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KTD Moonja artwork This article's title is derived from Japanese (Edit | (Similar)
...because it was never localized to English in official sources.

KTD Moonja artwork This article contains content derived from Japanese (Edit | (Similar)
...because it was never localized to English in official sources.

Kirby's Toy Box is a series of Kirby sub-games developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System's Satellaview satellite network. It was released only in Japan, on February 8, 1996.

General Information[]

The Kirby's Toy Box series was broadcast over Nintendo's first form of digital distribution, the Satellaview satellite network, and, depending on when the player connected to the network, different games were available at different times. These could be downloaded to the Satellaview base unit, or an 8-megabit rewritable "Memory Pak" ROM cartridge compatible with the Satellaview. As these games did not use the SoundLink live audio streaming technology utilized by other Satellaview games, after being downloaded, they could be played at any time after the broadcast as long as they were not deleted or overwritten.

All the titles start with a teaser of the main menu (corkboard) of Kirby Super Star.

Games[]

Kirby's Toy Box - Baseball[]

This is a simple one screened game that featured Kirby being the ball. It plays somewhat like pinball, where the player must hit the ball in one of the scoring slots, or if he fails to make it in any slot, he gets a strike. The goal is to get as many runs as possible, and just aim for a high score. The game technically plays forever or until the player gets 3 outs. There is a 2-player mode available.

Kirby's Toy Box - Pinball[]

This is also a one screened game, once again using Kirby as the ball. This game is a simple game of pinball, where the player has to launch Kirby into the enemies on the stage to earn points. The hero first has to be shot out of a cannon at whatever power level the player chooses. If Kirby falls down the drain three times, the game ends. As with Kirby's Toy Box - Baseball, the game could be played over and over during the brief period it was broadcast, but could not be played after that time, unless it had already been saved onto. Enemies in this game include King Dedede, Mr. Frosty, Kracko, Co-Kracko, Bounder, Waddle Dee, Crack-Tweet, and Elieel.

Kirby's Toy Box - Star Break[]

This is a breakout-style game where Kirby is the ball. The bat is a trampoline held by two Rick-like hamsters. The game uses a star-counter, which decreases periodically on its own. Hitting any one block will dislodge several stars which fall down from where the block was - catching one will increment the player's star counter by 5. If Kirby (the ball) hits the ground when the star counter is higher than zero, he will bounce once, so the player gets one more chance to catch him. Otherwise, the player loses a life. Every time Kirby touches the ground, the star counter is reduced by 10.

Once the player clears the first five stages, King Dedede appears in stage 6. This stage has no blocks, so the player's star counter cannot increase. Dedede throws hammers from time to time - if Rick is hit, the player will not be able to control him for a short while. Hitting Dedede enough times will defeat him.

Kirby's Toy Box - Round and Round Ball[]

The player fires spherical Kirbys through a spiral tube, which is designed to look like Efreeti. This tube has holes in it, which a speedy Kirby will pass right over. The point is to fire the Kirbys with just the right amount of power to pass over certain holes but slow down and fall into another hole. Different holes give different numbers of points, so the goal of the player is to shoot his/her Kirbys into the highest-scoring hole as much as possible. When the player runs out of Kirbys, the game ends.

Kirby's Toy Box - Cannonball[]

The player controls a giant robotic Rick, which can shoot spherical Kirbys out from its head. The game is a simplified take on the same concept used by numerous other games based around lobbing parabolic projectiles at opponents over hills with destructible terrain, such as Scorched Earth and the Worms series. A large hill divides the screen into two halves, with Player 1 on the left; the right side is occupied by another robot hamster, which is controlled by a CPU or a second player. The goal of the game is to defeat the opponent robot by hitting it with enough Kirbys. Each robot can move its head to change the direction and angle of the Kirbys it fires. They can also walk slowly forward and backward. The robots can blast tiny holes in the hill by shooting it with Kirbys. When one robot is defeated, the game ends with surviving robot being the winner.

There are multiple stages to play on, but the only difference between them is the scenery. Clouds will stop any Kirby that hits them, causing the projectile to lose all momentum and fall.

Kirby's Toy Box - Arrange Ball[]

The player is given the goal of launching spherical Kirbys into the nine holes occupied by Mr. Frostys. The player is given a certain number of Kirbys to launch, and the game ends when he/she runs out of Kirbys to shoot. The player can choose how much power to put into each shot. Points are awarded if the player lands three Kirbys in a row—the more rows the player completes, the more points he/she will earn.

Kirby's Toy Box - Pachinko[]

This game is like a pachinko machine; the goal is to launch the spherical Kirbys the player is given into the pockets of the machine. The player is given two minutes to fire an unlimited number of Kirbys, and he/she is given control of the power put into each shot. Ten points are awarded whenever a Kirby lands in a pocket. If a shot lands directly atop the big Kirby in the center, the player will temporarily win a chance to earn more points; the big Kirby will raise his arms and give 100 points to each shot that hits him in one of three locations. When time is up, the game ends.

Kirby's Toy Box - Ball Rally[]

The player's goal is to guide Kirby and King Dedede through an obstacle course. He/she can do this using proper timing and the A Button; when A is pressed, some green platforms extend while others retract. Spherical Kirbys are released from the top-most door one by one. They can't stop rolling, so the player must extend the right platforms to guide the Kirbys safely over spikes. As more Kirbys join the playing field, it becomes increasingly difficult to guide them all to the exit. The player scores points by getting a Kirby to the exit. There are 50 Kirbys and Dededes altogether.

Characters[]

Playable characters[]

Kirby | Rick | Robo Rick*

Enemies[]

Bounder | Co-Kracko | Crack-Tweet | Efreeti | Elieel | King Dedede | Kracko | Mr. Frosty | Robo Rick* | Waddle Dee

Bosses[]

King Dedede

Trivia[]

  • When a Kirby is KO'd in Kirby's Toy Box - Ball Rally, he becomes an angel and floats away. This idea was later reused in Kirby Mass Attack.
  • This was the first Kirby game that was not released outside of Japan.
  • For a time, Kirby's Toy Box - Baseball, Kirby's Toy Box - Pinball, and Kirby's Toy Box - Star Break were the only Kirby's Toy Box sub-games that could be played in emulators. As the ROM data of the other games had not yet been dumped, preserved and publicly distributed at the time, video footage and screenshots taken from the original broadcasts were the primary method for anyone to be able to experience them. Otherwise, the necessary setup consisted of a Super Famicom, a Satellaview, the Satellaview's main application cartridge, and possibly a Memory Pak containing the broadcasted game data. As of December 4, 2020, all of these games have been discovered, rendering the game no longer lost.
    • On November 8, 2016, ROM cartridges containing Kirby's Toy Box - Round and Round Ball, Kirby's Toy Box - Cannonball, Kirby's Toy Box - Arrange Ball, and Kirby's Toy Box - Pachinko were sold in a Japanese auction. They were purchased by members of Video Game History Foundation, and have been preserved by having the ROMs dumped online.[2]
    • On December 4, 2020, a ROM containing information for Kirby's Toy Box - Ball Rally was dumped on Satellaview research blog Satellablog. [3]
  • Excluding Kirby Slide, a sliding puzzle game with no characters to speak of, Kirby's Toy Box and Kirby's Star Stacker are the only games in the Kirby series that do not feature any female characters.

External links[]

References[]

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