Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

US box
PAL box
JP box
US logo
JP logo

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

Title (JP)

星のカービィ鏡の大迷宮 (Hoshi no Kābī Kagami no Dai Meikyū)

- Translates to

Kirby of the Stars: The Great Labyrinth of the Mirror
星のカービィ = Kirby of the Stars, 鏡 = Mirror, の = of, 大 = Great, 迷宮 = Labyrinth

Developer

HAL Laboratory
Flagship
Dimps

Publisher

Nintendo

Release

Game Boy Advance^[1]

April 15, 2004

July 2, 2004
October 18, 2004

- Re-release(s)

Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console

December 15, 2011

December 16, 2011

December 16, 2011
December 16, 2011
Wii U Virtual Console
April 3, 2014

April 10, 2014

Genre

2D Platformer

Mode(s)

Single player, Multiplayer (co-op)

Rating

MSRP (launch)

$29.99^[2]

Platform(s)

Game Boy Advance
Nintendo 3DS/Wii U (Virtual Console)

“

In this game, players didn't have to defeat stages in a specific, preset order. Instead, they were able to freely explore the game's vast new world and choose their own paths to victory. Along the way, Kirby could call his yellow, red, and green Kirby buddies for help by using his trusty cell phone. Kirby could also use new powers. One of them, Smash, was an incredible combat ability that let Kirby unleash his Super Smash Bros. moves.”

— Summary • Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror is a platformer Kirby game developed by HAL Laboratory, Flagship, and Dimps and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It was first released on April 15, 2004 in Japan, on July 2, 2004 in Europe, and on October 18, 2004 in North America, and was the last Kirby game released for the Game Boy Advance. At the time of its release, Club Nintendo Japan members could apply for a copy of the limited-production Kirby & The Amazing Mirror Sound Plus, a "best of" audio compilation.

In the summer of 2011, this game was re-released during the Ambassador program promotion, and was given to certain people for free in the Nintendo 3DS online shop. This game has also been re-released in Europe for Club Nintendo members only. Kirby & The Amazing Mirror has also been re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console in April 2014. Kirby & The Amazing Mirror is also notable for being the last Kirby title with the credited involvement of the series' creator Masahiro Sakurai.

Intro

The four Kirbys are being chased by every single enemy and mid-boss in the game except for Glunk, Blipper, Foley, Jack, Snapper, Gordo, Mirra, Noddy, Shotzo, Sir Kibble, Sparky, and Shadow Kirby. Pink Kirby trips and gets 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

“

High in the skies above Dream Land floats the Mirror World. In this strange and beautiful land, mirrors have the power to make any wishes reflected in them come true. One day, a sinister presence invaded the Mirror World, and its mirrors could only reflect bad things. When Meta Knight discovered what was happening, he set off to save the Mirror World.

Meanwhile, down in the peaceful Dream Land, Kirby was enjoying a leisurely walk. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a familiar shadow appeared! It looked like Meta Knight, but something seemed different. Without warning, the shadowy Meta Knight lunged at the daydreaming Kirby!

What happened next, you ask? Well, Meta Knight's sword split Kirby into four, each one a different color! Meta Knight took off into the sky, and all four Kirbys hopped onto a Warpstar to chase after him! And that's where our adventure really begins!”

— The Adventure Begins • Kirby & The Amazing Mirror Instruction Booklet

There is a land called the Mirror World that exists high in the skies of Dream Land. It is a world where any wish reflected in the mirror will come true. One day, however, it only copies evil minds, and rapidly changes the world 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. Before Kirby can react, Dark Meta Knight slices Kirby into four differently-colored Kirbys. At this point, the Kirbys have to share the same Warp Star. 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 Dimension Mirror, which is then cut into eight fragments by Dark Meta Knight. Those fragments are then scattered across the Mirror World. It's up to Kirby and his new friends to save Meta Knight, the Mirror World, and Dream Land.

The Kirbys decide to venture through the Mirror World, and they collect and reunite the Mirror Shards, so that they can gain access to the area where Meta Knight is being held and defeat Dark Meta Knight (as well as the mastermind behind the events of the game, Dark Mind). At the end, all the Kirbys have their own Warp Stars, showing that they are each heroes in their own right.

Gameplay

Unlike other Kirby games, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror features a metroidvania-esque open world to explore. 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 Dimension Mirror), they will be able to access a mirror to the Copy Ability Room.

One of the game's core mechanics is the implementation of Treasure Chests spread out across the world, allowing Kirby to unlock music tracks, Spray Paint, and maps for the game's areas, as well as healing items and batteries for the Kirbys' cell phones. Opening all treasure chests, regardless of their contents, is required for 100%.

The game also features up to four-player multiplayer, and the players can call other Kirbys to their location with an in-game Cell Phone. There are several new abilities in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, such as Cupid, which allows Kirby to fly around with wings 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 as well as on command, and Smash, which gives Kirby the moveset he had in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Kirby's ability to inhale has also been enhanced, making him capable of the super inhale.

Many bosses and areas in the game appear to be Mirror World versions of those found in Kirby's Adventure/Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land.

Multiplayer

The game supports multiplayer, with up to four players. Each player plays as a member of Kirby's species. Player 1 is Kirby, Player 2 is a Yellow Kirby, Player 3 is a Red Kirby, and Player 4 is a Green Kirby. If other players have obtained Spray Paints before starting the game, colors can be switched beforehand.

Story Mode and Boss Endurance are cooperative modes; the remaining three sub-games are competitive modes. No player characters have any differentiation in their abilities, nor do their Copy Abilities.

Before starting the game, each player chooses a file on their respective Kirby & The Amazing Mirror Game Paks. After each player selects the multiplayer option (assuming all systems are connected accordingly), players will then choose to which Game Pak the data will be saved to.

When pressing the R button to call other players with the Cell Phone, the other players have the option to respond to that call by pressing R, warping them to the location of the Kirby that called. Bosses and mid-bosses have more health when playing with multiple players, encouraging players to call and work together to take them down. If a player loses all of their lives, they have the option to borrow one life from another player to continue with their current progress, or can opt not to borrow lives and return to the Central Circle with the default number of lives remaining.

Copy Abilities

Beam	Bomb	Burning	Cook	Crash	Cupid

Cutter	Fighter	Fire	Hammer	Ice	Laser	Magic
Master	Mini	Missile	Parasol	Sleep	Smash	Spark

Stone	Sword	Throw	Tornado	UFO	Wheel

Levels

Sub-games

Crackity Hack
Speed Eaters
Kirby's Wave Ride
Boss Endurance - Unlocked when the game file played is 100%

Goal Game

Kirby flies through an area on the Warp Star filled with 1UPs, batteries, 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.

Characters

The following section contains transcluded content from the Database. Source: (view • edit • help)

Bosses

Mid-Bosses

Enemies

Music

Main article: Kirby & The Amazing Mirror/Music

Glitches

Main article: Glitch#Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

Reception

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

Game Rankings - 77.54%^[3]
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)

Transcript

Main article: Kirby & The Amazing Mirror (transcript)

In Other Languages

The meaning of Kirby & The Amazing Mirror’s name varies significantly throughout other languages. In Japanese, it is 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. Its German name, Kirby & die wundersame Spiegelwelt, being Kirby & The Amazing Mirror World, is more similar to the English name. The Spanish name, Kirby y el Laberinto de los Espejos, the French name, Kirby et le Labyrinthe des Miroirs, and the Italian name, Kirby e il Labirinto degli Specchi, all resemble the Japanese name, translating to Kirby & The Labyrinth of the Mirror. Finally, the Chinese name is 星之卡比镜之迷宫 (Xīngzhī kǎbǐ jìng zhī mígōng), meaning, as with other names, Kirby of the Stars: The Labyrinth of the Mirror.

Related Quotes

“	Kirby when he is skilled in martial arts, especially close-quarters combat. Inhaling brawny challengers like Knuckle Joe will transform Kirby, allowing him to use a bunch of fight moves like Rising Break, the heroic uppercut. His Mega Power Shot in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, which used charged energy to take out faraway enemies, is another Fighter Kirby highlight.”
	— Fighter Kirby trophy description • Super Smash Bros. Brawl

“	Kirby when he inhales an enemy who uses fire. Shooting fire from his mouth, Fire Kirby can cook enemies from afar. This ability also allows Kirby to light explosive blocks, fuses, and so on. In Kirby Super Star and Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Fire Kirby can roll his burning body into enemies as an attack move.”
	— Fire Kirby trophy description • Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Staff

Main article: List of Kirby & The Amazing Mirror Staff

Trivia

As with numerous Kirby games, the Japanese box art depicts Kirby as happy and the American box art as "angry." However, the Kirby on the American box art is identical to the Red Kirby on the Japanese box art, albeit with the color change; likewise, the Red Kirby on the American box art is the same as normal Kirby on the Japanese box art, color aside.
This game's engine was built upon Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land’s engine. Some differences include the 4-player co-op mode being greatly expanded and some abilities being fixed and no longer giving the remake's lag time.
This game is very similar to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, as in that game Link has three clones that have appeared because of a sword (each with a unique color). Also, four Kirbys have to work together to overcome obstacles, as with Links.
This is the first game in which Kirby has to save Meta Knight; the second game which Kirby has to save Meta Knight is Kirby: Planet Robobot.
This is the only game to feature a boss (also a mid-boss in this game) from the Super Smash Bros. series.
This is the first game in which King Dedede does not make an appearance; the second game in which King Dedede does not appear is Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, though he does appear as a figurine in the latter.
Ironically, the Mirror ability is not in the game.
Most of the time, the other Kirbys may get a random ability when the main Kirby is in another place.
This game was available for Nintendo 3DS owners in North America who purchased their 3DSs before the price dropped as one of the several games in the Ambassador program.
Kirby can have up to 255 lives from collecting 1UPs, but the maximum the life meter will show is 99.
Strangely, Meta Knight can instantly be called in by the Magic ability to attack for each Kirby, even though he is supposed to be trapped in the Dimension Mirror.
Burning, Mini, Missile, Smash, and Stone are the only non-limited use, non-final weapon abilities to not reappear in Kirby: Squeak Squad.
The mid-boss theme of this game is a remix of the music used for the Egg Catcher sub-game, the Arena, and the mini-boss theme from Kirby's Adventure.
In the Music Room in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror is represented by an image of the Dimension Mirror.
Kirby & The Amazing Mirror is arguably the longest Kirby game of the series, and it also has the most levels in a Kirby game.
Kirby's phone sound is the extra life sound effect/Adventures of Lolo’s power-up activation sound effect.
This was the first Kirby game to be developed by Flagship.