Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, known in Japan as 星のカービィ 鏡の大迷宮 (Hoshi no Kābī Kagami no Daimeikyū, meaning Kirby of the Stars: The Great Labyrinth of the Mirror), is a video game in the Kirby series released in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. This is the only game in which Kirby has to save Meta Knight, the only game to feature a boss (mini-boss in this game) from the Super Smash Bros. series, the only game in which King Dedede doesn't appear in and is Kirby's last game for the Game Boy Advance.

This game has been re-released in Europe for Club Nintendo members only.

At the time of release, Club Nintendo Japan members can apply for a copy of the limited-production Kirby & the Amazing Mirror Sound Plus, a "best-of Kirby" audio compilation.

Intro
At the part where the logos come up, the four Kirbys are being chased by every single enemy and mini-boss in the game except for Glunk and Blipper. Pink Kirby trips and get trampled by all the enemies (although a Giant Rocky slammed down on him purposely). When all the enemies run by, Kirby crouches down. He peeks up to make sure everyone is gone and he runs after them.

Story
There is a parallel universe called the Mirror World, with an entrance (that is like a mirror) that exists high in the skies of Dream Land. It is a world where any wish reflected in the mirror will come true. But one day, it only copies evil minds, and rapidly changes into a world of evil as a result. Meta Knight notices this and recognizes this as a threat to not only the Mirror World itself, but also to his native Dream Land, and visits the Mirror World to save the two worlds.

Meanwhile, Kirby is taking a walk, when Dark Meta Knight - an evil Mirror World version of Meta Knight - appears. But before Kirby can react, Dark Meta Knight slices Kirby into four differently-colored "Kirbys". At this point, they have to share the same Warp Star. Kirby normally travels alone, but if his cell phone is working, he can call his friends and they will help him. The four Kirbys chase after Dark Meta Knight and enter the Mirror World.

The two Meta Knights fight each other, but the real Meta Knight is defeated. He is knocked into the mirror, which is then cut into 8 fragments by Dark Meta Knight (which are then scattered across the Mirror World) - so now it's up to Kirby and his new "clones" to save Meta Knight, the Mirror World, and Dream Land...

...So, they decide to venture through the Mirror World, collect the mirror shards and reunite them, so they can gain access to the area where Meta Knight is being held and defeat Dark Meta Knight (and also to defeat the mastermind behind the whole thing, Dark Mind). At the end, it shows that all the Kirbys have their own Warp Stars, showing that they are heroes in their own right.

Gameplay
Unlike other Kirby games, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror features a maze layout (in a fashion similar to the Metroid and Hebereke games). It is very nonlinear, allowing the player to explore the Mirror World freely. The game map branches out in several directions, similar to certain areas of The Great Cave Offensive, and, providing Kirby has the proper power at his disposal, he is able to go anywhere in almost any order, excluding the final level. If the player gains access to all mirrors (excluding the mirror the player is collecting shards for), they will be able to access a new mirror full of Copy Pedestals for their use.

The game also features multiplayer, which is available through using a Multi-Pak and the player can call other players or CPU-controlled Kirbys to the location with an in-game cell phone. There are several new powers in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, such as Cupid (called Angel in the Japanese version), which allows Kirby to fly around with wings and a halo and fire arrows, Missile, which turns Kirby into a missile that can be guided in any direction and will explode on contact with a wall or an enemy, or when the B button is hit, and Smash, which gives Kirby the abilites he had on Super Smash Bros. Melee. Also, in this version, Kirby's ability to inhale various things has more limits as seen by his mouth expanding until he needs to exhale.

The bosses and areas in the game appear to be mirrored versions of those in Kirby's Adventure / Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror shares some gameplay elements with the Four Swords series of Zelda games, in that the players, at times, must work together to overcome obstacles.

Also, Master Hand from Super Smash Bros. appeared as Mini Boss and with Crazy Hand, an actual boss.

Levels

 * Rainbow Route
 * Moonlight Mansion
 * Cabbage Cavern
 * Mustard Mountain
 * Carrot Castle
 * Olive Ocean
 * Peppermint Palace
 * Radish Ruins
 * Candy Constellation

Mini-games

 * Crackity Hack
 * Speed Eaters
 * Kirby's Wave Ride
 * Boss Endurance - Unlocked by beating the game once

Goal Game
Kirby flies through an area on the Warp Star filled with 1UPs and various types of food. The goal is to collect what is desired while avoiding obstructions in the form of concrete blocks before time runs out. If one of the blocks is hit, control will be lost for about a second, although Kirby takes no damage.

References to Other Media

 * Kirby's Adventure/Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land: Many bosses in this game are counterparts of the bosses from Adventure and Nightmare in Dream Land, such as King Golem, Wiz, and Dark Mind for example. Also, this game's graphics (which were reused in Squeak Squad and [to a much lesser extent] Super Star Ultra) come straight from Nightmare in Dream Land.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee: Master Hand appears as a mini-boss giving the "Smash" ability (giving Kirby his Melee moveset) and later appears as a boss along with Crazy Hand. Both fight exactly the same way as they do in the Smash Bros. series, with some slight differences.
 * Multiple, different-colored Kirbies have previously appeared in Kirby's Dream Course, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby Air Ride. This game is considered the origin of the multiple Kirbies. The four Kirbies have recently appeared together in the new Kirby Super Star Ultra minigames.
 * Putt-Putt series In this game, Kirby's colors can be changed like Putt-Putt's color can be in his own games.

Reception
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror was generally met with good reviews, receiving an average of 80/100 on Metacritic.com.


 * Game Rankings - 78%
 * IGN - 8/10 (Impressive)
 * GameSpot - 8.2/10 (Great)
 * GameSpy - 4/5
 * Nintendo Power - 4/5 (Great)
 * 1UP.com - 8/10
 * X-Play - 3/5 (Good)

Trivia

 * This game's engine was built upon Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. Some differences include the 4-player co-op mode being greatly expanded and some abilities being fixed and no longer giving lag time.
 * Ironically, the Mirror ability is not in the game.
 * This game is very similar to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, in that Link has clones in that game, and each have a unique color, etc.
 * Kracko, the boss of Mustard Mountain, is the only boss not to be a mirror counterpart of a boss.
 * If remakes are considered canon, this game might be considered a prequel to Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, as the multiple Kirbys are established and King Dedede is not in the game (as his previous defeat was in Kirby's Dream Land). Not counting remakes, however, there's little else to suggest the series doesn't take place in release date order.