Kirby titles are known for being kid-friendly. The pink puffball of a character is all but invincible in most games, and even when he can “die,” like in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, there is hardly any punishment for when it does happen. The adventure is meant to be more of a fun, carefree, and joyful romp through some inventive stages, easy puzzles, and perhaps mildly challenging (at best) boss battles. However, nearly every Kirby game does acknowledge that some people are looking for a deeper challenge in these games, and while they might not push you to the absolute limits, they can give you a nice bit of resistance.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land has plenty of end-game content — again, a staple for Kirby — but the biggest attraction for most challenge seekers will no doubt be the Colosseum. This battle arena will test you more than any regular stage in the game through gauntlets consisting of multiple rounds of tough mini-bosses, normal bosses, and even unique bosses only found there that put the normal ones to shame. If you’re not ready for the difficulty spike, this can be a bit of a shock to a normal Kirby player. Worry not, because Kirby is one resilient ball of joy, especially when he absorbs all the information in our Colosseum guide.

Note: There will be spoilers for bosses, including end-game and unique bosses, for Kirby and the Forgotten Land going forward.

Like every location in Waddle Dee Town, you will need to unlock this location. However, rather than just by rescuing a number of Waddle Dees in the various levels of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the Colosseum is unlocked based on progressing to a specific point in the game. To open up this arena for your fighting pleasure, go through the game until you clear the Wondaria Remains area and beat the Danger Under the Big Top mission at the end. Once you do, you will get a notification stating that the Colosseum is available for battle, letting you fight for great rewards.

Once you’ve opened it up, simply head to Waddle Dee Town, approach the Colosseum, and you can start taking on the different cups on offer. There are a total of three cups, but there’s only one available to start, that being the Meta Knight Cup. To unlock the next cup, the Ultimate Cup, you need to not only beat the Meta Knight Cup but also finish the main story of Kirby and the Forgotten Land and continue after the credits. The final cup, Ultimate Cup Z, is unlocked only by first finishing the Ultimate Cup and acquiring the game’s true ending. To get this ending, you need to finish the Isolated Isles — Forgo Dreams, which is broken up into seven different stages.

In every cup, it’s always a great idea to give yourself a buff from the Waddle Dee item shop before entering. Remember that each buff, attack, defense, or speed can be boosted five times for increased effect.

For the Meta Knight Cup, you will be at your weakest since you may not have done everything else in the game but certainly haven’t gotten the strong rewards from beating the cups themselves. For your first run-through, we came in with the Volcano Fire copy ability ready. It has very high damage but also great range and can inflict a burn status to deal damage over time, perfect for chipping away at bigger health bars. After beating this cup, the Meta Knight Sword ability is the next one to use for repeat runs since it has super high damage, plus a ranged attack so long as you have full HP.

Between each round, make sure and heal up with a Maximum Tomato. Using one will replace it with a simple orange in later rounds, but there are enough to use one between each round without running out, so chow down.

Meta Knight himself will be the hardest part of this cup. While the game tempts you to immediately grab his sword at the start, hold on to your existing copy ability instead. You don’t want to be close most of the time. Strafe around him to avoid when he shoots his sword blasts, and keep your eye on him for when he charges up his big slashing attack. If it hits, a scene will play and instantly cut you down to half HP.

After dropping below half health, Meta Knight will summon falling rocks to the arena. These are easy enough to dodge based on their shadows, so just stay in the light.

The Ultimate Cup is a big step up in challenge. This time, it’s twice as many rounds, 12 in total, now forcing you to fight every boss from the main game. Like the Meta Knight Cup, the first nine rounds are random mini-bosses, followed by round 10 being a fight against Leongar, 11 against Fecto Gorgo, and 12 against Fecto Elfilis.

Depending on your level of confidence, either go into this cup with Blizzard Ice or Dragon Fire copy abilities. Blizzard Ice is great because it allows you to block and completely negate most damage, but it comes at the cost of lower damage and more drawn-out fights. Dragon Fire, conversely, has great damage and range, plus can inflict burn. The jump attack is fantastic for quickly maneuvering and dodging, though it does take a bit more skill.

For this cup, make sure you have at least three Maximum Tomatoes waiting between rounds for the final three rounds. Trust us, you’ll need them.

Finally, for the Ultimate Cup Z, we have another grueling 12 rounds of battle. We start with the usual first nine random mini-bosses, but round eight will always be Phantom Meta Knight, until round 10, where you face Forgo Leon, 11 against Morpho Knight, and the final round-up against Chaos Elfilis. Chaos Elfilis is somewhat unique in that it has two distinct forms. For the first form, focus on dodging its spear thrust for an easy counter, dodge projectiles, and get in fast when it tries to heal to keep it from recovering. Once it goes into its second form, looking like a big orb now, be ready to sprint away from the black hole it creates on the stage. After that, dodge toward the boss to consistently avoid the two laser beam attack, and use the beams to get out of the way when it summons meteors.

At this point, you will have the Morpho Knight Sword, which is the only choice for this cup. It can take out those early bosses in a single hit or two, plus recovers health on hit.

The Ultimate Cup Z rewards:

Once you beat all the cups, you will get a special Commentator Waddle Dee figure, plus some cinematics, commemorative pictures in Kirby’s house, and some more figures you can pull for.

Speaking of figures, one final unlock that you get for beating the Ultimate Cup Z is a new Waddle Dee called Trader Waddle Dee in Waddle Dee Town. This little guy sets up shop next to the gotcha machines and will let you trade-in your Rare Stones for more character figures. This is a perfect way to fill in any missing figures you have from your collection, although the one he gives you will still be random, and ones that have special requirements can’t be earned this way. As long as you’ve got no more abilities to spend your Rare Stones on for upgrades, this is a decent use for any extra you might have.

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