Continuing on from my previous post, I replayed Planet Robobot recently and it's a game that I continue to appreciate more with every playthrough, to the point where I'd easily rank it alongside its predecessor now. While Triple Deluxe still wins out in terms of the boss roster, level of challenge, emotional heft, overall atmosphere, soundtrack, and of course the finale, I think Robobot is a much tighter experience with more intricate level design, satisfying combat, cooler side modes, developed theming, a more thought-provoking story, and a lot of the more blatant flaws of TD ironed out like the boss pitfalls, slow pacing, and endgame boss rush. That being said, I'm still gonna flip out if that rumored Robobot remake turns out to be real and HAL decides to skip over Triple Deluxe for whatever reason.
Robobot's boss roster is overall another solid lineup, though I'm not huge on how many of them are reused from prior games. They don't spend as much time in the background compared to TD which is great, but the fact that they lack i-frames means you can absolutely shred through their healthbars with the right abilities which is both incredibly fun and kinda pathetic. So, here's my ranking of Robobot's bosses:
13. COGS
COGS just kinda exists. He's a decent boss for what he is, capping off the Jet Robobot sections and offering up a solid array of attacks, but he's vastly overshadowed by Core Kabula and I can't say that's not deserved. COGS is literally just a wall of cannons, it doesn't really have a face or any visible signs of personality which leaves it feeling really boring for a Kirby boss. Not to mention, it has multiple notable safespots making it pretty trivial to beat without moving around all that much.
12. Gigavolt
It's a real shame that we didn't end up getting more bosses that you fought in your base Robobot form because I think there's a lot of potential in the combat there. For what he is, Gigavolt is a solid enough fight. His design is cool and his hulking scale makes a solid impression, but his slow attacks and limited attack window makes for a pretty basic fight. The Gigavolt II that you fight in the final level is a bit more interesting since his attacks are trickier to avoid and you get a choice between most of the Robobot's copy abilities prior, but you can still tell he's an early-game boss at heart.
11. Mecha Knight
I'm a big fan of Meta Knight's boss fights due to their sense of speed and aggression, and this goes for most of his variants as well like Dark Meta Knight, Morpho Knight, and Galacta Knight. Frankly, this goes for every sword fight in a Kirby game, you can even toss Dark Matter and Sectonia in there. These encounters are often fast and nimble making them much trickier to hit, and they can and will get up in your space forcing you to play a bit more defensively and deliberately than usual. So the decision to put Meta Knight inside a bulky mech doesn't exactly appeal to me. Look, this is still a solid enough fight, it doesn't necessarily do anything wrong, but I can't shake the feeling that Mecha Knight just feels like a watered-down version of Meta Knight's fights in a lot of ways. The + and Stock variants are noteworthy for growing a scorpion tail at the halfway point, which is cool, until you realize it makes them an even bigger, slower target than they already were.
10. Susie
After Triple Deluxe lacked a Taranza fight, I'm sure a lot of fans were excited to get the chance to actually fight the rival character this time around. While getting to fight someone in their own Robobot mech is a cool concept, there are a few elements of Susie's fight that feels underwhelming, especially in her base game encounter. For starters, she's pretty easy, especially when the arena turns circular since her attacks don't cover much ground. Second, Susie's fight is basically just a simpler version of Haltmann's fight, which is a lot more challenging, complex, and overall engaging. Susie's 2.0 fight is a lot faster and more chaotic, which is great, but then again, so is Haltmann's 2.0 fight. On top of that, why don't we get to use the Robobot mech to fight either Susie or Haltmann? Once again, this game is seriously lacking in mech-to-mech fights. That being said, Susie's fight is still pretty fun, just heavily overshadowed.
9. Dedede Clones/D3
I was initially going to rank this fight a bit higher, I mean it's a Dedede fight, those are always great, right? The first phase where Dedede starts cloning himself is a creative and chaotic take on the formula, and the second phase with D3 is an awesome surprise. Fighting a giant cannon atop a huge skyscraper is a ton of fun, even if it can be pretty easy to cheese if you know what you're doing. From a casual perspective, yeah, this is a pretty great fight. But once you you start grinding out the True Arena, you realize it ranks up with Galacta Knight as one of the biggest roadblocks. The first phase of this fight is an absolute clusterfuck, once the Dedede clones desync from each other, there is absolutely nowhere safe to hide and you will tank a ton of contact damage. They're also the only bosses in the game to not back off from you at any point so protective abilities like Leaf, Ice, Archer, or Stone are just flat-out dangerous to use. I've rarely played a Kirby fight that made me feel this cramped before and it makes for a pretty irritating encounter at its worst. If it wasn't for the D3 phase which is still really enjoyable, I'd probably rank this fight even lower.
8. Holo Defense API
Holo Defense API is a really neat concept, a boss rush of entirely original fights in World 2 modeled after Pix from Kirby 64?! This really is a great showcase of how uniquely complex (and fanservice-y) Robobot's boss fights are. Sure, most of the bosses are returning from prior Modern games like Kracko and Coily Rattler, but you also get a cool modernization of the Ice Dragon from DL2. Unfortunately, the problem with Holo Defense API is that it's also absurdly easy. Every mini-boss it spawns can be taken out super fast by most abilities, with the only exception being Coily Rattler, meaning that you won't actually get to see many attacks throughout the fight. And if you add in the fact that you also get to beat Holo Defense up with the Robobot Armor in one of the stages, that really just solidifies this boss as being kind of a joke. I still like Holo Defense API for the concept alone, but I do think its phases could've used a bit more health each.
7. President Haltmann
Putting past the minor disappointment of the penultimate boss being a retread of a previous fight rather than something wholly original like Hyness or Sectonia, President Haltmann's boss fight is still really fun. This dude has a whopping four phases, and a ton of memorable attacks like chaotically spinning around the arena, tossing robotic Susie clones at you, shooting money into the air that covers your screen, and bringing up a giant digital cube that shoots lasers at you. And like with Sectonia's fight, the music is perfectly timed to kick into overdrive. I was genuinely unnerved as a kid when the guitar solo kicked in and Haltmann starting screaming maniacally. He seemed so composed at first, but this boss fight shows just how deranged he really is. And as I mentioned earlier, the 2.0 fight is even more tense and challenging.
6. Sectonia Clone
If you saw my Triple Deluxe ranking, you'd know that I adore Sectonia's fight, it's one of my favorite encounters in the entire series. So why is the refight in Robobot so much lower on my list? Well, Sectonia Clone is still a really good boss fight, but it does lack a few things that the original fight had that made it so special. Obviously, the story relevance and atmosphere of Sectonia's original fight isn't nearly as prevalant here. You do get some drippings of lore like a glimpse of her original form, but it still doesn't compare. The middle phase where Sectonia launches you onto a cramped crystal is completely cut out as well, only being alluded to by a new attack where she smashes into the ground, making for a generally shorter and easier fight. But most of all, this fight is sandwiched between the entirely new Dark Matter fight and freaking Galacta Knight, which leaves Sectonia Clone in a pretty bad light by comparison since it mostly is just an asset reuse from Triple Deluxe at the end of the day. Still a fun fight overall, but definitely not Sectonia's best moment.
5. Core Kabula
Kabula has always been one of my favorite Kirby bosses but despite debuting in the first game, she doesn't actually show up all that much compared to Whispy or Kracko. But of course, that just makes the moments when Kabula does show up all the more surprising and exciting. After what seemed like a dull refight against COGS in the second Jet Robobot level, Core Kabula pops out in a shameless bit of fanservice made for me and me specifically. Thankfully though, she also offers one of the most engaging shmup bosses in the franchise, launching an all-out assault on Kirby with a wide array of weapons ranging from Shotzos to Gordo-launching cannons to a giant laser beam. Like many of the best bosses of this era of Kirby, Core Kabula has so many attacks that it feels like I'm still discovering new things about it.
4. Clanky Woods
Would you believe it? A Whispy Woods fight in the Top 5! And well deserved too, Clanky Woods is easily the best Whispy Woods encounter and the best first boss in the entire franchise, offering up a level of complexity and intricacy that most late-game encounters can only dream of. Clanky Woods' boss fight has a whopping three phases, each ramping up the tension and playing around with the 2.5D perspective in exciting new ways. The first phase despite being the most traditional is already exciting since Clanky Woods is jumping around the arena right from the get-go. Then, the second phase brings back the circular arenas we haven't seen since 64, and the final phase closes the arena back in as Clanky hops in the background and starts trying to stab you with its legs. It's an impressively dynamic fight that remains immensely replayable to this day, and I'd even argue that it's so good that a lot of Robobot's boss roster struggles to live up to just how creative and surprising it is.
3. Star Dream
In terms of pure spectacle and scope, the final boss fight against Star Dream is a staggering achievement from HAL. Fighting the final boss in space while piloting the Halberd, who then proceeds to hijack an entire planet that turns out to be Nova from Super Star, that Kirby defeats by drilling through it Gurren Lagann style all the while the screen goes full psychedelic is one of the most bonkers premises for a final boss I've ever seen. And for what it is, it's so much fun. The Halberd controls incredibly smoothly, and once you realize just how broken the barrel roll dodge it, this fight becomes an absolute joy to master. While it may be a bit long in the tooth, I can't say it's that much of a deal-breaker anymore since it's still such an active and engaging fight on its own merits.
However, there is one notable thing keeping Star Dream from being one of my favorite final bosses in the franchises and it's the lack of an on-foot phase. President Haltmann just didn't really feel like a suitable final test for the base Kirby combat, and I don't think it makes sense for the entire final boss to be centered around a new gameplay style you've never used before. What really adds salt to the wound is the fact that there actually is an on-foot phase, and a great one at that, but it's exclusive to the longest True Arena in the franchise. The final phase of the Soul OS fight is a great and tense throwback to both the Nova fight in Super Star and prior Soul forms, and would've been a perfect final test if it wasn't excluded from the base game. However, even with this issue, I still think Star Dream deserves to stand out in the Top 3 of Robobot's boss roster, it's too impressive and memorable to go any lower.
2. Galacta Knight Returns
As I mentioned with Meta Knight, I love the Galacta Knight fights for how fast and intense they are and the Robobot encounter is no different. While it does take quite a lot from the also incredible Return To Dream Land version of the fight, Galacta Knight Returns adds even more attacks to deal with like opening a rift to Another Dimension, tossing out even more projectiles than before, and utilizing the background a lot more. This fight is easily the hardest in the game and will absolutely shred your health at the end of a True Arena run, but I can't bring myself to care, it's just too damn fun.
1. Dark Matter Clone
There was a point when I realized that despite being one of the most prolific villains in the franchise, you never actually had an on-foot fight with Dark Matter. Every fight with Dark Matter across the series has always been in a shmup format... until now. Robobot finally lets you fight Dark Matter on-foot, and it's a ridiculously fun encounter, fast-paced, flashy, and dynamic in all the right ways. All the moves you recognize from prior games are here and accounted for, from showering you with dark matter projectiles, to using its energy spheres as protection, to zapping you with lightning, to slashing away at you with its sword, but this time, you actually get to utilize Robobot's fantastic combat mechanics to take Dark Matter down. And just to top it off, the remix of DL2's final boss theme is so freaking good, enhancing the atmosphere of the fight even more. I can't say this is the most challenging or impactful boss encounter in the game, but it fulfills a desire I had wanted to see from the franchise for a long time, and in spectacular fashion to boot.
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