In ', after the chest containing Kirby's strawberry shortcake is mixed up with the chest sealing Dark Nebula, Meta Knight appears as a boss who tries to keep the latter chest out of Kirby's hands. In "Kirby Super Star Ultra", he appears as a playable character in the "Meta Knightmare Ultra" mode. Meta Knight also appears in "Kirby's Return to Dream Land" as one of the four playable protagonists, alongside Kirby, King Dedede and Bandana Waddle Dee, and as a playable character in multi-player mode. After not appearing in ', Meta Knight made an active return to the series in "." In addition to being captured and transformed into the hostile "Mecha Knight" in the game's story mode, he is the playable character of the "Meta Knightmare Returns" mode. Meta Knight returns as a boss and Dream Friend in "Kirby Star Allies".