Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters

This page contains more specific details about movement and attacks of Kirby without abilities. Most forms ground movement also apply to other characters, i.e. swimming, running, sliding, and so on.

General Info

• "Blocks" of terrain are easy to count with the human eye in the Challenge Rooms and in the Raisin Ruins lobby (particularly near the Stage 4 door). It is usually possible, but harder, to count blocks in other places. For example:
  • In the desert area of 2-2, the diamond patterns in the ground can be used to count blocks.
  • In the grassy area (first screen) of 1-4, the "grooves" between the bottom of the dirt path and the grass can be used to count blocks.

• Frames/block is the number of frames it takes to travel one block. Since this is a measure of time taken, higher frames/block means slower travel, and lower frames/block means faster travel. For example, 7.5 frames/block is twice as fast as 15 frames/block.

• "Uphill (1/2)" means that the test took place on an uphill slope that goes 1 block up for every 2 blocks in horizontal distance. 1/3 means 1 block up for every 3 blocks in horizontal distance, and so on. Similar for Downhill (1/2), etc.

• Hitlag (lag when Kirby's attack hits something):
  • Hitlag freezes Kirby's movement and animation for a certain amount of frames. If the move Kirby is doing lasts for F frames without hitlag, then with 3 frames of hitlag, the move will last for F+3 frames.
  • Hitlag does not stack when hitting multiple objects. When Kirby hits two enemies simultaneously, Kirby will only experience the hitlag of one enemy. If Kirby hits one object and then a second object runs into Kirby's attack, that second object's hitlag will immediately begin, ignoring the remainder of the first object's hitlag.
  • Hitlag is almost always 3 frames when hitting a breakable block. When hitting enemies (or enemy projectiles, like Sir Kibble cutters), the hitlag varies depending on which attack is used.

• Co-Op Damage Reduction - Damage by all players is reduced as more players are added to the game.^[1]
  • For the 20 main abilities, ability-less Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee, the damage reduction percentages are as follows:
    • 2 players = -10% dmg
    • 3 players = -12.5% dmg
    • 4 players = -15% dmg
  • To calculate final damage, let's use the case of there being 2 players. The attack we're hitting with is the main hit only of Dedede Hammer Flip. Therefore, we know it does 45 dmg normally.
  1. Calculate the % damage reduction. In the above case, we know that since there are 2 players the scaling is 10%. So, to calculate the % damage reduction we need 10% of 45, which is 4.5
  2. Round the damage reduction to the nearest integer. The damage reduction we obtained from Step 1 was 4.5, so if we round it to the nearest integer it becomes 5
  3. Apply the damage reduction to get final damage. The damage reduction we obtained at the end of Step 2 was 5, so now we subtract it from the normal dmg of the move we're hitting with. In our case, we know that the normal main hit only dmg for Dedede Hammer Flip is 45. Therefore, the final damage is 45 - 5 = 40 dmg
  • For Crash and Mike, damage reduction is calculated differently. After step 2 above, the damage reduction is then halved, then rounded again, and then deducated from the initial damage. This is NOT the same as merely halving the damage reduction percentage, due to rounding before and after halving the original damage reduction.

Kirby

Walking ^[2]

• Flat ground: 13.4 frames/block
• Uphill (1/2): 14.7 frames/block
  • While jumping repeatedly: 13.4 frames/block
• Downhill (1/2): 13.1 frames/block

Running ^[2]

• Flat ground: 10.6 frames/block
• Uphill (1/2): 11.6 frames/block
  • While jumping repeatedly: 10.6 frames/block
• Downhill (1/2): 10.3 frames/block

Sliding

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 15 dmg

• Distance ^[2]
  • Flat ground: 3.8 blocks per slide
  • Uphill (1/3): 3.5 blocks per slide
  • Uphill (1/2): 3.3 blocks per slide
  • Uphill (1/1): 2.6 blocks per slide
  • Downhill (1/3): 3.8 blocks per slide

• Speed ^[2]
  • Successive first-frame slides are 33 frames apart. That means 33/3.8 = 8.7 frames/block for flat ground.
    • When executed on the first frame, Kirby never un-crouches between slides. When executed on the second frame or later, Kirby is seen standing up for at least one frame.
  • If timed lazily, say 37 frames apart on average, then it's 37/3.8 = 9.7 frames/block for flat ground.

Spitting

• Tips
  • Against bosses/minibosses, it is generally better to fire two single stars then a double star, or three single stars than a triple star. But if the boss only has time for Kirby to spit once, then spit the biggest combination possible.
  • Single stars do not penetrate enemies nor blocks, but multi-stars do.
  • Almost always dash (or be in the air from a dash-jump) while spitting

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 1 star while standing - 52 dmg
  • 1 star while dashing - 60 dmg
  • Grazing/Ricocheted star - 40 dmg
  • 2 stars while standing- 60 dmg
  • 2 star while dashing - 65 dmg
  • 3 stars while standing- 65 dmg
  • 3 stars while dashing - 70 dmg

Fluttering ^[2]

• Horizontal movement
  • Flutter up about 1 block -> air pellet -> drop about 1 block -> repeat: 18.3 frames/block
  • Fluttering, always staying puffed up: 19.9 frames/block
  • Constant air pellets during fluttering: 20.1 frames/block

• Upward movement
  • Fluttering up at about 10.9 hz: 13.4 frames/block
  • Fluttering up at about 8.5 hz: 13.8 frames/block

Falling ^[2]

• Downward movement
  • Falling at top speed: 5.0 frames/block

Ladders ^[2]

• Upward movement
  • Climbing up: 8.9 frames/block
  • Climbing up with repeated jumps: 6.9 frames/block

• Downward movement
  • Climbing down: 5.7 frames/block
    • This is slightly slower than falling at top speed.

Swimming ^[2]

• Horizontal movement
  • Underwater, swimming mostly straight horizontally: 16.6 frames/block
  • Underwater, swimming diagonally up or down: 16.6 frames/block
  • Swimming on the surface: 16.6 frames/block
  • Walking underwater (on the sea floor): 22.0 frames/block
  • Repeatedly jumping out of the water: 13.8 frames/block
    • This is comparable to walking speed.

• Upward movement
  • No block counts available, but swimming straight up and swimming up-diagonally make no difference in upward speed.

• Downward movement
  • No block counts available, but swimming straight down and swimming down-diagonally make no difference in downward speed.
  • Downward swimming is approximately 1.2 times faster than upward swimming.

On Ice ^[2]

• Walking at top speed
  • Flat: 9.0 frames/block
  • Uphill (1/2): 10.0 frames/block
  • Downhill (1/2): 9.1 frames/block

• Running at top speed
  • Flat: 7.3 frames/block
  • Uphill (1/2): 8.3 frames/block
  • Downhill (1/2): 7.4 frames/block

Invincibility

• Walking ^[2]
  • Flat ground: 8.9 frames/block

• Running ^[2]
  • Flat ground: 7.0 frames/block

• Sliding ^[2]
  • Distance:
    • Flat ground: 4.9 blocks
  • Speed:
    • Successive first-frame slides are 26 frames apart. 26/4.9 = 5.3 frames/block on flat ground.
    • If timed lazily, say 30 frames apart on average, then it's 30/4.9 = 6.1 frames/block on flat ground.

• Swimming (to do)

• Attack Properties ^[1]
  • Contact / Jump / Slide Attack / Freefall Bounce - 64 dmg
  • Idling doesn't work on main bosses, but it does work on minibosses

Other Characters

Meta Knight

King Dedede

Waddle Dee

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11} Frame tests by Yoshifan. This involved DVD-recording a test run, and then analyzing the recording frame-by-frame in 60 FPS using VirtualDub. For detailed info on the setup, see this SDA forum post. The block measurements and frames/block tests are particularly prone to inaccuracy, because the human eye is used to count "blocks" in the terrain and figure out exactly how many frames it takes for Kirby to travel a certain amount of blocks. It is estimated that test results may be up to 0.5 frames/block off from the actual values, possibly more if block-counting or math mistakes were made. If one could test on emulator, using a memory value to see what is Kirby's x and y position (or even x and y speed) according to the game, that could result in much more robust tests than these.