Kirby & The Amazing Mirror - Gameplay

Gameplay

Unlike other Kirby games, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror features a maze layout, and is traversed in a style similar to the Metroid and Castlevania games. The game map branches out in several directions and, providing Kirby has the proper power at his disposal, he is able to go anywhere in almost any order, excluding the final sequence. If the player gains access to all mirrors (excluding the one the player is collecting shards for), they will be able to access a new mirror full of Copy Pedestals for their use.

The player explores the worlds, solving puzzles, defeating enemies, and collecting items. Occasionally, a sub-boss will be encountered, at which point the screen will lock into place until the boss is defeated. Swallowing a sub-boss after defeat usually grants a rare or exclusive copy ability. Sub bosses are: Mr. Frosty (misspelled as "Mr. Flosty"): Ice ability. Bonkers: Hammer ability. Phan Phan: Throw ability. Batafire: Burning ability. Boxy: Magic ability. Master Hand: Smash Ability. Waddle Dee (Arena only): N/A. Bombar: Missile ability. Box Boxer: Fighter ability. At the end of worlds 2-9 is a boss which the player must defeat to place another shard in the broken mirror in the Mirror Room. Before each boss is an antechamber where there is no music, for dramatic effect. The player respawns there and there are usually items hidden around it for healing before the fight as well as copy pedestals. The player will also occasionally encounter "rest areas" of sorts, where the music reverts to the music from the Mirror Room. There is usually an item and a copy pedestal or two in these areas as well. Some rest areas are part of a system linking back to the Mirror Room, and can be connected via giant buttons that are usually in the room itself, but are occasionally somewhere else in the world.

The player can collect various items to improve in-game performance, such as extra health points and lives, food to replenish health, and batteries for the Cellphone. The game also features two other collectibles: music sheets, which act as a sound test mode once the music player item is found, and spray paint, which can be used to recolor the player's Kirby. Both can be accessed from the main menu. There are also three minigames accessible from the menu, which support single player and multiplayer:

• A game in which the four Kirbys are seated around a covered platter. Once the lid is whisked away at a random time, the fastest person to press the A button and suck in the food on the platter is filled up more (measured by a gauge above each Kirby). The four apples on each platter can be distributed as 4 to one Kirby, 3 to one and 1 to another, etc. If a player hits A before the lid is taken off, they are eliminated for that round. Occasionally, there will be rotten fruit on the platter, and the Kirbys that eat it will be knocked out for the next round.
• A game in which the four Kirbys are challenged to break a rock as much as they can, in a similar style to a microgame from Kirby Super Star. There is a colored meter that fills and drains continuously, challenging the player to hit it while it is as full as it can be. Additionally, while the Kirbys are in the air, the player can attempt to line up two sets of crossshairs beneath Kirby and on the rock for added force. If a player is perfect, they will achieve 999 meters and a zoomed shot of the earth will be shown, with the stadium on the daytime side and an upside-down nighttime landscape.
• A game in which the Kirbys race over a water track that varies in length and complexity depending on the difficulty setting. For a speed boost, the player can jump off of ramps placed on the track. The strength of the boost and the grade awarded for the jump are determined by the player's timing.

The game also features multiplayer, and the player can call other players or CPU-controlled Kirbys to the location with an in-game cell phone. The three other Kirbys are CPUs by default, but connecting to another GBA (which must also have an "Amazing Mirror" cartridge in it) allows for co-op multiplayer for enhanced teamwork and faster completion. There are several new powers in 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 abilities he had in 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.