So I've been replaying the 3DS Kirby games recently since the current Kirby drought has been hitting me particularly hard. They're still great, and I'm continuing to find new things to love about both of them, especially Robobot. For as much as I rave about this series and go on about how much I love its boss fights and combat though, I noticed I never actually did any Kirby boss rankings for some reason. Time to change that, here's my ranking of the bosses in Kirby Triple Deluxe, one of my favorite boss rosters in the series:
9. Kracko
The fact that Kracko is my least favorite Triple Deluxe boss is a testament to how good this game's boss lineup is because it's still pretty solid. This is a great modernization of the tried-and-true Kracko fight, taking his unique cloudy physical attributes and turning them into some really inventive attacks like extended his spikes to use as drills and turning into a massive lightning cloud. That lightning cloud attack is especially fun because I like to try and do as much damage as I can before the cannon he sends out disappears. However, for as much as I will gush about them, Triple Deluxe's bosses also have two notable flaws: Attacks where the boss stays in the background forcing you to wait for an opening, and insta-death pitfalls where you can lose your ability and/or cheaply die. Kracko's fight has both of these issues in the second phase, and when coupled with his multiple "keep-away" attacks, it makes for a fight I find a bit sluggish and tend to dread during the Arena.
8. Pyribbit
Pyribbit is often cited as the worst Kirby boss of all time, and honestly, I think the hate is a bit overblown. This boss is infamous for spending too much time in the background and jumping around too much, but that's what makes it kinda fun. Pyribbit's attacks tend to come quick so you have to try and meet the big frog on his level, trying to judge where he'll land and rushing in for attacks. Some of Pyribbit's attacks like his fire breath that can scorch your 3DS screen and popping out of the lava to grab you with his tongue are fun to dodge, and the cutscenes before and after the fight give him a lot of personality. That being said, this is still one of the weaker bosses mostly because of those meteors that engulf the ground in flames, often cluttering the arena in the second phase and making it harder to track Pyribbit. But hey, at least there's no pitfalls, huh?
7. Dark Meta Knight's Revenge
I'm of two minds about Dark Meta Knight's fight. Whenever he's on the ground fighting you with his sword, shooting giant mirror swords from the ground and slinging tornados at you, this is a very fun fight. It may not be as fast and frenetic as one of Galacta Knight's bouts, but it's still a fun time with fantastic music and a creepy atmosphere. However, the phase where Dark Meta Knight enters a mirror and duplicates himself is one of my least favorite attacks in the game since you have so little time to hit him. I tend to just wait out the phase entirely and resume attacking when he goes back to fighting you on-foot since I usually just end up getting hit by his clones.
6. Flowery Woods
Flowery Woods is definitely one of the more dynamic Whispy Woods iterations out there, starting off simple only for the tree to start hopping and flying around, attacking you with his roots. While there is a bit too much downtime between attacks, this is still a really strong first boss with a wide range of attacks that shows off the 2.5D elements of Triple Deluxe incredibly well. But what really elevates the fight for me is Flowery Woods's genuinely difficult DX form where he proceeds to toss fruit, Gordos, and wind bullets at you all at the same time. Similarly to Dream Land 1, I always love it when Whispy gets upgraded from being one of the game's easiest bosses to one of its hardest.
5. Paintra
One of my favorite running gags in modern Kirby was the decision to randomly base a bunch of characters on Drawcia, but it all started with Paintra. Drawcia was already one of my favorite bosses in the series, so it's cool to get to fight a boss similar to her on foot this time. Paintra boasts a lot of really silly and creative attacks themed around paint and paper, with the highlights being those spot the difference attacks that use the 3D quite effectively. It's a briskly-paced fight too where you're given a lot of opportunities to attack, and the DX form ramps the complexity up in an organic and natural way.
4. Flowered/Soul Of Sectonia
I've praised Triple Deluxe's finale quite a lot so Flowered Sectonia being so high should not come as much of a surprise. The atmosphere in this encounter is truly incredible, with each phase slowly escalating the tension in a gripping way. From giant lasers, to flower buds that try to slice you up, there's no shortage of memorable and genuinely tough attacks here. And as icing on the cake, the Hypernova phase at the end of the OG fight is probably my favorite hypernova segment in the game and my favorite victory lab out of any of these modern final bosses, serving as such an exhilarating power trip perfectly illustrated by the haunting moonlit backdrop changing to sunrise. The True Arena version of this fight also stands out by having an entirely new phase in the form of Soul Of Sectonia, which is also incredible in its own right for how it mixes together attacks from all the previous Soul fights in the series into a near-bullet hell cacophony of projectiles.
However, despite how much I love Triple Deluxe's finale, I can't look past the fact that this part has a major flaw. The Flowered phase of this fight is filled with pitfalls and it has killed many an Arena run in pretty cheap ways, holding Flowered Sectonia back from being a truly top tier encounter, especially compared to the two fights that came before it.
3. Coily Rattler
As far as original, midgame Kirby bosses go, it doesn't get any better than Coily Rattler. Along with having a sick design, this boss's core concept of only being able to hit its head adds a nice wrinkle to the usual Kirby boss formula, leading to some pretty fun mindgames depending on what kind of ability your using. Between a solid roster of fun attacks that have Coily wrapping around the battlefield or splitting itself into segments that all fly towards you, a fairly fast pace that rarely deprives you of opportunities to attack, and a great DX form that adds just enough wrinkles to each attack to keep you on your toes, Coily Rattler is a shining example of what makes a great Kirby boss.
2. Queen Sectonia
In any other game, Queen Sectonia's fight would be an easy first place. This is a fast-paced, multi-phase encounter that almost feels like a dance, with both Kirby and Sectonia darting around the room trading blows. It has the same sense of speed and energy as a swordfight with Meta Knight, but with all the bombast and scale of a fight with Magolor, it's so fun and intense throughout and perfectly fits Sectonia's personality. And like with the rest of this game's finale, the backdrop is of course gorgeous, and the music is incredible, doing the Ristar thing of entering the drop just as the fight gets truly frantic. I could play the Sectonia fight any day and have a great time, it never gets old to me.
1. Masked/Shadow Dedede
Yeah, this one should be obvious. I've raved about Masked Dedede's fight in this game before, you should know it's one of my favorite boss fights in all of gaming, let alone my favorite Dedede fight. It starts traditional enough, but when Dedede picks up that axe, it just escalates into pure mayhem, to the point where even the camera itself is struggling to keep up with Dedede's erratic movement. And this dude has so many attacks, to the point where I'm still discovering new ones every time I play. While I prefer the OG Masked Dedede fight for its story-related drama and gravitas, I also can't ignore the similarly fantastic Shadow Dedede rematch complete with an all original phase that brings back the creepy belly mouth phase from Dream Land 3. Everything about this boss fight just rules, an easy high point in the Kirby franchise as a whole.
Expect a Robobot boss ranking sometime soon!
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