Void Termina

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Lore & Background

Void Termina is the dark force that Hyness, an evil cleric, is planning to restore to full power using the Jamba Hearts. After being defeated by Kirby, Hyness sacrifices the Mage-Sisters (Francisca, Flamberge, and Zan Partizanne) and himself to subsequently revive Void Termina. Through a series of pause screens in various boss fights, it is explained that Void Termina, Kirby, and various bosses from previous games are likely reincarnations of the godlike being known as Void. When Void comes in contact with high concentrations of energy, he reincarnates into a new form, with this being's personality determined by whether this energy is positive or negative. During the battle against Void Termina, several attacks are reused from past Kirby bosses, suggesting that the bosses mimicked are also forms of Void.

In Their Own Story

After Kirby defeats Hyness, the cleric sacrifices himself and the Three Mage-Sisters to revive Void Termina. Kirby and his friends use a Friend Pedestal to summon the Friend Star, but it transforms into the Star Allies Sparkler via the power of the four Heart Spears that were stuck in the prison of Void Termina. Kirby overcomes Void Termina's humanoid body, which regurgitates Hyness and the Mage-Sisters in the process. After defeating its bird form, it is revealed that its true form is a purplish pink cluster with three dark eye-like spots that can arrange themselves to resemble Kirby's face. Kirby then destroys Void Termina with the Star Allies Sparkler, summoning friends in the process. The Sparkler is destroyed by the resulting explosion, but Kirby uses a Warp Star to return himself and his friends safely home.

Reader's Guide

Void Termina is the final boss of Kirby Star Allies, encountered after defeating Hyness in the Jambandra Base. The battle begins with Void Termina in a humanoid form, which Kirby must overcome using the Star Allies Sparkler. After this form is defeated, Void Termina regurgitates Hyness and the Mage-Sisters and transforms into a bird-like form. Once that form is defeated, its true form is revealed: a purplish pink cluster with three dark eye-like spots that can arrange themselves to resemble Kirby's face. Kirby destroys Void Termina with the Star Allies Sparkler, which summons friends in the process. After the release of extra content, a new "Soul Melter EX" difficulty of the True Arena was added, which replaced the Void Soul battle with a battle against Void himself. Once Void is defeated, he seems to smile, as he is finally free to reincarnate into a new, happier form.

Did You Know?

• Void Termina's true form is a purplish pink cluster with three dark eye-like spots that can arrange themselves to resemble Kirby's face.
• After being defeated by Kirby, Hyness sacrifices himself and the Three Mage-Sisters to revive Void Termina.
• During the battle against Void Termina, several attacks are reused from past Kirby bosses, suggesting those bosses are also forms of Void.
• After the release of extra content, a new 'Soul Melter EX' difficulty was added which replaced the Void Soul battle with a battle against Void himself.
• When Void is defeated in Soul Melter EX, he seems to smile, as he is finally free to reincarnate into a new, happier form.

Origins and Developmental Evolution

The creation of Kirby Star Allies traces its roots back to a cancelled GameCube project from years prior, which featured early concepts of Kirby making multiple helpers, akin to the fundamental element of Star Allies. Development of the game began during the 25th anniversary of the Kirby franchise. The game was initially teased under the tentative title "Kirby" during E3 2017. In September 2017, the game's official title was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch game console on 16 March 2018. On 3 March 2018, a free demo of the game was released on the Nintendo eShop showcasing two of the game's stages. HAL Laboratory developer Shinya Kumazaki went over the world map concept, and the ability of creating more open, higher resolution imagery with the Nintendo Switch console. They swayed to making the screen more spread out in contrast to Kirby, as they could make Kirby smaller but still retain shape, while being able to present more of the background at one time.

Cooperative Mechanics and Combat Innovation

Kirby Star Allies is a 2.5D platform game played from a side-on perspective. Players control Kirby, who can be accompanied by up to three companions. Kirby can throw hearts at enemies to turn them into allies. The game can be played alone with the game's AI controlling companions or cooperatively with other players controlling companions. When Kirby has companions, new special attacks become available which allow Kirby to combine his abilities with those of his allies', a feature introduced in Kirby: Super Star, and not seen since Kirby: Squeak Squad. The elemental fusions last for as long as the power is held or until a new element is introduced over it, while some of the combinations are single-use moves that bear more of a resemblance to the combinations found in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. When Kirby has three allies, they can perform "Friend Actions" on specific stages, like "Friend Train" and "Friend Star." The game also introduces the "Dream Friend" system, which allows the player to call upon characters from past Kirby games as special allies with expanded movesets.

Narrative Arc and the Void Mythos

The story unfolds on the Jambandra space station far away from Kirby's home Planet Popstar, where a dark crystal heart explodes due to an imperfection in a mysterious ritual, sending its numerous fragments, Jamba Hearts, hurtling into deep space. Many characters, including King Dedede and Meta Knight, are possessed while investigating the dark hearts that land on Popstar. A pink heart hits Kirby, but it instead gives him the ability to befriend enemies by throwing hearts. After Kirby defeats Meta Knight and King Dedede and frees them from the Jamba Heart's influence, a large fortress known as the Jambastion lands on Popstar. After defeating the Three Mage-Sisters, a trio composed of Francisca, Flamberge, and Zan Partizanne, Kirby and his friends fly to the far reaches of space. They battle Zan once again before meeting Hyness, an evil cleric who is planning to restore a dark force, Void Termina, to full power using the Jamba Hearts. After being defeated, Hyness sacrifices the generals and himself to subsequently revive Void Termina.

Reception Trajectory and Commercial Legacy

Upon its March 2018 release, the game initially received mixed reviews, with praise directed towards the game's graphics, mechanics and soundtrack, but criticism directed toward its lack of depth and low level of difficulty. However, general reception was later re-evaluated as positive after free additional content was later added, being praised for adding a new layer of difficulty. Stephen Totilo of Kotaku commented that, while the main game was "a cakewalk", the additional Heroes in Another Dimension mode was "a head-scratcher and a reflex-tester", stating that Star Allies was "one of the most-improved Nintendo games on the Switch roster." The game was a commercial success, selling 4.38 million copies as of 31 December 2022, making it one of the best-selling games on the Switch. Upon the game's launch, Kirby Star Allies became the fastest selling Kirby game in the United Kingdom. The game sold 222,031 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, which placed it at number one on the all format sales chart.