Mix
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| “ | If two ability-characters are swallowed at the same time, "MIX" will appear in the condition panel. Press the A Button to start the roulette. If you press the A Button again the ability will be decided. | ” | — Kirby Super Star manual |
Mix is the term used to describe the state where Kirby gets a random Copy Ability by swallowing enemies with two or more abilities at once. It was first introduced in Kirby's Adventure. When a Mix begins, the game pauses while a roulette decides what ability Kirby will get. While seemingly random, this roulette always occurs in the same order in most games, so it can be carefully timed to gain the desired ability. If no action is made, the roulette will stop on its own after a while.
The function of the Mix has varied slightly over the course of the series. In older games, the enemies swallowed could be ones that both provided the same ability, but starting with Kirby: Triple Deluxe, they need to provide Kirby with different Copy Abilities in order for a successful Mix to occur. Otherwise, Kirby will simply obtain the Copy Ability as normal. Additionally, in older games, the starting point of the roulette was determined by the first enemy inhaled; therefore, inhaling the same two enemies in the same order would always result in a specific ability, as long as the roulette stopped by itself. Beginning with Kirby's Return to Dream Land, the roulette's starting point is randomized.
This mechanic is present in most games in the main Kirby series that feature Copy Abilities. It is, however, absent from the following main series games:
- In Kirby's Dream Land 2, the ability Kirby receives when swallowing multiple ability-granting enemies is chosen at random between them.
- In Kirby's Dream Land 3, when multiple enemies are swallowed, the first ability-granting one that was inhaled takes priority.
- In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Kirby will receive the appropriate Power Combo when inhaling two ability-granting enemies, and any beyond the first two will be ignored.
Last Battle Abilities, like the Star Rod and Master, never appear in the roulette. A discarded Ability Star will almost always take priority over a Mix, even if swallowed with multiple enemies.
Specifics by game
Kirby's Adventure / Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
The Mix debuted alongside the Copy Ability system itself. When two or more enemies that provide abilities are swallowed simultaneously, even if both provide the same ability, a roulette will start to determine which ability Kirby will receive. The player can stop the roulette by pressing a button, but if the roulette is allowed to stop itself, the resulting Ability of the Mix will depend on the first enemy swallowed. For example, a Mix with Sparky as the first enemy will always result in the Hammer ability. In the 3D Classics version, the last enemy determines the Mix instead.
During the roulette, certain icons only appear for one frame and cannot be stopped on. These include the non-Ability icons "Normal", "Cannon", "Mix", and "Warp Star". "Cannon" is notable because it is unused in the rest of the game. Presumably it was planned to have this icon appear whenever Kirby hopped into a Fuse Cannon, as the icon is used in the European versions of the games under those circumstances[1], as well as in the 3D Classics version. The first proper use of such an icon in all versions of an actual Kirby game is in Kirby Super Star.
Kirby's Adventure's Mix roulette is as follows, with the inaccessible icons in italics:
Normal → Cutter → Sword → Cutter → Fireball → Laser → Mike → Parasol → Wheel → Hammer → Parasol → Sleep → Crash → Needle → Ice → Freeze → Hi-Jump → Ball → Beam → Tornado → Stone → Ball → Stone → Tornado → Needle → Crash → Cannon → Light → Backdrop → Warp Star → Throw → Mix → U.F.O. → Fire → Spark ↩
In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure, no inaccessible icons appear, which makes the Mix easier to predict. These games' Mix roulette is as follows:
Cutter → Sword → Fireball/Burning → Laser → Mike → Wheel → Hammer → Parasol → Sleep → Needle → Ice → Freeze → Hi-Jump → Beam → Stone → Ball → Tornado → Crash → Light → Backdrop → Throw → U.F.O. → Fire → Spark ↩
Kirby's Dream Course
Because Copy Abilities are obtained by defeating enemies rather than swallowing them, Mix cannot be obtained on its own in Kirby's Dream Course. Instead, there is a unique enemy called Transformer which yields the Mix ability when defeated, and can only be found in two-player mode. Transformer is the only example of a singular enemy in the Kirby series who provides Mix. The roulette will not stop on its own in this game, and instead must be stopped manually. As expected, it provides a selection of any Copy Ability in the game, but can also potentially provide no ability, or simply get rid of the existing ability the player had.
Its Mix roulette is as follows:
Normal → Stone → Parasol → Burning → Needle → Tornado → Wheel → Spark → Hi-Jump → Freeze → U.F.O. ↩
Kirby's Block Ball
In Kirby's Block Ball, picking up the Changer item will start a roulette similar to Mix. It cycles through Spark, Burning, Needle, and Stone, in that order, at a fairly leisurely pace.
Kirby Super Star / Kirby Super Star Ultra
In Kirby Super Star and its remake, Mix functions similarly to how it did in Kirby's Adventure, as which two enemies are inhaled influences where on the roulette the Mix starts on. Exclusive to this game are two non-Ability icons in the roulette: "Super" and "Ouch!". Landing on them will give the Invincible effect or damage, respectively. Paint is the only Copy Ability not present in the roulette. In the original Kirby Super Star, Mix has priority over Ability Stars, unlike most other games; this change is reverted for Kirby Super Star Ultra.
In Milky Way Wishes, activating a Mix is the only way to obtain a Copy Ability without collecting the Copy Essences Deluxe. This can only be done with certain enemies, like Noddy.
Its Mix roulette is as follows:
Copy → Super → Bomb → Fire → Cutter → Mike → Yo-Yo → Ninja → Sword → Wing → Wheel → Jet → Ouch! → Beam → Suplex → Sleep → Crash → Stone → Plasma → Parasol → Ice → Mirror → Hammer → Cook → Fighter ↩
Kirby Air Ride
In Kirby Air Ride, Mix can be activated by swallowing two or more enemies, or by passing through a Copy Chance Wheel.
Its Mix roulette is as follows:
Bomb → Plasma → Needle → Mike → Freeze → Tornado → Wing → Fire → Wheel → Sleep → Sword ↩
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
In Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Mix functions much like it did in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, but Kirby can Super Inhale large enemies for a Mix as well. It can also be obtained by stopping Magic's roulette on the ? icon, and by swallowing Dark Mind's green stars; both of these will result in a random ability. Although Mid-Boss exclusive abilities cannot be Mixed by normal means, Kirby can allow Droppy to rob him one of these abilities and then inhale the enemy in a Mix.
Its Mix roulette is as follows:
Cook → Burning → Beam → Stone → Smash → Tornado → Crash → Bomb → Missile → Throw → U.F.O. → Fire → Spark → Cutter → Sword → Fighter → Laser → Cupid → Ice → Hammer → Parasol → Sleep → Magic → Wheel ↩
Kirby: Squeak Squad
In Kirby: Squeak Squad, each ability is assigned a number, and when a Mix is activated by inhaling two ability-granting enemies, the resulting ability will always be the sum of those two numbers (minus 23, if the sum is 24 or above). If three or more ability-granting enemies are Mixed, only the first two are considered for the Mix.
There are some exceptions: after unlocking the Ghost Medal, mixing any ability with Sleep will always result in Ghost. Also, after obtaining Sword's and Bomb's Ability Scrolls, creating a Mix of either of those with Fire, Spark, or Ice will create the appropriate combination (such as Fire Sword or Ice Bomb). Moreover, much like in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Mix can be activated by landing on the ? icon in Magic's roulette, which will randomly determine the ability.
The roulette is as follows:
1. Fighter → 2. Ice → 3. Bubble → 4. Metal → 5. Hi-Jump → 6. Laser → 7. Cutter → 8. Sword → 9. Magic → 10. Animal → 11. Sleep → 12. Throw → 13. Fire → 14. Spark → 15. Hammer → 16. Tornado → 17. Beam → 18. Parasol → 19. Wheel → 20. Bomb → 21. Cupid → 22. Ninja → 23. U.F.O. ↩
- Main article: Copy Palette
In addition to the regular Mix, Copy Ability bubbles and other bubbles can be mixed together in the Copy Palette for various results. Mixing with the Copy Palette works differently to an ordinary Mix. For more details on how it works, check the Copy Palette page.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land / Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, the Mix roulette is always random, regardless of the ability-providing enemies that are inhaled. However, once all 23 abilities are generated in the Mix order, this order will continuously loop until slowing down and eventually landing on the tenth ability in the generated order. At least three enemies with abilities need to be swallowed in order to trigger the Mix, a trait unique to this game. A Super Ability will always take priority over a Mix.[2]
Kirby's Return to Dream Land is the first and only game to have a completely random Mix order.
In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, only two enemies with different abilities are required to trigger a Mix, like in the rest of the series, though the old method of swallowing three ability-granting enemies at once still works. In addition, it now always runs in a fixed order (but still starts in a random position), namely:
Festival → Needle → Spear → Bomb → Sand → Sword → Water → Hammer → Spark → Mike → Parasol → Whip → Fire → Ninja → Hi-Jump → Ice → Mecha → Cutter → Leaf → Wing → Beam → Crash → Stone → Tornado → Fighter → Sleep ↩
The demo version of this game features a shortened version of the Mix order that only includes Abilities present in the demo. Notably, this Mix order is the same as the version in the full game, simply skipping over the Abilities not obtainable in the demo:
Needle → Sand → Sword → Water → Whip → Fire → Ninja → Hi-Jump → Cutter → Leaf → Beam → Tornado → Fighter → Sleep ↩
Kirby: Triple Deluxe
In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Mix always starts at a random position, but runs in a fixed order. Only two enemies that yield different abilities are required to activate it this time, which carries over into future games.
Its Mix roulette is as follows:
Leaf → Beetle → Needle → Fighter → Sleep → Crash → Sword → Whip → Ice → Bell → Bomb → Wing → Cutter → Circus → Wheel → Spark → Ninja → Stone → Mike → Spear → Parasol → Archer → Beam → Hammer → Fire ↩
Kirby: Planet Robobot
In Kirby: Planet Robobot, UFO and Smash Bros. cannot be obtained via Mix. There is a Mix Copy Essence that appears in The Arena and The True Arena, which cycles through all of the Mix abilities (except for Sleep) in a roulette and grants Kirby whichever ability is being displayed when he touches it.
Its Mix roulette is as follows:
Fighter → Sleep → Crash → Leaf → Sword → Doctor → Whip → Ninja → Ice → Circus → Bomb → Mirror → Cutter → Mike → Wheel → Poison → Spark → Hammer → Stone → Archer → Parasol → Jet → Beam → ESP → Fire ↩
Kirby Star Allies
In Kirby Star Allies, Mix works like it did in previous games. It cannot be activated in the game's demo.
Its Mix roulette is as follows:
Hammer → Plasma → Stone → Mike → Parasol → Suplex → Artist → Ninja → Beam → Beetle → Staff → Cleaning → Whip → Cook → Fire → Yo-Yo → Water → Bomb → Crash → Ice → Spider → ESP → Cutter → Fighter → Sleep → Festival → Sword → Wing ↩
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Mix functions much like it does in previous games, with one major exception: the roulette will only cycle through abilities that the player has already copied, to avoid unlocking them in Waddle Dee's Weapons Shop early.
After obtaining all abilities, its Mix roulette is as follows:
Ranger → Hammer → Crash → Fire → Cutter → Sword → Bomb → Tornado → Drill → Sleep → Needle → Ice ↩
Kirby's Dream Buffet
In Kirby's Dream Buffet, the Mix roulette is used in Battle Royale stages to give items to Kirbys returning to the stage after being defeated by rivals. The items that can be awarded depend on which placing the Kirby is in, and can include strawberries, Copy Foods, or an Invincible Candy. The Invincible Candy in particular can only be awarded to the Kirby in last place. Multiples of various Copy Foods can also be awarded, and will replace any previously-held Copy Food.
Trivia
- The icon for Mix in Kirby's Adventure, Kirby's Dream Course, and Kirby Super Star shows Kirby as a bartender, mixing a cocktail. This is one of the few references to alcohol in the main Kirby series.
Gallery
Icon from Kirby Super Star
Icon from Kirby Super Star Ultra
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ミックス Mikkusu |
Mix |
| German | Mix | - |
| Korean | 믹스 migseu |
Mix |
