Kirby Heardle Essays and Thread
My series of Kirby Heardle Essays where I give a bunch of lip-service to the blessing upon mankind that is Kirby Music. All but one of them were based on my exploits with the - unfortunately abandoned - Kirby Heardle by @NotBovo on Twitter from April to August 2022. The original thread will eventually be archived further down for fun and reference, but I don't know what every song was was for every day.
Dark Star (K64) and The Music of The Dark Matter Trilogy - (#?)
DARK STAR IS AN UNDERRATED BANGER!! I've heard people say it feels uncharacteristically up-beat for the setting of walking through a planet made of Dark matter, but to me it gives off the vibes of, "Let's fucking goo! We know what we're facing now despite how scary it is!" And there's a whole musical journey these games took you on leading to this!
In DL2, Dark Matter Swordsman has this energetic theme [Duel in the Darkened Sky] that fits with this surprise battle with a spooky swordsman, but the true Dark Matter Theme [Dark Matter] is more dark and mysterious. There's this whole great game design thing going on as well, with how you don't fight DMS as a swordsman - the blade itself does pith damage - but by reflecting his Dark Matter attacks at him to reveal his true form underneath. It's all an amazing reveal taking you from, "Who's this mysterious swordsman?" to "WHAT is this creepy mysterious THING WTH??"
Then DL3's Dark Matter theme [Hyper Zone 1] is a bit chaotic but has an energetic and triumphant sound like, "We've beaten this creep before, we can do it again!" But then, when Zero comes in - the bigger, badder, and thrice as unsettling leader of the Dark Matter - you get that really chaotic and frantic theme that fits the fucking insanity of the fight [Hyper Zone 2]. The background becomes crazy, this horrifying eye monster spits blood at you before meeting its gorey demise - it all compliments the fight so damn well!
Once we get to Dark Star in K64 [Dark Star/Heading For 02], we know what we're fighting again, and it's back to that triumphant energy we had against Dark Matter in DL3 with even more gusto. We saw its true form, we learned of the true nature behind it - whatever Zero and the Dark Matter have left for us, we're ready! It's a really great combination of determination, desperation, and finality all in this song and short little section before the final battle.
Zero2's final theme in K64 is sooo beautiful [Zero-Two/02 Battle], and especially compared to other boss themes then, perfectly fits the final battle against the first really huge villain of the series. As well as a villain who even then was hinted to be more connected to Kirby than we knew. It's grand and dramatic and melancholic and I love it! The Dark Matter saga had taken you on a journey from a shocking duel against a foe darker than any you'd faced before, to triumphantly standing against a god of darkness to protect the galaxy, and it all culminates in that amazing arrangement!! It's incredibly powerful, and I fuckinnnnn' love these games!!!!!
Oh and fucking shout out to Miracle Matter's theme [Miracle Matter] for the awesome beginning fake-out that sounds like all the boss themes and then turns into this dark fucked up jungle song!! YOU ARE THEE BEST KIRBY BOSS MIRACLE MATTER AND I LOVE YOU!!
Inner Struggle (KPR) and Meta Knight's Themes - (#?)
Holy Shit I Fucking Love This Song And Motif. I was gonna say that Inner Struggle is better than Sword of the Surviving Guardian, but that's dumb and inflammatory. I think the two motifs of VS. Meta Knight and Friend and the Setting Sun represent different things and have their own purposes. The former is underrated AF, but it has a separate use.
The Vs. Meta Knight motif from Super Star [Vs. Meta Knight] is used to represent fights with Meta at his lowest or when blinded by lust for battle. Like in Revenge of MK when he's challenged you to a lost cause battle on his destroyed, rapidly sinking shit (raw AF), and in Planet Robobot [Inner Struggle] or Epic Yarn [Vs. Meta Knight] where he's struggling against mind control. All of these carry a weight and desperation for him that is amazingly conveyed by that theme. It's tense, it's dark, and it's as deadly as Meta's uncontrollable blade.
My Friend and the Setting Sun is his more general theme now [RoMK Credits], it kinda represents that after Revenge was a sobering moment for him, as encounters with him after are less antagonistic. It has the perfect "dramatically (maybe even regretfully) riding off into the sunset" vibe, which made it perfect as a credits theme then, and great as a reoccurring motif for Meta Knight now. It represents how he's likely reflected and grown more understanding ever since that fateful defeat.
AAAAND (teehee), it goes with King and the Setting Sun [RotK Credits], which represents a paralleled moment for Dedede with more emphasis on the "regretfully" part. Which is fitting, because we've seen that while Meta can take defeat badly by going off on rampages, Dedede becomes rather depressed about these things. Friend and the Setting Sun is regretful but steadfast, and King and the Setting sun is regretful and downright defeated.
All this to say, there are two battle themes for Meta Knight: VS. MK/Inner Struggle for when he's at his worst and deadliest, and Setting Sun for when he's being a friendly rival and continuing a character arc he shares in common with Dedede. Sword of the Surviving Guardian [x] uses the right motif, and it owns, and I respect it. Plus, I love the intro, it's very jazzy and expressive! The whole song has a great feel of a friendly but still serious battle between two great warriors who have grown and changed for the better a lot since they first met.
Star Allies unfortunately, uses the wrong motif in Friends and the Sound of Intersecting Swords [x], and it makes me sad. Being horribly possessed by his "wild streak" should land us some VS. Meta Knight, but instead we have the Setting Sun motif, and I do legit feel like it detracts from the potential drama of the fight. (But he is like the 3rd boss out of like, 13? So oh well).
KF2 got my back tho! The fucking Sworn Partners final battle music [Vs. Moon Warriors Dedede & Meta Knight] mixes like every Meta and Dedede motif! INCLUDING SO MANY TASTY ONES FROM REVENGE OF MK THAT DON'T GET USED AND AUGDGSYG IT'S SO GOOD!!! When they use the RoMK trill right before you fight them??? I am in the stratosphere!
KF2's OST is legendary for all the love they gave to Meta Knight and Dedede's motifs. Using the Halberd and Vs. MK themes in the final battle with Dedede's, and both Setting Sun motifs together for the credits is a really good example of the way they use them for different aspects of these characters!
Heart of Nova (KSS) and Kumazaki's Writing - (#?)
(This isn't from Twitter, but it is related to the Heardle Thread)
Definitely the coolest thing about how Kumazaki does series lore is how he reworks and re-contextualizes old cryptic Kirby stuff into his new writing. Like Galactic Nova is a great example cause Super Star is super iconic, and the Nova was already set up with a really weird air of mystique. And a massive part of this is the music and interior of the machine.
That really harsh and metallic percussion and the frantic strings, and the part with the tempo change too, everything about Heart of Nova [x] is super jarring compared to the rest of Milky Way Wishes. When you look at Nova from the outside you think, "Yeah that's a weird giant mechanical comet, that seems like something whimsical enough for Kirby!" But the inside is electronic and futuristic and it's so weird. Even before that was the in intention you could see that Nova was a very odd machine that probably held a looot of secrets to how it worked that the character's didn't understand. It had the air of an odd magical artifact at first, but inside it is something fa more advanced than anything you had seen in the series up till then.
And knowing how important it is now in retrospect is fun because... well it's role in the story is to be fought over by two silly magical children before being sent careening into a planet, only to be blown to smithereens cause one of the kids knocked the other into it at Mach 5 gfyasukgfsydauf. I really really love how even when Kirby has massive world-building set pieces the characters are always oblivious to their importance, so you get stuff like the plot of Milky Way Wishes - the story of two very powerful children having a dumb feud over the giant ancient artifact that holds aeons of technological secrets, and accidentally destroying it in the process.
The intention of the Nova being that was always there, but the way Kumazaki has worked its presentation into a greater mythos is so fun. The dissonance of the harsh mechanical set-pieces in Kirby is a long tradition in general, within Super Star the Halberd is another example. It might be a very unique thing to the original Super Star though, because it's early CG backgrounds had a lot of crust in them. The aesthetic of the Halberd and the Nova's interior are completely different from that of the Shiver Star Factory or most stuff from Robobot which still had some whimsy to it, the former two are a lot more on the harsh, grungy side. It's totally unintentional and kinda just bad graphic design but... shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, let me pretend my favorite Kirby game is a masterpiece...
Faraway Halcandra (RTDL) and The Ruins of the Kirby Series - (#?)
I like how Faraway Halcandra [x] doesn't sound anything like the other themes of the planet. It's fun though, cause you can imagine this represents the quartet's wonder at the majesty of being in an other dimension and seeing this legendary ancient planet, but then the actual surface is hell lol.
That's something I probably don't think about having played RTDL knowing all the lore beforehand, but when you see Magolor and the Starcutter's interior, it really does build that Halcandra will be this magical cool place, only for it to look like THAT. Even within the levels there is another dichotomy between the dystopian remains of the planets once great industry with Egg Engines [Birthplace of Steel], and the hellish volcanic badlands of the planet in Dangerous Dinner [x] - yet neither of them are the sparkly sleek greatness promised by the Lor.
The environmental storytelling of Halcandra has always captured me so much, it communicates so much about this ancient civilization and what it's left behind in a way that makes it stand out from other "Great Ancient Civilizations" in fantasy I've consumed. A once thriving, futuristic, space-age civilization that made miracles of technology and magic like the Lor Starcutter... But now what's left of them are people hobbled up in mechanical junkyards that house only dismantled and shabby remains of their creations, and beyond that is a nightmarish desert of lava and death. If Magolor really lived here, it's now wonder he was obsessed with the Lor and Crown. You can really see and feel how incredible and majestic the Ancients must have been, and why what's left of their people would search high and low for anything that could give them that feeling of greatness again.
There's also the very fun detail from later about how The Ancients split apart leaving the science faction of the planet while the magic side was banished. Which would seem to imply that the people Magolor is descendant from had a history of power-reaching. There's 10 million fun little details scattered across the modern games that paint such an interesting picture of what The Ancients were like, and I could gush about them forever!
Halcandra is super fun, especially when compared to the Forgotten Land, both of them being such beautifully designed ruins. Halcandra far more with a feeling of destitution and loss of something great which likely comes from the inhabitants still living there in hellish, miserable conditions, and scrounging for scraps of past glory. But the Forgotten Land has been gladly abandoned and completely reclaimed by creatures who couldn't care less about the lost relics of the past. They only return to these ruins full of starry-eyed curiosity, and the game wants you to see and participate in how beautiful that is.
Like with a lot of thinks in Kirby lore, there is a bit of an underlying theme of greed and pride that separates the two places and their inhabitants, and I want it to be explored M O R E!
I am still very very very curious to see how/if the line between the Forgotten Land and Halcandra will be connected by canon. Kumazaki likes leaving things up to interpretation, but I just feel like this thread is important enough and open enough that there are still more deets to come...
Sacred Square (KSA) and Kirby Star Allies' Mediocrity - (#?)
Sacred Square [x]... One of the less impressive songs from Kirby Star Allies, IDK what it was about this game but a lot of songs just lack any real kick. KatFL also went for less of the traditional Kirby instruments, but I think the songs are a lot more ambitious and catchier.
Like, Through the Tunnel [x] isn't that off from Sacred Square in instrumentation and vibe, but it's so much punchier. It's faster and bouncier, and is way more dynamic. It's only a secondary grass world theme like Forest Area and Through the Forest, but it adds so much to that formula. It's one of my favorite songs in the game I think because it so perfectly sets up the mood of a Kirby adventure with familiar fair, but so much more open wider. The last two are very small lil' ditties that liven up the new woody grass area, but Through the Tunnel really pushes the idea of not being in the big great open expanse anymore, but going on an equally daring and exciting adventure through a mysterious underground tunnel system! It's so cool and you can feel so much energy in that.
Forest Area [x] sounds calm and woody like you've gone from the open grasslands to a peaceful cool forest. Where you can relax just a bit, but it still holds a lot of mystery and stuff to keep you on your toes. Through the Forest [x] sounds like running around the treetops with curious excitement. The stage it's from actually aesthetically shares a lot in common with the one from adventure, but the open tree tops and this music completely change the vibe to something more energetic and whimsical. Sacred Square... It kindaaaa sounds like a tense walk towards a showdown with the cowboy style instruments and whistling. But even once the beat kicks in, it doesn't carry a lot of power. You can definitely make something a lot more exciting out of Kirby cowboy music. (Like with Sandy Wilderness [x], and almost every Raisin Ruins theme from RTDL, luv that OST). And there's a similar problem with the intensity with Meta's battle theme [Friends and The Sound of Crossing Swords], which I've talked about how thematically underwhelming it is.
IDK, the KSA OST in general feels too mellow. It sounds like Kirby, but not like KIRBY!, y'know? And I wouldn't chalk it up to like a lack of Ishikawa, cause Ando and Ogasawara can make some really bouncy and awesome songs. I think it's some overall direction thing. Or I'm insane. Only time this mellow style helped I think was with Morpho's theme which I've praised for being uniquely eerie. And also I'll defend the Void suite any day, I think that heavily orchestral sound does wonders for the mood of the fight.
Legend of the Last World (KSA) - The Finale of Classic Kirby - (#?)
Legend of the Last World is an awesome ass medley of final stage themes. Sometimes Star Allies pulls through with its more heavily orchestral songs, L86 sounds so cool with traditional instruments, and the callback all the way to Rainbow Resort [x] always gets me... Once again KSA delivers on being a great send-off to the last era of Kirby (in every area but gameplay). Thinking about how this is the last "Final Stage" of the era of classic games and they put everything into this medley makes me kind of emotional. They all transition so beautifully into one another and sell the uniqueness of each journey; from Magolor's ambitions for [Limitless Power], to Sectonia's cold and haunting [Beautiful Prison], to the alien strangeness of the heart of Haltmann Works co. in [L86]. And with that Rainbow Resort... the transition is so lovely, and kinda somber... it really sells like... IDK, nostalgic, bittersweet determination. The feeling of "This is our very last run though this type of adventure till we meet again, LET'S DO THIS!"
HiAD being Kirby's attempt at saving his enemies, and the first time he wholly succeeded without accidentally blowing them up (i.e. Haltmann and Sectonia), also adds some emotion to it. I'm team "Kirby Has Slowly Been Developing Into A More Actively Merciful Hero Over The Last Couple Games", and the era ending with his first success in that is very satisfying. And then you add on everything about Kirby being a reincarnation of Void and how he was the one to answer the Jamba's prayers of salvation... it all just comes together so good. Besides just being the first game with a "last level" theme to use, maybe the reason Rainbow Resort was used instead of something from DL1 was because it was the first event of Kirby having to take into account that not all his enemies are cardboard villains, and that twist has influenced the hero we have today. Star Allies's story was a great one to end on. Answering and posing some really cool questions and doing everything to show that Kirby as a hero has really developed into an ally to the stars. And all the fanservice is insanely fun lol.
KSA is only good gameplay-wise when I think of most Kirby games as being amazing, but it's pretty fun to revisit. Guest Star is a blast when using the Dream Friends and soaking in their movesets and references, and Ultimate Choice still kicks my ass to this day. There is also an UNBELIEVABLY dense amount of story details in it, and more kinda lost of English speakers like me due to shoddy translation.
It's also very pretty, and may be the last we'll see of Dreamland for some time. I wouldn't be surprised if the idea from here on for a while is to be more out there with settings. It might spoil the uniqueness of KatFL but who knoooows~
Original Twitter Ver.
I don't have an archive of which day was what, so some I've guessed based on reaction if I didn't just say.
14 / 118
Kirby Heardle #7 - 4/18/22
Going to do a thread on the Kirby Heardle cause I can see myself getting addicted to this one:
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
This one was too fuckin' easy.
Kirby Heardle #8 - 4/19/22
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
Underrated bop. Hal keeps throwing this in some medleys though, and it's cool to hear cause it has a great "ok... final stand... lets go!" vibe.
[*Ripple Star Map]
Kirby Heardle #9 - 4/20/22
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Very Ando-core song. Was never my favorite though in a game which to me has just non-stop bangers. I've come to realize I'm just pretty biased towards Ishikawahsgdf, but it's fine this is still an iconic song.
Kirby Heardle #10 - 4/21/22
🔉⬛️🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
NO FAIR I WOUDVE GOTTEN THIS FIRST TRY IF I REALIZED MY HEADPHONES WERENT IN FJGFG
Anyways, love this theme and its later remixes even more
Kirby Heardle #11 - 4/22/22
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
OOOOOOOOOOOOOH MY GOD THIS SONG FUCKING OWNS SO HARD!!!! I wouldnt call myself the biggest fan of this game but FUCK IF IT DOESNT HAVE SOME STELLAR ASS TRACKS. Its one of those OSTs that makes me miss the game more than the actual gameplayfgsh
[*A song from Kirby's Dream land 3]
Kirby Heardle #12 - 4/23/22
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
EY YOOOOOOOO
Kirby Heardle #13 - 4/24/22
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
Oh, sooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking iconic. All the music in this sub-game is, I feel like its all very moody and cool af and this one is definitely a highlight. (salutes)
[*A song from Revenge of Meta Knight]
Kirby Heardle #14 - 4/25/22
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
HELP IT GAVE ME LIKE 2 NOTES OF THE SONG BUT I COULD TELL JUST FROM THE INSTRUMENTHJKJKH
Gawd... (this game) OST Supremacy!
Kirby Heardle #15 - 4/26/22
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I routinely get all the songs in this world mixed up, honestly thank god for the limited pool of songs cause otherwise id be off just by a number. This one is still a certified classic tho
[*One of the Grassland themes from Kirby's Dream Land 3]
Kirby Heardle #16 - 4/27/22
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
Aw fuck another classic! Not personally one of my favorites from this banger ass OST but I respect it and the vibes. (Also I need to replay this game so bad its eating away at me)
Kirby Heardle #17 - 4/28/22
🔇🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥
FINALLY I LOST! Guessed the game correctly based on the instruments (and swore I guessed the right song once), but couldnt get it. It only took 10 days?
Kirby Heardle #18 - 4/29/22
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AW HELL NAW DIDNT EVEN NEED THE FIRST NOTE OF ACTUAL MUSIC FOR THIS ENTIRE FUCKING CLASSIC. Honestly this might be one of the best Kirby songs of all time just period
[*Factory Inspection]
...
all the people who arent insane enough to know the best kirby song simply by the first sound effect...
...
Thats a joke, but im completely unironic that this song is like one of the best kirby songs. If you dont listen to it so much that you can guess this heardle first try you better start listening to it more 👀👀
Kirby Heardle #19 - 4/30/22
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
HELP AFTER LISTENIG TO ALL THAT KIRBY MUSIC YESTERDAY IT WAS FROM 1 OF THE GAMES I DIDNT GO OVERHFGJ
[Context: This was likely around when I was compiling my favorite Kirby songs for Interest Hell]
Kirby Heardle #20 - 5/1/22
🔊🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
Such a cool remix of a staple motif! And the way they incorporated it into the final rush cutscene at the end is just magical, godbless