YMMV / Kirby: Squeak Squad

• Anti-Climax Boss: Dark Nebula is a rather disappointing final boss in that it's easier than almost every boss before it, having extremely predictable and easily avoidable attacks and a low amount of HP. Even if you somehow manage to lose the Triple Star ability before you reach it, beating with no ability at all is a simple task. It especially stands in stark contrast with the boss before it, Dark Daroach.
• Breather Boss: Yadogaine is a significantly easier opponent than the bosses before and after it. Its attacks are relatively slow, are easy to dodge, and constantly generate inhalable blocks, and its large size and relegation to the screen's left size makes it an easy target even after its claws and lower half break off. The result is the rough equivalent of fighting Whispy Woods halfway into the game.
• Contested Sequel: Squeak Squad provokes mixed responses from fans coming off the heels of Kirby & the Amazing Mirror. Some see it as a return to form after the divisive Metroidvania direction of Amazing Mirror that reconciles that game's exploratory elements with the action-platformer style of the Masahiro Sakurai games. Others, meanwhile, see it as being too similar to the Sakurai-directed games to adequately stand out, not helped by the comparatively tepid responses towards its story and final boss.
• Designated Hero: Kirby might be trying to get his cake back and ends up saving the world from Dark Nebula, but with how much destruction he leaves behind and how he's solely motivated by his stolen cake, it's kinda hard to call him the hero in this game, especially since Meta Knight himself actively tries to keep Nebula trapped in the chest.
• Fridge Brilliance: One half of the main Squeak Squad has names starting with D (Daroach and Doc) and the other half has names starting with S (Spinni and Storo.) It's a game for the DS.
• Game-Breaker:
  • Tornado is the most overpowered ability in the game. It transforms Kirby into a miniature tornado, making him invincible, greatly improving his air mobility, and doing absurd contact damage to enemies. Even though the transformation only lasts a few seconds, players can repeatedly trigger it by spamming the attack button.
  • The rare UFO ability is no slouch either, giving Kirby great air mobility, four powerful attacks, and an Orbiting Particle Shield if you have the ability scroll for it. While it was balanced out in its initial appearance by only lasting for one level, here, you can keep it for as many levels as you'd like. UFO Kirby's only Achilles' Heel is that he can't climb ladders, so in some levels, you'll be forced to drop it anyway.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The game introduces an enemy called Uja, a swarm of black insects that can morph either into a black Master Hand or a sword. When Master Hand is defeated in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, a cloud of black particles emanate from his body and originate a creature called Master Core, which can transform into, among other things, a giant sword.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: One of the main criticisms of the game is that, in contrast to Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and Kirby Canvas Curse making strong changes to the series while keeping the fundamental gameplay mechanics intact, this game is basically a watered down rehash of Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, right down to recycling the game's engine and many of its assets.
• Memetic Loser: After Dark Nebula's fight, the game says he was an evil darkness sealed away a long time ago in the treasure chest Daroach and the Squeaks stole, believing it will give him ultimate power. However, Dark Nebula is regarded as a punchline in comparison to other Kirby bosses by quite a few fans, due to him being an Anti-Climax Boss (for extra irony, the preceding fight, Daroach being possessed by it, is often considered one of if not the best boss in the game).
• Never Live It Down: No matter how many times Kirby selflessly saves Dream Land in other games, thanks to this game, many see him as the "hero" who goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge over a slice of cake.
• Scrappy Mechanic: Kirby & the Amazing Mirror and a majority of the games after this one grant certain abilities' attacks a rebound effect, which prevents Kirby from taking collision damage against bosses by pushing him away slightly. However, Squeak Squad lacks this feature, which makes several abilities, such as Fighter, fairly unwieldy or straight up unsafe to use against bosses. Meanwhile, one feature that was kept from Amazing Mirror (and Nightmare in Dream Land by extension) is how Kirby loses his ability any time he's hit, although this can be avoided by crouching.
• Ships That Pass in the Night:
  • Daroach is often paired up with Drawcia as a choice for those that don't use Dark Matter Blade as her partner. Yet, nowhere in canon shows any chance of the two ever encountering each other, as Drawcia was turned back into a painting and subsequently destroyed. Fans ship them regardless as the main reason for the ship is that they are both original Kirby villains introduced in the DS era. If people want to go even further, some go the route by shipping all three together.
  • There are also cases where the rest of the "ia" sisters + Claycia gets paired up with the rest of the main Squeaks as a case of shipping them all. One ship that often stays constant is treating Spinni and Paintra as a younger ship.
  • Another semi-popular ship is Daroach and Dark Meta Knight, primarily thanks to a piece of official artwork pairing the two in Kirby Star Allies titled "Shadowy Partners". The two have never interacted in a substantial way outside of said artwork, but fans like to interpret the two of them as being morally grey troublemakers, with Dark Meta Knight being more ruthless but kept in check by Daroach's sense of honor.
• So Okay, It's Average: Squeak Squad isn't considered a bad game, but it plays things very safe, being a by-the-numbers platformer with a touch-screen gimmick as its primary new feature. It's also infamous for its contrived Excuse Plot, where Kirby goes on a rampage over his lost cake, and for having a weak and unremarkable final boss. As a result, it's usually thought of as one of the weaker Kirby games.
• That One Attack: In his first appearance, Daroach has an attack where he'll use the Triple Star Cane to fire a Spread Shot of three bouncing star projectiles. They move around the room unpredictably, and last long enough that Daroach might be able to use another attack while they're still present, making them even harder to dodge.
• That One Boss: Mecha Kracko is an early boss with two bars of health. The second phase has him decrease the amount of clouds you're on, so his electric attacks can lead to a One-Hit KO by knocking you off the stage.
• Underused Game Mechanic: The mixing system can create unique abilities that can't be gotten by any other means. Too bad there's only five abilities that can be gotten this way, the items needed to make them are located in the last third of the game, and they're nothing more than elemental versions of Sword and Bomb, providing little extra combat advantage. It's basically a watered-down version of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards ability combination system. It is expanded on in Kirby Star Allies however.
• Unfortunate Character Design: Bohboh, the fifth boss of the game, is a fiery owl with a raccoon tail...and the red crescent on its chest that makes it look like a smile, unintentionally making the boss look like a Perpetual Smiler. Even if you don't see it as a smile, it looks like a double chin to go with its portly roundness.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Spinni (the ninja mouse) is the most androgynous of the Squeaks, which lead to rumors that he was originally female in the Japanese release.

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