Video Game / Kirby: Squeak Squad

Inhale and Conquer!

Kirby: Squeak Squad (Hoshi no Kirby: Sanjō! Dorocche Dan, or "They've Arrived! The Dorocche Gang" in Japanese, and Kirby: Mouse Attack in European languages) is the second Kirby game for the Nintendo DS, released in 2006.

One day, Kirby was about to eat a delicious slice of strawberry cake when suddenly, it was stolen! Kirby assumes that King Dedede did it, but he's innocent this time. Who took the cake? This must be the work of the Squeaks, that dastardly gang of mice that steal anything that isn't nailed down! Kirby goes after the rogue rodents, only to find that they're after something far more important than a little slice of cake...

Gameplay remains similar to previous installments (namely Amazing Mirror, minus the Metroidvania gameplay), with the addition of the touch screen (representing Kirby's stomach) acting as the inventory for the titular pink puffball to store items in. In addition, new Copy Abilities are introduced: Animal, Bubble, Metal, and Ghost^note only unlockable if you managed to get all parts of the mysterious Ghost Medal, which summons a midboss so you can inhale it for the ability. Some Copy Abilities also interact with the environment (for example, Fire burns down tall grass), and some abilities (namely Sword or Bomb) can be combined with various elements (for example, Fire Sword and Ice Bomb).

Throughout Kirby's journey to get his cake back, he'll often encounter the Squeaks; they usually appear where there's a large treasure chest, and if they steal one, Kirby has to either chase after them or enter one of their hideouts to take it back from them.

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Kirby: Squeak Squad contains examples of:

• Advancing Boss of Doom: Yadgaine, a giant hermit crab mech piloted by Doc, moves continuously and doesn't make a stop, forcing Kirby to defeat it while on the run.
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: Continuing the trend from Nightmare in Dream Land and Amazing Mirror, Kirby still dons angry eyebrows for releases outside of Japan.
• A Mischief of Mice: The titular gang of "Squeaks" are a group of treasure-hunting mice who often show up to stall Kirby's progress wherever there's a large treasure chest. They got better at the end, though.
• Antagonist Title: Both the English and Japanese titles for Squeak Squad refers to the antagonistic group of mice called the Squeaks (Dorocche Gang in the Japanese version).
• Bandit Mook: All main members of the Squeaks (excluding their leader, Daroach) steal large treasure chests within gameplay. If you happen to have a chest (whether large or small) in your inventory, getting attacked by any of the Squeaks will make you drop them, one by one; they'll then grab the chest(s) and proceed to run away, and you have to chase them.
• Be the Ball: With the Metal Scroll, Metal Kirby can turn into a metallic ball that will roll down slopes.
• Big Bad: Daroach, the Squeaks' leader, is this at first.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: In the cutscene where the treasure chest Meta Knight stole is opened, Daroach is referred to as "the Squeaks". This is because his gang of thieves was named after him in Japanese, so the English translation team must have mixed up the two out of context.
• Breaking Old Trends: This is the only main-series Kirby game where Whispy Woods (or an equivalent) is not fought. He instead makes a cameo on the title screen, and King Dedede (who's usually fought as the final or penultimate boss, with a few rare exceptions) is the first boss instead.
• Bonus Feature Failure:
  • The Ghost ability can only be unlocked by assembling the Ghost Medallion and allows Kirby to control any Mook in the game. However, the enemies you can possess are all horribly outclassed in terms of mobility, power and durability even by regular Kirby, making it a novelty at best. Even worse, Ghost Kirby is worthless against bosses and can't even go down ladders.
  • Triple Star is supposed to be this game's Infinity +1 Sword, but is horribly outclassed by many other abilities. It can't even be used effectively in Boss Endurance (though, it deals way more damage to Mrs. Moley for some reason), as the ability suffers in the air and destroys cloud platforms, so you'll likely lose to Mecha-Kracko. Tornado is the ideal ability for bosses, while UFO is the best for unrestricted movement (barring being unable to go down ladders) and wiping out enemies — and unlike previous games, Kirby won't lose it between stages.
• Boss Remix: The music for Squeak-affiliated bosses (namely, Doc's mechs and Daroach) is an intense mix of the gang's theme.
• Boss Rush: Level 5-3 has you fight Bonkers, Gao Gao, Big Metalun, and finally Storo (if you don't get the large treasure chest, you fight Mr. Frosty in Storo's place). Perhaps of more significance, though, is Level 6-5 that has you fight every member of the Squeaks (Spinni, Storo, and Doc, in order) other than the leader Daroach, who is fought as the level's boss in the next level. Like other Kirby games, there's also a Boss Endurance mode, which lets you pick any ability to take on every major boss in the game.
• Breather Episode: Putting aside the incident with Dark Nebula, the game is largely breezy and comedic.
• Bubble Gun: The new Bubble ability lets Kirby shoot bubbles. Enemies defeated will turn into a bubble containing either their ability (if they provide one) or a Star Bullet (if they don't).
• Continuity Nod: The Halberd is still at the bottom of the ocean from the events of the Revenge of Meta Knight. It only finally takes flight again during Meta Knight's Boss Battle.
• Collapsing Ceiling Boss: Big Metalun and Yadgaine can both cause chunks to fall from the ceiling.
• Defeat Equals Explosion: Spinni, Storo, and Doc will explode after they're defeated. Per the norm for minibosses in the Kirby series, but it's rather jarring when it happens to recurring characters.
• Demonic Possession:
  • Ghost Kirby can possess enemies and use their attacks by pushing B.
  • Dark Nebula also does this to Daroach, turning him into Dark Daroach.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • Though returning after his absence in Amazing Mirror, King Dedede is only in this game to serve as the first level's boss.
  • Since the story mode does not have a co-op mode from the GBA platformers, the colored Kirby clones only appear in the mini-games through multiplayer.
• Distaff Counterpart: Mrs. Moley, the boss of Nature Notch, is the wife of Moley from Kirby & the Amazing Mirror.
• Double Jump: Ghost-possessed enemies can jump in the air indefinitely, similar to the helpers of Kirby Super Star, but not as powerfully.
• Dub Name Change: The Dorroche Gang to the Squeaks, Dorocche to Daroach, Spin to Spinni, Stron to Storo, Chūrin to Squeakers, Treasure Shoot to Treasure Shot, Nature Navel to Nature Notch, Creamy Cloud to Cushy Cloud, Voice Volcano to Vocal Volcano, Island Ice to Ice Island, and Dark Zero to Dark Nebula.
• Excuse Plot: A gang of mice steal Kirby's dessert. It only gets far worse from here.
• Expy:
  • Mecha-Kracko is this to the original Kracko, piloted by Doc, and it somewhat shares the same colors and moves the original had in the anime.
  • Dark Nebula is also one to Dark Matter.
• Extra-ore-dinary: The Metal ability debuts in this game, which allows Kirby to easily destroy enemies just by walking towards them at the cost of being extremely heavy and slow. The ability's Copy Scroll lets him transform into a ball form, allowing him to roll down slopes at a steady pace.
• Eyepatch of Power: Worn by Storo, the largest member of the Squeak Squad.
• Fastball Special: In the cutscene after defeating King Dedede in Prism Plains, the penguin throws Kirby at the Squeaks when the latter try to escape.
• Fiery Salamander: One of the enemies that Kirby can encounter is Acchi, a large, salamander-like creature with a flaming backside that spits fireballs. Fittingly, inhaling Acchi grants Kirby the Fire copy ability.
• Fire, Ice, Lightning: A common motif in this game:
  • Both Sword and Bomb can be combined with either Fire, Ice, or Spark (except Fire Bomb, as that would just be redundant) once you obtain their scrolls.
  • After getting the scrolls for Wheel and Tornado, they can also be combined with the basic three elements by treading upon an elemental surface. For example, if you use Wheel on a lava patch, the wheel becomes fiery.
  • Dark Nebula also changes into one of the three elements throughout its battle, its color representing the mode it's on. Red is Fire, blue is Ice and green is Spark.
• Floating in a Bubble: Bubbled objects are sent to Kirby's stomach, which functions as an inventory.
• Flying Saucer: Doc's usual method of travel. If Kirby beats him, he might sometimes drop his saucer, which can be inhaled for the UFO ability.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: Pausing the intro at just the right time reveals that Kirby's cake was actually stolen by a simple Waddle Dee, not a member of the Squeaks.
• Gang of Hats: The Squeaks are an all-rodent gang, and they all wear red (save for the Squeakers).
• Goldfish Poop Gang: The Squeaks, excluding Daroach, are this. They usually steal large treasure chests when they're around; if you're aiming for 100% Completion, Kirby has to either beat them to the chest or steal it back from them.
• The Goomba: Waddle Dees are joined by the red Squeakers as the weakest enemies in the game.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The treasure that Kirby and the Squeaks are after is actually the prison of Dark Nebula. When Meta Knight fails to dissuade both parties from going after it, Dark Nebula breaks loose and possesses Daroach.
• Green Hill Zone:
  • Prism Plains keeps the trend of the first level in a Kirby game being nature-themed.
  • Nature Notch is this too, combined with Underground Level and Shifting Sand Land.
• Ground Pound: This is Metal's main way of attacking.
• Heel–Face Turn: At the end of the game, once the confusion with Dark Nebula is sorted out, the Squeaks stop antagonizing Kirby, and they even send him a spare strawberry shortcake in return.
• Hijacked by Ganon: The game builds up Daroach as the final boss, but his role as the main antagonist is usurped when Dark Nebula reveals itself. The 20th Anniversary Hoshi no Kirby Pupupu Taizen later suggests that Dark Nebula is associated with Dark Matter.
• Idle Animation: There are several:
  • Normal: Kirby falls asleep and dreams of his stolen cake. He suddenly wakes up, looks up at the dream bubble and inhales it whole.
  • Wheel: Kirby tips his cap.
  • Magic: A miniature Kirby opens up a hidden door in the top hat, peeks outside, and bounces once on the edge of the hat and immediately back in. The actual Kirby also reacts to the mini Kirby above.
  • Ninja: He does a ninja stance and he frowns.
  • Animal: Scratches the ear on his head with his foot.
  • Fighter: He imitates Ryu's idle animation, while occasionally shooting, wiping something off his nonexistent nose, and making a "bring it on" gesture.
  • Parasol: Kirby sways left and right and taps his foot.
  • Throw: He makes a martial arts stance.
• Inexplicable Treasure Chests: What the Squeaks are after, and what you need to collect for 100% completion. One in particular becomes the primary MacGuffin when Kirby comes to believe Daroach has stashed his missing cake in it.
• I Was Told There Would Be Cake: Kirby thinks there is cake somewhere in all the treasure chests he races the Squeaks for, and in Dedede's castle, and on Meta Knight's repaired ship... and in the end, he gets another slice of strawberry shortcake from the Squeaks after defeating Dark Nebula.
• Jungle Japes: Jam Jungle, for the most part, takes place in a thick jungle area. One of the stages here is instead a Temple of Doom.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: Fire and Burning have been merged with the latter becoming Fire's dash attack like in Kirby Super Star and Magic goes from a one time use ability to having its own moves with it regaining its Amazing Mirror move if you get the Magic Scroll.
• Lethal Lava Land: Vocal Volcano takes place in a land of volcanic mountains.
• Level in the Clouds: The Cushy Cloud level has a few stages with cloud clumps that can be destroyed with fire abilities, including with a flaming sword.
• Lost Food Grievance: The whole game happens because Kirby lost his cake to someone and he wants it back.
• Magicians Are Wizards: The Magic ability returns from Amazing Mirror with tweaks: Kirby can throw out various things out of his hat, like flying doves, cutting cards or smashing clown heads. With the Magic Scroll, Kirby can do the original Magic's function: a Random Effect Spell that gives Kirby either full health, an extra life, a random ability, or big firework explosions that cover the screen and damages all enemies.
• Magic Staff: Daroach wields the Triple Star cane, which he uses to shoot three ricocheting stars at Kirby. After you defeat Dark Daroach and Dark Nebula is freed, you can obtain the cane as an 11th-Hour Superpower that lets Kirby shoot strong stars in multiple directions and solve many puzzles in the game.
• Mighty Glacier: The Metal ability turns Kirby into one. He's practically invincible (except to bosses, mini-bosses, and the Squeaks), but is very slow (his dash is Kirby's regular walk) and can hardly fly.
• Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: Kirby's cake being stolen reveals a plot by the Squeaks to attain a chest that is said to grant ultimate power — which, unbeknownst to anyone (besides Meta Knight), contains an ancient Eldritch Abomination.
• Mission-Pack Sequel: The core gameplay is virtually identical to its predecessors Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, aside from the new touch screen mechanics.
• Mistaken for Thief: When Kirby's strawberry shortcake gets stolen, he thinks Dedede did it. Then, when the Squeaks show up, he thinks they did it. Dedede is innocent from the start, and it's later revealed that the Squeaks are innocent, too.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: One of the bosses is an owl with a raccoon tail, called Bohboh. And it's on fire.
• Musical Spoiler: Subverted; Mecha-Kracko uses the boss theme specifically for the Squeaks, spoiling the fact that it's actually a robot piloted by Doc. However, it's the first boss you fight that uses the Squeaks' boss theme, meaning you have no reason to associate it with them before that point.
• Mythology Gag:
  • King Dedede's castle in the overview map of Prism Plains heavily resembles his castle from the anime. Bonus points for the inclusion of the monster teleporter in his boss arena.
  • In addition, the Halberd also looks a lot like the one in the anime.
  • One of the spray paints used to change Kirby's skin color is Shadow. This is obviously referring to Shadow Kirby, a character from Kirby & the Amazing Mirror. Another spray paint color, Chalk, turns Kirby completely monochrome, just like how he looked on the Game Boy.
• Not Me This Time: Kirby thought Dedede, being Dedede, would be the one stealing his cake. Turns out, he isn't.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: This is the only game where the real, unpossessed Meta Knight himself doesn't throw Kirby a sword before he and Kirby battle each other (though there is still a Sword bubble in the room before his boss room). This is a hint towards Meta Knight's true motivation behind stealing the chest from Kirby before he could get a chance to open it.^note He could also fight an unarmed Kirby if his time is wasted in Kirby Super Star, but only because the ship they're both on is sinking; even then, he waits a solid thirty seconds.
• Palette Swap: Returning from Amazing Mirror are spray paints, which you can use to customize Kirby's skin color. New to this game, they also change the color of the fringe on the touch screen surrounding Kirby's stomach.
• Palmtree Panic: Secret Sea combines this with Under the Sea.
• Power Up Letdown: For the most part, Ghost only lets Kirby possess regular enemies, whose special abilities are inferior to Kirby's use after copying them, rather than powerful midbosses like Bonkers or Mr. Frosty.
• Rule of Three: Collect three Star Bullets and you can combine them into a huge Blaster Bullet (equivalent of inhaling three enemies at once and spitting them). Collect three mini Kirby bubbles and combine them for a 1-Up.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: As it turns out, Dark Nebula was inside the stolen treasure chest the entire time. Though one has to wonder why such a being would be imprisoned in a chest to begin with.
• Self-Damaging Attack Backfire: The second boss, Mrs. Moley, has an attack where she jumps high from the background and then tries to land onto you in the foreground. If she misses you and hits the ground instead, it'll deal a small amount of damage to herself; it's possible for her to kill herself that way if her health is low enough.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Kirby chases the Squeaks all across the planet, and even into space, under the assumption that not only did they steal his cake, but that they still have it and are keeping it inside a particular treasure chest. In the end, he fails to get his nubs on the chest, finds out that it actually contains a Sealed Evil in a Can, defeats said evil, and then goes home empty-handed. He never does find out what happened to his cake, although the Squeaks send him a replacement as a peace offering.
• Shapeshifter Swan Song: Upon landing the final attack on Dark Nebula, it shifts between each of its elemental forms during the freeze-frame before falling apart into countless dark purple stars that fall offscreen before its eye finally explodes. Cue fade to white.
• Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Ice Island is a very frigid area of the game. It is at the end of this area that Kirby finally confronts Daroach.
• Space Zone: Gamble Galaxy, the final level, is set in space. Kirby is willing to travel across the universe to retrieve his stolen cake!
• Speed, Smarts and Strength: The lesser members of the Squeaks are Spinni, the fast and agile Ninja, Storo, the huge Dumb Muscle, and Doc, the brainy Gadgeteer Genius.
• Stomach of Holding: The lower touch screen is represented by Kirby's inner workings, which you can use to restore your health using healing items and gain a Copy Ability on the spot by touching the bubbles with your stylus. You can also mix any elemental ability with a weapon-based ability once you obtain the latters' respective scrolls.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The Metal ability is one for the Stone ability, as Kirby becomes metallic and is able to smash things from above. Unlike Stone, however, he is permanently in metal form; he can move, and small enemies are hurt when Kirby walks onto them, but he also becomes very slow.
  • Additionally, Mrs. Moley is this to her husband from Amazing Mirror, only that she can attack from both the foreground and the background.
  • And seeing as Kracko is notably absent from this game, a mechanical counterpart operated by Doc appears as a boss. As we would learn eight years later, Kracko isn't so happy with this metal copycat.
• This Is a Drill: Once Kirby obtains the Animal Ability Scroll, he can perform a drill attack depending on the direction he's facing.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: Green Squeakers and Daroach throw small bombs, while Blue Squeakers and Dark Daroach throw giant bombs. Kirby can inhale them for the Bomb ability.
• Triangle Shades: Worn by Spinni, the fastest member of the Squeaks.
• Tunnel King:
  • A new Copy Ability named "Animal" allows Kirby to dig through patches of dirt and similar things.
  • Mrs. Moley, one of the bosses, is naturally one.
• Turns Red: Spinni, Storo, and Doc become faster when their health is low. Mecha-Kracko also changes its strategy when its health bar is depleted the first time.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Played painfully straight with King Dedede. The greedy self-proclaimed king of Dream Land who is usually fought near the end of any game ends up being turned into the Warm-Up Boss who uses nearly the exact same battle strategy from Kirby's Adventure. But even here, he can summon Parasol Waddle Dees to attack, but this still doesn't help his Demoted to Extra status.
• Walking Spoiler: What the game tells us that the chest Kirby and the Squeaks chase after may contain Kirby's cake or unlimited power; what the game didn't tell us is that the chest actually contains an cosmic evil that was locked in the chest.
• Warm-Up Boss: King Dedede, of all people, ends up as this, taking up the role from the unusually absent Whispy Woods ^note Whispy still makes a cameo in the game's title screen. His attacks are slightly slower, he moves less often, and he has far less health than any other boss in the game.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Ghost Kirby and U.F.O. Kirby cannot climb ladders.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Meta Knight only stole the chest Kirby thought contained his strawberry shortcake because he was the only one who knew what was actually in it.
• White-and-Grey Morality: Kirby is the white, obviously, and the Squeaks are the grey. They didn't know the chest had Kirby's cake or Dark Nebula inside it; they only knew that the treasure contained "the ultimate power". They no longer have a grudge with Kirby by the end of the game, and they even send Kirby a second cake to make up for his trouble.
• Whoosh in Front of the Camera: In the intro cutscene, Kirby is about to eat his strawberry shortcake. Then something whooshes across, and the cake's gone, disappointing Kirby.
• Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Daroach. The other main members of the Squeaks have their eyes obscured.
• You Shouldn't Know This Already: Many of the Copy Scrolls give the respective Copy Ability one extra move. You naturally cannot perform them if you know how to perform the move but without getting the scroll.

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