Trivia / Kirby: Planet Robobot

• Acting for Two: More like acting for three, but Makiko Ohmoto provides the voices for Kirby, Susie and the Sectonia Clone in this game.
• Blooper:
  • In the description for the Holo-Doomers, the game states that they were made from a red Doomer and a blue Doomer. However, the "blue" Doomer is clearly a Regular Doomer, which are supposed to be purple. In fact, none of the Sphere Doomers in Kirby's Return to Dream Land are blue (they come in purple, red, green, and white).
  • One pre-fight listing in the American English version of The True Arena calls a boss Dark Matter Blade. The boss' official name is Dark Matter Clone. Given that its Japanese name, Clone Swordsman Dark Matter, is written partially in kanji, a character-efficient Japanese writing style, the full name Dark Matter Blade Clone might not have fit. Though, another boss in the game is named Galacta Knight Returns, taking only 2 spaces less.
• Milestone Celebration: This game was released during Kirby Super Star's twentieth anniversary. Like with Kirby: Triple Deluxe releasing during a Kirby & the Amazing Mirror milestone, Planet Robobot manages to tie into Super Star near the end, as the true form of the final boss is a clockwork star just like the Galactic NOVA from "Milky Way Wishes". Not to mention the return of Galacta Knight, who originated in the Ultra remake, and the return of the Jet and Mirror abilities, which had never been in any other games.
• Newbie Boom: The game mixing up Rule of Cool with its usual Rule of Cute (via Kirby becoming a mech pilot and Meta Knight's heavy presence in the game), as well as the surprisingly tragic backstory for some characters, attracted some older fans who were previously put off by the Kirby series' saccharine reputation. To a lesser extent, the game's Whole-Plot Reference in the SiIvaGunner Christmas Comeback Crisis also caused this via a Colbert Bump.
• No Export for You: While the game's soundtrack saw official digital releases around the world, the physical CD release is exclusive to Japan.
• Refitted for Sequel: President Haltmann, an egg-shaped old man with an impressive mustache, no doubt had his design inspired by one of Magolor's beta designs◊ from Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In development, the game's first considered title was Kirby: HAGANE; hagane is Japanese for "steel". This was thought to be a bit too edgy, so it was changed to Kirby: Robot Planet, but that ended up being too literal. It was tweaked to the more playful Roborobo Planet, and then they eventually settled on Robobo Planet. In the west, it's Planet Robobot.
  • The concept art for the game (which has been shown off on the Japanese website) contains a lot of unused designs:
    • The Robobot Armor went through some drastic changes. Initially, it was going to be multiple mecha suits, and wouldn't have been tied to Kirby's copying power. The art also shows off several forms that didn't make the final cut, including a spider tank and a gear-wheel. One of the designs was recycled and used for Susie's battle armor.
    • Susie had several potential designs. One in particular was cat-like, in contrast with the others being humanoid. Others were more obviously robotic or cybernetic.
    • Several concept hats are shown for each new ability. Poison had a wizard hat and staff, Doctor had a pill bottle hat, and ESP had odd ones like a veil, a visor, and power antennae.
    • Two scrapped concepts for Team Kirby Clash were a Huntsman (likely based on Archer) and a pirate-themed Thief (likely based on Cutter). They were cut to keep a proper balance with the four main roles.
    • Haltmann's Executive Suit at one point was much sleeker and beastly in design, somewhat resembling Star Dream itself. Haltmann also had a goatee and looked much older in some designs.
    • Most notably, Star Dream was spherical instead of cylindrical. It still had a screw-head at its top and the screw-tip coming out the bottom, and wings by its side. Most prominently, though, was the large eye in its center, making it resemble a previous Kirby villain from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
    • Further concept art◊ shows a scrapped portion of the fight, presumably during this phase. It would later provide the inspiration for Void Termina's heart in Kirby Star Allies.
  • According to game director Shinya Kumuzaki, several potential story elements were scrapped to keep the plot simple. In one storyline, Susie was going to be a robot that President Haltmann created as a Replacement Goldfish for his daughter, and another option was to give Haltmann himself a Robotic Reveal.
  • Heavy Lobster was at least considered to appear in the game, but didn't make the cut since the developers wanted a balance between Legacy Boss Battles and new fights.
• Word of God: Following what they did for Kirby: Triple Deluxe, HAL Laboratory has dedicated a Miiverse blog towards revealing behind-the-scenes info of Kirby: Planet Robobot.

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