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An action game in which Kirby faces off against hordes of rivals in all sorts of different battles. Up to four players can get in on the action via the internet or local wireless.
— Past Adventures • Kirby games for Nintendo Switch

Kirby Battle Royale is a multiplayer battle action Kirby game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in Europe on November 3, 2017, in Australia on November 4, 2017, in Japan on November 30, 2017, in North America on January 19, 2018, and in South Korea on February 1, 2018. The game was released in celebration of the Kirby series' 25th anniversary.[2][3] While Kirby Battle Royale is not the first Kirby game with online features, it is notable for being the first to allow players to play directly with each other over the Internet.

Story[]

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Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee receive invitations to a tournament hosted by King Dedede, called The Cake Royale. They learn that his new invention, the Kirby Printer, has created leagues of multi-colored Kirby clones; this is a plot by Dedede to get the original Kirby humiliated. Regardless, Kirby defeats every opponent and rises to the final competition. After Dedede challenges him personally and loses, he then lures Kirby into a final confrontation against a robot he pilots: Dededestroyer Z. The hero destroys it, which launches Dedede into the sky and causes the Kirby clones to vanish. As the winner of the tournament, he shares the prize--a massive cake--with every surviving participant.

Gameplay[]

In Kirby Battle Royale, you can... compete in 10 types of battles... and fight using 13 abilities. You'll send foes flying in fierce battles! In single-player Story Mode... you'll take on battlers in a tournament! In Online Battle you can... compete in battles to earn Ranking Points! Send Meta Knight from the demo version... to the full version to use him from the start! There are many battles... all waiting for a great battler like you! All this and more is in the full version!
— Kirby Battle Royale sneak peek • Kirby Battle Royale Demo

Kirby Battle Royale, unlike most Kirby games, is primarily played from a top-down view rather than a side view. It mainly consists of a series of sub-games known as Battle Modes that can be played solo in a Story Mode or in multiplayer with local friends or over the Internet in Online Battle. The game has a greater focus on implementing Kirby's signature Copy Abilities in a 3D environment, which had previously only been done in Kirby Air Ride and the second prototype of the canceled Kirby GCN. (The use of Copy Abilities in full 3D would later be greatly expanded upon in Kirby and the Forgotten Land.)

Copy Ability movesets had to be changed to accommodate for the new 3D gameplay. Kirby still jumps with A and can attack with B, but now the Y button is also used for attacking. The R button is also used for picking up items and other players, which can be thrown. Copy Abilities no longer have different moves depending on directional input, instead using the B button for normal attacks, repeatedly pressing it for "Intense attacks," holding and releasing it for a "Charge attack," pressing it in the air for "Jumping attacks," and pressing the Y button for "Special attacks." There are a few modes in which the game takes place on a flat 2D plane with a traditional side-view camera, but the controls and physics are the same as in the 3D modes. The game also features button settings, allowing the player to pick a different control scheme from the default (from 4 preset options). In offline matches, Boost Orbs that have been equipped in advance can be activated with touch screen icons, which grant temporary power-ups.

Online Battle[]

For the first time in the Kirby series, there is an online multiplayer mode (known as Online Battle), where players can join in matches with others over the internet. "Ranked Matches" is the only option available in Online Battle, which automatically matches players with each other to compete for Ranking Points. Unlike in later Kirby games with online features, it is not possible for a player to host a room or create a lobby restricted to friends; players that enter Online Battle in close time proximity to each other are more likely to end up in the same room, however.

In Ranked Matches, after attaining a certain number of experience points, players will gain a Level. A completed match will always give some amount of experience points, though finishing in 1st place will produce far more than finishing in 4th. Each Level advancement awards a bonus of Battle Coins for unlocking items in the Collection. With more Levels, the Battle Coin prizes gradually increase in value, as do the point requirements for advancing a Level.

There are also Ranking Points, which are intended to give an idea of how skillful and experienced a player is. They are displayed next to players' names before a match starts, visible to all others in the match. Until earning 1000 Ranking Points, even a 4th place loss will still award a small amount of points. After reaching that total, losses or poor performance will subtract Ranking Points. Players who disconnect from a match before it has ended are penalized by a more drastic subtraction of Ranking Points even before the player earned 1000 points.

When four players have been matched together, each player votes on one of three randomly selected Battle Modes. Using their votes, a roulette decides which game mode will be played. Ranked Matches lack any of the post-game special bonuses awarded in offline battles, possibly in the interest of fairness. Perhaps for the same reason, Boost Orbs are not available.

On weekends, upon starting up Ranked Matches, the game will announce that a "Team Battle Frenzy" is taking place. During these events, all matches will be in the 2 vs. 2 team battle format.

Battle Modes[]

There are 10 Battle Modes in Kirby Battle Royale.

Battle Arena[]

Battle Arena is a standard free-for-all. Players fight each other to be the last fighter standing. However, KO'd opponents can get back in the fight by mashing the A button, but with less health, and being KO'd again makes it harder to return to the fight.

Apple Scramble[]

Apple Scramble is a team-based mode involving apple picking. Players collect apples from Mini Whispy Woods and deliver them to their base. One player can collect apples while the other operates the machine to collect the apples.

Coin Clash[]

In Coin Clash, Kirbys collect coins in a haunted mansion, but have to avoid the ghost that will grab them and drain their money. The player who has been grabbed by the ghost must tag another player to get rid of the "curse" and hinder their opponents with it.

Attack Riders[]

Attack Riders is a mode involving collecting chips from other Kirbys by attacking them. A vehicle can be driven to give the player an advantage. There are two different vehicles available, each of which appears exclusively in its own stage.

Crazy Theater[]

In Crazy Theater, players have to complete a randomly selected objective before the timer runs out. When playing in 2-vs-2 mode, the first team to reach 10 points wins. When playing in solo mode, the first player to reach 5 points wins.[4]

Rocket Rumble[]

In Rocket Rumble, Kirbys collect fuel and take as much of it as they can to their rocket within the time limit, then ride their rockets to see who gets the highest. Players have many options to thwart opponents' attempts to collect fuel in the open arena, and can remove fuel from rival rockets.

Robo Bonkers[]

In this mode, players attack Robo Bonkers to obtain points. Robo Bonkers tries to attack the players and create hazards to make this more difficult for them. It can be considered a competitive boss fight.

Slam Hockey[]

In Slam Hockey, players knock around a giant puck. Hitting rivals with the puck will result in a slam, which is how players obtain points.

Ore Express[]

In Ore Express, players collect stacks of ore and dispense them into train cars.[5] The train cars are only open for short intervals of time, and the train is a dangerous hazard that can instantly KO players.

Flagball[]

In Flagball, players in opposing teams bring a colored ball to their flag (or vice versa) to score points.[6] The layout of the stage, the starting positions of the ball and flags, and the shape and point value of the flags can all change over the course of the match.

Controls[]

Type Jump Attack Special Attack Carry
Type A A B Y R
Type B B Y A/X R
Type C A B Y X
Type D B Y A X

Characters[]

Playable Characters[]

NPCs[]

Enemies[]

Cameos[]

Other[]

Copy Abilities[]

KBR Playable

All Copy Abilities and playable characters available immediately after launch. Mirror and Sleep are not among them.

Items[]

Vehicles[]

Headgear[]

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: Outfit

The player can use Battle Coins and amiibo to unlock optional costumes to wear in battle. They are purely cosmetic and do not affect play in any way.

Demo[]

KCC Kirby Stub Template This section is a stub - It needs expansion!
Welcome to Kirby Battle Royale. There are many different ways to play this game. Select Story Mode if you'd like to play the start of the story again. If you'd like to jump straight into battle, select Battle Mode. You can also battle with other players who have a system from the Nintendo 3DS family. You can play the demo version a limited number of time in one day. All right! It's time for you to try out a battle for yourself!
— Main Menu • Kirby Battle Royale Demo
Battleroyale

Demo Game Card

KBR Home Menu Demo

Home Menu diorama

The North American demo for Kirby Battle Royale was released on January 4, 2018. In it, the intro of Story Mode can be played along with Battle Arena, Apple Scramble along with Crazy Theater (which is unlocked for 100 Battle Coins). Three Copy Abilities are available: Sword, Cutter along with Beetle (also unlocked for 100 Battle Coins). Demo Tickets, which replenish once a day, must be used to play in Battle Mode. Five are given for Single Player, while seven are given for Multiplayer.

As with the demo of Kirby: Planet Robobot, this demo appeared in 3DS demo kiosks at American retail locations, with unique instruction cards placed nearby.

25th Anniversary Polls[]

On the Official Kirby Website, there was a poll in which individuals could vote for their favorite Copy Ability; the Copy Ability that wins the poll may have a chance to be added into the game. Copy Abilities in this list which are already included in Kirby Battle Royale are marked with Icon-kirby-face. Copy Abilities marked with Red-circle cannot be added to the game. Every standard Copy Ability except for Smash Bros. is included. Voting was allowed once per day until the poll ended on October 2, 2017. The winner was announced on November 7 (which was Mirror); the ability was added in a free software update December 13, 2017.

KBR Last Poll

On November 14, 2017, another poll was opened, allowing voters to choose a Copy Ability to be added to the game. All Copy Abilities already in the game and Copy Abilities that wouldn't be added anyway were removed from this poll. Voting was allowed once per day until the poll ended on December 2. The winner was announced on January 30 (which was Sleep); the ability was added in a free software update on February 1, 2018.

List[]

First Poll[]

Abilities in Bold were already included in the game before the poll results, abilities followed by a star (*) cannot be added.

Second Poll[]

Results[]

As of November 7, 2017, the highest voted Copy Abilities were:[7]

  1. Mirror
  2. Yo-Yo
  3. Sleep
  4. UFO
  5. Plasma
  6. Wing
  7. Cook
  8. Suplex
  9. Sword
  10. Missile[8]

On November 6, the 5th and 4th place winners were announced to be Plasma and UFO, respectively, with the top three announced to be revealed the following day.[9]

On November 7, the entire top 10 Copy Abilities were announced. The top three are Sleep (3rd), Yo-Yo (2nd), and Mirror (1st)[10]; Mirror will be the second to last ability added to the game.

Copy Ability Final Vote poll Top 8

On November 24 and November 28, the top 8 Copy Abilities, in no particular order, were revealed by the Kirby Twitter and the Nintendo of America Twitter respectively. The highest voted Copy Abilities were:

  • Animal
  • Water
  • ESP
  • Suplex
  • Sleep
  • Paint
  • UFO
  • Yo-Yo
Second poll winner

Sleep won the second ability poll

On January 30, Sleep was revealed to be the winner, with Yo-Yo in second and Suplex in third. Sleep was the last Copy Ability added to the game.

The top 10 highest voted abilities were also revealed on the 25th Anniversary website[11], those being:

  1. Sleep
  2. Yo-Yo
  3. Suplex
  4. Paint
  5. Animal
  6. UFO
  7. ESP
  8. Water
  9. Magic
  10. Plasma

Music[]

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: Kirby Battle Royale/Music

Glitches[]

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: Glitch#Kirby Battle Royale

Reception[]

According to Metacritic, Kirby Battle Royale received an aggregate score of 57.[12] It is tied with Team Kirby Clash Deluxe for being the lowest-rated Kirby game on the site.

Staff[]

KPR Maxim Tomato Main article: List of Kirby Battle Royale Staff

Trivia[]

  • Excluding 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure, which released before the launch of Miiverse, Kirby Battle Royale is the only Kirby game for the Nintendo 3DS that did not have a Miiverse community in North America or Japan. This is because the Miiverse service was discontinued on all devices on November 8, 2017, before the game's launch in those regions.
    • Kirby Battle Royale released in Europe four days before Miiverse's discontinuation, and in Australia three days, so it briefly maintained a community. This was Nintendo's shortest-lived, final first-party Miiverse community. The only community that lasted for a shorter time was that of the third-party game Hiding Out, which was created two days before Miiverse's discontinuation.
  • Kirby Battle Royale is the first Kirby game for the Nintendo 3DS that cannot be played with stereoscopic 3D.[13] As with some other 3DS games that lack the feature, such as Hey! Pikmin and most parts of Pokemon Sun & Moon, this is done to allocate more available processing power for the game's use, without any of it consumed by the need to render the 3D effect. Consequently, Kirby Battle Royale’s loading times are longer than those of any other 3DS Kirby game, and there is a lengthy transition when accessing the Home Menu or starting/exiting the game, at least on a non-New 3DS system.
  • Kirby Battle Royale is also the only Kirby game for the Nintendo 3DS that does not ever run at 60 frames per second, owing to its heavier-than-usual demand on the 3DS hardware.
  • Kirby Battle Royale is the fourth Kirby game that did not release in Japan first, and the second game to be released in Europe first (the first game in both instances being Kirby's Avalanche).
  • Nintendo UK's Copy Ability Poll states that Cleaning Kirby debuted in 2009. This is because Kirby's Dream Land 3, which debuted the ability, was not initially released in Europe and Australia for the SNES and was first released in those countries on the Wii Virtual Console in 2009.
  • Nintendo of America's Copy Ability poll has an error in that it states that Parasol debuted in Kirby Super Star and Bomb debuted in Kirby's Adventure. These debut games are switched, as Parasol debuted in Kirby's Adventure and Bomb debuted in Kirby Super Star.
  • Despite being one of the first colors in the series, red does not appear in the game, being presumably replaced by orange.
  • Meta Knight can be unlocked early by sending him to the save data of the full game in the demo version rather then just battling and unlocking him in the Gold League in The Cake Royale
  • Kirby Battle Royale is the first Kirby game to be localized into Dutch.
  • Kirby Battle Royale is the first Kirby game to have two primary attack buttons.
  • Kirby Battle Royale is the second Kirby game, after Kirby Fighters Deluxe, where Kirby always has a Copy Ability, contrary to some other games where he never has a Copy Ability. The only moment Kirby is not shown with an ability is in a thought bubble he imagines at the beginning of the game and in the game's ending cutscene.
  • When using the Download Play option for local multiplayer, the ten Game Modes are split up into A and B Packs, with five games in each. Because of the limited RAM of the 3DS hardware, each pack must be sent separately to the other players' systems, and only one can be used at a time. To conserve additional memory, all match music on the systems of players receiving data is replaced by a very short and simple percussion loop.
  • Nintendo of America offered a free download of the exclusive Kirby Battle Royale: May the Best Kirby Win! theme to anyone who pre-purchased the game on the Nintendo eShop. Customers reported that the theme they received called itself by the proper title but was, in actuality, the Kirby: Copy Ability Poll theme; the latter theme was released for free on the game's launch day, making the offer less desirable.[14][15] The issue was somewhat resolved on January 26, 2018, when Nintendo of America released the theme on the My Nintendo rewards program.[16]
  • A US commercial for Kirby Battle Royale featured a man playing chess with a large puppet or costume of Kirby, which knocks the chessboard over.[17] A second US commercial shows another costume of Kirby playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with a man. Surprisingly, it appears that Kirby wins, despite the fact that he has no fingers to make shapes.
  • In the post-match results screens, the losing characters are shown applauding in a very similar manner to fighters in the Super Smash Bros. series.
  • Wherever possible, Kirby Battle Royale always allows matches to end in a tie, or declares more than one winner (a rather common occurrence in Crazy Theater, and a rare, yet possible occurrence in Battle Arena, if two people knock each other out at the same time); the only mode that cannot end in a tie is Flagball. There are no tiebreakers. However, a tie in The Cake Royale will be treated the same way that a loss would, with the League Battle being considered incomplete.
  • Kirby Battle Royale is the only Kirby game where Sleep is optimized to be a truly usable Copy Ability. It is also the second game where Sleep is able to heal itself, the first game being Kirby: Squeak Squad; Kirby and the Forgotten Land would retain its healing ability.
  • Kirby Battle Royale is the first Kirby game to include an ice-centered ability (Ice) without a fire-centered counterpart (such as Fire or Burning).
  • Almost all of Kirby Battle Royale’s music is unique. The only exceptions are the music that plays in the intro upon being ambushed, which is the Kirby Fighters Deluxe theme and Meta Knight themes from Kirby: Planet Robobot.
  • Notes from the ESRB describe how Kirby Battle Royale earned its E10+ rating. In addition to its cartoon violence and the sounds and effects of that violence, the notes mention "cries of pain" in battle and the fact that some modes let players "fire missiles from cannons and shoot fireballs from armored vehicles."[18]
  • Kirby's damage voice clips were reused from the anime series Kirby: Right Back At Ya!.
  • An official Kirby Battle Royale tournament took place at the Nintendo World store (currently known as Nintendo New York) in New York City on February 3rd, 2018. Prizes for the winners included framed Kirby art prints and a First4Figures statue of Fighter Kirby.[19]
  • In the 3DS files of Kirby Battle Royale, there is an unused soundtrack that was possibly meant to be played in a certain battle or a tutorial.

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