1UP: New GBA Kirby Details, Movies

Nintendo's latest Kirby adventure is about to arrive in Japan next month, and the developers have been kind enough to update the game's official website with a multitude of new details. Hoshi no Kirby: Kagami no Daimeikyuu, or "Kirby's Star: The Great Mirror Maze," is the first game in the series developed since the departure of creator Masahiro Sakurai from Hal Labs, but Hal's signature character seems to be in good hands.

The new Kirby game is a side-scroller like its forebears, but one with a wide variety of new elements to improve on their design. Kirby has three fellow puffballs to help him out and a selection of some 25 new forms to copy, each granting him unique abilities to fight through challenges.

Nine of Kirby's forms have yet to be revealed, but so far the rest of them shake out like so:

Angel Kirby: Kirby's angelic form grants him the wings and arrows of Cupid (or Kid Icarus, depending on which mythology you subscribe to). The wings let him fly freely around a level, and he can shoot arrows at enemies in eight directions.

Cutter Kirby: The "cutter" attack brings to mind the similar abilities of classic sentai heroes (Ultraman, Mazinger Z, that kind of thing). In more familiar terms, it's a boomerang Kirby can toss out to zap his enemies -- aiming up, down, or straight ahead -- accompanied by a stylish winged hat.

Fire Kirby: Inhaling a particularly spicy opponent sets Kirby aflame and lets him breathe fire on his enemies. It's especially useful against icy opponents, and it melts chunks of ice that might block Kirby's path.

Fighter Kirby: This skill grants Kirby mighty martial-arts ability, accompanied by a keen red headband. It seems to be inspired by Capcom fighting games -- he has straightforward punches, a flying dragon punch, and a fast fireball attack.

Sword Kirby: Might as well call it "Link Kirby" -- the green hat Kiby wears along with this sword is kinda familiar. With it he can deliver a straightforward slash or a jumping uppercut slash against flying enemies.

Tornado Kirby: This ability turns Kirby into a miniature whirlwind. It deals out repeated hits to any opponent he touches, and grants him limited flight as well, but it's a little bit hard to control once it gets going.

Missile Kirby: Kirby blasts off as a rocket-powered missile with this ability, letting him cruise underwater or through the air at high speed. It's only good at going in straight lines, though -- the turn radius isn't very impressive. By hitting the B button, you can detonate Kirby in a massive explosion.

Cook Kirby: One of the coolest abilities in the game, this turns Kirby into a master chef. Activating the Cook skill sucks every enemy on the screen into Kirby's stew pot, where after judicious boiling and seasoning they pop out as yummy life power-ups.

Sumabura Kirby: "Sumabura" is a Japanese abbreviation for "Smash Brother." As that suggests, this ability grants Kirby the rough-and-tumble attacks of a Super Smash Brothers fighter -- he can attack with a flurry of punches, launch a whirlwind sword attack, or turn himself into a heavy stone and crush enemies.

Magic Kirby: This is more of a power-up than a special skill. Inhaling an enemy that grants this Magic ability activates a roulette wheel, which might turn all the enemies on the screen into power-ups or pop some random upgrade out of the hat for Kirby and his allies.

Bomb Kirby: The Bomb ability is pretty straightforward, letting Kirby set or toss explosives Bomberman-style. Thrown bombs blow up on contact, while set bombs have a five-second delay. Bombs can blow up enemies or clear away certain obstacles, but it's hard to say what the blue stocking cap has to do with anything.

Spark Kirby: The Spark skill charges up Kirby with electricity, letting him light up opponents with powerful electric punches. Like the Fire ability, Kirby's Spark can also clear away certain vulnerable barriers.

Beam Kirby: The cute twin-tailed jester's hat belies the power of the Beam ability. It has a short range, but it clears away a wide swath of enemies and obstacles just in front of Kirby.

Parasol Kirby: Kirby's umbrella has plenty of handy uses. He can swing it forward or spin it to attack nearby enemies, use it as a parachute to lazily fall through the air, or shield himself from falling attacks from flying and climbing enemies.

Wheel Kirby: Here's a weird one -- Kirby transforms to acquire a backwards baseball cap and turn himself a giant wheel. Obviously his jumping ability is limited in this form, but the ability to barrel forward at high speed and crush anything in his path makes up for it.

Stone Kirby: Similar to one of the abilities he gains in Smash Brother form, this skill lets Kirby become heavy and rock-hard. In stone form, he can no longer move on his own, but he can roll down inclines, fall through breakable barriers, or sit impervious to enemy attacks while transformed.

You can have access to as many as four transformations at once -- one for each of the game's four Kirbys. If a particular situation calls for a particular transformation, or if you're almost out of life, the active Kirby can use his cellular phone to summon one of his fellows. As you can see from the interface screens, however, the phone has limited power in certain areas -- if the signal isn't strong enough, you're stuck with the active Kirby until he escapes into another area.

Some puzzles also require cooperation between Kirby and his allies to solve -- for instance, one Kirby might have to hold a switch open while another zips through the door it unlocks.

The four Kirbys can also compete in a series of mini-games, similar to those offered in the earliest Kirby titles. In the "Gigaton Punch" game, you build up a power meter to see which Kirby can smash the deepest crack in the earth, while the "Setsuna no Tsumamigui" game (which means something like "Quickly eat with your fingers!") is a sort of quick-draw challenge to see who can tap a button and inhale a platter of apples the quickest. To encourage a little strategy, sometimes the apples are bombs -- you can try out a Flash version of the game at Nintendo's website.

Those unafraid of a little Japanese can also check out the complete suite of character profiles, which include several handy Flash movies illustrating how each copied Kirby form works. Check those out, and we'll look forward to more updates between now and the game's March 25 release in Japan.