Hammer Kirby

By SiR6

Ironic that Parasol was the first power I'd covered, and now I've reached the third of the powers identified by Kirby constantly holding the weapon of choice in plain sight... Hammer Kirby! This is yet another ability that seems to be fanservice to the folks who want Kirby to be deadly moreso than cute, but it's not as heralded as the likes of Bomb, Sword, and Fire.

Hammers, unlike cutter blades, beams, and bombs (see: Extra Game Kracko, Poppy Bros. Sr.) were not among the common weapons wielded by enemies in Kirby's Dream Land - only, and I do mean ONLY King Dedede had one, though it turned out to be his undoing in a way. But he swung that hammer like a pro, and getting to the stars he left behind when using it was touch, because it was hard to get close in time without risk of being pounded flat (and of course, HAL just HAD to make it so that when he jumped, he made a soft landing on his toes if using the hammer). Yes, a weapon to fear.

Fast forward past KDL2, because the Dark Matter games never had Hammer, Sword, Tornado, etc. Kirby Super Star was the next we saw of Hammer Kirby. And for this game, the power was made more versatile. The Giant Swing had a new speedy move, which is called Ultragiant Swing. Both attacks did something like 14 damage to enemies, but Ultragiant Swing could multihit better. The Hammer Swing attack was another speedy move, with similar damage to the air swings... but it varies a bit, depending on whether or not Kirby uses it to go the whole way through an enemy. I do believe this was another attack that could pass through Meta Knight's vertical tornado, something I was very glad for when trying to use it to complete ALL of The Arena. You'd need to dash to use any of these moves. Hammer Nail's 30 damage was only matched by a few powers' attacks (those being of Plasma), and only exceeded by attacks related to Plasma, Paint, Crash, Microphone, Jet, Stone, Wheelie Rider, Fire, Fighter, Suplex, Ice, Ninja, Beam and Mirror. However, it's range was still just as close as that of before, not really any better than Mirror Cut. there was an added effect of stars being shaken up when Kirby swung his hammer; those were worth 12 damage. So NOW Kirby could truly attack like Bonkers and Dedede. Bonkers was also a pretty decent helper, as he RARELY would waste time jumping and attacking in one spot. Sadly, he was a big target. However, Kirby could do well with Hammer alone if need be, and reserve Bonkers for smashing pegs when need be. Kirby was also the only one who could THROW his hammer, doing 80 damage to whatever got hit. The same power was packed into the Hammer Flip attack, which had an unfortunately lengthy charge time... but the power was well worth the risk. Both Kirby and Bonkers could use that move to their advantage, though the CPU Bonkers just about NEVER does. Hammer vs. Dedede was a bit less risky this time around, since Hammer Flip was so devastatingly powerful (and Dedede seemed to be slower than he used to be... probably because he's an early boss in this game, and he's got a Gourmet Race coming up), but using against a boss like Kracko, Wham Bam Rock, or Marx was an exercise in Kirbycide. Unless you just wanted to use Hammer Nail the whole time. Hammer's best use was against the Computer Virus, who were immobile when vulnerable, and thus perfect targets for Hammer Flip... which you could usually squeeze off twice before Kirby's turn ended. It would take no more than two turns to deal with the Evil Knight and Red Dragon (just use three Hammer Nails on your second attack turn).

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland just gave Hammer Kirby a nicely braided headband... and he'd actually pound the ground, shaking the screen a bit when using Hammer Nail. Hammer was weakened slightly, though... it'd take four (sometimes five) hits to down a mini-boss... and they were all bigger than in Adventure (maybe that's WHY the attacks seem weaker; the bigger bosses might have more HP than their KA counterparts. The only one I could say is just naturally that strong is Fanfan, since s/he wasn't even IN Adventure). The swing also seemed slower. The headband's from the animé.

Hammer wasn't an ability in Kirby Air Ride, but there was a Hammer item in Top Ride mode, which Kirby would swing around himself, giving the rival racers a good smack... fun stuff. King Dedede was also playable, and he used his hammer in the same way Sword Kirby and Meta Knight used their swords... automatic attack when the enemy/rival gets too close for comfort. The king was stuck with his evil-looking Wheelie Bike though... I think the other Wheelies were supposed to be friendly (Heck, the Wheelie machines ARE Wheelies, and they don't mind being ridden by Kirby, but that's more for a Wheel Kirby discussion than anything), and Dedede's is supposed to be the big bully of the bunch. Of course, as before, Hammer range is an issue, but because of the nature of KAR, no one ever really notices, because there are other Copy Abilities available for Kirby, there's Meta knight... and you've got the Quick Spin at your disposal as well. Personally, I prefer the speedy Sword to Dedede's Hammer in this game. And it's RARE I'd rate Sword above Hammer for anything.

Speaking of the rate, now that I've discussed it, Hammer Kirby gets a 7.5/10 from me. Too slow and short ranged, even with the great power. It's just too easy to be hit while using it sometimes. We'll see how Hammer does in the new Kirby: Large Labyrinth Mirror game due out for the GBA this year.