code Cube (but unlike Triple Deluxe, the game will tell you which stages still have uncollected rare stickers in them). Have fun.
• Legacy Boss Battle:
  • Holo Defense API, like Ado and Adeleine before it, summons images of previous games' bosses to fight Kirby, though in the form of holograms rather than paintings. The fight includes Kracko, two Sphere Doomers, Ice Dragon, and Coily Rattler.
  • In Meta Knightmare Returns, Meta Knight goes against clones of Dark Matter and Queen Sectonia before fighting the real Galacta Knight.
  • The True Final Boss Star Dream Soul OS greatly resembles Nova, and the first half of the final phase of its battle is an on-foot variant of the Nova fight.
• Level Ate:
  • Stage 4 of Overload Ocean takes place in an ice-cream factory, with some platforms being giant ice-cream sandwiches and tubs of ice-cream, and a recurring background hazard being giant ice-cream cones that fall over toward the player, temporarily splattering all over the camera.
  • The background scenery in several areas contains architecture resembling food, though in keeping with the Eternal Engine theme, it's all based on processed or factory-made food. Resolution Road has buildings shaped like juice cartons, the underwater cities in Overload Ocean are kept in giant bottles, Gigabyte Grounds has giant oil rigs shaped like blenders (with power lines shaped like forks tangled in spaghetti), etc.
• Light Is Not Good:
  • Star Dream is bright white and pink with an angel and heart motif. It is also one of the most destructive forces in the series.
  • Galacta Knight and Queen Sectonia also return in Meta Knightmare Returns.
• Lightning Gun: Robobot Spark Mode is fitted with electric dischargers in both arms that lets it shoot either small plasma shots or a charged electric laser.
• Limit Break: In Team Kirby Clash, your team can activate one if every member in the party collects a Power Tablet. This summons a brief minigame where you must press the A button to stop Kirby's moving face as close to the center of a gauge as possible; if successful, a giant star-shaped meteor flies in from the sky and deals enormous damage to the boss, also stunning them for a long time.
• Locomotive Level: Stage 3 of Patched Plains and Stage 5 of Rhythm Route take place in Haltmann Works Co. trains.
• Lucky Charms Title: In the game's logo, a nut (the mechanical kind) replaces the first "o" in "Robobot". The Japanese logo incorporates both a nut and the Robobot Armor's eyes.
• Marathon Boss: Star Dream is, by far, the longest boss to defeat in the franchise, clocking in at a good ten minutes with three main health bars, with Star Dream Soul OS adding an extra few minutes for a new health bar.
• Mecha-Mooks: Many of the traditional Kirby enemies have been made either partially or fully mechanical as a result of the mechanizing. Some new mooks in this game are also mechanical.
• Mechanical Abomination: Star Dream is a machine so incomprehensibly powerful that it distorts reality into some kind of bizarre kaleidoscopic lightshow, grants wishes by distorting spacetime, and teleports. Given that just by touching a planet it turned it into a mechanized horror show, it's hard to imagine exactly what its full power was and if it would have been capable of eradicating all organic life without opposition.
• Mighty Glacier: Hammer Lord in Team Kirby Clash moves about as fast as a snail when running, but it also has unparalleled power and high stamina.
• Mini-Mecha: The Robobot Armor is only large in comparison to normal enemies, and is still dwarfed by some gigantic robot bosses. Doesn't stop it from kicking a lot of tail.
• Mission-Pack Sequel: Aside from adding the Robobot Armor, the game retains the same basic graphics and gameplay as the previous 3DS installment, which in turn shared those elements with the Wii game that came before it. This keeps up the trend that started with the GBA and Nintendo DS Kirby games. Even some bosses are reused from previous installments.
• Money Mauling: While not necessarily used to attack per se, President Haltmann throws money to obscure parts of the screen.
• Musical Assassin: In Mike Mode, the Robobot Armor gains a boombox add-on that attacks with sound waves and musical notes.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Kirby 3D Rumble minigame takes several design cues from one of the cancelled GameCube titles, and features a remix of the original title theme from Kirby's Dream Land.
  • One of the decals that can be used to decorate the Robobot Armor is a crude drawing of King Dedede's head with a star on his crown, near identical to "Dedede Man" from the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! episode "Cartoon Buffoon".
  • Meta Knight's design now has the shoulder gauntlets from his Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U incarnation.
  • In Meta Knightmare Returns, one of Meta Knight's new special moves is Galaxia Darkness, his Final Smash from the Super Smash Bros. series. His other, more powerful one (called Meta Knightmares) involves him summoning the Meta-Knights (his troops from Kirby's Adventure and Kirby Super Star) to team up with him and attack everything on the screen, finishing up with them all striking an Ass Kicking Pose as everything explodes behind them.
  • The Smash Bros. ability gives Kirby a modified version of his Super Smash Bros. moveset.
• Narrator All Along: It's heavily implied that the pause screen descriptions in this game are written by the Haltmann Works Company. Over time, it becomes clear that they are likely being written by the Mother Computer, Star Dream. Unlike previous games, they tend to use more formal language and a passive voice; when writing about Kirby, the descriptions tend to focus on scientific aspects (and often fail to explain Kirby's supernatural abilities), while when writing about bosses, they tend to focus on business aspects, such as their history, inner workings, or price. This distinction is much more obvious in the Japanese version of the game, but becomes especially apparent in all versions during the Final Boss, where Star Dream's special pages are written directly from its perspective. Further cementing this, the pause screen theme is named "Mother's Intuition".
• Nerf: In Kirby Super Star and its remake, Mirror's guard (which reflects projectiles) could be held indefinitely. It will now break if used for more than a few seconds.
• Never Trust a Trailer: Trailers for the game tend to show Kirby waking up during the Haltmann Works Company's invasion and battling an Invader Armor to gain the Robobot Armor as one sequence, in a CGI animation that doesn't appear in-game. In the actual game's story, Kirby sleeps through the invasion and doesn't obtain the Robobot Armor until stage 1-2.
• No Ending: As with Super Star Ultra, Return to Dream Land, and Triple Deluxe, the extra modes simply end with your character standing on a victory podium. However, unlike previous entries, a plot thread is brought up in one of the extra modes (specifically, Star Dream testing Meta Knight's abilities), which goes unresolved. Considering that Galacta Knight destroys Star Dream after he's summoned, it apparently gets cut short in-universe.
• Nostalgia Level:
  • Stage 6-8 is the last stage of the game before the final boss and it includes a few throwbacks, including a scene from Kirby's Adventure. The final room of the game even plays the title screen music from said game.
  • In stage 6-7, there is a section of which parts are copied from the last level of "Revenge of Meta Knight", complete as an Auto-Scrolling Level. It's rather subtle because the graphics are completely different, but the still same-looking Star Blocks are also on the same positions, giving a definitive hint. The music is the same, too.
• Offscreen Inertia: The intro has Dedede and his home taken out by the aliens. Then he's out of the picture for the entire game. It's only by the ending cinematic do we see him regain consciousness from the ruins of his castle.
• Oh, Crap!: During the final attack phase of the final boss fight, Star Dream is having an internal freakout if you pause to read the description, as it reads that not only is the true power it's facing coming from Kirby himself, but that very power actually exceeds its own.
  “Its energy signature far exceeds that of the Invader Armor, our combat mech. The nearly infinite power within this life-form is astounding. Calculating probability of survival... It doesn't look good.”
• Ominous Pipe Organ: "Soul 0 System" mostly uses techno industrial sounds, but it contains some power pipe organ chords for dramatic effect. Similarly, "Vagrant Counting Song of Retrospection" and "Vagrant Keepsake of Oblivion" have some extended organ parts in the background.
• Our Clones Are Different: There are at least three instances of cloning in the game, none of which can be described as truly perfect:
  • In the main game, Clone Dedede is created from a DNA sample of King Dedede that Susie somehow acquired. The clone greatly resembles Dedede except for the purple shading (yellow for the 2.0 version) and the Haltmann Works Company logo on the back of its coat. It uses similar hammer attacks until it takes enough damage to eventually explode into three slimy blobs that reform as smaller clones. Each one becomes smaller and weaker upon successive regenerations until all health is eventually depleted. The pause screen for the 2.0 version in the "Meta Knightmare Returns" mode states that while it has the look and voice of the king, it does not have his soul, for some things cannot be cloned. Also, some trial models were only interested in food whilst others were afraid of a certain insect; all were imperfect.
  • In the "Meta Knightmare Returns" sub-game, Star Dream tests Meta Knight with clones of Dark Matter and Queen Sectonia. While there does not appear to be anything inherently wrong with the Sectonia Clone^note though it is notably more aggressive than the original article, and its design features broken hearts as an in-universe Creator Thumbprint, the Dark Matter Clone is explicitly stated to have pushed Star Dream to its limits; because only a partial data analysis was possible, it was only able to reproduce the being's false form.
• Planet Looters: In Rhythm Route, Susie reveals that the company is harvesting Popstar's resources for their own creations. Word of God even states that this is the HWC's M.O. and the reason Popstar is being targeted is because it is rich in resources. invoked
• Poison Is Corrosive: The pause description for the Poison ability says this, "This is a rather dangerous ability for all life-forms, organic and otherwise. It can be used to attack enemies with a corrosive liquid that contains damaging substances."
• Poisonous Person: A Poison ability has been added to Kirby's arsenal in this game. It acts similarly to Water from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, but with some extra capabilities like the expected Damage Over Time (though not with status effects), aiming poison streams and spitting toxic clouds.
• Power Copying: Kirby's trademark ability to inhale, eat, and copy enemy powers is still around, and is now joined by the Robobot Armor, who can mimic this effect by scanning enemies, which simultaneously defeats the target and allows the Mini-Mecha to transform into a new Mode, which gives it extra powers. For example, Cutter Mode gives it a giant sawblade, while Spark Mode allows it to fire spark projectiles in place of its punches. Additionally, amiibo can be scanned to give Kirby Copy Abilities on demand; most amiibo generate a specific ability, but some generate random ones. For example, the Mario amiibo gives Fire, the Link amiibo gives Sword, and the Kirby amiibo from the Super Smash Bros. line gives the Smash Bros. ability.
• Power Fist: The Robobot Armor attacks with its giant robot fists when it's in normal Mode. It also uses them in Stone Mode, gaining enough extra force to push certain stage elements.
• Power Floats: Both the regular ESP ability and its corresponding Mode exhibit this.
• Psychic Powers: A new ability for Kirby, going by the name of ESP. It goes with the standard "mental waves" powers, alongside things like a teleportation dash attack. It's also the only new ability to have a Robobot Armor Mode, which considerably amps up the force it has.
• Put on a Bus: While Jet, Mirror, Smash Bros., and UFO all come back, Beetle and Bell from Triple Deluxe are nowhere to be seen. The ability roster also lost Needle, Wing, and Spear. Grand Wheelie, Mr. Frosty, and Hornhead also disappear from the mid-boss roster, though Dubior, Kibble Blade, and King Doo return.
• Punny Name: The boss of the HWC's full name when set to English is President Max Profitt Haltmann. His Japanese name, meanwhile, is "Geinzu Inkamu Haltmann" (from "gains income"). His last name also contains "HAL" in it.
• Random Effect Spell: Doctor's down + hold B move, Science Lab, has Kirby brew one of four randomly-selected potions with varying effects.
  • The red potion shoots a searing jet of fire straight upwards, dealing heavy damage.
  • The blue potion sprays clouds of ice above Kirby that cascade down and surround him, damaging and freezing enemies.
  • The yellow potion spews six balls of damaging electricity that move in various arcs and dissipate upon hitting the ground.
  • The green potion isn't an attack at all, and is instead a Healing Potion that Kirby drinks to restore about a third of his energy. This one doesn't appear in The Arena or The True Arena.
• Rank Inflation: Team Kirby Clash brings back the Bronze-Silver-Gold-Platinum ranking system from Return to Dream Land's Ability Challenges. Scoring for these ranks is determined by how long it took to beat the boss and if the boss was beaten. Kirby 3D Rumble instead hands out trophies depending on your score; high scoring is done by making huge combos, collecting coins, and not getting hit. In both cases, you're just about guaranteed to get the highest rank if you qualify for all the "achievements" listed for the boss/stage.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Aside from Fighter Kirby's usual Vulcan Jab, Poison Kirby also has one with his Poison Pummel technique, with an added burst of poison in the end.
• Recurring Boss: Mecha Knight is first fought as the boss of Gigabyte Grounds, then in an upgraded form at the end of Access Ark. In Meta Knightmare Returns and the True Arena, this is compressed into a single battle with a mass-produced version in Gigabyte Grounds.
• Reforged into a Minion: Meta Knight suffers this fate when he's defeated offscreen by Susie.
• Ret-Canon: In Meta Knightmare Returns, Meta Knight can use Galaxia Darkness, an ability that originated as his Final Smash in Super Smash Bros..
• RPG Elements: Team Kirby Clash features four abilities that take on standard RPG roles, and a leveling system for those abilities. Deluxe fleshes out the mechanics further with additions such as equipment and items that give players extra stats.
• Sad Battle Music: The Noble Haltmann in of itself is rather somber, which makes sense given the backstory of Haltmann himself.
• Scenery Porn: It's a Kirby game, so it's to be expected. Special mention goes to Rhythm Route, a colorful mix of Band Land and Skyscraper City.
• Science Cannot Comprehend Phlebotinum: The pause screen descriptions, which are implied to be written from the perspective of the game's villains (more specifically, Star Dream), are often confused by Kirby's more supernatural abilities, such as Beam and Ninja.
  Beam: This ability gives you control of electricity itself. It looks like a simple ability, but science cannot yet explain how it works.
  Ninja: Excelling in the art of covert combat, this ability contains various moves found in ancient documents from foreign lands. Science cannot explain this ability.
• Self-Plagiarism: The theme for the final boss's first phase uses the same melody as "Spinning Jungle" from Kirby: Triple Deluxe; composer Hirokazu Ando created both themes. He admitted in the official soundtrack's liner notes that it was a complete coincidence where he subconsciously copied himself.
• Sequel Hook: It's implied that Susie is not done with Kirby after the events of Planet Robobot.
• Shield Bash: Doctor Kirby can attack with a giant clipboard in this manner.
• Shifting Sand Land: Gigabyte Grounds.
• Shock and Awe: Of course you can get and use electric abilities in a Kirby game, but in this title the amount of ways you can fry the critters of Popstar with a lighting bolt has been multiplied. We have the classics Spark and Beam; but newcomers ESP and Doctor, as well as the returning UFO, can also inflict electric damage. The Robobot modes for Beam, Spark and ESP also use electricity-based attacks. Considering the technological setting of the game, it is not surprising. These powers are exploited in the new puzzle gimmick that involves powering devices or activating mechanisms with wires and plugs scattered through the stages.
• Shout-Out:
  • Just like in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Sword Kirby has the "Sky Energy Sword" move, which is based off of Link's Skyward Strike technique.
  • Likewise, Mecha Knight has a move where he points his sword upwards and gets struck by lightning, similar to the final phase of the fight against Skyward Sword's final boss, Demise.
  • ESP Kirby is based off of Ness from EarthBound, giving Kirby a sideways baseball cap and some moves based off of Ness' Super Smash Bros. versions of PK Thunder and PK Flash. Its description also blatantly references Ness:
    "This psychokinetic ability allows you to turn invisible and produce shocking electric fields, just like a certain boy with PSI. This field of science is still largely unexplored."
  • The final sequence where Kirby pilots the Halberd Mode Armor is one big homage to Star Fox. Not only does the Halberd Mode Armor play very similarly to an Arwing, but you can even Do a Barrel Roll to deflect Star Dream's attacks. One of Star Dream Soul OS's attacks while merged with the Access Ark is even Andross's signature attack of sucking up rocks and spitting them out. Some of its other attacks are also homages to the Gorgon of Area 6 from 64, such as firing a large laser that mostly sticks to the center of the screen, using tentacle arms to attack, and also warping around in a similar manner.
  • Alternatively, the final sequence seems to be very heavily inspired by Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Kirby uses his Robobot Armor to fuse with the Halberd very similar to how the Gurren Lagann was able to combine with the Arc Gurren to form Arc Gurren-Lagann and Kirby's final blow with the drill-like screwdriver is a dead-ringer for Simon's final blow to the Anti-Spiral.
  • The Taking You with Me attack that the true final boss uses has shades of Master Core's ring attack from Smash Bros 3DS/Wii U, with the differences being that the attack cannot be prevented and this attack is quite dodgeable.
  • The Smash Bros. ability from Amazing Mirror returns, now based on Kirby's 3DS/Wii U moveset.
  • The golden blocks that can only be broken with field obstacles are identical to blocks found in the Trophy Rush minigame of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U.
  • When fighting the Dedede Clones in this game's extra mode, Meta Knightmare Returns, if you pause, the bio will end by saying every attempted clone of Dedede was imperfect. This is another nod to the fourth and fifth Smash games, which says that Dedede can't copy abilities because he is already perfect.
  • In Team Kirby Clash, one of the hints that appear, specifically the one that tells you to heal your teammates, is titled "Feed Me."
  • There are plenty of yellow submarines to be found in Overload Ocean.
  • When fighting Mecha Knight, he can point his sword to the sky and then get struck by lightning, which renders him nearly impossible to get close to deal damage for a short period of time.
• Sigil Spam: The Haltmann Works Company's logo, a stylized H, appears all over Popstar to indicate their control.
• Skyscraper City: Rhythm Route.
• Slept Through the Apocalypse: Kirby somehow manages to sleep through the arrival of the Haltmann Works Company, and only wakes up after they've mechanized the planet. In Meta Knightmare Returns' storyline, he sleeps through it entirely.
• Socialization Bonus: Like in Triple Deluxe, when you StreetPass with other Planet Robobot players, Bandana Waddle Dee throws out better healing items when you meet him.
• Spinning Piledriver: Smash Bros. Kirby now has the ability to perform the Air Drop from the Ninja ability, which doubles as his up throw from the Super Smash Bros. series.
• Spoiler Cover: The CD release of the game's soundtrack features artwork of Access Ark and Star Dream's Nova form, respectively, on the two discs' labels.
• The Starscream: Susie is this to President Haltmann, secretly plotting to take control of Star Dream for her own purposes. Unfortunately, Star Dream itself is this too, assimilating President Haltmann and blasting Susie when she tries to take control.
• Storming the Castle: The sixth area, Access Ark, is the HWC's mothership.
• Suicide Attack: When defeated, Security Force will pull out a Big Red Button and attempt to use it to self-destruct, creating a trail of flames that deal considerable damage and can remove Kirby's abilities with one touch if he succeeds. Kirby can prevent him from doing this by destroying him before he presses the button, though it's generally easier to just dodge the blast^note There is one stage where Kirby gets some invincibility candy and can blast through a handful of mid-bosses including this one, which is the rare chance where stopping it is fairly easy..
• Super-Strength: In the Robobot Armor, Kirby can pick up certain large objects (including blocks and cannons) and move them around. It's required for some puzzles.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
  • The newly-introduced Poison ability functions similarly to Water from Return to Dream Land. Fittingly, it can be obtained from the miniboss Miasmoros, which is essentially a poison-themed variant of the Water Galboros.
  • Susie's Mini-Mecha moves similarly to Mr. Dooter at times.
  • Role-wise, Meta Knight is one to King Dedede from Kirby: Triple Deluxe. Within the stories, both are subdued, captured by the villains and fought as a boss (Dedede being puppeted by Taranza as Masked Dedede, Meta Knight being mechanized as Mecha Knight). They both help Kirby fight the villains after being defeated (Dedede by using a cannon to shoot out part of Sectonia's defenses on the Dreamstalk, Meta Knight by letting Kirby copy the Halberd to shoot down Star Dream), and get Kirby in a position to land the finishing blow on the Big Bad (Dedede by helping Kirby get a Miracle Fruit, Meta Knight by ejecting Kirby towards the Access Ark). Outside of the main game, they both have a speedrun-oriented harder mode (Dededetour! and Meta Knightmare Returns), which ends in a series of fights that includes a villain from a past Kirby title they were absent from (Dark Meta Knight for Dededetour!, Dark Matter Blade and Queen Sectonia for Meta Knightmare Returns) and a stronger version of the player character (Shadow Dedede for Dededetour!, Galacta Knight for Meta Knightmare Returns).
• Swiss-Army Weapon: The basic Robobot Armor can change one of its fists into a wrench or drill, allowing it to operate certain mechanical devices. It's even used in the boss battle against Gigavolt, via drilling into its hands when it slams them down, and the final phase of Star Dream, where Kirby drills through the center of its body.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Even after everything Susie has done, Kirby is still worried about her when she gets knocked out by Star Dream.
• Tail Slap: Mecha Knight+, when he Turns Red, grows a long mechanical tail from his back that he can use to smack Kirby. He can even do a Spam Attack with it. Later, Stock Mecha Knight also comes with it.
• Taking You with Me: When beaten, Security Force will self-destruct, setting the floor on fire. Because of this, they cannot be inhaled.
• Tears from a Stone: After the final boss fight, the Robobot Armor cries coolant fluid after sending Kirby back to Dream Land.
• Technologically Advanced Foe: The Haltmann Works Company as a whole is this, as their tech level far surpasses anything on Popstar and they're able to fend off King Dedede and Meta Knight's interceptions with ease. It took Kirby hijacking their Mini-Mecha to have a chance of fighting back.
• Tempting Fate: Star Dream is a victim of this during the events of Meta Knightmare Returns, commenting on how unimportant the impending collateral damage of summoning Galacta Knight to fight against Meta Knight just before Galacta Knight slices Star Dream in half.
• Tennis Boss: Aside from the standard Kirby fare of "suck up ammo and spit it back", a few bosses have projectiles that bounce back to damage them if they are attacked. This includes Clanky Woods' "leaves", the D3 Cannon's time bombs, and Dark Matter Clone's shadow orbs.
• That Makes Me Feel Angry: "X is furious" when the boss you're fighting in Team Kirby Clash Turns Red.
• That's No Moon: The Haltmann Works Company's ship, the Access Ark, is a humongous sphere with five tentacles to spread its mechanical corruption. It's large enough that its legs extend to each of Popstar's points.
• Thematic Sequel Logo Change: The logo has a more mechanical look to it than previous games, referencing the fact that Planet Popstar is now undergoing an Unwilling Roboticisation.
• Theme-and-Variations Soundtrack: Many of the game's tracks remix or at least quote the theme of the Haltmann Works Company.
• Theme Music Power-Up: While the last two games generally saved this for secret bosses, this game does so a lot with the bosses once the fourth area is reached:
  • Once the second C.O.G.S. fight is finished, Core Kabula reveals itself, accompanied with a remix of the Mint Leaf theme (which has since been associated with Kabula) from the first game.
  • Once the Dedede Clones are beaten, they jump in the D3 Cannon and gain a remix of Dedede's theme mixed with "Revenge of Meta Knight"'s ending theme.
  • In a delayed variation, Mecha Knight, upon becoming Mecha Knight+, gains a remix of his theme from Super Star.
  • The Final Boss. Hints of Nova's battle theme can be heard in the third form, and in the fourth form, Kirby gets a Theme Music Power Up. For the True Final Boss, the first phase of the final form is a straight remix of Nova's theme.
  • Once again, Galacta Knight. After starting with the Grand Doomer theme, he gets another remix of his original theme for the second phase.
• Theme Naming: In this case, the levels are named after computer programming terms rather than the series' usual Edible Theme Naming: Patched Plains, Resolution Road, Overload Ocean, Gigabyte Grounds, Rhythm Route, Access Ark, and Mind in the Program.
• Theme Song Reveal: The Final Boss's first battle theme uses the "Kirby's Triumphant Return" leitmotif to motivate the player, since the same motif played in Kirby Super Star when Kirby was invading the Halberd, and now Kirby is piloting it. That's not the reveal. At the end of Super Star, "Kirby's Triumphant Return" also played in the memetic cutscene where Galactic Nova explodes. What better way to foreshadow that Star Dream's true identity is a second Galactic Nova?
• This Is a Drill: The Robobot Armor can turn its arm into a drill bit to turn screws. Gigavolt is notably taken out this way, by unscrewing both its hands and its head. The climax of the main mode has Kirby on his Robobot Armor performing a last-minute drill attack on Star Dream's third form, destroying it entirely. It ends up being a reference to Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
• This Is Gonna Suck: The final phase description for Star Dream (told from its perspective) has it brace itself for the worst after analyzing Kirby's power and calculating its increasingly low probability of survival, which it says "doesn't look good".
• This Was His True Form: After their health is depleted but before they fully disappear, the clones summoned by Star Dream in Meta Knightmare Returns briefly turn into their true forms. Dark Matter Clone assumes the form of Real Dark Matter, and Sectonia Clone assumes Sectonia's original spider-like form (before she took on the wasp-like form seen in Triple Deluxe), which had not been visually depicted prior to this game.
• Tiered by Name: In the same vein as its predecessors, the harder versions of bosses in Meta Knightmare Returns and the True Arena have an extra bit appended to their name. In this game, it's "2.0"^note "Re:" in the Japanese version rather than "EX" or "DX", to keep with the technology theming.
• Time-Limit Boss:
  • Team Kirby Clash fights are set on time limits. Clearing one with enough time left grants a special badge that's pretty much required for the highest rank.
  • Star Dream's final form during the SHMUP segment is this to an extent, as its attacks fire numbers counting down from 5 in one of its moves. If the counter passes 1, it'll fire a GO!! at you, before bombarding you with nearly-unavoidable barriers with "Fatal Error" written on them.^note You can avoid most of the barriers if you dodge around quickly (especially with the barrel roll) and precisely enough, but getting out unscathed is more often than not infeasible, which is especially daunting in the True Arena.
• Time Stands Still: Beam's "Wave Beam" is replaced with "Time Beam" in Team Kirby Clash. Hit the enemy with it enough and time is stopped, freezing the enemy in place so the team can wail on it for about 5 seconds. This also freezes the timer, allowing you to beat the medal times easier.
• Took a Level in Badass: Galacta Knight once again brings in new tricks up his sleeve for this game. Specifically, he has a brand new attack where he cuts a rift through space and time itself to fire a massive laser connecting to Another Dimension.
• Tractor Beam: The UFO ability gets this move in this game, which lets Kirby "abduct" smaller enemies into himself.
• Transforming Mecha: The Robobot Armor changes shape depending on its current mode. In some forms, most clearly Jet, it looks almost unrecognizable.
• Trick Boss: The second fight with C.O.G.S. After beating it, a mechanized Kabula emerges from the wreckage.
• Triumphant Reprise: Pink Ball Revolution, which plays only during the final platforming stage and the final sequence while fighting Star Dream, which takes the villainous Haltmann Works Co. HQ theme and turns it into something more heroic.
• True Final Boss: The True Arena ends with a cutscene where, after being cut by Galacta Knight in the end of Meta Knightmare Returns, a hidden program activates within Star Dream, the Soul OS, recovering it and turning it stronger, becoming Star Dream Soul OS. The fight is similar, albeit harder, to the original Star Dream, but with an extra fourth phase where you, on foot, attack the "heart" of the whole thing directly.
• Tube Travel: The mechanizing of Popstar has left pipes all around the world, and Kirby can indeed move through them. They're primarily used as a way to make Kirby get out of the Robobot Armor, as it's too large to enter pipes.
• Under the Sea: Overload Ocean.
• Underwater City: Beneath Overload Ocean's waters lies a big, modern looking city with buildings analogous to skyscrapers. It serves mostly as background scenery.
• Unexpected Shmup Level:
  • Having the Jet Mode on the Robobot Armor turns it into a jet plane, which flies automatically and shoots laser blasts and rockets, making the section a side-scrolling shooter. There are also a few special bosses done in Jet Mode, most notably Core Kabula.
  • The final battle against Star Dream takes this form, but in a 3D Star Fox-esque perspective (i.e a Rail Shooter), with you controlling the entire Halberd.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Galacta Knight makes it clear that he is not happy with being summoned to fight Meta Knight once again, as his response is to slice Star Dream through the front and causing it to fall.
• Unique Enemy:
  • Right before the Gigavolt fight, two miniature versions of it called Voltes accost Kirby, and are defeated in a similar way (jumping on top of them and screwing out the screw holding them together). They never appear again.
  • Whippy, a common enemy in recent Kirby titles, appears only once in 6-7. Its role of being the resident Whip provider has been given to Wester, an enemy debuting in this game.
• Unskilled, but Strong: With the exception of Mike Mode (which does the reverse), the Robobot Armor Modes don't have as many attacks and tricks as normal Kirby with the same abilities, but they're all very strong, able to demolish obstacles normal Kirby cannot.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: Many creatures of the game become mechanized, such as cyborg Waddle Dee, Bronto Burt, and Scarfy, as well as Clanky Woods (cyborged Whispy Woods). Also, Meta Knight is turned into a robotic servant of the Haltmann Works Company, pitting him against Kirby.
• Utility Weapon:
  • The Robobot Armor and its various Modes are often required to solve the puzzles of the game, such as giant screws, giant hanging chains, narrow places that require Bomb Mode's Action Bomb to walk into, etc.
  • Undoing screws and bolts is a major literal motif throughout the game. From opening a door, to cranking a platform into place, to the more metaphorical one of beating screw-shaped dungeon levels partway into each area, all involve the Robobot Armor using the screwdriver heads on its arms or a wrench attachment to get some work done. It's even incorporated into destroying the final boss of the main game.
• Variable Mix: Used occasionally, but a particularly notable example is the true final boss. When Star Dream sucks in Kirby, the music changes to be a somewhat warped rendition of "Milky Way Wishes: Shooting" from Kirby Super Star to go along with the fight's visual reference to said game. When that phase is over, the song for the third phase of Soul OS kicks back in, halfway through its usual runtime.
• Vehicular Turnabout: The main mechanic of the game; Kirby can jump in an enemy's empty Robobot Armor, change it to look like himself, and proceed to smash everything in his way. He's even able to give it his copying ability.
• The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The Access Ark, which is the spherical octopus-like mech that's mechanizing Popstar.
• Victor Gains Loser's Powers: Destroying an Invader Armor is one way of getting the Robobot Armor, though it's only gotten this way thrice.
• Video Game 3D Leap: The mini-game "Kirby 3D Rumble" where Kirby fights enemies in a 3D space is the closest thing for the series up to this point apart from Kirby Air Ride.
• Villain Song: "The Noble Haltmann", the anthem of the HWC and the main theme of the game. Susie also sings some verses of it in Gigabyte Grounds and Rhythm Route before noticing Kirby. Also, President Haltmann's description screen has the first two verses of the song, and the full song is heard in the 100% completion video.
• Villains Out Shopping: The Planet Robobot 3DS theme that promotes the game has a bit of this going on with Susie. On the top screen, crayon drawings of her doing various things can be seen, including filling out paperwork and giving lectures to the Mooks and President Haltmann about Dream Land's mechanization process. Especially amusing are the ones of her doing various not-so-evil things with her accompanying Mecha Mook, including exercising on a treadmill, going on a shopping spree, and singing karaoke with him.
• Visual Pun:
  • Note the desert theme of Gigabyte Grounds as well as the forks with noodles wrapped around them in the first stage. This puts Kirby into a spaghetti western.
  • The True Final Boss' Desperation Attack involves One-Hit Kill red energy rings. In other words, Red Rings of Death.
• Wake-Up Call Boss:
  • Like Flowery Woods before him, Clanky Woods has proven to be more of a challenge than most players would expect at level one, once again showing off some pretty devastating attacks that could really give you a hard time if you're not prepared. Except Flowery at least had the decency to remain in one spot most of the time, while Clanky does not want to stand still. Oh, and did we mention that he also gets the first crack at you in the very first stage of the game? You can still defeat him even that early on, and get a nice rare sticker in return, but it's arguably even more of a pain than his actual boss battle with how little room and time you have. It's also rather easy to get crushed to death there. Kirby's enemies aren't playing games this time.
  • Whispy Woods, of all bosses, becomes this in Team Kirby Clash. He starts like what you'd expect, a stationary boss that shoots weak apples and air shots. But after he Turns Red, he'll imitate Flowery Woods and jump towards the background for long-ranged attacks, and then come back down to the foreground for heavy stomping attacks, something that prior bosses cannot do. The minigame becomes harder after this, starting with Pyribbit.
• Walking Spoiler: Plenty of them appear:
  • First, there's Mecha Knight, who is actually a brainwashed and mechanzied Meta Knight after being captured by Susie into being her bodyguard. But we don't find out it's him until after we defeat him as Mecha Knight+ at the end of the game.
  • Next, the Dedede Clone, which gets absolutely no foreshadowing that Susie managed to get some of Dedede's DNA to make an imperfect clone of him.
  • Then, there's Core Kabula. Nothing foreshadows the fact that a supposedly mechanized version of Kabula would rise from the ashes of C.O.G.S. and attack Kirby after he defeats it.
  • Double subverted with President Haltmann. Unlike Queen Sectonia before him, he is actually foreshadowed by Susie early on in the game, and the use of his Interface Spoiler is used more competently here than with Sectonia. But just like her, his tragic past is kept hidden until the Meta Knightmare Returns mode, and for good reason.
  • Star Dream. Aside from being mentioned by Susie before the fight with Dedede Clone, it doesn't appear until President Haltmann finally reveals himself to Kirby. And it's especially hard to talk about it without mentioning the fact that it's also a clockwork star just like Galactic Nova from Kirby Super Star, two decades before this game, and that it directly ties into the events of that game.
  • The final three battles of Meta Knightmare Returns are this. The first two battles are against clones of Dark Matter Blade from Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Queen Sectonia from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, as absolutely nothing foreshadows the fact that the HWC managed to get the DNA from Dark Matter and Sectonia, whose DNA was most likely still in the Dreamstalk even after her death. Then, the third battle is against Galacta Knight, as per usual.
• Wham Shot:
  • During the final boss battle, you're shooting up the Access Ark, with its plating steadily breaking as its health goes down. Once you deplete all of its health, the music cuts out as the last piece flies off... and then the now-uncovered Access Ark teleports directly in front of you, revealing that it's a silver clockwork star of the same ilk as Galactic Nova. While Kirby games are no stranger to making nods to past games, this is the first time that a reference to a prior title is explicitly a major part of the story.
  • At the end of Meta Knightmare Returns, Star Dream activates after the defeat of Haltmann 2.0 and tests Meta Knight's credentials as the new admin. It speaks highly of its warriors as it boots a program entitled "Sword_Master.EXE", so it's easy to assume that a battle with Galacta Knight is about to ensue. Instead, you receive someone completely different: Dark Matter Blade, appearing for the first time since its debut and marking one of the first major references to the Dark Matter Trilogy. (Once you beat that and a clone of Queen Sectonia, then Galacta Knight shows up.)
• What Happened to the Mouse?: In the ending scene, Susie takes her leave, but what she's up to after this is not known.
• What If?: Meta Knightmare Returns is an alternate telling of the main story that asks "what if Kirby never woke up from his nap at the beginning of the game?" In this scenario, Meta Knight leads the charge against the Haltmann Works Co. instead. While mostly similar to the main game, instead of Haltmann activating Star Dream and leading it to take over his mind, the ending of the mode instead has Star Dream declare Meta Knight the new "admin" after Haltmann's defeat, prompting him to fight three new foes. The final foe, Galacta Knight, tears a giant gash in Star Dream after being summoned, which directly leads to The True Arena, where Star Dream Soul OS bears the same gash.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: In Meta Knightmare Returns, Meta Knight's Galaxia is strong enough to knock away and destroy things that Kirby would need Robobot Armor for.
• When Trees Attack: Whispy Woods returns as usual, but only retains his usual appearance in Team Kirby Clash. In story mode, he gets mechanized into a robotic tree called Clanky Woods.
• White Mage: The Doctor ability in Team Kirby Clash becomes "Doctor Healmore", who supports teams with an array of healing abilities.
• Wicked Heart Symbol:
  • Unlike the final bosses of many other Kirby games, who are scary Eldritch Abominations, Star Dream is a massive supercomputer with a big heart icon painted on it. With a crack in the middle. It also aims to destroy all organic life, as it deems them inefficient and against order.
  • Sectonia Clone also replaces the original object's heart symbols with broken hearts, evidently as an in-universe Creator Thumbprint. invoked
  • With the appearance of a new clockwork star similar to Nova appearing, so does its heart, which you fight at the end of the True Arena. This time, the heart moves around and attacks you instead of just staying in the middle. Its introduction cutscene is called "HEARTLESS MACHINE", and its final attack is called "Heartless Tears". And oddly, it shares a few attacks with Marx, who is also an example of this trope...
• The Worf Effect:
  • King Dedede and Meta Knight launch their own assaults on the invaders, only to end up with a blasted Castle Dedede and a downed Halberd. In addition, Susie manages to incapacitate Meta Knight offscreen and turn him into Mecha Knight, and it's possible she did the same to Dedede to make the Dedede Clone.
  • The Robobot Armor functions like this often. The standard formula is to let Kirby deal with a new obstacle for the first half of the level, then show how the Robobot Armor utterly decimates that obstacle in the second half.
  • While not a new character, Galacta Knight makes his entrance by slicing a huge gash in Star Dream, disabling it. Note that Kirby needed a battleship to do anything close to that amount of damage, and it still held on long enough to fortify itself.
• Wowing Cthulhu: Star Dream is an omnipotent super computer can’t able of warping things beyond dimensions on whim and was willing and able to wipe out all organic life in existence. And yet if you pause during its last phase, the text has it talking about how it's utterly terrified of the infinite power within Kirby.
  Star Dream: "Its energy signature far exceeds that of the Invader Armor, our combat mech. The nearly infinite power within this life-form is astounding. Calculating probability of survival... It doesn't look good."
• Written-In Absence: In Meta Knightmare Returns, the reason why Meta Knight is the one fighting off the Haltmann Works Company is because Kirby's taking a nap.
• You Cannot Grasp the True Form: The given reason why Star Dream could only clone Dark Matter in its swordsman state. That was the only data of its form that could be analyzed at all; not even a wish-granting supercomputer could wrap its mind around that thing. Even then, Star Dream is said to have been pushed to its utmost limits just to manage that much.
• Your Size May Vary:
  • In the opening movie, the Access Ark outright dwarfs the Halberd. In the final battle, it's still way bigger than the Halberd, but not as much as before.
  • Star Dream itself is small enough to fit comfortably in Haltmann's office when it's introduced, yet rivals the Halberd in size during its boss battle. In the cutscene where Star Dream merges with the Access Ark, the former is a speck when compared to the latter, but after the merge, Star Dream is once more a visible protrusion from the top of the Access Ark. Possibly justified in that it's a reality-warping machine and thus would be able to change its size to fit certain needs. The Access Ark itself, being the main body of Haltmann's ship, goes from being planetary scale while invading Popstar, to much smaller (though still huge) when fighting it in Halberd Mode.

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