HR-D3
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- This article is about the giant robot that appears in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. For its appearance in Kirby Mass Attack, see Dedede Robo.
- This article is about the giant robot piloted by Metal General EX in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and should not be confused with HR-H from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
| “ | Drawn by the mechanical energy here, this ancient war machine crossed time and space through an interdimensional tunnel. Get ready for a dream battle with a king-sized warrior of steel! | ” | — VS HR-D3 Special Page in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe |
HR-D3 is an extra-large robot boss which appears in Extra Mode in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe. It is based on Dedede Robo, which appeared in Kirby Mass Attack's Sub-Game Kirby Quest and was originally planned to appear in Kirby for Nintendo GameCube. HR-D3 is piloted by Metal General EX, and is fought directly after the latter is defeated in stage 6 of Egg Engines in Extra Mode. It is also fought in The True Arena as part of the final five battles (six in Deluxe).
Description[edit]
HR-D3 is a giant robot that greatly resembles King Dedede. The resemblance is even conveyed in its name, with the "D3" part being in reference to Dedede himself. It has the red-and-silver color scheme and the insignia of Metal General EX, who mainly pilots the mech. It is balanced on a piston, so it primarily jumps around as its main form of movement. It has one robotic hand, with the other hand being a power drill. It has lasers within its "eyes," a pilot's seat within its "head," and a huge beam cannon within its "mouth". While Metal General EX mainly pilots HR-D3 from inside its head casing, the mech seems to be capable of at least limited autonomous movement as well.
As mentioned before, HR-D3 is based on a boss from the cancelled Kirby for Nintendo GameCube game, Dedede Robo, which is piloted by King Dedede. HR-D3 and Dedede Robo were initially assumed by fans to be the same entity, but a Dedede Directory post on the Kirby JP Twitter confirmed them as separate (image in gallery below).
Game appearances[edit]
Kirby's Return to Dream Land / Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[edit]
| “ | An ancient war machine that somehow drifted into this universe from another dimension. What a dream battle! | ” | — Vs. HR-D3 Special Page in Kirby's Return to Dream Land |
In Kirby's Return to Dream Land and its remake, HR-D3 appears in Extra Mode and can be fought again in The True Arena. In Extra Mode, it is fought directly after Metal General EX at the end of Egg Engines. If the fight with HR-D3 is lost, Metal General EX's fight is automatically skipped so the player can try again, though losing a life on the second stage of HR-D3's battle restarts at its first stage.
HR-D3's pause screen description calls it "an ancient war machine" that "drifted in from another dimension," which is likely a reference to Another Dimension, but could also refer back to its origins as Dedede Robo in the canceled GameCube game. This is further suggested in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, where said pause description now mentions HR-D3 as "crossing time and space through an interdimensional tunnel", as well as the song "Roar of Dedede" being used in the second phase.
Attacks[edit]
HR-D3 fights in two phases, with two separate health bars. All of HR-D3's attack names begin with either "H" or "D". The following are the attacks in the first phase:
| Attacks - Phase 1 | |
|---|---|
| Attack | Description |
| デストロイヤーパンチ Destroyer Punch |
HR-D3 slams its fist and drill into the stage, in either order, creating stars on each impact. This is one of the few opportunities to hit it during this phase.
|
| ヘッドミサイルレイン Head Missile Rain |
Metal General EX opens the headpiece, and fires a great many missiles to carpet-bomb the stage. These can be swallowed for the Bomb ability.
|
| ヘビーロボットアイビーム Heavy Robot Eye Beam |
HR-D3's eyes glow and lasers sweep the stage from the middle outward. Exclusively in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, the laser beams leave behind a conflagration on the ground that will eventually explode, hitting players within a certain range at the moment of impact. As soon as the explosion happens, the music temporarily lowers in volume, accompanied with a stun grenade sound effect.
|
| ヘビーラリアット Heavy Lariat |
HR-D3 spins around with its arms stretched out, covering much of the stage. It is possible, but difficult, to hit it during this attack. In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, this spinning attack is much faster.
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In the second phase, a new health bar must be depleted, and HR-D3 attacks on the stage itself, taking up a great deal of space as it does so:
| Attacks - Phase 2 | |
|---|---|
| Attack | Description |
| ヘビーロボットダンシング Heavy Robot Dancing |
HR-D3 bounces across the stage from one side to the other, creating stars whenever it hits the ground.
|
| ハル・レイ HAL Ray |
HR-D3's mouth opens up, and will fire a massive beam diagonally downward onto the stage, proving effective if Kirby is cornered. It leaves stars where the beam hits.
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| Dive Slam[conjectural title] | HR-D3 will jump into a body slam if it has Kirby cornered. Kirby has this opportunity to try and get away. This move creates stars on impact.
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| ヘビーラリアット Heavy Lariat |
HR-D3 spins around with its arms stretched out, covering much of the stage. In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, this spinning attack is much faster.
|
| デストロイヤーパンチ Destroyer Punch |
HR-D3 attempts to punch or drill in front of it, proving effective if it has Kirby cornered. It may do this once, twice or three times. Later in the battle, the attack might be electrically-charged, dealing extra damage and becoming unguardable.
|
| ヘッドミサイルレイン Head Missile Rain |
After HR-D3 flies into the background, Metal General EX fires a great many missiles to carpet-bomb the stage. These can be swallowed for the Bomb ability.
|
| ヘビーロボットアイビーム Heavy Robot Eye Beam |
While the missiles from the prior attack are landing, HR-D3's eyes glow and lasers sweep the stage from the middle outward. Exclusively in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, the laser beams leave behind a conflagration on the ground that will eventually explode, hitting players within a certain range at the moment of impact. As soon as the explosion happens, the music temporarily lowers in volume, accompanied with a stun grenade sound effect.
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As HR-D3 takes damage, it loses pieces, eventually ending up as a barely functioning skeleton near the end of the fight. Defeating it destroys its essential components, and causes it to fall backwards and explode with Metal General EX inside.
For the first phase of the fight, Grand Doomer's battle theme is used. For the second phase, the music switches to "Guardian Angel: Landia". In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, "Roar of Dedede" plays in the second phase.
Trivia[edit]
- In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, unused textures relating to King Dedede can be found within HR-D3's files. These textures do not match with King Dedede's final model, so they are most likely left over from Kirby for Nintendo GameCube.[1]
- In a Dedede Directory post about HR-H, Dedede mentions that there are robots in the same series that look like him, and that he's glad they have the same transformation feature, likely referring to HR-D3. He also refers to them as "the robots" in plural, which could mean that there are multiple instances of HR-D3 (perhaps explaining how one ended up in Metal General EX's control).[2]
- HR-D3 is Shinya Kumazaki's (the director of the Kirby series) favorite boss in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.[3]
Gallery[edit]
The True Arena icon from Kirby's Return to Dream Land
Model from Kirby's Return to Dream Land
Extra Mode credits picture from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, featuring Ninja Kirby and Meta Knight facing an exposed HR-D3
The True Arena icon from Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
Model from Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
Extra Mode credits picture from Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, featuring Ninja Kirby and Meta Knight facing an exposed HR-D3
Dedede Directory about various Dedede Mechs, featuring HR-D3
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | HR - D3 |
- |
| Chinese | HR-D3 |
- |
| Dutch | HR-D3 | - |
| French | HR-D3 | - |
| German | HR-D3 | - |
| Italian | HR-D3 | - |
| Korean | HR-D3 |
- |
| Portuguese | HR-D3 | - |
| Spanish | HR-D3 | - |
References
- ↑ Kirby's Return to Dream Land - The Cutting Room Floor
- ↑ "シリーズに登場するオレさま似のロボたちにも、変形機能があっても良かったな！" –King Dedede (Kirby JP Twitter)
(Translation: "It's nice that the robots in this series who look like me also got that neat transformation feature!") - ↑ Nintendo DREAM May 2023 interview (translation)
