Even though Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Odyssey of Dreams takes place on the continuity of the anime, it's absolutely stuffed with references to the games, enough to make up a whole page:
- Many, many areas from the games are visited here—Green Greens, Float Islands, Bubbly Clouds, Vegetable Valley, Ice Cream Island, Butter Building, Grape Garden, Yogurt Yard, Orange Ocean, Rainbow Resort, Big Forest, Red Canyon, Cloudy Park, Dark Castle, the Great Cave, Crash Clouds, Mekkai, Ripple Field, Sand Canyon, Ripple Star, Dark Star, Rock Star, Neo Star, Shiver Star, Cushy Cloud, and Popopo Islands are among the locations featured.
- A ton of enemies and species from the games are also either present or mentioned that weren't in the anime. Among them are Poppy Bros. Sr., Broom Hatter, Grizzo, Blipper, Glunk, Flotzo, Gordo, Coner, Shotzo, Blatzy, Sir Kibble, Skuller, Flamer, Hot Head, Rolling Turtle, Cool Spook, Mr. Tick-Tock, Togezo, Master Green, Captain Stitch, TAC, Iron Mam, Birdon, Burning Leo, Axe Knight, Mace Knight, Trident Knight, Javelin Knight, Bio Spark, GIM, Wappa, Fishbone, Ghost Knight, Frigis, Heavy Knight, Golem, Boxy, Batty, Gaveela, Blado, Bubble Head, Buboo, Metalun, Big Metalun, Crimp, Gao Gao, Tedhaun, Perot, Magmotamus, Stickle, Awadoron, Pluid, Moundo, and Spookstep (known then as Horror Tramp).
- Certain items from the games, such as Maxim Tomatoes and Invincibility Candy, appear. Many of the treasures that Kirby finds, such as the Glass Slippers and Truth Mirror, are also from the Great Cave Offensive.
- The prologue mentions King Dedede stealing all the food in Dream Land as part of a plot to defeat Kirby, as well as challenging him to games of golf (Kirby's Dream Course) and pinball (Kirby's Pinball Land).
- In the rewrite, Mecha Kirby is made from a metal called Haltonium (which was first mentioned by name in Team Kirby Clash Deluxe). Appropriately, the updated artwork depicts him as having a similar appearance to the Robobot Armor.
- Poppy Bros. Sr. is encountered in Green Greens, just like in Kirby's Dream Land. It first appears balancing on top of an apple (as Poppy Bros. Jrs. often did in the older games) and later becomes Perot Sr., based on the Perot enemies from "Revenge of the King".
- Kirby knows how to store Copy Abilities for later use, like in Kirby: Squeak Squad. He later learns to combine abilities the same way, though they're functionally more similar to the Mix abilities from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
- Waddle Dee's weapons include Parasols and Spears, both of which are used by Waddle Dee enemies in the games (with the latter being Bandana Waddle Dee's main weapon in the games).
- Tiff's starting weapon is the Block Staff, which is heavily based on Kirby's Star Stacker (which is even name-dropped by Waddle Dee), though it may also be inspired by the unused Block ability from Kirby: Squeak Squad.
- The Brambleweed Fortress, themed around the four seasons, uses the Summertime, Springtime, Autumntime, and Wintertime hearts from "The Great Cave Offensive" as part of a puzzle. Once all of them are obtained, they merge to create the Seasons Heart from Ultra's version of the game.
- The Dream Springs that the Dream Stones are found in are all offshoots of the Fountain of Dreams.
- The area the characters travel through to reach Refuge Point is outright called the "Great Cave".
- Meta Knight was once part of a special division of the Galaxy Soldier Army called the "Meta-Knights", named after Meta Knight's minions from the early Kirby games.
- Meta Knight finishes his first battle with Kryl by using Galaxia Darkness. He even introduces it by declaring, "Behold!" like its original appearance.
- The battle against possessed Adeleine is near-identical to her boss fights in Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards—she draws up several enemies to fight (the first of which is an Ice Dragon) before going after Kirby herself, and being defeated in one hit.
- Water Kirby takes on his appearance from Kirby's Return to Dream Land onward instead of his appearance in the anime, which is explained as being due to Kirby's use of the Water ability in the show taking place in a dream.
- Diremaw, the Miracle Monster that guards Ripple Field, is an anglerfish-like creature that bears a strong resemblance to Sweet Stuff. As it turns out, it IS Sweet Stuff—or rather, a painting of it that the real Diremaw is using as a host.
- King Dedede's first new weapon turns him into Masked Dedede from Kirby Super Star Ultra, and his Dark Matter-possessed form (which happens in his sleep) gains the same Belly Mouth he got in Kirby's Dream Land 3.
- When the crew reaches Butter Building, Waddle Dee mentions that people sometimes see the sun and moon both occupying the sky at once at this location. He says it's probably referring to an eclipse, but it's likely also a reference to the bosses of Butter Building in Kirby's Adventure, Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright.
- Daroach's possessed form is Dark Daroach.
- After the Squeak Squad's defeat, Spinni reveals to Waddle Dee that she's actually a girl. This is a reference to a popular urban legend that Spinni is female in the Japanese version of the game.
- The second encounter with Biggolem is resolved when Adeleine covers his eyes in paint, blinding him. Kirby can pull a similar trick against Heavy Lobster in Kirby Super Star using the Paint ability. In Haunted Halberd, she does the same thing to Heavy Lobster itself.
- According to the concept art, Tiff's Kunoichi Gear bears a strong resemblance to Ninja Kirby's design from Kirby's Return to Dream Land onwards.
- In order to leave Crescent Moon Island, Kirby and co. have to take Air Ride Machines. All the machines seen in the anime are present, as well as the Slick Star, Compact Star, Swerve Star, Wagon Star, Turbo Star, Jet Star, and Bulk Star. While flying, they encounter their possessed friends, who are all riding Hydras. Dragoons also exist, which the heroes use later on to reach Dark Star.
- While flying their Air Ride Machines to Cloudy Park, the crew encounters Kabula, flown by a Dark Matter-possessed Escargoon.
- Meta Knight's new Halberd is piloted by the same crew it had in Kirby Super Star—Captain Vul, Sailor Waddle Dee, and the Meta-Knights.
- Meta Knight's possessed form takes cues from Kirby & the Amazing Mirror's Dark Meta Knight.
- Like in most of his game appearances, Meta Knight throws Kirby a sword before dueling him. The final part of his battle has Kirby fleeing from him on a Wheelie Bike, just in like the end of Revenge of Meta Knight. Finally, after his defeat, his mask breaks, revealing his face for a brief moment before he covers it.
- The last obstacle before reaching the end of Veluvius Temple is Wham Bam Rock.
- After Dark Matter totals Meta Knight's armor, he dons his old vintage gear from his training days. It includes a purple mask and a red cape, and turns his body a darker color—the same color scheme he had in artwork for Kirby's Adventure.
- Kirby Super Star's planet "Mecheye" being spelled "Mekkai" in Super Star Ultra is referenced here, with Mekkai being the name of the planet (and its inhabitants), and Mecheye being the name of their leader.
- The computer virus that infected the Mekkai ship turns out to be none other than the Computer Virus—though it's referreed to by its Japanese name, "Battle Windows".
- Mecha Kirby puts a robotic version of King Dedede in charge of guardian the Mekkai Reactor, which bears a strong resemblance to Robo Dedede from Kirby's Dream Course.
- Kirby and his team tunnel through the Yogurt Yard Shrine using Heavy Mole, who was the boss of Yogurt Yard in Kirby's Adventure. The Dream Guardian of that area also happens to be a Heavy Mole variant.
- Late into the story, the Mekkai upgrade King Dedede's hammer to have a jet engine, enabling him to use his Down Special from Super Smash Bros.
- At Rainbow Resort, King Dedede comes across one of his old robes in an antique shop. It has a darker color scheme and Dedede's face on the back, looking just like his outfit from the old Kirby games.
- Another item obtained from Rainbow Resort is a Spray Paint from Amazing Mirror and Squeak Squad.
- The Green member of the Rainbow Knights happens to be a Halcandran, with a very similar appearance to Magolor.
- Kine carries the heroes to Ice Cream Island in his mouth, just as he carries Kirby in his appearances as an Animal Friend.
- The Rainbow Knights are made from Rainbow Drops.
- Zero's second form has a cloak that deflects attacks, but can be harmed by attacking his body hidden underneath—much like Nightmare in Kirby's Adventure. Marx Zero is fought similarly to 02, with multiple weak points that must be hit in a certain order (with the first being his eye and the last being a thorny tendril). Finally, he rips out his own eye at the end of the fight in a desperate attempt to finish Kirby, just like in Kirby's Dream Land 3.
- In Chapter 2 of Haunted Halberd, Kirby discovers Super Abilities (though his first one is an original ability known as "Monster Wheel" rather than an established Super Ability).
- Nightmare Soul now has a swirling energy tornado underneath his cloak, just like in his game appearances. Kirby also finishes him by slashing him repeatedly with the Ultra Sword, in a manner very similar to how he finished off Magolor.
