Ask Guru Gobbo #146

1) I don't even know where one would begin to suspect that, especially since most the faculty at this site should be assumed, as with most all websites, to be punk American kids. Since the Kirby team is in Japan, there's a big disconnect.

2) Long have I considered it, but then I realized no one would play. Really, tho', you'd just tell people they're stupid, to search more, that their fan ideas are unfounded, that no one cares about Meta Knight in a Pengy suit, and that the Wii title is still delayed. That's not even action and adventure I enjoy, so why would anyone want to jump into those shoes?

If by "random" you mean "different from one another" and "I don't know what the word 'random' even means", then, yes. Yes, I'd say they are.

All Kirby levels, and most any video game level for that matter, works in this fashion. Sure, you have the clichés like a water world and the token ice stage, but a fiery frontier or sky place aren't to be overlooked, either. Some games have so many levels (or a need for different ones), they break out of the clustered classics and touch new ground. The themed stars of Milky Way Wishes had Halfmoon, which completely stands out against the dry "elemental" type themes set up previously. Super Mario Bros. 3 had a Giant Land for cryin' out loud. The Pipe Land was a bit more expected as the plumber has a history with them, but the giants just came out of the blue.

But, since Air Ride is a race world, the standard platformer level archetypes don't really pull the same weight. As of such, things like "Checker Knights" get pulled out. It's not "random". It's just not falling into tired clich´. Originality must be unplanned, unorganized, and sporadic nonsense! That's the only explanation.

You most likely should pay attention to the clips you are watching as they have "details" or "information" at the side which tends to explain what they are of. At the least, the title should have clued you in. You saw the Kirby of the Stars pilot episode, I'm guessing (barring further supplied input). Not the first episode of the series but the prototype developed for a television series to show concept before any real details are nailed down. It was a five minute or so short with no talking, a rounded "girl" rather than Tiff, and a Wiley E. Coyote-esque King Dedede. It also featured Kirby inhaling and exhaling, not wearing hats, and working with his former adversary. And, in this, yes, he wore an actual pronged crown rather than his normal headgear. I mean, I've only mentioned this superior product enough times in these sessions alone, including recently.

That, or it was just a regular, boring episode where the king wore an actual crown for some reason pertaining to said episode. And when I say "boring", I mean "not some fancy, special, proto-type pilot", although if this case held true, my money would be on that horse.

1) That's what you call a "relic". If you paid any amount of attention, that detail is fully explained on the very front page to this feature. The section is Ask the Kirby Gurus, and it originally featured Ivyna J. Spyder and Kirby Warrior. Two people, hence plural. It went away and then came back, but not outright and immediately. First it was "Help Nook" and then quickly overtaken to be "Ask Uncle Gobbo". It wasn't supposed to be turned into Gurus, but it's shoddy web management to have nearly identical areas on the same site. Please, ignore all those rubbled fan art areas. Who am I kidding? Those aren't even linked to. Now, I can't change the name of an existing feature, as that would lead to even more inconsistencies, and, besides, they are still here. Not in presence, granted, but in words. Both of their bounties of sessions can still be read and scoured for answers. They were Gurus, their knowledge remains, and so they can still answer inquiries.

2) Anything is possible, but the question truly is should someone do that? It seems that about every Tim, Dick, and Horton has tried their hand at writing a omgreal Kirby fan fiction that pulls the puff out of his soft, comfy environment and throws him into a dark, harsh world. The thing is, though, that such is not Kirby's way. Do I even have to link back to any of the numerous occasions where I've explained that he's a round ball that lives on rainbow color themed islands that make up a star shaped like a star and spends his free time eating, sleeping, dreaming, and eating? Story is just not Kirby's thing.

3) The snorkel is a stupidity safeguard. Other games don't bother to give Kirby the diving mask combo since (a) they do not feature hats, and (b) abilities can be used underwater. These "newer" styled games have a diving mask as yet another hat, signifying mostly use of the "Water Gun" and no use of the currently held ability.

4) A fun fact is that the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" is actually "You can't always judge a book by its cover." Time and again, as psychological profiling has more than shown us, people are easily readable. To that affect, it is a piece of pie to get an accurate analysis from an individual solely using a provided handle. For example, "Kirby396893" is just an uncreative moron. "Metafanxxy" is oblivious to their idol being an over-sweated tool possibly has a genetic disposition. And... well, all further examples would pretty much be number strings and association with Meta Knight.

5) Sakurai got tired of the demand for sequels, I believe, for the most part. He started working on Kirby when he was nineteen years old, I believe, and he grew up. He probably, also, wanted to expand his portfolio a little.

1) Why, exactly, would it be anything else? Kracko is Kracko, except when "Co" or "Mecha".

2) ... What? ... Why? ... Where are you getting that from? Yes, those are the tracks, but who ever said each had to classified in that manner, if at all. It's an arbitrary attribute in the grand scope of things. Technically, you can slap any appropriate descriptor on those, and it'd still work. I mean, yes, as mentioned priorly, there are some standard motifs followed in levels, but they follow very set trends. Since when, ever, has "light" been a level theme? RPG magic element, yes, but theme? No. Besides, I'd think that Nebula Belt would just be space themed as that type of stage does come up in Kirby games (Halfmoon, Hyper Zone, Gamble Galaxy, Candy Constellation, etc.).

3) Nope, that's it. Well, it could have a secret name, but not one anyone knows of.

4) Yes, he was born out of resent for all the fan characters with the backstory of being the progeny of Meta Knight.

5) No, they do not. They, too, are arbitrary and anamorphic energies that change as suited or needed in a game. Bomb could be Poppy Bros. Jr., Foley, that new stupid clown seen in Wii screen shots, or blackness as seen in Crystal Shards. Whatever form is needed, it will be that in that game. If a hat is needed to represent it, okay, but otherwise nuts to it.

What is this? Ask 5 Questions Day?

1) Not really. I'd say it's just coincidence. Inhaling to eat something was not invented by Kirby. It's an old, established cartoon trait used by gluttons. As for the Toads appearing like Kirby, everything looks like Kirby. He's so round and nondescript that it's not too difficult to appear like him. Mostly, be round. Besides, you're tying a trait with one character to the appearance of some others, which really has no string between. We call this a "crazy, imaginary stretch", and, no, I don't know who else outside of myself says that.

2) Nope. That's progress. Move forward, don't look back. Unless it's planned to release a "Mega Man 9" for Kirby, I think the new, pudgy look is staying. Even Dream Land 3, in all its simplicity, had fat flippers over pointed paddles.

3) Tinsel was actually something. Even Gobbler's sidekicks, Pakurieru, are something. The little painting bugs in Canvas Curse, and the missiles of Heavy Mole (although not confirmed officially), and such are all something. Those giant bombs are just things. The coconuts thrown by Bonkers and cubes tossed by Mr. Frosty are nameless as they are simply objects. That giga-bomb does not have limbs or a face (no, the skull doesn't count). It's just a big, ugly bomb.

4) You heard it, folks, Daimyo is making another big ass picture~! Well, purely thinking of non-staff members, which bars any moderators, chat-ops, or even baggers, ... that really cuts out a lot. More like "all". Yeee. Before a year ago, there wasn't much in-site notoriety. No one really popped since, well, no one had a chance to. There was much less participation and such. In fact, the only name of merit that comes to mind is Minon for his gigantic fan work en devour in Kirby Cosmic Chaos. Anyone else who did stuff or contributed typically was absorbed into some facet of the site's working. So, with nothing else really to go on, one other name comes up: the fantastic fan artist, who is sometimes mischief, Aru.

5) Dream Land 2 was a vibrant and colorful affair due to it being on the fledgling coloredness in Game Boy. In 3, the colors were more pastel and muted. Everything was toned down, washed, and faded. It kinda was his original colors if you blanched them down a lot and turned it a bit more realistically colored.

1) Um, sure. Counter words never spoken. Alright. Regardless, I don't really know what you want me to add here. Simplicity and budget were already covered in the previous question, so your answer is already had.

2) My thoughts haven't changed on vocals within video games. They're still a distraction, still unfitting, and really wouldn't belong in a game series that largely built upon silent characters.

... What?

Really, tho', that little odd ball is a reference to "Little Nemo in Slumber Land". There was an odd hobo man with a hat that read "Wake up". When Nemo saw this, he would, and got hurled back into the conscious world. Back in the day, the Storybook was greatly different from the regular run of the site and was considered a secret. It was treated like a myth or illusion, so, to get back to the main site, you would click on Flip to "wake up" and get back to normal. That, or he's the product of LSD. How am I to know?

Why would Yo-yo Gim need to be redone? He was a fine example of an original concept. A one-armed robot with a shoulder in the middle of its face? Pretty unique. Capsule J1, on the other hand, was very notably just a blue colored Waddle Doo that picked up a rocket pack. That's a little sad. I mean, there barely was any change to this mould. The design team could have tried a little harder than that, and this is what J2 pulls off -- a fully new enemy.

1) Or, you're entirely wrong as I've gone over this more logically, accurately, and simply before. First, they've changed a metric tonne of names' spellings in Ultra. Plus, as far as Japan is concerned, all of these names stayed the same. Only the interpretations of these into English has changed... for some reason. The same three katakana that spell Kaboola still spell Kabula. Then, everyone has gotten bigger. Size changes constantly. Dedede is how many times larger than he was first? And all mini-bosses went on a massive weight gain when transitioning into the "everything's bigger" generation. Well, except Phan Phan who actually shrunk to go into Ultra.

Plus, as I've said, it's outward redesign could be more attributed to it being more like a Kaboola's Revenge than some supposedly new boss. The "new boss, same gimmick" stuff flies when looking between Wiz and Paint Roller or to Lololo & Lalala and Pon & Con. Notice how appearances and names are wholly changed between both sets. It's not just a splash of paint and a phonetical equivalent. Only behavior is shared between these guys.

2) My thoughts are that you seriously need to re-evaluate the priorities in your life. For example, try getting a girlfriend. And, coming from me, this is more than a little sad.

3) Truthfully, it's like the "creator" had a complete vacuum of ideas and is killing time and brain cells with their murder to creative originality. I mean, it's one thing to do a fan work which is using beloved characters to have new adventures, but to get those same characters and put them into someone else's? Seriously. Girlfriend.