Representation of Kirby games with stages in Smash [Part 2]
Warning: While most of the content in this article is factual, there is some speculation towards the end of it.
Welcome back to the second half and final part of this analysis on the Kirby series stages in Super Smash Bros. In this article we will explore various interesting statistics and trivia related to the Kirby stages in the games, learn about some beta elements and planned stages, discuss some of the more notably absent Kirby games and conclude the analysis with some predictions of possible stages we might see in the future. If you missed Part 1 of this stage analysis, you can find a link to it below.
Representation of Kirby games with stages in Smash [Part 2] (Statistics, Trivia and Speculation)
Statistics
With all the Kirby stages in Super Smash Bros. now covered, we will now have a look at some statistics regarding them. The first table below lists all the Kirby stages and what games they originate from. Despite having six stages, there are very few games represented.
| Game | Year of Release | Stages | Smash game debuted in |
| Main Series | |||
| Kirby’s Dream Land | 1992 | Dream Land
Green Greens Dream Land |
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Melee Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS |
| Kirby’s Adventure | 1993 | Fountain of Dreams | Super Smash Bros. Melee |
| Kirby Super Star | 1996 | Halberd
The Great Cave Offensive |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U |
This next table is about how many Kirby stages are present in each Super Smash Bros. game. For Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, I will not include stages that appear in both for their individual rows.
| Game | New Kirby Stages | Returning Kirby Stages | Total Stages |
| Super Smash Bros. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Super Smash Bros. Melee | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Super Smash Bros. Brawl | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Super Smash Bros. for Wii U | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U (combined) | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Grand total of Kirby stages in the Super Smash Bros. series: 6 stages
Lastly, this final table lists all the consoles these Kirby games with stages come from and how many times each console has had stages from their games appear.
| Console | Number of Stages |
| Game Boy | 3 |
| NES | 1 |
| SNES | 2 |
Trivia
– The oldest Kirby game represented is Kirby’s Dream Land (1992) and the most recent is Kirby Super Star (1996).
– Kirby is the only series from the original Super Smash Bros. where the oldest and most recent games represented with stages came from the same decade.
– Kirby’s Dream Land has the most stages of all Kirby games, featuring a grand total of three.
– Kirby’s Adventure is the only Kirby game represented with a stage to only have had one stage in Smash.
– Kirby’s Dream Land is the only Kirby game to have a stage in every Super Smash Bros. game, with Dream Land in Smash 64 and Melee, Green Greens in Melee and Brawl, Smash 3DS having the new Dream Land stage and both versions of Smash 3DS/Wii U having the original Dream Land stage as DLC.
– Kirby Super Star is the only game that had a stage in Brawl to be given another new stage in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U.
– Super Smash Bros. Melee is the only game to feature an unlockable Kirby stage (if one doesn’t count DLC in Smash 3DS/Wii U).
– Fountain of Dreams is the only Kirby stage that has yet to make a return in a later game.
– Dream Land (3DS) is the only stage in Smash with retro visuals that originates from a Game Boy game.
– Kirby is the only series in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U that didn’t receive a stage based on either a recent or previously unrepresented game.
Scrapped Stages and Beta Stage Content
In a game as big as Super Smash Bros., there’s bound to be plenty of ideas that did not come to fruition or elements that were altered radically or dropped completely. In this section we will have a look at some of the beta elements related to Kirby stages and also find out about a stage that was considered in development.
Whispy Woods is staring beyond the fighters, right into your soul.
In the first Super Smash Bros. game, the Dream Land stage originally looked a little different, with the bushes and tree leaves being a much darker shade of green and tall grass in front of the pathway. There are also two unfinished stages that can be accessed through the Debug Menu called “Small” and “New”, which appeared to be earlier versions of the Dream Land stage. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Fountain of Dreams stage originally lacked the top platform, making its layout similar to Pokémon Stadium. Green Green’s differences were much more drastic; while the layout was similar, the appearance of the stage was very different, having a duller, less vibrant and more-realistic look, the two floating platforms were at uneven heights, and the Star Blocks appeared to be made of stone and were in rows of four rather than three. There isn’t much known at all about Brawl‘s beta stage elements regarding Kirby, although the Halberd stage was originally known as “Battleship Halberd” in earlier builds.
In Sakurai’s weekly Famitsu column, some interesting information regarding the two new Kirby stages in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U was divulged; that both stages were originally planned to be stages from entirely different games. In the 3DS version of the game, the new Dream Land stage was originally intended to be a Super Mario Land stage, but the idea was replaced with a Kirby stage for reasons unknown. The Wii U version was originally going to have a Kirby’s Epic Yarn stage, but this plan was dropped when Yoshi’s Woolly World was announced, as it was deemed too similar to how the Woolly World stage would turn out, and so the stage instead became The Great Cave Offensive.
Continue on Page 2 as we conclude with notable absences and future stage predictions!
- Sakurai Discusses The Future of Smash - November 4, 2021
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- Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX Review - September 26, 2019
The “Continue on Page 2” hyperlink goes to a Fire Emblem Heroes article instead of the second page of this article
Thank you, it’s been fixed!
With the rare (and honestly surprising) exception of Kirby’s new Final Smash, Sakurai is actually more Kirby-BLIND than anything.
But that alone should be a start in having a Return to Dream Land-based stage, Lor Starcutter in particular.
While nobody complained a lot about the Kirby games back in Brawl, I do agree many were complaining a lot when 3DS/Wii U came out. Not just only stages, but characters as well. Many believed that (Bandanna) Waddle Dee would join in since he had a lot of spotlight as being one of the major Kirby character since Kirby Wii, but didn’t make it in the roster as he wasn’t even presented in the showcase trophy. Others from Assist and Showcase Trophies, even the enemies from Smash Run was mostly made by Sakurai, while non-Sakurai characters never appeared in any form. Due to this, many believed there was such thing as “Sakurai Bias”, which Sakurai doesn’t bring any Kirby characters that he never made. But I don’t think there is such thing as “Sakurai Bias”. Sakurai have changed Kirby’s Final Smash to the Ultra Sword, which is the move that wasn’t originated by Sakurai. He even added Magolor and his ship’s showcase trophy, even that wasn’t originated by Sakurai either. If there was such thing as “Sakurai Bias”, then he wouldn’t be putting these things from the first place. Maybe he couldn’t add in more non-Sakurai Kirby games, because probably HAL was being too strict with their product.
As Sakurai wanted to bring Epic Yarn as a stage, I do think there may be a chance to see a non-Sakurai Kirby stage for the first time in the future, if HAL is widely open for its permission though. As I don’t think there may be a chance to see Epic Yarn as a stage, if they’re planning to change Yoshi’s stage to something more different instead (maybe the Switch game of their’s?), may he’ll bring something else, and I do like to see Triple Deluxe having a stage for Smash. I do see that hand trap from the factory stage looked more unique, and using it as a gimmick should be interesting. Or a combination of Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot, using the factory reference to make things tricky, risky, but fun.
If Sakurai’ll bring his own related game instead, then I think Kirby 64 should be the interesting choice. Many fans seemed to like its factory stage, and its music, because it was iconic and traumatic at the same time. I’ve forgot what it looked like since I’ve played it long time ago, but maybe bringing that stage for Smash should be interesting, having players experiencing risky and traumatic moments during battle. If he’d bring Air Ride instead, then I could agree we’d see City Trial instead. The only thing I could think of being another touring stage like Delfino Town and Skyloft, but I do wanna see having random events like they did in the actual game.
If Sakurai would bring another stage from Super Star, then the only stage I could think of is the Milky Way Wishes. Since that game takes places through various planets, I think it’ll be interesting to warping through those stages with different gimmicks and obstacles.
Well, these are the only stages I could think of so far. But even then, Kirby is meant to be Sakurai’s masterpiece. Even some doesn’t belong to him anymore, he should try focusing on bringing them to Smash. Furthermore, since this is the final article for this series, I’ll miss it so much since there’s more possibilities for Smash. Thanks for presenting such great article!
I’m gonna be completely honest here and say I disagree with the notion about there being no “Sakurai Bias” involving regarding Kirby game representation. There are a few trophies and nods to other games but ultimately the majority of Kirby stuff in Smash spans just the games Sakurai directed. The Ultra Sword Final Smash is an oddity, I’ll admit, but other than that it is overwhelmingly Sakurai-era Kirby based. All the playable characters, stages, items, assist trophies and Smash Run enemies are from his games. There are a couple of trophies from later games like you said, but remember a lot of trophies in Brawl and Smash 4 used imported models, so it’s not like it took much effort to include them. As for Bandanna Waddle Dee, I think people were banking on recency a bit too much, as after Return to Dream Land, his significance dropped sharply. Really I felt he was just the “Yellow/Blue Toad” equivalent in RTDL and not the fourth major Kirby character everybody was billing him to be. I mean the Kirby amiibo line uses a generic Waddle Dee over Bandanna Dee. Nothing personal to be people who wanted him of course, just saying that I don’t think he was as big as they thought he was.
I don’t think HAL Laboratory would be strict with sharing Kirby stuff, especially with it’s original creator. Not only is there plenty of Kirby content in Smash but Kirby amiibo compatibility with other games like Mario Kart and Super Mario Maker wasn’t impeded in any way at all. They aren’t like The Pokemon Company or some third party who are very limiting on how their IPs can be used. As for a Triple Deluxe stage, while I’d love to see one and have many ideas for one, I think that ship has sailed now unfortunately.
I do believe that if one of the Dark Matter games ever gets a stage it will be Kirby 64, and I definitely agree it would be the factory level as it’s very iconic and memorable (and HAL knows it; it was a stage in Kirby Fighters and got remixes in both Rainbow Curse and Planet Robobot) and I don’t think Sakurai would resort to using the first level like he does for other series because Pop Star doesn’t have much for interesting stage material. As for Air Ride, I think it would be on a specific track, probably Celestial Valley or Frozen Hillside (although I probably just think that because of the music being in Smash) just because that’s what Sakurai tends to do with stages set on race tracks, although I think City Trial is a likely alternative.
As for another Super Star stage I agree that Milky Way Wishes would probably be the most likely, as a transforming stage that changes from planet to planet, or alternatively it takes place in space with all the planets in the background, and visits one planet before returning back to space for a while before going to the next. That said, the transforming style could easily work with the Spring Breeze and Dyna Blade modes too. But I think Milky Way Wishes is the next candidate.
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. To be honest when I first planned this series I was originally going to do all original eight franchises (that have had stages since 64), but Donkey Kong was already done by someone else (and I think I would have had a huge debate with others about the Melee DK stages), and I don’t have much experience with Metroid and Star Fox at all (beyond Fed Force and Zero, lol), so it wouldn’t feel right for me to talk about them instead of a bigger fan. I may make a new one of these articles again some time in the future, maybe after the next Smash has came out. Thanks again for reading all these analysis articles of mine and you’re welcome!