List of HAL Laboratory Miiverse posts - Kirby: Planet Robobot
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".
Initial posts[edit]
| Post date and time (PST) | Image | Text | Notes | Link URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 10th, 2016 10:23:00 AM | 
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Hi everyone! I'm Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory, and, starting today, I'll be sharing information about "Kirby: Planet Robobot" with all of you in the community. I hope you're as excited as I am! Today I've got a message from Mr Kumazaki, the game's director.
"Hello, this is Shinya Kumazaki, the director of "Kirby: Planet Robobot". The game is officially being released today! "In this instalment of the Kirby series, the overarching theme was machinery and technology, which was quite unconventional for the series! The contrast with the fairytale-like look of the previous game, "Kirby: Triple Deluxe", is especially striking! "I can't wait for you all to jump into the powerful Robobot Armor, take the fight to the evil Haltmann Works Company and experience exhilarating mecha-action in a world overrun by machines! "As you may have realized, Kirby's first game was released on April 27, 1992 in Japan, which makes him 24 years old. That means next year he'll be celebrating his 25th birthday, and we certainly plan to keep taking the Kirby series to new heights for years to come! "Everyone, the time to go on a mecha-adventure to save a techno-world is NOW! The fate of Planet Robobot is in your hands!" And there you have it. I'll continue to post information about "Kirby: Planet Robobot" for you here, so please stay tuned! |
The Japanese version of this post also mentions how The Noble Haltmann is also available for the JOYSOUND games for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, which were only available in Japan.
This post comments about Kirby's 24th anniversary because Kirby: Planet Robobot released on April 28th, 2016 in Japan, a day after Kirby's 24th anniversary. This is likely why there was no special anniversary artwork for said anniversary, while the previous two anniversaries all got special Miiverse illustrations, and so did the one of the year after this one as well. |
Archived link |
| July 1st, 2016 9:44:00 AM | N/A | Hello! Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here.
I'm happy to announce that we've decided to hold a question-and-answer event right here in this community! I hope that you're all as excited as I am. RULES: We haven't quite decided when exactly we'll be answering your questions, but we'll make sure to let you know in this community once the date is set. It might take us a little while, so please hold tight! It's not every day that you can have your questions answered by none other than Mr Shinya Kumazaki himself, so I really hope you'll make the most of this opportunity by sending us lots and lots of great questions! |
Archived link |
In between these posts, there was a Japanese exclusive post that vaguely hinted that something special was being prepared. This post likely wasn't in the American and European communities due to time constraints, as it was posted just a week after the game had released in both regions.
| Post date and time (PST) | Image | Original Text | Translation | Link URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 19th, 2016 3:06:00 PM | N/A | お久しぶりです、ハル研究所のイシダです。 前回の投稿から日にちが空いてしまいましたが、これまでにみなさんからいただいたコメントは、全て読ませてもらっています。ありがとうございます！ さて、私の話はこれくらいにして、今回も熊崎ディレクターからのメッセージをお伝えしますね。 『お久しぶりです、ゼネラルディレクターの熊崎です。 発売から１ヶ月以上がたち、もうエンディングまで行かれた方や、難敵を突破し、すでに100パーセントクリアをされた方もいらっしゃるようで、多くの方にロボボプラネットを遊んでいただけていること、とても嬉しく思います。 また、発売日の投稿には、皆さんから多くのコメントや「そうだね」を頂き、ありがとうございました。 こんなに多くのコメントを頂けていますので、このMiiverseで、ファンの皆さまと一緒に、何かもっと盛り上がることができないかな？と考えております。 まだ計画段階ではありますが、少しでもこのスタッフルームが、そしてロボボプラネットを楽しんでいただければ、と思っております。 もう少しお時間いただきますが、楽しみにお待ちください。』 とのことでした。 |
It's been a while. This is Ishida, from HAL Laboratory.
I know it has been a while since my last post, but I have read all of your comments so far. Thank you very much! Now, that's enough about me, I would like to share with you another message from Director Kumazaki. "It's been a while. I'm Shinya Kumazaki, the General Director. More than a month has passed since the game's release, and we are very happy to see that many people are playing Planet Robobot, with some having already reached the ending and others having overcome tough enemies and 100% completed the game. Also, thank you all for your comments and "Yeah"s on the release day post. Since we have received so many comments, we are wondering if we can do something more exciting with our fans here on Miiverse. We are still in the planning stages, but we hope that you will enjoy this Staff Room and Planet Robobot as much as possible. It will take a little more time, but please look forward to it." That's what he said. |
Archived link |
Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 1[edit]
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 |
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! |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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 |
All right, let’s get started. Here’s the first question: How did you decide upon ‘Kirby: Planet Robobot’ for the game title? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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. | The titles in Japanese are 星のカービィ HAGANE (Kirby of the Stars HAGANE), 星のカービィ ロボットプラネット (Kirby of the Stars Robot Planet), ロボロボプラネット (Roborobo Planet) and finally ロボボプラネット (Robobo Planet), which is the Japanese name of the game instead of "Planet Robobot". |
Satoshi Ishida |
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? |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
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 |
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. | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
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? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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. | In the Japanese version of the post, Kumazaki specifically mentions that this game had a smaller development period and less staff than Kirby: Triple Deluxe. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
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? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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. | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
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? |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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 |
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[edit]
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 |
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! |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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. | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
It seems there are a lot of people out there who read very deeply into the game as they’re playing. I’d like to start us off with a question about Meta Knight:
At the start of the game, we see the Halberd get shot down, but by the time it shows up again, it’s in full working order. Who repaired it? |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The Halberd made a crash landing between the cliffs in the space directly beneath Access Ark. Meta Knight was then captured by the Haltmann Works Co., but managed to entrust the Halberd to his crew. As a result, the repairs were finished in time and the Halberd could rush to Kirby's rescue, with Meta Knight back to his old self. But when Meta Knight shouted for Kirby to get on board, he didn't expect Kirby to ignore his offer and scan the Halberd's ability instead... | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
And here I thought Meta Knight was the one telling Kirby to scan it...
Speaking of Meta Knight, here's a question about Meta Knightmare Returns. Is there any connection plotwise between this mode and the main game's Story Mode? |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
It's basically an alternate storyline. Meta Knightmare Returns is a kind of bonus mode that you unlock after finishing the main game, but that alone doesn't hold much appeal for a player so we made it into a "what if" scenario.
Kirby games tend to be quite deep and have lots of content, and this game is no exception. There are two sides to the story: one for players who just want to casually play it from start to finish, and another for those who want to delve deeper into the game world. This mode fully realizes that two-sided method of development. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
While we're on the topic of Meta Knightmare Returns, Galacta Knight was supposed to be sealed away in a crystal, but he broke that seal and showed up again in The True Arena. Are Meta Knightmare Returns and The True Arena connected at all in relation to the story? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The True Arena is like another "what if" scenario, so you can't really consider everything to be connected. Furthermore, the extra-dimensional road that opens up when Galacta Knight appears transcends space-time, so it's difficult to give it a concrete place in the timeline. But if you consider the stages in which Galacta Knight appeared in the past three games, I think that will give you some food for thought.
Also, once Galacta Knight has shown up, it should be clear why he cuts down Star Dream: it forced him to travel through time and space and so he considers Star Dream his enemy. That's why Galacta Knight appears as an antagonistic sort of character. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
The name Star Dream came up just now. Could you tell us how Haltmann got his hands on the blueprints and technology for Star Dream?
Others also noted that the Security Force blueprints bore similarities with Metal General from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and the data for Holo Defense API resembled Pix from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Could you tell us a bit about those? |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
Haltmann travelled to numerous planets around the galaxy to collect their blueprints and technology. He may have gone to Halcandra, or perhaps to a planet with strong connections to it. As for Holo Defense API, Haltmann gained access to numerous different worlds after Susie was accidentally sent into another dimension and this is how he acquired that data. | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
I see, so that's how you're making use of elements from previous games. Now for a question about Star Dream - during that fight, you can see the company logo on some of the planets in space. Did Haltmann Works Company conquer these planets? If that's the case, what happened to them after Star Dream was defeated? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
Those planets were under Haltmann's control, yes. The logos signify Star Dream's heartlessness and are proof of Haltmann's wickedness in invading those planets. The logo material was made using Star Dream's super-advanced technology, so when Star Dream was destroyed, the logos vanished along with it. That means that the planets should now be back to normal.
I should also point out that the soulless evil weapons were wiped out, but some things that were out of Star Dream's reach escaped the destruction. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
Like Susie's Business Suit? That reminds me, why did Haltmann lose his memories of the past along with his compassion? Did he discard them himself, or did Star Dream erase them? Also, Susie was appointed executive assistant, wasn't she? I suspect there was there some hidden meaning to this... | |
Shinya Kumazaki |
In order to control Star Dream, you need a program controller on your head to have it directly interface with your brain. Haltmann may have suspected memory loss from the beginning, or it may have been an unknown side effect... But the fact is that he started losing his memories bit by bit. This tells you just how incomplete Star Dream really was. Later, after Susie grew up and came back, Haltmann sensed something about her and made her his assistant, but at that time he had completely forgotten that he'd even had a daughter to begin with. | |
Satoshi Ishida |
That's really quite sad... Well, after that big revelation, here's a question about the background music. There seem to be a lot of tracks that are slightly redone versions of ones from previous games. Is this because you were trying to please old-school fans? On a related note, there are many tracks whose names people would like to know. Would you be able to disclose any of them? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
With regard to the re-arranged tracks, we have of course tried to cater to our long-time fans as well as newcomers. We wanted to reinvent classic tracks to create something fresh and new, something that fits the current generation's taste.
I'm actually really surprised at how many questions we received about track titles. That really makes me happy because I love being able to add more depth to the world through text, be it with dialogue, ability names or music tracks. That said, there were a lot of inquiries about the tracks, so I think it would be best if we save those for later. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
So we can look forward to a number of music-related questions next time. We're going to be having one last round of questions to conclude our Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon. Please stay tuned! |
Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 3[edit]
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 |
Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon - Round 3 Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory here. It's time to begin round 3 of the Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon! Mr Kumazaki, please take it away! |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
Thank you, it's nice to be back again. I think today will be the last of our Q&A sessions. And we'll be discussing some topics for the die-hard fans this time! | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
OK, here's question number one: Some copy abilities from the previous game aren't present in the new one. How did you decide which abilities would make it into the game? | |
Shinya Kumazaki |
In the past 5 or 6 years, we've gained over 10 new abilities so we're always struggling to balance out the old and new ones. We were also restricted by development time and hardware limitations. But even from the perspective of game balance, once you go over 25 copy abilities, you start to see an effect on the frequency of each ability per stage and on the balancing for the new Robobot elements. Even with the limited number of abilities that made the cut, the command inputs make up for it with a wide variety of actions so it isn't such a problem. | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
You'd think having more copy abilities would be more fun, but it actually seems like a lot of hard work. Now then, I wonder if you could tell us about these track names that people have been wondering so much about! | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
Alright, let me address them in order of their numbers in the Jukebox. [Literal translations of the Japanese titles follow:]
006 Venturing into the Mechanized World Most of the questions are concerned with the first half. 029 is a personal favorite of mine! Next, here are the tracks that really heat things up as you approach the climax of the story. [Again, these are literal translations of the Japanese titles.] 083 L86 I put a lot of effort into these particular final boss themes. Here's a small piece of trivia for you: for track 094, I wanted a voice that sounded like a baby's cry, but somewhat different and inhuman. What you're actually hearing are the meows of my pet cat. The sound of the weathervane during battle in track 095 comes from chickens that a member of the sound team keeps at home. |
Note that, while the song titles are said to be "literal translations", these are the same localized titles presented on the Kirby: Planet Robobot Original Soundtrack, with the small exception that the British English post renders "Mechanized" as "Mechanised". However, the foreign language versions of this post provide some translated names that are not seen elsewhere. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
That came from chickens?! That's quite a source of inspiration. Alright, the next question is related to previous titles: Kabula and Landia both feature in Planet Robobot, but Heavy Lobster doesn't show up, even though it's a machine. Why is that? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
We got a lot of questions about Heavy Lobster. It's nice to add some flavor from Kirby Super Star (Kirby's Fun Pak in Europe) but we always have to think about which enemies from the previous games we want to include while considering the game balance. In this case, we settled on using Kabula because it fits the shooting sequences well and because it's a mechanical boss. As for Landia, a 4-player co-op medieval-style RPG minigame wouldn't be the same without a dragon now, would it? | |
Satoshi Ishida |
While we're on the topic of character appearance, King Dedede hardly featured at all this time. The Dedede Clones did make an appearance, though. Why did you decide upon using clones and not a modified version of the character like Mecha Knight? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
We wanted a lot of characters to feature, and I think that main characters like King Dedede and Meta Knight are finally starting to gain some recognition.
We felt that for players who've played several games in the series, reusing King Dedede in the same way was becoming a little bland, so we worked in the clone angle to work alongside new characters like Susie and Taranza and fit in with the direction the series is going. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
Now for a question about the main character Meta Knight - specifically, about the color of his eyes. In the moment that Mecha Knight+'s mask cracks, the player gets a glimpse of Meta Knight's eyes, which appear to be yellow. Were they always this way? I was sure they were white before... | |
Shinya Kumazaki |
That's quite a thing to spot. In Kirby's Adventure on the Famicom (NES), Meta Knight's eyes are indeed white. At that time, there was a limit to the number of colors you could use, so I think that white was chosen because it stood out more.
They were also white in Kirby Super Star (EU: Kirby's Fun Pak), but when we created the 3D model for this game, giving him white eyes somehow didn't feel right. And besides, his eyes have always shone with a yellow glow from behind his mask. We were worried about how old-school fans might react to this, but for the purposes of the design, we settled on yellow eyes. |
In the Japanese version of this post, Kumazaki actually mentions Kirby Super Star Ultra, not Kirby Super Star. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
I'd like to group the next three questions together.
No. 1: Did you increase the overall difficulty level for this game? |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
All right, I'll explain. Regarding the difficulty, I think that you should still be able to complete the main game with relative ease (easy enough for a developer's 4-year-old daughter to defeat the bosses in levels 1-3). But for the modes that are unlocked after completing Story Mode, we cranked the difficulty right up and challenged players to try and give it their best shot.
Next, we used movie-like camera angles to reinforce the sci-fi theme. And during boss fights, we utilized pauses and moments of foreboding to give players with less experience in the action genre more time to orient themselves. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
And now for the final question, which concerns Kirby's partners, the Robobots. A Robobot weeps tears at the end - can we take this to mean that it has become sentient? And will Kirby ever meet one again? | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
What you saw was coolant leaking from the Robobot's eyes. This scene, depicting a tender-hearted Robobot, stands in direct contrast to Star Dream, who wanted to erase the hearts of the people trying to control it. Each Robobot that Kirby controlled was different from the last, but whenever Kirby was registered as a pilot in one, the memory data would be linked and carried over, and that continued till the very end. As for whether they'll meet again, I'll leave that up to how passionate the fans are for such a reunion. | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
What exactly happened to the Robobot after that? I'm curious to know myself. But now, after three rounds of questions, our Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon draws to a close. Many thanks to everyone who stuck with us this far! | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
A big thank you from me as well, and I do hope we'll meet again some time! |
After Ask-a-thon, before Drawing and Screenshot challenge results[edit]
| Post date and time (PST) | Image | Text | Notes | Link URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 30th, 2016 10:10:00 AM | N/A | Hello there! Satoshi Ishida here, from HAL Laboratory. How did you all like our three-round "Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon"? I'd like to think we cleared up a good few questions that some of you had, and that makes me happy!
Now then, on to the next point of business. I wanted to let you know that we're planning to hold a new event here in the Behind the Scenes community - the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge"! What we'd like to do is ask all of you to show us your original drawings on the theme of Kirby: Planet Robobot, as well as screenshots you took while playing the game, from which we'll highlight our faves. Oops, did I say "we"? What I meant to say was that Mr Kumazaki will - because who better to pick and show off the best works than the game's director himself? On that note, I've got a message for you from Mr Kumazaki. "Hello! This is Shinya Kumazaki, the director of Kirby: Planet Robobot. Whenever I look at all of your Miiverse posts, I can't help but notice all the cute pictures of Kirby, the cool ones of Susie, the ones of King Dedede grinning…not to mention all the screenshots of rarely seen situations! I wanted to make sure that everyone gets a chance to appreciate all of these works as much as I do, so I thought we should hold an event of some sort celebrating your amazing creativity. After judging carefully, I'll give some feedback about the works that I select. This time as well, I'm thinking to leave extensive comments, highlighting what I liked best about the chosen piece, or giving background info about the depicted characters. And to make sure that everyone gets to contribute, not just the confident artists among you, we're also accepting screenshots of cool scenes from the game. With this, I hope everyone will be able to join in on the fun! We'll need some more time to set it up, so why not take your time to think about what kind of piece you might want to submit? We're hoping for many, many strong contributions, so don't let us down!" That's it for Mr Kumazaki's message! We'll announce the event's dates and rules in this community once we've made our preparations, so I hope you can be patient for a while longer! |
Archived link | |
| October 21st, 2016 11:05:00 AM | N/A | Hi, everyone. I'm Satoshi Ishida from HAL Laboratory. Sorry to keep you waiting! The previously announced "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge" is now open for your submissions, starting today!
To take part, simply comment on this post with your original hand-drawn illustrations inspired by the Kirby: Planet Robobot game and the best screenshots you took while playing the game! Mr Shinya Kumazaki, the game's director, will then select his faves from among the works sent from Japan, the Americas and Europe respectively, and highlight them alongside special comments! Guidelines: Posting Screenshots The deadline for submissions will be November 4, 2016. To make sure everyone can make the most of this event, we will be accepting not only drawing submissions, but also screenshots! We'll be looking at lots of different aspects when evaluating artwork and screenshots, so don't be afraid to participate! Our selections will be announced in this community when we're ready - we hope they're worth the wait! I'm looking forward to seeing your creativity shine! Note: If you submit drawings or screenshots to this post, you grant Nintendo the royalty-free right to publish your submission online and offline. |
Archived link |
"Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge" - drawing category winners[edit]
An archived version of this post can be found here and here.
| Post author, date and time (PST) | Text and/or image | Notes |
|---|---|---|
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Satoshi Ishida |
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! |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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! | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
Then let’s begin from the Platinum Choice. Take it away, Mr Kumazaki! | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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.
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Satoshi Ishida |
Wow, what an intense image. It really makes you want to see how that showdown went!
Next up is our Gold Choice. |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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!
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Satoshi Ishida |
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. |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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.
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This comment and further ones use the British English spelling of "armour" rather than the American English spelling "armor". |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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!
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アンテラ's illustration actually features Mirror Kirby, evidenced by the wand in one of his hands. |
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Satoshi Ishida |
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. |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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!
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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?
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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.
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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.
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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!
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Satoshi Ishida |
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? |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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…
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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.
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The Morse code reads ... --- ... at the top and -.- .. .-. -... -.-- at the bottom, translating to "SOS KIRBY". |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
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. Congratulations, Lady, クリームロール and ラリアット!
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Satoshi Ishida |
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! |
"Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge" - screenshot category winners[edit]
An archived version of this post can be found here and here.
| Post author, date and time (PST) | Text and/or image | Notes |
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Satoshi Ishida |
Hi everyone! Today's the day we announce our favorites of the screenshot category in the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge"! To begin, let's hear from the game's director, Mr. Kumazaki. |
The European version of this post features a slightly different version of the illustration, with an added "Screenshot!" at the bottom right of it, replacing the stars and the Waddle Dee. |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
Hi there - Shinya Kumazaki here. In the drawing category of this event we saw lots of creations from many wonderful artists, but the screenshot category was something we came up with to let even more people with good ideas take part. Thanks so much to everyone for your submissions! | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
Let's start things off with the Platinum Choice. Back to you, Mr Kumazaki! | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The Platinum Choice goes to...takuya!
I found myself laughing as soon as I looked at this shot. The idea of using the blocks in one of the secret HAL Rooms to spell something out - wow! There were a few submissions that used this idea, but takuya's was the first. The timing of Kirby's pose is great, too. I can almost hear him shouting "HA!" By the way, in recent titles, the bellow you hear when Kirby hits full volume using the Mike ability is voiced be[sic] me. Well, when I say "recent", I mean ever since Kirby Super Star Ultra, eight years ago. Time really flies, doesn't it? Ah...that takes me back! Congratulations, takuya!
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Satoshi Ishida |
Kirby's vocals sure pack a punch! Looking at this screenshot kind of makes me feel like I'm in the audience at Kirby's show.
Anyway, on to the Gold Choice! |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The Gold Choice goes to キュービィ!
Using a gaggle of Bronto Burts clustered around Kirby to create the image of a UFO floating in the moonlight is quite a feat! Even the shadow is shaped like a UFO. And did you spot it…? There's a bona fide unidentified flying object in the background of the shot. What attention to detail! That comet only appears at specific time, so it's what you might call a genuine hidden feature. Congratulations, キュービィ!
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Satoshi Ishida |
That one's a great idea, too! It must have been really difficult to get the timing just right.
Now on to the Silver Choices. There are two of these. |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The first Silver Choice goes to GreyFox!
There were a few snowman-related ideas, but the placement of the dejected-looking head off to the side in this one is really comical. By the way, recent Kirby games seem to have a thing about snowman-related mechanics. This is the third game to have them. Did you notice? Well done, GreyFox!
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The second Silver Choice goes to Enik!
This scene really makes it look like the Helper system from Kirby Super Star has been resurrected, with Kirby taking on Kracko, assisted by Waddle Doo. I mean, that's not actually what's happening here…but it sure looks like two-player action, and it sure looks fun! Good job GreyFox and Enik!
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Satoshi Ishida |
These are both the kind of ideas that make you want to try them out for yourself, aren't they?
OK then - the Bronze Choices are next. We have five of these. |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The first Bronze Choice goes to Treat!
What fabulous skill, balancing on two balls at once! Timing the shot to capture that dynamic transformation was a good idea, don't you think? I also really like the way the composition of this screenshot makes the most of the 3D nature of the stage.
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The second Bronze Choice goes to nao.com.
Wow, it looks like Kirby is using the whip to peel away the corner of that painting in order to reveal its secrets! Another triumph of imagination, this one!
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The third Bronze Prize goes to パステル!
Wha-?! It looks like the Robobot Armor is rolling towards Grizzo! Maybe he's playing Robobot soccer with Waddle Dee? Capturing the armor upside down like this makes for quite an iconic shot.
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The fourth Bronze Choice goes to Alan!
This one really made me chuckle. In it, we see the dozing Meta Knight, about to realize that he has completely missed his train! This snapshot of Meta Knight's secret shame is pretty unique.
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The fifth Bronze Choice goes to カズキ!
We had a lot of submissions using the train seats, but this one is pretty spectacular. It looks like Kirby has made everyone jump out of their seats by bursting into raucous song in the middle of their commute! I really like the way it tells a story. Well done to Treat, nao.com, パステル, Alan and カズキ!
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Satoshi Ishida |
You guys are no slouches at capturing cool scenes! OK, then, now it's time for the Secret Kumazaki Faves! There are three of these. | |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
Right! The first Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to ブラウン!
Sorry to all of you that don't read Japanese - this one's kind of a Japanese joke! By taking the screenshot midway through Haltmann's line, ブラウン has made it look like Haltmann is saying "ヤバ" ("Yikes!") instead of "ヤバン" ("Savages!"). Maybe in this screenshot's version of reality, Haltmann got his backside stuck in the chair or something? It's true that he does scoot around everywhere in that chair without doing much getting up and walking, so perhaps he really is stuck in it!
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The second Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to たる!
M-Mario? Punching a hole in the ceiling?! This screenshot really shows that Mario is not to be messed with! I don't think even the great Kirby could withstand such an attack!
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Shinya Kumazaki |
The third and final Secret Kumazaki Fave goes to ロヘイ!
This screenshot seems to depict the extraordinary meeting of the Lor Starcutter with…itself! This craft is capable of traversing space and time, so a meeting of two Lor Starcutters from different times is certainly possible. Wow, wouldn't it be cool if that really happened? I wonder - the Lor Starcutter that can be seen when Galacta Knight performs this attack...what time is it from? And, if there is someone inside it, who are they, and where are they going? Presumably, when the rift opens and we can see them, they can see into our world, too! Ooh, it really sets the imagination racing, doesn't it! Congratulations ブラウン, たる and ロヘイ!
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Satoshi Ishida |
Well then, that concludes the awards for both categories of the "Kirby: Planet Robobot Drawing and Screenshot Challenge"!
So, Mr Kumazaki, how did you enjoy the event? |
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Shinya Kumazaki |
I enjoyed selecting the screenshots as much, if not more, than selecting the drawings - but it was all great fun! This event proved to me how much people are enjoying the game, and that makes me really happy. Thanks so much for participating. I'll see you all again soon! | |
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Satoshi Ishida |
Thank you, everyone! |
Later posts[edit]
| Post date and time (PST) | Image | Text | Notes | Link URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 20th, 2017 4:57:00 PM | 
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Hi, everyone! Long time no see! This is Satoshi Ishida, from HAL Laboratory.
I'd like to celebrate the recent release of Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, a downloadable game for Nintendo 3DS, with a message from the game's director, Ms. Todo. "Hang on, wasn't the director Mr Kumazaki?" you ask. Well, yes, Mr Kumazaki was the GENERAL director, but the director for the minigame Team Kirby Clash, and subsequently for Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, was Ms Todo. So without further ado, I'm handing over to her. "Hello, I'm Yumi Todo. Team Kirby Clash Deluxe is a levelled up version of Team Kirby Clash, a minigame from Kirby: Planet Robobot, and it's available to download now! Team Kirby Clash Deluxe is a cooperative fighting game in which four Kirbys join forces to defeat powerful bosses. You start by picking one of four possible roles and then set out on a quest. Team Kirby Clash Deluxe can be played in single-player with CPU allies, and if you get a group together you can play via local wireless! All that's pretty much the same as Team Kirby Clash, but what's new in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe is that you can choose your weapons and armor from over 80 different items! For intrepid Kirbys, I'd recommend the fiery sword known as the Crimson Blade, while those more concerned with style might like the fabulous, sparkly Magical Girl Coiffure. We've also added more quests, and this is the first time that you can fight for real against a certain someone. Who's that, you say? Have a closer look at the logo... There are lots more great new features to discover in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, so I know some of you might be thinking: "How much is all this going to cost?" But here's the cool thing: it's Free-to-Start, and you can use in-game items called Gem Apples to help you progress through the adventure. Gem Apples can be harvested every day in the game, but are also obtainable by entering a password. We'll be releasing passwords in various places, so please keep an eye out for them! You can also purchase Gem Apples from the fair keeper of the Shop. For those who do not know, if you purchase a large amount of Gem Apples, the Gem Apple Tree will grow and give you more and more Gem Apples! However, this is only an option and is not required to play the game! As for upcoming games, we're going to let Kirby loose in a 3D world this summer in Kirby's Blowout Blast, and we're also planning an action fighting game for next winter. There are going to be lots of games to celebrate Kirby's 25th anniversary, so I hope you're excited!" That was all! I bet you're all intrigued by Kirby's Blowout Blast and this new action fighting game in the winter. But first, I hope you'll check out Team Kirby Clash Deluxe! |
Archived link | |
| May 8th, 2017 1:12:00 PM | 
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Hi everyone! Satoshi Ishida of HAL Laboratory here.
It looks like it's that time of year again! That's right - April 27th was the anniversary of the release of the very first Kirby game, Kirby's Dream Land. (April 27th was the Japanese release date - Kirby didn't make it over to Americas until August.) To put it another way, it was Kirby's birthday! And this year was a particularly significant one, as it marked 25 years since Kirby came onto the scene! But, enough from me! Once again, the general director of the Kirby series, Shinya Kumazaki, is here with a few words to commemorate Kirby's birthday. So without any further ado I'll hand you over! "Hello! This is Shinya Kumazaki. Happy birthday, Kirby!!! Our youthful traveller has been inhaling all manner of things and puffing up like a big balloon, right up to the ripe old age of 25. Kirby, you've become a fine, upstanding...adult?! I must say, your plump, pink form has taken on something of a refined glow recently. And to mark this auspicious occasion, we have no less than three new Kirby games for you to enjoy! The free-to-start Team Kirby Clash Deluxe co-op action game came out just recently, and this summer we're getting Kirby's Blowout Blast, the first genuine 3D action game in the series. On top of that, we have a new fighting action game due this holiday! How have you all been enjoying Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, by the way? Since the game came out I've been getting into it all over again, playing it with my family. I reckon seasoned players could have a lot of fun supporting their teammates by playing as Doctor Healmore. After you finish the game, incidentally, a certain someone shows up in the village, looking like quite the reformed character. Why not have a look for yourself! Today I'm also going to tell you a password that you can use in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe! Here goes: That password can be used in game to get cool stuff like Gem Apples. Just be sure to use the password before April 26th, 2018, or it will expire. I hope you have fun using whatever you get, and don't forget to tell your friends who also have the game so they can take advantage of this opportunity as well! I think that you'll all enjoy dashing around a 3D world in Kirby's Blowout Blast this summer, and that this holiday's new fighting action game will get you pumped! Kirby's taken on a lot of challenges over the course of his adventures, and after 25 years he's still going strong. Thanks for supporting Kirby so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy his exploits!" Thanks, Mr Kumazaki! To those of you playing Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, why not try using that password while connected to the internet? If you're not playing Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, it's free to download, and you can find out more about it on the official website or on Nintendo eShop. I hope you've enjoyed 25 fun years of the Kirby series, and are looking forward to good times yet to come! |
Archived link | |
| July 7th, 2017 2:59:00 PM | 
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Hello, everyone! Satoshi Ishida here, from HAL Laboratory. Kirby's Blowout Blast was recently released for Nintendo 3DS! On this occasion, I received a message and a drawing from the game's director, Mr. Kamiyama, and I wanted to pass them on to you!
Aha! You spotted that Mr. Kumazaki wasn't the director for this one, did you? Anyway, that's all from me for now. Allow me to pass it over to Mr. Kamiyama, so he can introduce Kirby's Blowout Blast! (And do give the man a round of applause!) "Hi! I'm Tatsuya Kamiyama, the game's director. Kirby's Blowout Blast, the first proper 3D action game in the Kirby series, is released today! Kirby's Blowout Blast is a direct descendant of Kirby 3D Rumble, a minigame found in Kirby: Planet Robobot, which we've improved and expanded, reimagining it as a download-only scrolling 3D action game. In this game you move freely around three-dimensional stages, inhaling and spitting out the many enemies that appear, making your way towards the goal. If Kirby inhales a lot of enemies, he'll grow bigger and bigger, and correspondingly more adorable. But cuteness isn't the only selling point here! The Blaster Bullets he can spit out in that form are also super powerful. Taking out many enemies at once with a well-placed Blaster Bullet is great fun, and the key to getting a high score! This is Kirby's first full step into the world of 3D, so we went back to the series' roots, and designed the game with a lot of inspiration from the first Kirby game. We wanted to create a game that really captured the fun of inhaling stuff and then spitting it out. By transporting the game into 3D, the boss enemies you know and love from that first game were given a new lease of life, with new and exciting ways to fight them. Kirby 3D Rumble, which provided the groundwork upon which this game was built, was a real challenge for the team here. Kirby's Blowout Blast uses that minigame's systems as a starting point, and enhances the action elements to make it a challenging new standalone product that could almost be considered an entry in the main series of Kirby games. I hope you'll all enjoy your time with it! Lastly, I wanted to pass on to you a password that you can use in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe! It is: "BLOWOUTBLAST" As you can probably tell from the fact that we prepared a password, the cooperation here at Team Kirby is alive and well. In addition, we are planning to release an action fighting game this coming winter, and a main-series Kirby game for the Nintendo Switch in 2018. For 25 years now, more and more people have been enjoying the Kirby series - I hope you all continue to do so!" And that's it from Mr. Kamiyama! I believe that as you play and replay Kirby's Blowout Blast, you'll each discover your own preferred way to play, and it makes me happy. I hope you enjoy this new challenge! |
Archived link |
External links[edit]
- Post list on Archiverse
- Post list on Kirby behind-the-scenes archive
- Post list on Archiverse (Japanese)
- Post list on Kirby behind-the-scenes archive (Japanese)
- Post list on Archiverse (British English)
- Post list on Kirby behind-the-scenes archive (British English)
