Kirby and the Crystal Moon

Kirby and the Crystal Moon (星のカービィ、水晶の月 Hoshi no Kaabi: Seisho no Tsuki "Kirby of the Stars: The Crystal Moon") is a game in the Kirby series of platformers, developed by AlpacaSoft and HAL Laboratories for the Nintendo Switch. it follows many of the rules estabilished by past entires in the series, such as having Copy Abilities, flight and a cutesy, happy aesthetic, but changes things up by putting Kirby in a fully 3D, mission-based collect-a-thon.
The story goes that Kirby was riding on his Warp Star across the stars, in search of food, when he gets roped into the evil bat queen, Koumoria's, plans to shatter the titular Crystal Moon, which orbits the planet of Sunloft, she manages to break the moon, and the shards are scattered all around Sunloft, and some bring Kirby down to the planet's other moon, where he crashes and wakes up later. From then on, Kirby must stop Koumoria from continuing her evil deeds by rebuilding the Crystal Moon and saving Sunloft.
== Gameplay ==
Kirby and the Crystal Moon, as previously stated, is different from most Kirby games in that it is a 3D collect-a-thon, in the style of Super Mario Sunshine or, that game's predecessor, Super Mario 64. The game is divided into several worlds, which are separated into different missions, which all reward the player with a Moon Shard, the missions range from races, to minigames, to boss battles, to a simple stunt to reach a new area.
Kirby's default moveset has been expanded to be more mobile in the stages and to have multiple options to reach new places, Kirby can now wall jump, which can be used between walls or on the same wall to quickly get up, as an alternative to flying, an ability which has been nerfed to be quite limited, only lasting a short time before Kirby falls down and has to wait through a cooldown time. Naturally, Kirby can inhale enemies to take their abilities or use them as projectiles, different Copy Abilities grant Kirby new movesets to use to fight other enemies and defeat bosses.
Each of Crystal Moon's worlds has its own, unique gimmick that's played with in the missions, along with its own enemy set and, in turn, Copy Abilities, which, along with new attacks, have utilities in puzzle solving, Ability Orbs are always given when the ability is needed for a puzzle.
Upon beating Koumoria and finishing the main story, the player unlocks New Game+, which allows them to get missed Moon Shards and access a new story in Popstar, made up of returning worlds from other Kirby games, where Kirby collects Power Hearts, heart-shaped gemstones that give him power to fight the new main villain, Neo Nova.
=== Multiplayer ===
Kirby and the Crystal Moon has a local 2-player mode, where the players can customize their own puffball, with different colors and costumes, and go through the quest either cooperating to complete the missions or competing to get a Moon Shard first, Co-Op and Competition are two separate modes, though. The available colors (By default) are:
* Pink
* Blue
* Yellow
* Green
* Red
But many variations, new colors and costumes can be unlocked by playing through the game and getting special items or winning in the different subgames
=== Medals ===
In Crystal Moon, making story progress and doing specific things awards the player with medals, which serve as achievements, certain medals also grant new multiplayer customization options, but most are just for bragging rights among players.
== Story ==
=== Main Story: The Crystal Moon ===
The game begins with Kirby flying away from Popstar, in a mission to find any galactic "All You Can Eat" restaurants that are still open. He travels for a while before finding a mysterious new world with two moons, one made of purple rocks and another colored all green, he thinks that he could find something edible there, so he decides to get closer. As he homes in on this planet, known as Sunloft, the purple moon shatters into many crystals, one of which hits Kirby's Warp Star and makes him crash into the green, grassy moon, starting the first main world, Moon Meadows.
Kirby, stranded on Moon Meadows, meets with a lady resembling a bat, who taunts him, calling herself "Koumoria, the Bat Queen", she claims that she does not have time to deal with a miserable pink ball like Kirby and infuses a rock with the power of a Moon Shard, turning it into a large golem, which Kirby promptly battles and defeats. Koumoria is impressed by the pink hero's strength, so she decides to temporarily retreat to Sunloft. Kirby collects the Moon Shard, which return to the purple moon's spot in the skies of Sunloft. The pink puffball eventually comes across his Warp Star, which he uses to fly after Koumoria, later finding himself in Joyful Jungle.
The pink hero travels all around Joyful Jungle, getting to know the locals and collecting several Moon Shards, he eventually met up with Koumoria again, near a poisonous lake, she used a Moon Shard she had on her to turn an ordinary lilypad into a giant carnivorous plant ready to eat Kirby right up. Kirby is able to defeat the monster, the Starving Dionia, and get a new Moon Shard, with this deed done, Koumoria escapes to Allegro Avenue, and Kirby gives chase.
Koumoria is followed to Allegro Avenue, a bustling musical city with a massive theater at its center, Kirby explores the area, gets to know the resident Musikis and collects many Moon Shards, but eventually, Kirby finds Koumoria again, who empowers a cape, tophat, mask and cane with a single Moon Shard, turning the outfit into the Masked Maestro. after a difficult battle against the monster, Koumoria has to make an escape from Allegro Avenue, rushing to Edible Eruption.
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=== NG+ Story: Nova Strikes Back ===
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== Characters ==
=== Major Characters ===
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Kirby	"The hero of Popstar who was just looking for a place to eat at when he got involved with the villainous Koumoria's plans in Sunloft."
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Kirby	Kirby is the game's protagonist, he has many powers and skills, such as flying, wall jumping and taking enemies' abilities by eating them.
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Koumoria	"Koumoria is an evil bat lady from Sunloft, she shattered an entire moon! Kirby has to put an end to her dastardly actions."
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Koumoria	Crystal Moon's main villainess, Koumoria is a powerful sorceress from Sunloft who wanted to break the titular moon for its hidden magical powers.
=== World Inhabitants ===
Each world in Kirby and the Crystal Moon has its own unique NPCs to talk to for help in a mission.
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Starmen	"The people found in Moon Meadows, they seem to be a super-advanced civilization, but you have no clue what they even say half the time, so..."
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Starmen	The Starmen are wisp-like creatures with 5 points who are found in the level Moon Meadows, they speak very robotically and using complicated words.
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Tribols	"These mask folks walk and dance all around Joyful Jungle, they seem so happy, maybe you could stay around for a festival or two."
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Tribols	Tribols are dark, round creatures with large wooden masks, hands and feet, usually holding different weapons and/or items, they are quite primitve in their speech.
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Musikis	"Look at these folks, they're quite musical, Allegro Avenue in general is loud and cheery, and it wouldn't be the same without these guys!"
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Musikis	Musikis take many different forms, but they are all musical instruments, mainly saxophones, trumpets and violins. Their talking is melodic and very pleasant sounding.
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Hammies	"I think these guys are scared of you, maybe they know that you've been looking for food and don't want Edible Eruption getting eaten up."
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Hammies	Hammies are pieces of meat with bones going through them, which serve as their arms. They all speak in a rather muffled manner.
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== Worlds ==
There are plenty of different worlds to be found in Kirby and the Crystal Moon, below is the list of all of them.
=== Sunloft ===
Moon Meadows
A small moon covered in grass and plants that orbits around Sunloft. This world serves as a tutorial or simple starting world, where the player can mess around in the first given mission before going on to the main game.
Joyful Jungle
The first true world of the game, a massive, colorful jungle with bouncy flowers and mushrooms, poisonous water, among other things. This world seems similar to most jungle worlds in newer Super Mario games.
Allegro Avenue
This is a music-themed world, with many instrument platforms with different properties. Some missions take place at night, while a big show is going on, and the platforms' effects become enhanced, allowing Kirby to reach new areas.
Edible Eruption
Edible Eruption is both a food-themed world and a lava world, for the first set of missions, the volcano in this world is dormant, while for the later Shard missions, it erupts and cooks every piece of food in the landscape.
Ghastly Gamble
A gigantic casino inhabited by ghosts playing slots, serving sodas and having fun gambling their afterlife away. This world, along with Supper Studios, is mainly minigames, but here, they are all typical casino and arcade games, such as pinball, slot machines, etc.
Frostbite Fiesta
A frozen desert with pyramids, a small town and many cacti, but rather than sand, there is only snow, which is also constantly raining down onto this world. This may have been inspired by the Sand Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey, which also combined a desert with some ice elements
Supper Studios
Sunloft's biggest and most profitable movie studio, which has produced many different movies that may or may not be released out of their home planet. This world, similar to Ghastly Gamble, have many minigames, which all take place in the different movie sets in Supper Studios, such as a sci-fi movie space shooter or an adventure movie minecart race.
Tiny Terrace
A world made entirely out of large and small blocks over a cliff, this place's gimmick is making Kirby shrink and grow by going into special doors, similar to the fourth world of Super Mario Bros. 3. This only affects Kirby, though, as the scenery and foes all remain the same size, and take more hits to be defeated, since our pink hero is so small..
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=== Popstar ===
Cookie Country
Originally the first world of Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Cookie Country is home to many trees, mountains and Waddle Dees, along with the evil(?) Whispy Woods.
Butter Building
A massive tower originating from the game Kirby's Adventure, it reaches far past the clouds of Popstar, does it even have a true end? Who knows.
Illusion Islands
Illusion Islands first appeard in the Kirby Super Star Ultra subgame, Revenge of the King, as a single level, but here, there are many islands with treacherous platforming and underwater sections.
Mag Mount
Another single level given the full world treatment, Mag Mount first appears in Kirby: Canvas Curse, but just because Kirby is no longer a ball travelling along a rainbow path, doesn't mean this level is any less dangerous to traverse.
Olive Ocean
Originally an area in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Olive Ocean reappears as a large, underwater world, similar to Underseas Utopia in Sunloft, however, instead of a massive city, Olive Ocean has... Rocks and algae, mainly.
Neo Nova
The only original world in the Popstar storyline, Nova Strikes Back, it is a single level where Kirby infiltrates Neo Nova with a Warp Star and then on foot, ending with the final battle against Nova's heart.
=== Missions ===
The worlds in the game are divided into various missions, all of which with a common goal, collect a Moon Shard (Or Power Heart, in the case of the NG+ story) in order to make progress. When the player starts a world, only a few missions are available, and other get unlocked by completing the accessible ones.
A full list of every mission, organized by world, can be found here.
== Enemies ==
Kirby and the Crystal Moon has many, many enemies to be fought as the pink hero of Popstar travels around Sunloft collecting Moon Shards. Here is a list of them. Beside each enemy is what ability they grant Kirby when inhaled. Italics indicate a new enemy, unique to Crystal Moon
* Waddle Dee - None/Parasol
* Boo-Hoo - None
* Waddle Doo - Beam
* Broom Hatter - Broom
* Sir Kibble - Cutter
* Sword Knight - Sword
* Blade Knight - Sword
* Sodory - Sword
* Chilly - Ice
* Emp - Ice
* Burning Leo - Fire
* Flaming Galbo - Fire
* Water Galbo - Water
* Cheapy - Water
* Esper - ESP
* Pather - ESP
* Venogoo - Poison
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* Vapour - Steam
* Maddy Hatty - Magic
* Clocker - Time
=== Mini-Bosses ===
Smaller bosses found in a few missions that, unlike larger bosses, can be swallowed for their ability.
* Gigant Edge - Sword
* King Doo - Beam
* Mr. Frosty - Ice
* Fire Lion - Fire
* Fire Galboros - Fire
* Water Galboros - Water
* Cheaper - Water
* Miasmoros - Poison
* Telepathos - ESP
* Smoug - Steam
* Boxy - Magic
* Mr. Tick Tock - Time
=== Bosses ===
Each world has its own main boss, usually an inanimate object given life by a Moon Shard, or an animate creature super-charged with a Moon Shard, turning it large and powerful. These bosses are the only truly mandatory missions in the game, allowing Kirby to chase Koumoria into the next world.
Roggen Rollen 	Moon Meadows 	A large golem made of white rocks that punches the ground in a rather simple manner, it has no other attacks and can be beaten easily.
Starving Dionia 	Joyful Jungle 	A massive carnivorous plant residing in a pool of poisonous water, it spits out Waddle Dees to be used to attack it while Kirby runs on a platform of leaves around the Starving Dionia.
Masked Maestro 	Allegro Avenue 	A cape, tophat and mask given life by a Moon Shard, it stays in the background while Kirby can only attack him by pressing certain keys on the piano platform he's on.
Magma Chameleon 	Edible Eruption 	A reptilian creature with only two legs that propels itself around the fiery arena with its tongue, occasionally stopping on small balconies to spit fireballs, which Kirby can fire back at him.
The Roulette Specter 	Ghastly Gamble 	An odd ghost residing in a giant roulette beneath Ghastly Gamble, it spins itself with Kirby as the ball, once Kirby falls in a slot, the boss summons enemies to be used for attacking.
Nefrostum 	Frostbite Fiesta 	A mysterious, invisible being that haunts its tomb at the bottom of Frostbite Fiesta's biggest pyramid. It will send living hieroglyphs after Kirby, who must shoot them at the red orb at the center of the room when it reveals itself.
Munee Grubs 	Supper Studios 	Munee is the boss around Supper Studios, a cruel man who works his actors and producers to the bone, he attacks with gold and paper currency, Kirby has to inhale enough bills to shoot a big ball at Munee and his throne.
Giga-Dee 	Tiny Terrace 	Giga-Dee appears as a rather big, mechanical Waddle Dee, but it indestructible, so Kirby has to shrink and damage the boss from the inside.
Kracken Of The Deep 	Underseas Utopia 	A Kracko-like boss, but rather than a cloud, Kracken is an octopus creature that uses ink for its attacks and drops Poison enemies for Kirby to use.
Steamworks Factory 2500 	Steamy Spires 	A series of machines that work in Steamy Spires' big factory, Kirby is forced to break them all. There are four different devices with their own forms of attack, mechanical arms, sawblades, lasers and hammers.
Crystal Rollen 	Crystal Cascade 	A crystal variant of Roggen Rollen, the very first boss in the game, this version has many more attacks to avoid while trying to defeat it.
Heavy Mole 	Grimy Grotto 	While it shares its name with a digger tank boss from Kirby's Adventure, this Heavy Mole is actually a giant armored mole with a golden star for a nose, it throws rocks with can be thrown back or absorbed for the Rock ability.
Captain Bluffen 	Bandit Bluffs 	A skeletal pirate leading his band of Sky Pirates into the heart of Bandit Bluffs' storm. He jumps around his ship making it hard for Kirby to hit him, but it is possible to damage him like this.
King D3K 	Altitude Acropolis	Standing for King Dedede 3000, this boss is a mechanical version of Dedede created by Koumoria's magic. His fight recreates the battle with Dedede in Super Star's Spring Breeze subgame, in a boxing ring.
Koumoria/Perfect Koumoria	Lavender Luna 	Koumoria's normal self copies a few mechanics from past bosses, in order: Munee Grubs, Starving Dionia and Kracken Of The Deep, after the normal fight, she takes Kirby into the pocket dimension the Crystal Moon came from, where she becomes Perfect Koumoria, a giant dragon monster, and Kirby must defeat her as Lunar Kirby.
The New Game+ worlds in Popstar also have their own boss fights needed to go to the next world in the new adventure..
* Whispy Woods (Cookie Country)
* Kracko (Butter Building)
* Lololo & Lalala (Illusion Islands)
* Magman (Mag Mount)
* Gobbler (Olive Ocean)
* Neo Nova's Heart (Neo Nova)
Crystal Moon's subgames also have some unique boss fights to be found.
* Tedhaun (Phantom Clean-Up)
* King Dedede (Popstar, Dance Star)
* Twin Woods (Meta Knight's Flight)
* Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright (Meta Knight's Flight)
* Mecha-Kracko (Meta Knight's Flight)
* Overtaken Halberd (Meta Knight's Flight)
* Galacta Knight (Meta Knight's Flight)
* Koumoria's Soul (The True Arena)
== Medals ==
There are various medals to gain in the game, for many different feats, from simply making it to a part of the game to holding onto a wall for a certain time. A full list can be found here.
== Copy Abilities ==
=== Returning ===
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=== New ===
Time 	TBA	"He who controls time, is beaten by none, and if Kirby controls time, many are eaten by him"	The Time ability lets Kirby manipulate time, slowing it down, going back or forward a few seconds or speeding it up. If it's either slower or faster, Kirby can attack normally or use this to solve puzzles.
Steam	TBA	"Kirby has turned into vapor, he can go through grates and hurt enemies with heat" 	Steam turns Kirby into a colored cloud with a trail of small clouds coming from his head, in this state, Kirby can turn intangible to go through grates and walk into enemies to damage them with his heat.
Lunar	TBA	"Kirby has become the only one with the power to stop Koumoria, go forth and end this!" 	Lunar is the game's final ability, only available in the final battle with Perfect Koumoria, Kirby gains a staff and butterfly wings as he flies onwards to save Sunloft.
== Subgames ==
Subgames have been a staple of the Kirby series for a while, Crystal Moon is no different in having a variety of them, all of which can be accessed from the main menu or in-game, in Ghastly Gamble's arcades.
=== Phantom Clean-Up ===
Kirby finds himself in a haunted mansion filled with monstrous ghosts, he must get rid of every ghost in the mansion to proceed to the next level, there are five levels in total, each with a new aesthetic and layout to the ghostly manor. At the end of level 5, Kirby faces off against Tedhaun, who, when defeated, makes Kirby able to find the Ghost ability in certain spots in levels.
=== Popstar, Dance Star ===
A dancing game in the style of Dance Dance Revolution, where the player must press the correct face buttons to perform a move and defeat the opponent in a dance battle, this subgame consists of four levels with different opponents and classic songs from the series, remixed into a disco-y sound. This subgame ends with a dance duel against King Dedede, awarding Kirby with the top spot in the subgame's rankings (These are not online rankings, only in-game character rankings) along with unique dialogue from the waiters and players at Ghastly Gamble.
=== Meta Knight's Flight ===
In this top-down shoot 'em up subgame, players take control of Meta Knight, flying around Popstar and even into outer space, firing beams from his sword, Galaxia, to find and defeat Galacta Knight and become the greatest warrior in the universe. Each of the five stags has its own boss battle, but it ends with a showdown with the masked knight's enemy, Galacta Knight.
=== The Arena ===
A gauntlet of enemies and bosses where Kirby has access to one Copy Ability and limited health items as he goes from rank to rank, fighting increasingly stronger foes. Bosses from New Game+ appear, but it does not need to be beaten to acces The Arena, only the main story is necessary. 
=== The True Arena ===
The True Arena is a warrior's final challenge, a gauntlet of stronger versions of normal bosses, as with the normal Arena, Kirby only has one ability and limited health pick-ups. The True Arena is only available if the player has beaten both of the game's storylines, The Crystal Moon and Nova Strikes Back, and finishes off with a showdown against Koumoria's Soul, a powerful variation of Perfect Koumoria.
== Gallery ==
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== Trivia ==
* Kirby and the Crystal Moon is AlpacaSoft's first attempt at a true 3D platformer, and, also, their first attempt at a sort of collect-a-thon game.
* Crystal Moon has the most variations of the boss character Kracko when compared to other games in the series, these are: Kracken of the Deep (Boss of Underseas Utopia), Kracko (Boss of Butter Building) and Mecha Kracko (3rd Boss in Meta Knight's Flight)
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