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Kirby And The Amazing Mirror Any% TAS

Note: English is not my first language.

About the game

Kirby And The Amazing Mirror is the second Kirby game released on GBA and is one of the most unique and different Kirby games so far. The story involves some sort of parallel universe in which some evil force has gained entrance to the normal universe and things are just all over flip flopped.
The game is like Kirby - Nightmare In Dreamland (the Remake of NES Kirby's Adventure). It uses the same sprites and same midbosses etc.. However, you are able to choose your own path and many abilities were upgraded. And there are other Kirbys controlled by the game that you can call if you're in trouble (not used in the run).
The game's goal is to collect 8 mirror pieces in order to enter the big mirror in the main hall where the endbosses are waiting for you.

About the run

Please watch the run first.
Abilities were upgraded so that the wheel could bounce for example. I used the wheel as some kind of my main transport ability when I noticed that nearly all the rooms in the game were flat. The missile was only used if it was faster (like in the water area) or if I needed a grey block-breaking ability.
The run took me about 3 months in total and several reattempts. The most annoying part was the Dark Mind matches. Especially the 4th Dark Mind is hard to luckmanipulate. I was unable to copy the last match from my Boss Endurance TAS so that I was slower maybe. Or Dark Mind just acted different and there's no (big) difference in time.

UPDATE

The minigame that isn't necessary to be played to finish the game was requested to be played. So the movie file was replaced and the movie time grew from 25:19.8 to 26:11.52

Why Japanese ROM?

The Japanese version of the game was used since attacks were more effective. And a breakable wall which was on the way to Area 4: Moustard Mountain in USA and European version isn't there yet.

Route

(Note: The name of the area Kirby is in can be read from the screen)
For the route please watch the run. Because you have to go through different areas in order to get to a boss, it's quite complicated to explain. But I'll list what all pressed switches do:
Area 2: Moonlight MansionShortcut to Area 9: Candy Constellations
Area 2: Moonlight MansionOpens gate to Area 6: Olive Ocean
and Area 4: Moustard Mountain
Area 6: Olive OceanShortcut to Area 3: Cabbage Cavern (+ other areas)
Area 3: Cabbage CavernShortcut to Area 5: Carrot Castle
Area 3: Cabbage CavernShortcut to Area 3: Cabbage Cavern
Area 5: Carrot CastleShortcut to Area 7: Peppermint Palace

Basic timesavers

NOTE: Many of these timesavers were not used in the beginning (the most suitable part for these timesavers of the game) since I discovered them later in the run and forgot to use them in my final version where I started from a later room.
  1. While having the biggest horizontal momentum and being in mid-air, just repress "A" without "->" or "<-" and you almost won't lose momentum.
  2. Two slides or more are faster than running.
  3. It is possible to get into a ceiling with the upper part of Kirby's body by flying towards it from left or right. It was mostly used while being rocket. For example, in the water area, in the last room before the shark, it was possible to skip some blocks this way.
  4. If horizontal momentum is needed after entering a room or quitting a slide animation it's the best to start the running animation and then jumping immediately. I forgot to use it in the earlier parts as well.
  5. Jumping towards a door and entering it is 1 frame faster than doing so without jumping.
  6. It is possible to press Down or Up in water and swim into a direction for 10 frames or so without canceling the swimming-animation.
There are more, but they are more specific and minor.

Possible improvements I know about

All the things I mentioned above should be used everywhere when possible. And the boss fights could be improved. I often redid a boss fight two times and then continued with the fastest result.
Improving a run of such a game may be hard or easy, as the game is sometimes quite random. Your Kirby buddies are fooling around while you're going your path. In one of my earlier attempts I went through the great mirror to the endbosses with Red Kirby so that Dark Mind 4 was even harder to luckmanipulate.
I know some more timesavers than listed here. So if someone wants to improve the run, PM me on the forums.

Thanks to

  • Zefiris for posting his WIP or whatever it was. It showed me some stuff like sliding is faster than running and that calling the kirbys is not needed to pass an obstacle in the intro stage. Eventually It helped me to make this final version.
  • LuckyStar who posted his run on the forums / youtube. Without him I wouldn't have started my run because I knew and bought the game only because I was fascinated by his TAS.
  • Truncated for helping me labeling the ROM.

Screenshots

Bisqwit: Replaced tons of superfluous %%% markup with ... nothing. Nothing was required to accomplish the same effect. Read Text Formatting Rules for instructions. Also, updated the submission file as the author requested: The new file contains a minigame which is not necessary to finish the game, but the community requested it to be played.
adelikat: Accepting for publication.
adelikat: Processing.

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Posted: 8/7/2007 6:14 PM
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TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #1656: MUGG's GBA Kirby & the Amazing Mirror in 26:11.52
Posted: 8/8/2007 12:04 AM
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Sir_VG
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Posts: 1914
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While I haven't finished it yet, I have noticed one spot of improvement. Area 9, it is possible to skip Mirror World Kirby if you rocket through properly. But at that point it's a minor error and that's all I've see so far. And I'm enjoying this run. It's long overdue. :) --- Ok, I've finished it. I loved your Dark Mind 5 battle. That was freakin BRILLIANT. (How do you do that flaming hammer anyways, and is it possible in the US version?) One thing I wish you would do differently is to actually include the credits mini-game as part of your game play. Yes, this extends the video, but I think it'll be more entertaining.
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
Posted: 8/8/2007 12:26 AM
(Edited: 8/8/2007 5:24 PM)
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MUGG
Editor, Expert player (2372)
Joined: 5/15/2007
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If the community agrees I will look what I can do. I think the ending really doesn't look cool, when I'm getting damage over and over again. The flaming hammer (up + b) can be done in any version and is a really strong attack. Thanks for your comments, I didn't know that Area 9 Dark Kirby was skipable, when I watched LuckyStar's run (where he skips A9 Dark Kirby), I thought it was randomness. The game acts sometimes random, so that you are standing there with ability roulette suddenly or the Dark Kirby's aren't there.
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Posted: 8/8/2007 2:02 AM
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gocha
Any
Emulator Coder, Former player
Joined: 6/21/2006
Posts: 402
Location: Japan, Nagoya
I loved the run. Yes vote.
Sir VG wrote:
One thing I wish you would do differently is to actually include the credits mini-game as part of your game play. Yes, this extends the video, but I think it'll be more entertaining.
I agree with this.
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Posted: 8/8/2007 4:20 AM
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zdude255
Joined: 6/26/2007
Posts: 147
Agreed on the credits, the movie time doesn't matter, but seeing a ridiculous score on there will make it really entertaining. Was the JPN rom absolutely needed? The submission made it sound like "JPN was used cause it was easier" and that's something we want to avoid. Regardless, it's a fabulously entertaining run and a "Yes" from me in spite of any issues.
Posted: 8/8/2007 11:05 AM
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Soulrivers
Former player
Joined: 12/27/2006
Posts: 532
Location: Göteborg, Sweden
zdude255 wrote:
Agreed on the credits, the movie time doesn't matter, but seeing a ridiculous score on there will make it really entertaining. Was the JPN rom absolutely needed? The submission made it sound like "JPN was used cause it was easier" and that's something we want to avoid. Regardless, it's a fabulously entertaining run and a "Yes" from me in spite of any issues.
Actually it was mentioned in the thread that Kirby does more damage in the JPN version. EDIT: Okay, watched it, and I loved it. Crazy fast movement and bossbattles. At times I couldn't keep up with where Kirby was going. I found it kind of funny when Shadow Kirby (or whatever his name is) appeared, the battle music barely started before he was gone again. ;) Nothing to complain about - a quality run.
My published movies [03:45:05] <Naohiro19> Soulrivers: ... [03:45:19] <Soulrivers> ? [03:46:35] <Naohiro19> <Soulrivers> No! <Naohiro19> So? <Soulrivers> Yes! [03:46:48] <Naohiro19> joke
Posted: 8/8/2007 2:00 PM
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shallow
Joined: 10/16/2006
Posts: 174
I think it should be noted that the Japanese version is called Hoshi no Kirby: Kagami no Daimeikyū. Just in case anyone had a hard time finding it. Will watch the movie later.
Posted: 8/8/2007 9:48 PM
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Kles
Joined: 7/28/2005
Posts: 339
Entertaining and well done. Easy yes.
Posted: 8/9/2007 1:45 AM
(Edited: 8/9/2007 8:46 PM)
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Comicalflop
Editor, Experienced player (735)
Joined: 6/13/2006
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I've seen KatAM on youtube a few times, so I knew what to expect... still, I was constantly surprised by how fast paced this game is, and what a good choice for a TAS it makes. Very entertaining, yes vote. edit: I noticed that sliding is faster than running, which is used a lot as basic movement before abilities can be obtained but is still very very slow... I'm curious if there's a normal faster form of movement, it looked like jumping, floating, and releasing a puff of air led to a significant horizontal boost, which I noticed most when you were doing some quick door transitions that were above ground. So maybe jump, float, puff, then some way to preserve that speed, or keep floating and puffing?
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Posted: 8/9/2007 5:44 PM
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MUGG
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Joined: 5/15/2007
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Kirby & The Amazing Mirror TAS with minigame 240 hits
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Posted: 8/9/2007 10:17 PM
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Sir_VG
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240?! WOWSERS. And I thought my 115 personal record was good. ^^ And the little addition, while it adds time to the video, I consider it a fair trade-off for entertainment. Anybody that attempts to obsolete this run MUST include the credits mini-game, IMO.
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
Posted: 8/10/2007 5:14 PM
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MUGG
Editor, Expert player (2372)
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comicalflop wrote:
I'm curious if there's a normal faster form of movement, it looked like jumping, floating, and releasing a puff of air led to a significant horizontal boost
Where exactly did you notice that? Jumping/floating is like running on the ground and is slower than sliding, sliding is the fastest way to move horizontal. There is no boost after releasing a puff. You just gain your normal horizontal speed again.
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Posted: 8/10/2007 7:02 PM
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Xaphan
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Joined: 5/24/2005
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Really loved it... good job
Not dead yet... still very busy... damn...
Posted: 8/10/2007 9:07 PM
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Comicalflop
Editor, Experienced player (735)
Joined: 6/13/2006
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Speedy TAS of 2009
I could have sworn that in some places I saw some float techniques that were faster than normal sliding, I'm not going senile (I hope.) I'll try to find a frame number where it happens...
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Posted: 8/13/2007 6:08 AM
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Naohiro19
Joined: 12/29/2006
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Location: Japan, Anjo
I vote "Yes".
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Posted: 8/15/2007 5:42 PM
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adelikat
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This is the most entertaining kirby movie I have seen. It is also the only one of a reasonable movie length. Easy yes vote. EDIT: oh, and the mini-game during the credits = pwnage. Major style points for including it.
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Posted: 8/15/2007 6:31 PM
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Xkeeper
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I give this movie ten billion out of ten. (i.e. "I think I've found a new favorite all-time movie")
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Posted: 8/15/2007 10:08 PM
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JXQ
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Colorful, great music, fast gameplay, a nice variety of powers, good style - this just kicked ass through and through.
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Posted: 8/15/2007 10:57 PM
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VANDAL
Experienced player (614)
Joined: 4/24/2005
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Quite a few people have really enjoyed this run so I thought, what the hell. Even though I'm not that big a fan of Kirby I can say that this movie was great. It is colorful, sounds good, and overall enjoyable from start to finish. Boss fights were just hilarious. Probably one of the more redeeming games in the GBA library. Very nice movie MUGG, a very nice movie indeed. Yes vote.
Posted: 8/16/2007 10:07 AM
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Yrr
Joined: 8/10/2006
Posts: 289
Location: Germany, Bayern
Man, I loved this already for my gba. It is good that you used many different abilities and the game itself has a variety of different places, so it never gets boring. This is what a TAS should look like! *yes*
Posted: 8/20/2007 1:41 PM
Post subject: Movie published
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TASVideoAgent
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This movie has been published. The posts before this message apply to the submission, and posts after this message apply to the published movie. ---- [947] GBA Kirby & the Amazing Mirror by MUGG in 26:18.69
Posted: 8/21/2007 12:21 PM
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AngerFist
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Joined: 4/21/2004
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Fast paced, full of action, I enjoyed it. Probably the best Kirby game I have seen so far. Late yes vote.
Nitrogenesis wrote:
Guys I come from the DidyKnogRacist communite, and you are all wrong, tihs is the run of the mileniun and everyone who says otherwise dosnt know any bater! I found this run vary ease to masturbate too!!!! Don't fuck with me, I know this game so that mean I'm always right!StupedfackincommunityTASVideoz!!!!!!
Arc wrote:
I enjoyed this movie in which hands firmly gripping a shaft lead to balls deep in multiple holes.
natt wrote:
I don't want to get involved in this discussion, but as a point of fact C# is literally the first goddamn thing on that fucking page you linked did you even fucking read it
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Posted: 8/27/2007 9:02 PM
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PirateFaafy
Joined: 8/27/2007
Posts: 2
Location: Jamaica
Definitely worth the wait for the download! *dial-up for the lose* On a scale of one to ten, this movie gets a 10++!
The above post was not intended to offend any person and/or group of persons and can not be held liable for such. Unless that was what I was going for.
Posted: 3/12/2008 11:13 AM
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Sir_VG
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And a breakable wall which was on the way to Area 4: Moustard Mountain in USA and European version isn't there yet.
I know what wall he's referring to now, and going back and playing the game again in the Japanese version, that wall IS there. He just got lucky and Green Kirby was in the room, and he destroyed the wall before the runner got there. Mystery of the non-existent wall solved.
Taking over the world, one game at a time. Currently TASing: Nothing
Posted: 3/12/2008 3:03 PM
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MUGG
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Ah and I was actually thinking, the game didn't load that section because Kirby was too fast... ^^
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