I LOVE Kirby Star Allies. Here's Why (A Retrospective and Analysis) 

**PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING

"The story mode is only like 20% of the game but it's 100% of the game's reviews" hit the nail on the head SO hard, really puts into perspective how unfair a lot of takes on the game can be. that phrase was satisfying on a personal level lol amazing video :>

I admire how u are able to just say “fuck it” and enjoy a game implicitly sheerly because it makes you happy, so many games now have to be the new best thing or hold up critically when sometimes we just want to watch Kirby make friends and smile.

I'm not even an opinion essay-type channel, yet I've actually had the idea to make a video exactly like this for months now. I'm really glad something like this exists that I can point to now! I replayed it again around a year ago, before Forgotten Land, and I still think this has to be my favorite Kirby game. It's really disheartening to see it cast aside as a failure when I feel like a lot of the hate is undeserved. A lot of it seems to spawn from people viewing the game as purely a "beat the story mode and then never touch it again" experience, which I don't entirely blame people for doing since that's what most Kirby games have been up to that point, but that's seriously NOT how the game was designed to be enjoyed. Like you said, the story mode is such a minimal part of your overall playtime if you're going for completion, and it's almost more like an extended tutorial that gives you little bits of things that get expanded on and remixed in the other modes. TL;DR: this video is a really great dissection of why people love this game, and I hope it encourages people who just tried the story mode and dropped it forever to give the game a second chance. There's legitimately so much to enjoy about it.

Star Allies feels like a celebration of the entire franchise's legacy. It's not the best Kirby game, and it's not even my favorite game, but to say that they didn't put a lot of love into it is crazy. It's basically a last hurrah to the standard Kirby formula before Forgotten Lands came and shook up everything. Also, having a playable Adeline, Daroach, and Megalor automatically puts Star Allies in the top 10 Kirby games.

do people not realize how important lorewise this game is

Hyness's really quick lore drop is just so clever! It serves so well to make him seem super wacked out in an unobtrusive way that adds the mood of the moment, but also provides literal lore to people who want to slow it down and read it. I feel like that might be a good symbol of star allies overall, so much hidden good stuff for fans that hides just out of the way of an otherwise ordinary experience

not my favorite kirby game but its nice seeing some positivity about it. lots of people are so upset that its NOT robobot or forgotten land that they miss how it still does things right.

really loved the bit where kacy announced "it's jambin' time!" and then jambed everywhere all over hyness and the mage sisters

i dont like it when people call kirby "a genocidal maniac" because hes literally born from positive emotions. he is the goddamn embodiment of friendship. he is literally BUILT to be a friend

This is an amazing video. Kirby Star Allies is definitely in a very weird position in that it is presented as a very beginner friendly starting point for the series while also only able to be appreciated in it's fullest by hardcore fans, which may contribute to it's whole bizzare reception. Yet it is still an incredibly important game for the series and something that deserves to be appreciated. (And yes it is incredibly annoying seeing reviews that seemingly only care about the main game while it makes up only a small part of the experience)

i’ve warmed up to this game over the years. i was originally severely underwhelmed by the gameplay and level design lacking the same degree of focus as previous games to accommodate multiplayer, as well as the reliance on old stuff, but as the updates rolled in and the years went by i came to appreciate star allies as the big, fun, birthday bash it is. it’s a lovely celebration of the series as a whole as well as a good sendoff to Kumazaki’s first era of kirby. here’s a fun fact: star allies is the first kirby game to be released in china. it also happens to be the debut of the staff ability, heavily based off of the sun wukong from the classical chinese novel “journey to the west”. not sure how intentional it was, but it comes off as a sweet gesture towards their new audience.

If I have one big complaint about this game, it's that I wish there were more stages in jambandra base. It feels a bit strange that it's this massive structure, but there's only one actual stage in it.

I had the biggest, dumbest grin on my face when my controller started vibrating and audibly producing music at the end of a stage. I like and appreciate Star Allies.

I don't care what people say Kirby Star Allies is a beautiful series and I'll always love it!!!!!

Thank you for acknowledging how this game was designed for/is a lot of fun in multiplayer. Star Allies is one of my favorite Kirby games (definitely the one with the most raw hours in it), and a HUGE part of that is because I have three younger siblings who also love Kirby. We played through the main stories of all our save files together, and the rush of all four of us yelling at the TV while mashing our controllers to beat Void Termina the first time was amazing. Plus, Guest Star added a lot of replayability we didn't really feel from other Kirby titles. Return to Dreamland was our first proper Kirby game, and we played that together too, but once we got through the story and got all the collectibles we wanted, we set it down. With Star Allies, between Guest Star, the Dream Friends, and eventually Heroes in Another Dimension, we spent a lot of time playing the game in evening-sized chunks, to get so-and-so's Guest Star screen, or get the next picture, or beat our previous time by picking a more strategic combination of characters. I can objectively see why the length and difficulty might not have done it for a lot of people, but I love Star Allies a lot! _(Also, I love Zan Partizanne so much, like I don't even know how to put it in words-)_

Saw this floating around being retweeted by many of the great folks over at Kirby Informer. Hard to find time to sit down and watch a 90 minute essay, but I knew I had to see what everything was about in this video. You hit the nail nearly perfectly on the head. You understand this game, and I'm so happy for it. Star Allies remains my favorite 2D Kirby game of the entire series for its celebration of the series as a whole. There's so much detail and care packed into it. I've gotten into the habit of doing blind playthroughs of recent mainline Kirby games for content. While I finished Star Allies initially, I began to dive deep into the game after as I wanted to provide the best most thorough method of showing the rest of the game's content off. This led to me playing through Guest Star Allies I want to say at least 3 times with every non-Dream Friend (did you know they changed the level structure between Update 2.0 and Update 3.0 for Guest Star? I had to throw out all the work on my spreadsheet after that, XD) in order to see everything properly. This then led to extremely long videos over the course of an entire year showing all the content the game had to offer, and I'm sure I still missed a lot! HAL really went out of their way to give Kirby the best 25th Anniversary possible with this game, which from interviews with the staff I'm understanding, is what led to Forgotten Land being greenlit in the first place. Kirby Star Allies really encapsulates Kirby at his core, and I thank you whole-heartedly for understanding that. Fantastic work done on this video. Please continue to do even more stellar work!!

KCCCCCC I JUST FINISHED THIS IT'S SO SO GOOD!!!!! the ending especially spoke directly to my heart, i think a lot of overly-critical types could benefit from the mindset of "it makes me happy" being their simple, final, unshakeable, unchanging reason for liking something. you don't have to justify to anyone why something is special to you, just enjoy and speak passionately about the things you love about it and always will! i'm really proud of you for getting this out, i've been looking forward to it ever since you first announced it on twitter and until whenever (or ifever) you make another video like it i'll be rewatching this one over and over and sharing it with as many people as i can. love you forever, thank you for being my friend!!!

Thank you for making this video! Star Allies has been my favorite Kirby game for years, and the release of Forgotten Land made most people go "STAR ALLIES SUCKS LOL" for several months, which was very disheartening. It's so nice to see someone else who appreciates this extremely charming labor of love. If you beat Heroes in Another Dimension without getting enough hearts to save the mage sisters, the credits music is a remix of Dream Land 3's bad ending credits music, which is such a cool and subtle way to hint that you didn't get the best ending. The sheer number of fun little details and secrets make me love this game so much. Also hyness is the best and I love him

As someone who has been a fan of the series since 2009, and legit loves Star Allies... THANKS SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO!!!! STAR ALLIES DOES NOT DESERVE THE HATE IT GETS!!!!!!!!!!!! I just finished the intro and I will go back here to edit more thoughts once I'm finished. But I am already so happy for this. Trust me, you're not alone on loving this game. At all. But deserves better whenever it's mentioned, for sure. Edit: Finished, and fantastic job! Couldn't have said better myself. Star Allies is one of my favorite Kirby games, and I prefer it over Forgotten Land, which means that I am in an extremely odd spot when discussing recent Kirby games in the fandom. I often feel like that weird person who doesn't have the mainstream views of the series, and for me as an older fan specifically, it feels odd to not be like that when I once was. But ultimately, that's what I prefer in Kirby: a fun game that just makes me smile, which is exactly what Star Allies is. And like you put in the video, Star Allies excels in so many areas, with charm being a big one. And it's such a well crafted game that the developers put effort into so much, which I personally know after translating four interviews about the development of the game. Anyone who calls it the worst game in the series certainly doesn't love the Kirby series, it's just impossible. Once again, incredible job, and thanks for making this video. I know for a fact that there are many Kirby fans who don't absolutely love the game but know the game deserves better. It's sad that the game is about to turn 5 and we still need something like this, but, as the game itself teaches us, the best way to counter hate is with love. ❤

this was SUCH a good video and despite all the obstacles you went through, the amount of effort and passion you put shows. kirby star allies defence squad UNITE

i came into this video expecting 60 minutes of Chop Champs lore. i love Chop Champs so much

Holy moly. Like, bro. This video is essentially one huge love letter to this game and quite frankly, I can definitely sum my thoughts and feelings in a lengthy comment! As someone who was introduced to Kirby in 2011 after playing Brawl and got into the series after getting SA a year after its release (and a few months after its final update), this game honestly made me smile at any opportunity given even if I had a bad day or two to contend with by all means. Everything about it was just... well made to appreciate it. The gameplay, story, lore, graphics, music, fanservice and the passion that HAL showed through and through over the franchise when the franchise was just having that 25th anniversary phase during and after it given the timing of Star Allies and Kirby's 25th anniversary. In my opinion, Star Allies is one of my top 5 favorite games in the series and even if Forgotten Land may share that spot with SA, I will still praise this game for not only being one of my favorites on the Switch, but for being my gateway to the series as a whole. Without it, what else could've been about said gateway to this beloved series? And sure, the game isn't perfect given the flaws surrounding it, but seeing how I've seen some people on Twitter dunk on this game, I just personally wasn't too bothered by it since again, Star Alies is my favorite of the bunch. Hell, I've even spent 100 hours on the game and bragged about it (in a lighthearted fashion XD) to some friends and they understood how much I loved the game and how it awakened my love for Kirby as a whole back in 2019. Overall, I was so heavily invested on what the story and lore about the series, the mages, Hyness and Void and honestly, it shows how much I love them! Especially the mages and Hyness! (Personally I have a huge soft spot for Zan so there's that. XD) Overall, Star Allies will have a spot in my heart regardless of my opinions even if they change and what others may say to me in that regard. Even if some may see it as a hot take, my passion will be there. Also, the Mages as I mentioned along with Void! I really wanna give them a big ol' hug just to show how much I LOOOOOOOVED them! Hell, their backstories alone is what makes them special for me and you along with those who share the same sentiments as you and I. Heck, when I looked at the mages in HIAD and how you mentioned their "EX forms", I'd like to imagine their presence was affected by the Jamba Heart at the Jambastion, corrupting them in some regard. (Which ironically, I saw someone use this idea in a fanfic. Ironic, huh?) Overall, this game EARNED its spot in my heart at the end of the day and the fact you poured your heart and soul into this video is proof of that and even more so how despite some people dunking on the game, there are people like us who love it regardless if we played several games in the series or just got started with it. Star Allies was a love letter and one last hoorah to the 2D gameplay we knew since 1992 and quite frankly, I hope HAL Labs can carry several aspects of this game to future games down the road. KC, thank you so much for this amazing video! You truly echoed my sentiments with this game and quite frankly, I salute you for that. 😎👍

Star Allies truly is one of the games of all time... I love it so much. Great video!

Star Allies is a game that has somehow become integral to WHO I AM AS A PERSON. Before Star Allies, I really enjoyed listening to music, and would do so incredibly often. I was mostly a metalhead and rock person, with little interest in genres like Classical and Orchestral. Then, I heard Astral Birth Void. My life has been FOREVER CHANGED because of that melody. I no longer listen music out of enjoyment and consumerism, but analyze it as an art form. Something I hadn't done in almost 8 years since I was in Elementary school. The Star Conquering Traveler is an absolute MASTERPIECE, and there is no other song in the ENTIRE FRANCHISE that can hold a candle to it's majesty. No, not even C-R-O-W-N-E-D, my LITERAL FAVORITE KIRBY SONG is on the same level. After Star Allies, my life would thrust into an entirely new direction with the discovery of my new favorite series, Xenoblade Chronicles. It was the seed of enlightenment, sprouted by Star Allies, that made me truly appreciate the WORKS OF ART crafted by Yoko Shimomura, Hiroyuki Sawano, and the members of ACE+. However, there are truly few songs I've heard that can rival The Star Conquering Traveler's eminence. The few songs I feel that can reach it's level are: ~ GOD SHATTERING STAR ~ (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) ~ Dancing Mad ~ (FINAL FANTASY VI) ~ Agniratha, Mechonis Capital ~ (Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition) ~ So nah, so fern ~ (Xenoblade Chronicles X) ~ Walking With You ~ (Xenoblade Chronicles 2) Thanks, Star Allies. I truly have an appreciation for the most important piece of my life, and I owe it to you. Toodles!

My favorite element of this game is the music. That jazzy freestyle piano is such a perfect fit for the Kirby vibe. "Dream Palace" can make my eyes watery, and "Far Flung Starlight Heroes" is so energizing. The only track in Forgotten Land that compares is "Battle of Blizzard Bridge".

The most important quality of any game is that it is fun to play! And star Allies was so fun for me, I played with my sibling so I always got to play as magolor or one of the cool dream friends and the fan service WORKED. I had endless enjoyment doing cool combos and waving around giant weapons.

This is my fourth favorite game in the whole series. It introduced to me to the characters and lore of Kirby when I previously only had knowledge of games post-Super Star Ultra. I was already a life long fan, but this game made me a fully dedicated and engrossed one. This game got me into making digital art, making friends online, and writing countless short stories, poems, and theories on the series’s lore. It’ll always hold a special place in my heart no matter the faults, especially when those faults are honestly so minuscule to begin with, imo. Really, it frustrates me when people discard what makes the game so good, which is like more than 70% of the game itself! Like, the gameplay is just fun to me because I feel like it was always supposed to be easy when you have all these broken characters. It’s kind of meant to be a speedrun game in my eyes, where you can feel beyond powerful as you blaze through each level with characters like the Dream Friends. As a completed whole, the game isn’t mid, it’s pretty damn good. And honestly, the updates that the game got along the way were really fun for me, as I’d be waiting in anticipation for the next update, playing through Guest Star Mode with all the Dream Friends, learning about who they were along the way. I loved it so much that I genuinely cried so hard when I saw the final puzzle piece with Kirby waving. I never wanted it to be over. ❤

I just wanna say Star Allies is also one of my favorite Switch games and I love this deep dive. You did a great job with this video

I just wanna say, my experience with this game went exactly like this: 1. I watched a few gameplay videos of the game by the time it launched and thought it was good 2. A few years passed, and the general internet opinion made me forget my original opinion and think it was mid, or maybe even kinda bad 3. I watched the beginning of this video, and noticed the game's style was better than I remembered, and noticed I never actually played it, or seen anything about Heroes in Another Dimension, so I bought it to play 4. I had the most fun week I ever had in months 5. I came back to this video right now, accepting my fate while writing this comment that yeah, Star Allies is my favorite Kirby game. And that's entirely your fault! Considering I played every other Kirby game in the series, seeing the amount of thoughtful fan-service made here honestly made my so happy, and I'm proud to say I got tears of nostalgia after the credits... on BOTH credits....

This video perfectly summarises how I feel about Star Allies, it's a special game to me because it celebrates my favourite video game franchise, all it's flaws, virtues and great sides Easily one of my favourite Kirby games in the series and one that's tied with Return To Dreamland imo

one of my most prominent memories with this game is, after having a panic attack at school, telling a social worker how big of a comfort it was to me. how i wanted to home and play it to settle down because it was what worked the best at the time. this game just oozes so much love and care that it took me YEARS to find out anyone hated it or recognize any of its criticisms. its just so important to me that those things dont matter.

This game is my guilty pleasure. I’m so happy other people think likewise. It’s just so cute, so fun, so pretty, and the music 😩. I always come back to it from time to time to just run around.

this game is what MADE me get into Kirby. i owe everything to star allies, and i couldn't be more happier.

Amazing analysis on this game, I think what makes Kirby star Allies so controversial is that it has many references to past Kirby games, like the Gameboy chiptune that plays after 4 minutes and 27 seconds, referencing the date that Kirby’s dreamland was initially realased, also known as the day of kirby in other cases

star allies is a game i definitely appreciated more as i got more invested in the franchise, its a game that wears its love on its sleeve and it isnt afraid to show it. it was honestly a perfect send off to kirby’s 2d platforming roots and im glad someone shares the same love for the game that i do!!

Oooh I loved this. So full of passion and love... and you made some points about the story I hadn't considered. Great work!

This had a lot of passion in it, I always loved Star Allies, and it's noce to see a big video praising it, good job :D

I've had the privilege of only ever playing Star Allies multiplayer, so I hadn't even considered that dimension of criticism (which is valid). Thank you for sharing your love of this game with us! Have a Friend Heart.❤

On the topic of Kirby Gimmicks, I think the reason why Mouthful Mode and Robobot Armor is much better than the other gimmicks are 2 reasons: 1. They’re not super overpowered abilities. They remain somewhat grounded, and while strong, they aren’t hyped up as reality breaking like the Super Abilities or Hypernova. 2. You can turn them off. The Friend Abilities and Hypernova force you to use the ability until you reach the end of the section, and the 3 worse gimmicks have these long crazy animations involved. Robobot Armor and Mouthful Mode are more casual, being able to be slipped in and out of with ease, and with a lack of drama involved they are easier to insert into regular levels.

I think after planet robobot people were expecting kirbys next big step on nintendos next console, especially with mario and zelda doing the same. That's why it was disappointing to alot of fans at launch that it regressed in alot of ways. I'm so happy that HAL turned the game around with dream friends, guest star, epilogue and lore. It turned from a mid tier Kirby game to one of my favorites. It truly felt like the culmination of the whole series. Honestly after Forgotten Land was such a big hit, I hope people reevaluate Star Allies, cause it deserved so much more love. Great video by the way! Loved the breakdown of the Jambastion cult.

They called me a madman for doing every single guest star

Star Allies will always be one of my favorites. The Dream Friends are definitely my favorite part of the entire game.

Thank you so much for giving this long project so much passion, it really was a wonderful watch and a perfect love letter to the game, and it deserves it! I'll always hold this game close to my heart as well as its era was during a very key part of my life. I look back at it as one of my favorite experiences in this series and a wonderful moment for a Kirby fan as myself. There is, indeed, so much to love, it's such a charming game!

Can I just mention how good Astral Birth Void’s battle theme is

this was SUCH a great insight into the game, fantastic job on this video!

I'll always cherish Star Allies for what it represents to me in terms of when it came out. There were some rather, dark times then and this game was like a bright star in that void for me. To this day, hearing the title theme instantly makes me feel on the brink of welling up with tears, and I love it so much for what it did to help me out then. The whole game feels like a nice, warm hug to me and that's all I could really ask for. Something I absolutely adore about this game though, the UI design is bliss. I love the simplistic style with all sorts of dynamic shapes, it's so clean while also feeling very energetic and charming. Oh yeah and also it introduced Francisca my beloved so I kinda sorta love it for that too.

This game is still my favorite Kirby game. It really does not deserve its hate.

This is going to be a long comment. First of all, this is an incredible video that shows the passion and love for this game, something that has always fascinated me. Now about Star Allies, I have already commented that this is my favorite game in the franchise, I could talk for hours about everything I like about this game, but to sum up, I love how... different it is, the same core gameplay of RTDL but the way of world structure, level design, bosses, even the game mechanics feel like a classic game, especially from the Dark matter trilogy, the music, atmosphere, details, it's also fantastic. But above all I love how replayable and fun it can be, Guest star, Heroes in another dimension and Soul Melter ex, I have played them for a long time and even the story mode is very fun when you play calmly and decide to try what you can do with your abilities and elements. But something that I very much agree with is about the story of the game, much of what you commented on Hyness and the sisters is what I think of them, but that is what fascinates me, I love how the sisters with their dialogues and animations show their personalities, desires and the affection they have for each other and for their master, and Hyness... is my favorite antagonist in a Kirby game, beyond what you mentioned there are many things that I see fascinating about him, how in contrary to the past games, it is Hyness who influences and it corrupts Void and how it twists the message of friendship of the game, but it's that madness and tragedy that further elevates the message of the game and makes the ending incredibly satisfying, and Void, to not go on too much, is my favorite boss of any game and pretty much everything was done absolutely wonderfully, especially the atmosphere and music.

I haven't seen any other studio out there that actually cares so much for both it's history and fans. Me being such a big hardcore fan of Kirby, I couldn't care less about a lot of the issues this game has, even to this day, I still boot it up and give a shot at the ultimate choice or guest star, its always a bit good lighthearted fun, and I'm so grateful about it. And now that we are even getting a full on remake of Kirby's best adventures + a ton more extra content, you can really feel the impact that Star allies left, I can't wait for games going forward now to always showcasing the legacy of this franchise in the most fun way possibles. HAL is a master at nostalgia pandering, and i mean this in the absolute best way possible, in franchises like Mario or Pokemon, where they only do callbacks to their first games and such over and over again while also trying to sweep under the rug the less succesful entries, Kirby just displays his entire legacy with no shame whatsoever.

People don’t realize that this game is a REALLY good introduction to the series now, as someone who actually got into the franchise WITH this game.

Star allies is one of my guilty pleasures. I like it, even though theres alot of game design issues that only get circumvented when you play guest star or in multiplayer. To me it feels like HIAD was level designs they planned on making for the base game, but never got the chance due to time. Its one of the reasons I waited until the final update came out to buy the game because I played it with a friend, and it felt incomplete before then.

I remember playing Star Allies with my mom and brother and we really enjoyed it. I really got introduced to Kirby with Planet Robobot (so if anyone should have high expectations because of Robobot, it should be me) and I don’t really see why many hate the game and find their reasons kinda arbitrary. Kirby isn’t meant to be all that hard, it’s Kirby (I also never found Robobot and Forgotten Land all that hard either, so comparing the difficulty feels dumb). Hyness, the Mage Sisters, and Void Termina are also some of my favorite Kirby characters. Hyness is so creepy and it works so well. Void Termina is a really fun boss fight and has a really cool and imposing design (also, it’s mask and the name Void Termina always gave me Majora’s Mask vibes which I love). And then the Mage Sisters are all so fun with wonderful designs I love all three leaving no reason to rank them (3 Flamberge 2 Franscisca 1 Zan). The relatively low rating of Star Allies hurts me due to just how weird that feels in comparison to other Kirby games and with how this one isn’t all that different, but is one hell of an enjoyable time.

I'm so happy this popped up in my recommendations! ;w; Star Allies was my first Kirby game and I love it wholeheartedly. I agree with basically everything in this video. Thanks for making this! :)

I've considered Star Allies to be a very good love letter to the series up to that point. I never checked on reviews or fan reception to the game until this video. I'm actually surprised people didn't like it? I loved Robobot dearly, and Star Allies wasn't substantially worse to me. Heck, I think I'm a bit hotter on Star Allies than I am on Forgotten Land. Thanks for the video!

Though not the best Kirby game difficulty wise, it is genuinely a game that I’ve enjoyed putting hours into and it holds a special place in my heart (unironically) as it takes me back to some of the best years of my life. I do get some of the criticism it gets by reviews but I do appreciate you covering some of the brighter things that made this game enjoyable to some.

I enjoyed this game. I did come back to it a lot. Made new files simply to reexperience the game all over again after about a couple of months not playing it. Mostly I'd play through the ultimate choice simply to try to master it. Still though, it's nice to see another good fan of Star Allies after the disrespect it got. I was genuinely heartbroken when I found that one of my favorite kirby games was getting dumpstered by the fans, so seeing a light in the darkness of meh's is refreshing. I have put in about 260+ hours into the game. I think...

Not my favorite game, but still absolutely adore it for what it is; a fun, adorable love letter to our wonderful, pink puff. Also, at the end of the day, I do believe that if something makes you happy, that’s all that is needed to warrant its appreciation. Loved this video and was happy to see this game get some well deserved love❤!

One thing I think people forget way too often is how beautiful the game is, Void termina's fight background is simply jaw-dropping. Personally, this was the third time I heard about Kirby, the first being a Pokémon magazine with a Triple Deluxe ad, the second is my first game, Battle royale (yes, that spin-off everyone forgot about). I then saw some video about Kirby Star Allies, everything was good but the end, it was majestic and without it I wouldn't be in Kirby today. (Ironic for the game with a lot of fan-service) Lot of time pass and I actually didn't play or watch anything kirby related until my fav youtuber started to do Kirby lore videos. And so I got a copy of Star Allies, then got Forgotten land and (already 1 year ago) Deluxe. Void is still to this day my favorite boss ever and its music my favorite piece of music. Kirby quickly became my favorite franchise of all time. Thank you for this video, it warms my heart to see other liking this overhated game.

Thank you so much for this video. While it is only my 7th favorite Kirby game, it does hold a special place in my heart for how much it pays tribute to the whole series. So many small tiny little details no one but the nerdiest of nerdy Kirby fans would get but they fill my heart with so much joy. This is easily my most played Kirby game with me having almost 100 hours in it and replaying soul melter ex again and again trying to do it solo with more and more characters. Doing guest star again and again with my favorite copy abilities and dream friends. One aspect you didn’t talk about that much was the Music. It might be my favorite Kirby ost which while it is a major cheater in how many remixes there are, it does take my heart with how many amazing remixes there are. The Cookie Country Remix, Astral Birth Void, and what might be my favorite or second favorite Kirby song “The Happiest Curtain Call” (the true credits theme for HIAD) all made me cry at least once before. But just thank you for this video and also thank you on shedding more light on the Jambastan characters. You brought up a lot of points I never thought about before.

I find kirby star allies to be a prrty good game too, mainly cuz it was the first actual mainline title i played (at least you count epic yarn) so i fell in love with it in a second, the main "brainwash enemies into being your friends without their consent" gimmick of the game is really fun too, i love just hopping into star guest and making a full bomb bros jr team and destroy everything in my path. ALSO THE MAGE SISTERS THEY ARE THE SINGLE BEST THING EVER AND NOBODY CAN SAY OTHERWISE.

About the dlc I think the free update model worked so well because of guest star. A new wave of characters didn't just mean a new character, it meant 3 runs of guest star for me to do, more puzzles to collect, and new runs of the boss rush. When I went back to the game because of the update I played it for hours not just to see some new feature. In Animal crossing NH they updated the game with a feature that you play around with for a bit then quit the game, sometimes I didn't think the update provided enough content to even turn the game on again. In a Mario sports game if a new character comes out it's just a new character for you to use to do content you've done or so you can have more variety of characters when you play multiplayer. If Star allies didn't go with the free update model I'm sure I would have been burnt out on guest star so I definitely ended up enjoying it more because it was a game I came back to when a new update dropped. It's the reason I have so many hours in the game.

Honestly I feel you, it's one of my absolute favs, too!!

I agree, Kirby Star Allies is very underrated. This game felt like a love letter to Kirby fans thanks to all the dream friends. I felt so nostalgic when playing it and the DLC made me love the game even more. Not to mention this is the Kirby game with the biggest lore.

AS MUCH AS I FIND THE GAME MID THIS VIDEO WARMED MY HEART AMAZING WORK I LOVED IT

This was my first kirby game I love this game

I may prefer other games gameplay wise but the lore in star allies was phenomenal Plus even if I wasn't a fan of how friends worked in this game, it had it's charm and it was still fun. The post game did the heavy lifting imo

I can see why people hate it, but it's not a bad game.

I'm glad over time there's been more videos on why star allies is a great game. It really feels like this game was unfairly reviewed when it came out so it's nice it's now getting the praise it should be getting. I personally love star allies (the finale with void Termina is one of my favourites in any game ever along with the music) and it feels good to finally find videos about this game in a positive light. So thank you for this very good video!

A feature-length video praising Star Allies? SIGN ME UP!!

anyone else get chills down your spine every time you see the astral birth void fight?

I've never seen this level of quality from a person with less than 1000 sub truly stunning I hope this get recognized

The music was amazing in that game, and I shed many tears at the ending!!!!!

WHY SO YOU HAVE 200 SUBS? Like literally you deserve so much more. This retrospective is soooo good. I also liked Star Allies to death and was kind alone with it. Im happy to see that I’m no longer alone with loving this game. It didn’t deserve to be such a “downfall”

My little sisters wished for me to comment that they loved your video and watched the entire thing over the span of 3 trips to school and home in the car. They found a lot of the jokes funny, and agreed with a lot of your comments. :) Thank you for such an awesome video!

Ahh I love this video so much! As someone who’s second favorite Kirby game is Star Allies, this video made me so happy! And I had a similar experience with getting to where I am as an artist because of this game, as I started doing art for it when it first was announced and through that art I was able to grow as an artist and make some amazing friends! Star Allies really is a game about friendship, as it not only has Kirby making a bunch of friends, but also people in real life. A truly fantastic game!

Tbh with you, I think the hate star allies gets is a little overblown. It’s not my favorite Kirby game out there, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t in my top ten.

very well put together and you're in good company, AntDude did a similar (those less intensive) retrospective. You guys are completely right that this is an overlooked classic, great video. Subscribed 🙂

This was fantastic. You can really tell the amount of passion and thought that went into this video. And your conclusion, saying how it just made you happy, like yeah! That's exactly how I feel about liking things. It just makes me feel good and happy :)

My favorite game too!! Love the lore, the power of friendship, the extra modes, mini games, arena, and I didn't even know about them providing the classic Kirby model!

This game is so special to me, I've 100%ed it 3 times.😭

This looks very interesting! I'll comment my thoughts once I finish it. First 10 minutes in and it's already pretty awesome.

Kirby Star Allies is a love letter to the entire franchise.

Something that I learnt about about a month ago is that there are a few really hidden rooms in the main game that seem to be very rarely mentioned by those who play the game. Here’s their locations: •The open window in the last room before fighting Dedede. •Circling the top platform in the final room of Echo’s Edge. •A hole hidden by one of the blades of those… things in the third room of Nature’s Navel. •The top right of the third room in Planet Earthfall. •Heading back to the top after dropping down at the beginning of Planet Caverna.

To me, this game is a cult classic. I have a feeling the mage sisters kind of inspired Deep Cut in Splatoon 3, as their color schemes are the same. (Shiver, Francisca, who are both ice themed coincidentally) (Big Man, Flamberge) (Zan Partizanne, Frye) And the fact that this game is packed to the brim with fan service and references, with each dream friend having their own unique routes in another dimension and guest star mode, makes this game so fun to revisit from time to time. Susie has always been my favorite character in this franchise because she's a badass

This was an amazing retrospective of this game!! I also saw much more value in its base story thanks to your analysis, I get sad whenever Star Allies gets the short end of the stick in discussion, despite how much it did for Kirby fans and its own world in storytelling. Banger editing btw, had me rolling a few times

1:05:51 this moment is so cute with taranza getting all done up

Ive already been thinking about how amazing a star allies like 3d Kirby could be

First of all, Amazing Video! I was very impressed by the quality of your writing and how interestingly you've structured the video. I was enjoying the whole experience and never got bored. Massive respect for that. You're passion for the game affected me and made it a joyous watch. Would love to see more Videos from you in the future, if you're interested in creating more. Two things i'd like to quickly mention on the production side of things, is that i think an upgraded microphone would go a long way when you are talking through the whole Video. Seeing how much work you obviously put into making it, i think the 30€ would be well spent. And second, everytime you stopped the video to put a wall of text on screen, give us more time to read! I'd love to hear your takes and some of the Text was insightful or funny, it's worth it to read. Now on the game itself: I've played Star Allies right at launch, as i was really exited for it, beeing a Kirby Fan since my early childhood. And when it launched, there wasn't much more available than the Story Mode. Which, yeah, isn't all terrible and especially the bosses at the end can be fun, but the Problem is that we were just expecting more. This was not another game on 3DS. This was a brand new 60€ home console experience in HD. Comparable to Return to Dreamland when that released. Which was an amazing game, full of content, filled with fun minigames, great Bosses, and outstanding level-design. Triple Deluxe continued this and while it couldn't match it's quality entirely, it was "just" on the 3DS. Robobot then created a super fun and innovative experience. So to see the brand new experience, at launch, lacking in everything, expect for music and graphics, was just heartbreaking. I've then waited for the first Update to just be further dissappointed. It brought more Dream friends, which had amazing movesets that were fun for sure, but we had nowhere to use them in. So by then i though it was gonna be like all the Nintendo games at the time, likes Tennis Aces, that had no content and were only given more characters with updates. But now i can definetly see how the game improved with the later updates and i understand why you love it so much. Thank you for showing me that this game isn't all that bad. Makes me happy as a Kirby Fan. It's just sad that it came too late for most. Have a great Day everyone who read all of this 👋 Enjoy your Kirby games

I'm a more recent Kirby fan myself (you started this essay on my birthday and when I started getting super into star allies actually), but god star allies does not deserve the hate it gets. I love it so much and care for it deeply, so seeing fellow star allies fans doing stuff like this always warms my heart!!! I'll edit this comment after I'm done. But the mages,,,,, I care for them a lot,,,, Edit: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I just finished and I completely agree! Sure, star allies isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's just a fun silly little game that lets you play around with a bunch of modes and characters! The story is so resounding, introducing both the good and bad of friendship to kids while also not being too dark. I too have Zan as my favorite character, and sometimes it's just nice to appreciate something even if it isn't perfect. I think Star Allies was executed very well, and made me fall in love with the Kirby Series as a whole. Star Allies was my first game, but I didn't appreciate it as much as I do now when I replayed it. 100% multiple savefiles have also led me to appreciate parts of story mode I haven't played in a very long time. It's just so nice and wholesome and gives me something to relate to and smile. Yeah, it's not perfect. But isn't that what Star Allies is about? Friendships aren't perfect. But they can be the best you make it to be. And that's what I think Star Allies is truly about. I am forever grateful that you made this. You are one of my absolute favorite Kirby artists seeing that you love the mages too and draw them a lot, and seeing this has only led to me appreciating you more. Thank you for making this essay. An imperfectly perfect love letter to an imperfectly perfect game.

As a person that has loved Star allies since i first played it, I'm so happy to find this video! Exactly, Star allies is my favorite kirby game. although a long comment, I want other people who love Star allies just like me read and reply this comment. These are the five reasons why I love it. First, it has many, interesting contents. guest star was so fun when I play it with very various dream friends. also another dimension was so difficult and funny game mode because It consists of hard puzzles and hard bosses. certainly, it has fantastic level design. And ultimate choice, especially soul melter EX is the best and most difficulty boss rush in kirby series so beating it was very challenging and it was fun that playing it with various abilities and friends. The special message appearing when I clear all guest star and soul melter EX with all abilities was impressive. also these modes' volume was much bigger than any other kirby games. So I spent a lot of time with guest star and ultimate choice. Second, the characters in the game are fantastic! Hyness is well-made character. he expresses corruption and madness well so it was imposing. also The three mage sisters and Void are my favorite characters in kirby series. The three mage sisters are very beautiful, so cute, even strong in game. I love Mage sisters! Also i think Void is the best final boss in kirby series. because he has the hardest difficulty in kirby final bosses, and the battle is also fun and it has high quality! certainly, Hyness, Mage sisters, and Void are all attractive and they have also interesting background story. Third, the story is so impressive and the lore is so amazing. I like the bright happy ending given to Hyness and Mage sisters. Hyness and Mage sisters' lore left many informations about ancient. and void's lore that left many guess about his past and identity, kirby, dark matters and void's origin is very huge and unfathomable. I'm so interested in all lore. Fourth, the soundtracks of star allies are also exallent. Personally i think it is the best soundtrack in the series. I like especially Suite: the star conquering traveler, passion of the trident mages, La Follia d'amore, planet earthfall, and all Morpho knight's battle theme. If i select the best one among them, it will be Suite: the star conquering traveler, absolutely masterpiece and my favorite soundtrack in kirby series. it is very magnificent, mysterious, beautiful and impressive. Finally, this game's all fan services are so amazing. They show how HAL is enthusiastic with kirby series and fans. So I played this game 500+ hours. I think Star allies is an absolutely masterpiece and one of the best kirby game. I was sad that Star allies is overhated by some people, but I know how interesting, exallent and meaningful the game is!

I won't lie, this made me want to try Star Allies again. I haven't played it since the 2nd wave of dream friends, but after hearing about heroes in another dimension I might try it again

This was a very well done video. I'm glad that I watched it to its fullest. Also, I didn't know that Star Allies wasn't all that well received. I figured everyone loved it for being basically the Infinity War of Kirby.

Loved this retrospective!!! Just subscribed!!! I have this game as well and personally I instantly fell in love, even though it may have its flaws. I really like the unique befriending enemies mechanic and the dream friends as well. My favorite new ability has to be Spider!

This is one of my favourite YT videos ever made

Yes!!! I've waited for a video like this for so long. Star allies is literally my absolute favourite comfort game and it just makes me so happy. Thank you for appreciating this game and making this video!!

Amazing video and one that perfectly reflects my love and feelings for this game! Kirby star allies is my favorite kirby game, and is my opinion the Most kirby game of them all!

One of the reasons people hate star allies is its to easy but I found forgotten land way easier if you upgrade any copy abbilty thr game becomes easy

Star Allies was my very first game on the switch. So it too has a special place in my heart.

I finally found time to finish watching this video! Thank you for sharing your opinion! I love this game too. The story/lore is fun, esp Void. The post-game difficulty is a blast. The soundtrack is incredible! But above all else, my favorite part is the dream friends! The creative movesets, the fan service, and the ways it expands the gameplay. It's something you can't get to the same degree in any other Kirby game.