Kirby Fighters Deluxe

To do: Regional differences between Spanish and French versions of the game

Kirby Fighters Deluxe is an expanded version of the Kirby Fighters subgame from Kirby: Triple Deluxe released as a standalone game through the Nintendo 3DS eShop. It's a platform fighter that shares some gameplay elements with the Super Smash Bros. series, but with some good ol' Kirby VS. Kirby VS. Kirby VS. Kirby action. It later got a sequel for the Nintendo Switch under the name of Kirby Fighters 2.

Unused Animations#

Most enemies and characters have all of their animations (including unused ones) returning from Kirby: Triple Deluxe. Only new unused animations will be documented, with a few notable exceptions being made.

Dyna Blade#

Dyna Blade has a test animation titled "TopL" that consists of her hovering slowly in a default stance. The result is very... frightening.

Unused Moves#

Some abilities still have animations and even code for moves that appeared in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, but were cut in this game.

Bell#

Despite having all of its Mint code removed, Bell still has animations for the moves "Floating Ring-ding" and "Underwater Twin Ring-ding".

Hammer#

Like with Bell, Hammer has an animation for the move "Underwater Wheel". All the Mint related to it was removed as well.

Ninja#

Ninja's ability to execute the "Quad Shock" move in the air like in Kirby's Return to Dream Land is still present in the game. It was also originally unused in Triple Deluxe as well as the original Kirby Fighters. The move is disabled by the "isGround" Mint instruction in the "TryToChangeState(Scn.Fight.Hero.Obj)" function, exactly like it was in the previous two games, and it even correctly calls the unused animation introduced in Triple Deluxe.

bool TryToChangeState(Scn.Fight.Hero.Obj)

fenter 5, 1, 2
ldfrsr 15, r1
callnt Scn.Fight.Hero.Obj.footState()
ldsrfz r3
ldfrsr 15, r3
callnt GObj.FootState.isGround()const

Removing the last line of code shown above makes the move work in the air.

New to this game, the move also has an extra function for the boss fights, "TryToChangeStateVSDedede(Scn.Fight.Hero.Obj)", where it also contains the same instruction telling it to only activate in the ground in the exact same way. Removing that instruction will also let the move work against Kracko and Team Dedede.

Sword#

Like in the original Kirby Fighters, the leftover SChara and code for Sword Kirby's "Sword Beam" move is completely intact in this game, located in Fight.Hero.Sword.SwordUtil.ReqSwordBeam(Scn.Fight.Hero.Obj). It's still unusable for the same reason as the previous game: There's no code calling the requestor in the Scn.Fight.Hero.Sword.StateAttack.procAnim() function. Adding the following code to it restores it.

swordbeam:
ldofa4 r3, r0, this.mObj
ldfrsr 15, r3
callnt Scn.Fight.Hero.Obj.scriptTrigger()
ldsrfz r2
ldsrc4 r3, 0x3
ldfs2  15, r2, r3
callnt GObj.ScriptTrigger.get(uint)const
ldsrfz r1
jmpneg r1, loc_000000c8
ldofa4 r1, r0, this.mIsAttackCollided
ntbool r1, r1
jmpneg r1, loc_000000c8
ldofa4 r2, r0, this.mObj
ldfrsr 0, r2
call   Scn.Fight.Hero.Sword.SwordUtil.ReqSwordBeam(Scn.Fight.Hero.Obj)

If successfully inserted, the move will be restored with all of its intended functionality. This would be the last time Sword Beam would have mostly full functionality in the Fighters sub series, as Kirby Fighters 2 does not use a requestor to store the properties of the move. Instead, all of the code, including the calls to the projectile and the HP threshold are all handled in Sword's StateAttack since Kirby: Planet Robobot, and the version of that state from Fighters 2 does not contain any leftovers.

And lastly, Sword has an animation for "Underwater Spin". Its situation is no different to that of Bell and Hammer's.

Unused SCharas#

Like in Kirby Fighters, there are a few SChara listings that went unused. There are fewer this time around, however, as they completely removed the Star Bullet projectiles from the original game. The order of the projectiles below is based on their internal hexadecimal ID.

SwordBeam#

SwordBeam's ID is 0x60, and consists of the beam that Sword Kirby is able to shoot with full health in mainline Kirby games when using Overhead Slash, as previously covered. The SChara ID was even updated in this game from its original value of 0x26.

ThrownHammer#

ThrownHammer's ID is 0x63, and consists of the hammer that's shot out of Hammer Kirby's hands when using Hammer Throw in mainline Kirby games. This is a leftover from the original Kirby Fighters, and it retains its massive damage, knockback, and hitstun.

VacuumedBlock#

VacuumedBlock's ID is 0x64, and consists of the state a Star Block adopts while being inhaled by Kirby in Kirby: Triple Deluxe... Or at least that's what it would be, but the game crashes when attempting to summon it due to the model file for the Star Block not being present in this game. The function "void Init(Scn.Fight.CharaUtil.ModelDesc)" under Scn.Fight.Hero.SChara.VacuumedBlock references the path "STD/Step/Gimmick/BlockStar" as the location of the Star Block's model. However, the "Gimmick" graphics folder does not exist in Kirby Fighters Deluxe.

However, if a graphics folder named "Gimmick" is inserted into Kirby Fighter Deluxe‍ '​s filesystem and the BlockStar.bch.cmp model file is ported over directly from Kirby: Triple Deluxe into the newly created Gimmick folder, the game will successfully call the model into the scene, and the projectile will work as usual, spawning in and staying on-screen with no collision.

WaterPistol#

WaterPistol's ID is 0x67, and consists of the Water Gun attack Normal Kirby can perform in mainline Kirby games while underwater. There's no water in this game, so of course, it can never be spawned by normal means. Since its behavior is the same as in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, that means the projectile cannot exist for many frames, but it can still damage foes at point-blank range.

It's strange that the effects and the whole projectile in general were left over, considering the absence of water and the model file for the Star Block.

Unused Graphics#

Original Bubbly Clouds Leftovers#

The background of Bubbly Clouds in the original Kirby Fighters was completely different. It actually borrowed assets from Kirby Super Star Ultra. In this game, the whole background has been completely overhauled. However, the textures for the original background still reside within the model file for the stage, located in RomFS/gfx/STD/Fight/Decoration/BubblyClouds/BG.bch.cmp.

There are some parts of the texture that are used, but they have been removed here for the sake of clarity.

Unused Debugging Features#

Once again, some debugging material made its way into the game.

DebugFreeMove#

"DebugFreeMove" from the original Kirby Fighters is back, and it works pretty much the same, allowing Kirby to pass through stage terrain while being invulnerable. While in this state, Kirby flashes white. It's under Scn.Fight.Hero.Common, having the animation script "AnimScriptDebugFreeMove" and the state script "StateDebugFreeMove".

Like in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, the state contains some debugging messages set by the developers to be displayed on the game's debugging console, but they're not set to appear on a 3DS.

Once again, these listed controls do not work. The only available options are to slide around with the Circle Pad or the D-Pad.

Like in Kirby Fighters, there are multiple quirks when this state interacts with mechanics exclusive to the fighting games. Kirby can interact with items (excluding Carry Items and Action Stars, unless the stars are activated by others). Food and Invincibility Lollipops will work like normal, while the visual effects for slowdown and speed-up from the Action Star and the Dash Shoes will be applied, but won't have actual gameplay effects. The Mint Leaf, Mikes, and getting flattened by the Squeaky Hammer Machines in Factory Tour will also work as usual, which means Kirby will be out of the debugging state. Other hazards that can knock out Kirby out of the state are the Waddle Dee Trains in the new Waddle Dee Train Tracks stage, which can either launch him into the screen when coming from the background, or knock him away when coming from the sides. Strangely, despite also being able to launch Kirby into the screen, the Springy Hands fron Springy Hand Land won't have any effect on Kirby. Finally, he can also be slightly pushed around by other Kirbys and be moved by Butter Building's rotation, and, if any CPU Kirby is put into the state, they will not move, even at the highest AI level.

DebugSquatWait#

Like in Kirby Fighters, Archer has an unused debug move meant to test the cardboard cutouts of the "Camouflage" move, making the move cycle through all the available models it can display. It's under Scn.Fight.Hero.Sniper, formed by the animation script "AnimScriptDebugSquatWait" and the state script "StateDebugSquatWait".

It also contains a debugging message set by HAL Laboratory for the debugging console.

Other#

Found in RomFS/mint/Fight.bin.cmp, two Mint debug scripts are mentioned under Scn.Fight.Debug, called "DamageMonitor" and "GeneralDrawer", but they're completely empty. Additionally, one more empty script is mentioned in Scn.Fight, called "DebugFightSettingProxy".

Unused Ability Constants#

Fight.bin.cmp, the main Mint archive, has lots of unused Copy Ability animation constant entries under Scn.Fight.Hero.AnimKind. The abilities icluded are Ice, Crash, Stone, Spark, Spear, Fire, Wheel, and Stone.

The constants for Spear eventually got used in the game's sequel thanks to Bandana Waddle Dee's inclusion as a playable character.

Unseen Stage Elements#

Various stages have some extra geometry with astonishing amounts of detail that the player isn't normally able to see.

Bubbly Clouds#

The beautiful space background corresponding to Bubbly Clouds extends a lot vertically and horizontally.

Springy Hand Land#

Similarly, Springy Hand Land's background wall is massively tall.

Fountain of Dreams#

The Fountain of Dreams's skybox has a strange darkish cyan texture at the bottom. Additionally, the grassy terrain stretches very far horizontally.

Secret Fountain of Dreams#

The secret Fountain of Dreams has much more sky than what the player can see.

Unused Music#

This game doesn't have "true" unused music, but there are some interesting cases.

The game's music directory, RomFS\snd\stream, has 6 unused music files that are MONO-channel, lower quality versions of other tracks in the game. The Download Play version of the game, which is a whole separate 3DS executable file, does have these low quality tracks (and has even more) to save space. However, the regular, non-Download Play version of Kirby Fighters Deluxe never makes use of these duplicates.

DANCEGB2MONO22050.dspadpcm#

A shortened version of "Kirby Dance" from Kirby's Dream Land, whose regular version used when someone wins a fight. The filename contains a few numbers dictating the track's sample rate of 22050 Hz, compared to the base track's sample rate of 32000 Hz.

FANF7MONO22050.dspadpcm#

"Too Bad..." from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, whose regular version is used when the player is KO'd in single player or ties with another player in multiplayer modes. Has the same sample rate numbers.

HEITI1MONO22050.dspadpcm#

"Floral Fields" from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, whose regular version is used in Waddle Dee Train Tracks. Has the same sample rate numbers.

MUTEKIOLD1MONO22050.dspadpcm#

"Invincible Candy" from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, whose regular version is used when Kirby is invincible. Has the same sample rate numbers.

PZSUPER1MONO22050.dspadpcm#

A shortened version of "Bring On the Super Ability" from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, whose regular version is used when the player fires the Team Cannon. Has the same sample rate numbers.

VSADMONO.dspadpcm#

An arrangement of Adeleine's version of "Battle with Friends" from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards first introduced in this game, whose regular version is used when in the Copy Ability and Stage Select menus. Only track to not have a sample rate indicator.

Unused Text#

The text of this game is found at RomFS\msg\[language folder].

Name.msbt#

This file contains the names of abilities and playable characters.

As in Triple Deluxe, text for a possible fourth CPU exists despite the game making it impossible to start a match with four computer players, as one of the players must be controlled by a real player. This is not a simple leftover, however, as the file where this is contained is completely different to the previous game's own file. It's likely the developers tried to revisit the idea of matches fully comprised of CPUs, or maybe it's simply a remnant from development where four CPUs could be set up to duke it out.

Unused Scene Data#

The FDG archive, which is located in RomFS/fdg/Archive.bin.cmp, has some asset preload data that doesn't get used in the game due to being related to files from Kirby: Triple Deluxe that got removed before release.

Regional Differences#

Items#

Japanese	International

Like in the original Kirby Fighters, the Sweet Potato model from the Japanese version of the game was changed to a Mint Leaf in International releases of the game. The same thing happens in Kirby Fighters 2.

Stage Names#

All of the stages had their names changed for other languages.

English Text Differences#

While Kirby Fighters Deluxe doesn't have much text, the American English and European English version have various differences within their messages. Many of them are very slight changes, such as changing the formatting, changing the hyphens, replacing every instance of "Color" with "Colour", or correcting various grammatical quirks. As such, not-so-obvious changes will be highlighted.

Save Data#

When the game tries to re-create save data, the text that is displayed is slightly different between regions.

Menu Buttons#

Two buttons in the options menu were changed in the European version to display different text.

America	Europe

eShop Window#

The text that displays when pressing the eShop button in the options menu was revised for the European release.

Deletion of Save Data#

A single message that pops up when the player attempts to delete their save data differs between versions.

CPU Adjustment#

The explanation message for the CPU adjustment screen was changed in the European version.

Wireless Switch#

The message that shows up when the player tries to enter multiplayer mode but the wireless communication isn't active is different.

Tips#

Some loading screen tips were changed in the European version of the game.

Pause Screen#

Various pause screen text elements were changed in the European version.

Unlocking Shadow Kirby#

When unlocking Shadow Kirby, one of the messages that shows up differs slightly between regions.

Oddities#

• The filenames for Bomber's textures in this game, along with Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot have the Ch prefix despite the fact that Bomber was completely absent in the original version of Kirby's Return to Dream Land, combined with the fact that the textures also aren't compatible with the Super Smash Bros. Brawl model, where the prefix is both mainly used.

Internal Project Name#

The game's Internal Name is "Pizza", according to the sound archive and a file called ExHeader.bin.