List of HAL Laboratory Miiverse posts - Kirby: Planet Robobot

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The following is a complete list of all American English Kirby: Planet Robobot Miiverse posts from its Behind the Scenes special community, posted by Satoshi Ishida.

Notably, unlike the other two special Miiverse communities, this one had the least posts, and it mostly consisted of posts of the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon" and the results of the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge".

Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 1

An archived version of this post can be found here and here.

Post author, date and time (PST)	Text and/or image	Notes
Satoshi Ishida August 9th, 2016 10:43:00 AM	Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 1 Hi everyone, it took us a while to set up but now it's finally time to kick off the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon! And here to answer your questions is the man himself, Kirby: Planet Robobot's director Shinya Kumazaki!
Shinya Kumazaki August 9th, 2016 10:49:00 AM	Hello! Shinya Kumazaki here. Honestly, I’m amazed at the tremendous number of questions we’ve received from Japan, the Americas and Europe. Naturally I can’t answer them all, but I’m hoping I can give you at least some of the answers you’re looking for. Mr Ishida, please fire away!
Satoshi Ishida August 9th, 2016 10:51:00 AM	All right, let’s get started. Here’s the first question: How did you decide upon ‘Kirby: Planet Robobot’ for the game title?
Shinya Kumazaki August 9th, 2016 10:56:00 AM	Initially, we’d planned to call it “Kirby: HAGANE” (“hagane” is Japanese for “steel”), but as Popstar would be populated by robots, we then leaned towards “Kirby: Robot Planet”. As titles go, this was far too literal and lacked impact, so we changed it again to “Roborobo Planet”. One last tweak and the result was “Planet Robobot”, which is in keeping with the playfulness of the Kirby universe. The name for the “Robobot Armor” also came up around this time.
Satoshi Ishida August 9th, 2016 10:59:00 AM	Interesting! I do think that “HAGANE” would have been perhaps a little too edgy for a Kirby game. Plus, I can see it being quite a difficult title to convey overseas. Now for the next question: What was it that inspired you to create this game, and how long did it take to produce it?
Shinya Kumazaki August 9th, 2016 11:03:00 AM	Since we ended up developing two Kirby games in a row using the same hardware - the first being Kirby: Triple Deluxe - this time, we wanted to do a completely different take on the world. At the same time, we were also hoping to attract a new audience. We thought a mechanized world would do well, since then it would be the polar opposite to the previous game’s warm skies and lush scenery. The concept for the Robobot Armor was then proposed as a means of performing new copy abilities unique to the mechanized world. Regarding the length of development, we worked on Planet Robobot in parallel with other titles such as Dedede’s Drum Dash Deluxe, and it was completed in under two years.
Satoshi Ishida August 9th, 2016 11:05:00 AM	When you were establishing this mechanized setting for the game world, how did the production team manage to strike a balance between the creative design and fun gameplay?
Shinya Kumazaki August 9th, 2016 11:09:00 AM	At the start, we shared our game design plans with the whole team - these were vital to the game. I began by working out the story and setting in my head, conveyed my ideas to lead team members and then the staff got to work, flexing their creative muscles to generate text, rough sketches and other resources. We worked to mesh the design and gameplay only in the final stages of the development process, and things were all very hectic during this period. We would schedule meetings with the whole team to keep everyone on the same page and fully bring out the team’s potential, and this helped to motivate everyone even more in the finishing stages.
Satoshi Ishida August 9th, 2016 11:11:00 AM	It’s so interesting to hear about the steps that led to the final product! I have to ask, was there a specific part of the creation process that you found especially challenging? And if you had the chance to redesign the whole game, would you want to improve any specific areas of it?
Shinya Kumazaki August 9th, 2016 11:14:00 AM	We were instructed by our producer to avoid any situation that might remind players of Triple Deluxe and I think that although this was a great idea, it was a nightmare to put into practice. We had limited development time and still had to make use of the assets from the previous game. Because we were using Triple Deluxe’s engine, a lot of the gameplay felt similar, so I was constantly fighting to preserve the Kirby series’ distinctive feel and yet produce something fresh and new. There were, of course, many things that I would have liked to refine or improve, but rather than regret not being able to address them, I try to use those shortcomings as motivation to look to the future and help myself do a better job next time. It’s a continuous process that never really ends.
Satoshi Ishida August 9th, 2016 11:15:00 AM	In Planet Robobot, I got the impression that you included references to older Kirby games and tried to evoke the same feel as them. Are you quite fond of the earlier titles? Were there any parts of them that influenced the current title?
Shinya Kumazaki August 9th, 2016 11:20:00 AM	I don’t believe that Kirby would still be around if it weren’t for the older series of games. Meta Knight and the Fountain of Dreams, debuting in Kirby’s Adventure, returned in Kirby Super Star (known as Kirby’s Fun Pak in Europe), and many of Kirby’s friends and foes from Kirby’s Dream Land 2 reprised their roles in Kirby’s Dream Land 3. We’re still continuing this trend of including characters and locations from past games. There’s a huge amount of charm unique to Kirby games and we’ve got 24 years’ worth of it to tap into. By incorporating some of that into Planet Robobot, we hope that newcomers to the Kirby series will be able to enjoy the more retro elements of the gameplay just as much as the newer ones. If that happens to spark their interest in the older titles too, we couldn’t ask for more.
Satoshi Ishida August 9th, 2016 11:21:00 AM	All right, one last question. I’m sure some of our readers are getting fed up with all the game development questions, so let’s move on to a different category! We’ve been receiving questions from all over the world along the lines of “Is Susie Haltmann’s real daughter?” and “Is Susie a clone or a robot?”. Mr Kumazaki, would you mind clearing things up for us once and for all and telling us her identity?
Shinya Kumazaki August 9th, 2016 11:24:00 AM	Allow me to explain: Susie is not a clone; she is Haltmann’s real daughter. I’d had in mind two story paths - one in which you finish the game and the story concludes comfortably even without knowing Susie’s identity, and one that reveals more answers after you sink a lot of time into the game. But in Planet Robobot, the story is designed with just a small twist to surprise you when you find out Susie’s last name. I initially considered making it so that Haltmann, in his loneliness, created a robotic Susie who believed she was alive, but that idea was discarded to avoid overcomplicating the story. At the time, I also considered a scenario with one final twist, where you discover that Haltmann was actually a robot all along.
Satoshi Ishida August 9th, 2016 11:25:00 AM	Wow! There you have it, fans - the definitive answer you’ve been waiting for! We’ve still got plenty of questions lined up for Mr Kumazaki, but I think we’re going to call it a day here. Watch this space for round 2 of the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon!

Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 2

An archived version of this post can be found here and here.

Post author, date and time (PST)	Text and/or image	Notes
Satoshi Ishida August 25th, 2016 9:57:00 AM	Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 2 Hi, this is Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. Today we'll be hosting round 2 of the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon and, as before, director Shinya Kumazaki is here to answer your questions!
Shinya Kumazaki August 25th, 2016 9:59:00 AM	Nice to see you again. Today I’m hoping to answer behind-the-scenes questions about Planet Robobot that you wouldn’t normally be able to find out from simply playing the game.

"Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge" - drawing category winners

An archived version of this post can be found here and here.

Post author, date and time (PST)	Text and/or image	Notes
Satoshi Ishida December 2nd, 2016 1:10:00 PM	Good to see everyone again! The time has finally come to reveal the winners of the drawing category of the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge"! We'll get to revealing the artwork soon, but first, the director of the game, Mr Kumazaki, would like to say something!
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:12:00 PM	Hello everyone, Shinya Kumazaki here. I just want to say that it was a really enjoyable experience to look through all of your wonderful entries. It was obvious how much effort and enthusiasm went into each one. Thank you for sending in your work!
Satoshi Ishida December 2nd, 2016 1:13:00 PM	Then let’s begin from the Platinum Choice. Take it away, Mr Kumazaki!
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:16:00 PM	Our Platinum Choice goes to… Kowal! Meta Knight plays a big part in this game, so we received a lot of entries featuring him, but Kowal’s work really showcases his speed. It’s also very well executed at a difficult angle. That white mask with the black cross cut into it looks particularly cool. Speaking of Galacta Knight, we came up with him back when we were working on the Kirby Super Star Ultra game because we wanted to create an ultimate enemy for Meta Knight. We gave him an angelic, godlike look to contrast with Meta Knight’s bat-like wings. That was a while ago! Congratulations, Kowal!
Satoshi Ishida December 2nd, 2016 1:17:00 PM	Wow, what an intense image. It really makes you want to see how that showdown went! Next up is our Gold Choice.
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:19:00 PM	I'm happy to say that kirby！ has earned our Gold Choice! All of the submissions kirby！ made showed a high level of quality with their use of clean lines. And they all featured Labotories having fun, so I could see kirby！ has a lot of affection for this character! Incidentally, Labotories are in charge of researching and developing weapons and such in the Haltmann Works Co.'s laboratory towers. They're the hardworking citizens of another planet, hired by the Haltmann Works Co. and every morning they sing the company song from the bottom of their hearts. Congratulations, kirby！
Satoshi Ishida December 2nd, 2016 1:21:00 PM	Wow, I didn’t know they had that much backstory! They always seem so happily busy, don’t they? Oh, Kirby’s in there too! I hope they all get along. Well, now it’s time for the Silver Choice winners - and there are two of these.
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:23:00 PM	The first Silver Choice goes to ななし! This drawing features some incredible background work - even though it’s all in black and white, you can really feel the blue sky and white clouds. The sunlight on the Robobot Armour in Jet Mode is fantastic, too.	This comment and further ones use the British English spelling of "armour" rather than the American English spelling "armor".
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:26:00 PM	Silver Choice number 2 goes to アンテラ! アンテラ’s work gives us a unique perspective. Lots of entries focused on the final boss and iconic scenes, so to see Circus Kirby reflected in one of the giant balls of Resolution Road was a really nice idea. Congratulations, ななし and アンテラ!
Satoshi Ishida December 2nd, 2016 1:28:00 PM	Both of those entries were drawn so nicely - I especially like Kirby’s expressions in them! Next we have the Bronze Choice, with five artists.
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:30:00 PM	The first Bronze Choice winner is yucky♪! At a glance, this looks like a fairly ordinary picture of Kirby, but look closer and you’ll see it seems to be from the perspective of the Robobot Armour. Could this be one of the last pieces of data left in the Robobot Armour’s fading memory banks as it floats in space after everything is over? If you think about it like that, it brings a tear to your eye… Just heartbreaking!
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:32:00 PM	Our second Bronze Choice goes to てるや! This is a particularly dynamic Robobot Armour, and what puts it over the top is the screen-shattering punch! It also sparked my imagination - is the Robobot Armour punching the camera itself, or maybe the monitor of an enemy robot?
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:34:00 PM	Our third Bronze Choice goes to key! This might look like a normal picture of Mirror Kirby, but it’s actually showing off the old and new hat designs, which I thought was a unique touch. About that hat design - in older titles, due to issues with things like storage capacity, we often had to use the same hat design for multiple Copy Abilities, only changing the color. So the original Mirror hat was a color variation of the Beam hat. But when we brought it back for this game after a long absence, we gave it a big makeover to make it more unique and easier to differentiate.
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:37:00 PM	The fourth Bronze Prize goes to rH! This is Dark Matter’s true form, that you only get to glimpse for an instant in this game. This was a submission from outside Japan but the artist’s use of Japanese characters really draws the eye. You can tell that rH is a real fan of the character.
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:38:00 PM	Our fifth Bronze Choice goes to Shira! These Dedede Clones have such rich expressions. Their faces really give you a sense that they were formed from pure innocent destructiveness extracted from King Dedede’s heart. Congratulations, yucky♪, てるや, key, rH and Shira!
Satoshi Ishida December 2nd, 2016 1:40:00 PM	Right, last up in the drawing category is a set of special awards we’re calling the Secret Kumazaki Faves! We have three to give out. Mr Kumazaki, if you’ll do the honors?
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:42:00 PM	I chose these entries based on ideas that made me go “Wow!” The first Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to Lady! Lady’s picture really captures the goings-on “behind the scenes” of the game! After the Haltmann Works Co. destroys King Dedede’s castle, the repair works get underway in this refreshing picture. And King Dedede has even taken off his crown! I never expected someone to try depicting that… Together with his clothes, it all makes for a very original image. As for his true hairstyle, maybe you’ll get to see that one day…
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:44:00 PM	Secret Kumazaki Fave number 2 goes to クリームロール! All of クリームロール’s entries were very technically accomplished, but this was the one where I felt the concept really shone through. The pixel art in the center seems to evoke a simpler time when Meta Knight was still himself. And the lines and dots at the bottom of the image are actually a message in Morse code! It says S, O… Ah, but I shouldn’t spoil the fun. I’m sure you can work it out for yourselves! There are plenty of fun little things like this hidden in Planet Robobot as well, so if you want, you can go back and try to find them all.	The Morse code reads ... --- ... at the top and -.- .. .-. -... -.-- at the bottom, translating to "SOS KIRBY".
Shinya Kumazaki December 2nd, 2016 1:47:00 PM	The final Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to ラリアット! ラリアット’s entry shows Meta Knight, ready for battle, reflected in Dark Matter’s sword, and it’s a really fantastic image. The heavy use of black gives it a chic look, and the portrayal of the characters is very nicely done. Incidentally, you may have noticed that in this game, Dark Matter’s sword shines with a rainbow light. This light is materialized from Dark Matter’s memories of the Rainbow Sword that he faced in the Kirby’s Dream Land 2 game. Those memories must have been included in the original data used to create the clone. Just like how in the Kirby: Triple Deluxe game, King Dedede faced Dark Meta Knight for the first time ever, in this game Meta Knight faces off against a version of Dark Matter for the first time. So Dark Matter must have sensed that F21Meta Knight’s[sic] powers were truly formidable, and materialized the power of the Rainbow Sword to counter him. Seeing two expert swordsmen face off against each other is always a thrilling experience! Congratulations, Lady, クリームロール and ラリアット!
Satoshi Ishida December 2nd, 2016 1:49:00 PM	And that’s the end of the drawing category of our “Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge”. We’d like to thank everyone who entered! Don’t forget, though, we still have the screenshot category of the contest to go! We received a lot of entries worldwide for this contest, so it’ll take us some time to select our favorites. We know a lot of people are excited, but please wait a little longer for the results!