SDA Knowledge Base - User contributions [en]

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Routes

2016-03-27T17:50:21Z

Kirbymastah:

{{contents}}
This page contains details about routes to use for both any% and 100% speedrunning categories. Routes in KRtDL mainly includes when to obtain which abilities, when to discared them, and so on, because level progression itself is linear and cannot be done out of order. Furthermore, since the game auto-saves, whole-game runs should almost always be done single-segmented.

__TOC__
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== Any% Main Mode ==

Note: The Any% route is very straightforward and simple, because Wing is the best overall ability in this game for speedrunning purposes, due to it having the best horizontal mobility in the game, second best vertical speed, excellent downward speed, much invincibility, amazing maneuverability, and excellent DPS for defeating bosses and minibosses.

Level 1-1
*Cutter - First Sir Kibble in first room
*Fire - First Hot Head in second room
*Wing - Mix from three Sir Kibbles in third room, past the Ultra Sword Knight

Note: If the player does not wish to mix, then the player can keep Fire until Level 1-4, then obtain Wing from the hidden HAL room.

From here on out, the player should ideally keep Wing for the rest of the game. To keep it through Grand Doomer and Magolor, the Ultra Sword Animation Skip needs to be used.

Due to how overpowered Wing is, and the simplistic nature of any%, it may seem like it is very easy to keep wing the entire game. It is surprisingly difficult to do so, seeing as a small mistake can cost the player the Wing ability, and in the midst of races, the player should have back-up strats.

If Wing is lost, the next best abilities for speedrunning, in order of priority, are:
1. Tornado
2. Fire
3. Water
4. Parasol / Hi-Jump / Ninja

This is not set in stone, and varies depending on the level you are in. For example, if much aerial movement is needed, then water is near useless.

Also, know where there are mixing opportunities. Key mixing opportunities can be found [http://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Kirby%27s_Return_to_Dream_Land#Mixing_Mechanics here]

== 100% Main Mode 1-Player ==

For the sake of simplicity, this route assumes the player roughly knows where each energy sphere (ES) is.

=== Level 1 - Cookie Country ===

Level 1-1:
* Cutter - First Sir Kibble
* Fire - Second Room, first Hot Head
* ES1
* Ultra Sword
* Fire - before Sphere Doomer
* ES2, ES3

Level 1-2:
* Fire - Start
* ES4, ES5
* Sword - Gigant Edge, but carry the Fire Ability
* ES6 with Sword, then recycle Fire

Level 1-3:
* Fire - Start, keep the entire level
* ES7, ES8, ES9

Level 1-4:
* Fire - Start
* ES10
* Invincible Candy - Second Room
* ES11
* Monster Flame
* Leaf - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES12, ES13

Level 1 Boss:
* Spark - Start
* Fire - Ability Stand
* Get Ship Part

=== Level 2 - Raisin Ruins ===

Level 2-1:
* Fire - Start
* ES14, ES15
* Invincible Candy
* ES16 by plowing through metal blocks with Burn

Level 2-2:
* Fire - Start
* Stone - Second room, Rocky on second downhill-right slope, before the stake
* ES17
* Water - Third room, first Water Galbo
* ES18
* Flare Beam
* Parasol - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES19, ES20

Level 2-3:
* Parasol - Start
* Tornado - Third room, Ability Stand before Energy Sphere
* ES21
* Hi-Jump – Starman after room with ES20
* ES22
* Fire - Ability Stand, after the Hi-Jump room
* Beam - King Doo
* ES23, ES24

Level 2-4:
* Beam - Start
* Fire - Second Room, first Flamer
* ES25 by leaving a Burning Flame on the switch to skip using bomb
* ES26, ES27
* Ultra Sword
* Cutter - Before Sphere Doomer; as the fight starts, discard cutter and use it and the star blocks as projectiles to spit, because cutter and sword are both very weak against air
* ES28, ES29

Level 2 Boss:
* Water - Ability Stand
* Get Ship Part

=== Level 3 - Onion Ocean ===

Level 3-1
* Water - Start
* Tornado - Third room, first twister
* ES30
* Snow Bowl
* Tornado - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES31, ES32

Level 3-2:
* Tornado - Start
* Cutter - Kibble Blade, but carry the Tornado Ability
* ES33 by cutting the rope, lose cutter, and recycle Tornado
* Spear – Third Room, from the pierce (bee enemy)
* ES34, ES35
* ES36 by poking the blocks through the wall on the left with Spear

Level 3-3:
* Spear - Start
* Water – Fourth Room, Water Galbo, before Moundo
* Stone - Moundo
* ES37
* ES38
* Monster Flame
* Parasol - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES39, ES40

Level 3-4:
* Parasol - Start
* ES41
* Invincible Candy – Door in Third Room
* ES42
* Spear – Ability Stand in Fourth Main Room (with the spike balls)
* ES43, ES44, ES45

Level 3 Boss:
* Spear - Start
* Parasol - Ability Stand

=== Level 4 - White Wafers ===

Level 4-1:
* Parasol - Start
* Fire - First room, first fire galbo
* ES46, ES47, ES48

Level 4-2:
* Fire - Start
* ES49, ES50
* Grand Hammer
* Ninja - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES51, ES52

Level 4-3:
* Ninja - Start
* Spear - Lanzer right before first door
* ES53
* Needle - Third room from Needlous at the top of the first slope
* Fire - Fire Galbo after clear crystal, at the top of the second slope
* ES54
* Cutter - Sir Kibble in start of Fourth Room
* ES55
* Ice - Chilly right after exiting room with ES55
* Water - Water Galboros
* ES56

Level 4-4:
* Water - Start
* ES57, ES58
* Snow Bowl
* Bomb - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES59, ES60

Level 4-5:
* Bomb - Start
* Ice - Chilly right in front of you
* ES61
* Fire - Fire Galbo at end of the room outside ES61
* ES62, ES63, ES64

Level 4 Boss:
* Fire - Start
* Ninja - Ability Stand

=== Level 5 - Nutty Noon ===

Level 5-1:
* Ninja - Start
* Wing - Second Room, first Owgulf
* ES65, ES66, ES67, ES68

Level 5-2:
* Wing - Start
* ES69, stand on the switch, wait for the door to fully open, then condor head at low height to skip using bomb
* Stone - Moundo, but carry the Wing Ability
* ES70 by pounding the appropriate stakes, and recycle Wing immediately
* Flare Beam
* Parasol - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES71, ES72

Level 5-3:
* Parasol - Start
* ES73
* ES74, hit the bomb block through the wall with a parasol swing
* Hi-Jump – Starman in Fifth Room
* ES75
* Wing - Last Room
* ES76

Level 5-4:
* Wing - Start
* ES77, ES78
* Grand Hammer
* Spear - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES79, ES80
* Fighter - Knuckle Joe, last room

Level 5-5:
* Fighter - Start
* Sword - Gigant Edge
* ES81
* Stone - Moundo
* ES82
* Beam - Waddle Doo before Water Galboros fight
* Water - Water Galboros
* ES83
* Spark - Dubior
* ES84

Level 5 Boss:
* Spark - Start
* Wing - Ability Stand; use the ultra-sword animation skip to keep Wing

=== Level 6 - Egg Engines ===

Level 6-1:
* Wing - Start
* ES85
* Monster Flame
* Ninja - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES86, ES87

Level 6-2:
* Ninja - Start
* Fire – Flamer in Second Room (careful not to accidentally mix)
* Water - Pluid in END of Third Room
* ES88
* Stone - Rocky in Fifth Room, with the cannons
* ES89

Here, there are two ability routes you can take from here on out.

Mix:
* Wing - mix from the three crash enemies the room after ES89
* Spark - Dubior, but recycle Wing
* ES90, eat the recycled Wing.
* ES 91

Non-mix (or backup):
* Mike – Walky in End of Room after Underwater Room
* Spark - Dubior
* ES90, ES91

Level 6-3 (note: If you mixed for wing, keep it the entire level until Flare Beam):
* Spark - Start
* ES92
* Parasol - Parasol Dee in third room, before King Doo & Moundo Fight
* ES93
* Flare Beam
* Hammer - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES94, ES95

Level 6-4:
* Hammer - Start
* ES96, ES97
* Parasol - Ability Stand in third room which has water
* ES98 by firing Kibble Blade's body at the switch
* ES99
* Spark - Sparky in the dark room with the energy sphere, but carry the Parasol
* ES100 then recycle Parasol

Level 6-5:
* Parasol - Start
* Fire - Fire Galbo in first room
* ES101
* Wing - Owgulf in second room
* ES102, ES103, ES104, ES105

Level 6 Boss:
* Wing - Start

=== Level 7 - Dangerous Dinner ===

Level 7-1:
* Wing - Start
* ES106
* Water - Water Galboros
* ES107
* Tornado - First twister in the room after E107
* ES108
* Snow Bowl
* Whip - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES109, ES110

Level 7-2:
* Whip - Start
* Crash
* ES111
* Get Ninja if you drop crash in Second Room
* ES112 using Crash
* Hi-Jump – Starman Third Room
* ES113
* Fire - Fire Galboros in room with falling ceiling
* Grand Hammer
* Leaf - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES114, ES115
* Mix (Player should try to go for Wing via home-menu pausing, but if it lands on Fire or Tornado, those will work fine too)

Level 7-3:
* Whatever was Mixed last level - Start (if not Wing/Fire/Tornado, get Fighter from the Knuckle Joe in the first screen)
* ES116
* Stone - Rocky, right after ES116
* Ice - Fourth room, before Dubior
* Parasol - Start of room after Dubior
* Wing - almost right after getting Parasol, at the top of the room
* ES117, ES118
* Ultra Sword
* Water - Before Sphere Doomers
* ES119, ES120, All energy spheres collected!

=== Challenge Rooms ===

Order: Water, Bomb, Hi-Jump, Sword, Whip, Item, Wing

The ideal order is listed above, as it minimizes travel time between ability rooms, starts with one of two ability rooms that is closest to the entrance, and ends with Wing which is ideal for fighting the last stretch of bosses. Remember that for 100% main mode completion, challenge room ranks do not matter, so just clear the rooms as quickly as possible and ignore getting the coins.

=== End-Game ===

Landia: Fight with Wing.

Alternate Dimension: Auto-Scroller, don't get yourself killed by messing around too much.

Lor: Spam Spiral Dragons (Press 2) for the most consistent strat. Spamming Burst Breaths (Hold 1, then release) is barely faster than Spiral Dragons but is much more difficult and only works if every single star (including the small ones) hits and the shots are timed near frame-perfectly, so it is hardly consistent.

Magolor: Wing, keep it at the end by using the Ultra-Sword Finishing Animation Skip.

Magolor's Soul: Start and Finish the game with Wing.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/100% Main Mode

2016-03-04T15:15:57Z

Kirbymastah: /* Route */

= Current Fastest Time =

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv9xMoAISJc 2:47:07 by Kirbymastah]

= Definition =

The 100% Main Mode definition uses the in-game definition:

* Un-ranked completion of all seven challenge rooms
* All 120 energy spheres (which the above requires you to do anyways)
* Defeating Magolor Soul in Main Mode
* Arena, True Arena, and Extra Mode are NOT part of the Main Mode 100% definition

= Route =

For the sake of simplicity, this route assumes the player roughly knows where each energy sphere (ES) is.

== Single Player ==

=== Level 1 - Cookie Country ===

Level 1-1:
* Cutter - First Sir Kibble
* Fire - Second Room, first Hot Head
* ES1
* Ultra Sword
* Fire - before Sphere Doomer
* ES2, ES3

Level 1-2:
* Fire - Start
* ES4, ES5
* Sword - Gigant Edge, but carry the Fire Ability
* ES6 with Sword, then recycle Fire

Level 1-3:
* Fire - Start, keep the entire level
* ES7, ES8, ES9

Level 1-4:
* Fire - Start
* ES10
* Invincible Candy - Second Room
* ES11
* Monster Flame
* Spark - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES12, ES13

Level 1 Boss:
* Spark - Start
* Fire - Ability Stand
* Get Ship Part

=== Level 2 - Raisin Ruins ===

Level 2-1:
* Fire - Start
* ES14, ES15
* Invincible Candy
* ES16 by plowing through metal blocks with Burn

Level 2-2:
* Fire - Start
* Stone - Second room, Rocky on second downhill-right slope, before the stake
* ES17
* Water - Third room, first Water Galbo
* ES18
* Flare Beam
* Parasol - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES19, ES20

Level 2-3:
* Parasol - Start
* Tornado - Third room, Ability Stand before Energy Sphere
* ES21
* Hi-Jump – Starman after room with ES20
* ES22
* Fire - Ability Stand, after the Hi-Jump room
* Beam - King Doo
* ES23, ES24

Level 2-4:
* Beam - Start
* Fire - Second Room, first Flamer
* ES25 by leaving a Burning Flame on the switch to skip using bomb
* ES26, ES27
* Ultra Sword
* Cutter - Before Sphere Doomer; as the fight starts, discard cutter and use it and the star blocks as projectiles to spit, because cutter and sword are both very weak against air
* ES28, ES29

Level 2 Boss:
* Water - Ability Stand
* Get Ship Part

=== Level 3 - Onion Ocean ===

Level 3-1
* Water - Start
* Tornado - Third room, first twister
* ES30
* Snow Bowl
* Tornado - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES31, ES32

Level 3-2:
* Tornado - Start
* Cutter - Kibble Blade, but carry the Tornado Ability
* ES33 by cutting the rope, lose cutter, and recycle Tornado
* Spear – Third Room, from the pierce (bee enemy)
* ES34, ES35
* ES36 by poking the blocks through the wall on the left with Spear

Level 3-3:
* Spear - Start
* Water – Fourth Room, Water Galbo, before Moundo
* Stone - Moundo
* ES37
* ES38
* Monster Flame
* Parasol - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES39, ES40

Level 3-4:
* Parasol - Start
* ES41
* Invincible Candy – Door in Third Room
* ES42
* Spear – Ability Stand in Fourth Main Room (with the spike balls)
* ES43, ES44, ES45

Level 3 Boss:
* Spear - Start
* Parasol - Ability Stand

=== Level 4 - White Wafers ===

Level 4-1:
* Parasol - Start
* Fire - First room, first fire galbo
* ES46, ES47, ES48

Level 4-2:
* Fire - Start
* ES49, ES50
* Grand Hammer
* Ninja - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES51, ES52

Level 4-3:
* Ninja - Start
* Spear - Lanzer right before first door
* ES53
* Needle - Third room from Needlous at the top of the first slope
* Fire - Fire Galbo after clear crystal, at the top of the second slope
* ES54
* Cutter - Sir Kibble in start of Fourth Room
* ES55
* Ice - Chilly right after exiting room with ES55
* Water - Water Galboros
* ES56

Level 4-4:
* Water - Start
* ES57, ES58
* Snow Bowl
* Bomb - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES59, ES60

Level 4-5:
* Bomb - Start
* Ice - Chilly right in front of you
* ES61
* Fire - Fire Galbo at end of the room outside ES61
* ES62, ES63, ES64

Level 4 Boss:
* Fire - Start
* Ninja - Ability Stand

=== Level 5 - Nutty Noon ===

Level 5-1:
* Ninja - Start
* Wing - Second Room, first Owgulf
* ES65, ES66, ES67, ES68

Level 5-2:
* Wing - Start
* ES69, stand on the switch, wait for the door to fully open, then condor head at low height to skip using bomb
* Stone - Moundo, but carry the Wing Ability
* ES70 by pounding the appropriate stakes, and recycle Wing immediately
* Flare Beam
* Parasol - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES71, ES72

Level 5-3:
* Parasol - Start
* ES73
* ES74, hit the bomb block through the wall with a parasol swing
* Hi-Jump – Starman in Fifth Room
* ES75
* Wing - Last Room
* ES76

Level 5-4:
* Wing - Start
* ES77, ES78
* Grand Hammer
* Spear - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES79, ES80
* Fighter - Knuckle Joe, last room

Level 5-5:
* Fighter - Start
* Sword - Gigant Edge
* ES81
* Stone - Moundo
* ES82
* Beam - Waddle Doo before Water Galboros fight
* Water - Water Galboros
* ES83
* Spark - Dubior
* ES84

Level 5 Boss:
* Spark - Start
* Wing - Ability Stand; use the ultra-sword animation skip to keep Wing

=== Level 6 - Egg Engines ===

Level 6-1:
* Wing - Start
* ES85
* Monster Flame
* Ninja - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES86, ES87

Level 6-2:
* Ninja - Start
* Fire – Flamer in Second Room (careful not to accidentally mix)
* Water - Pluid in END of Third Room
* ES88
* Stone - Rocky in Fifth Room, with the cannons
* ES89

Here, there are two ability routes you can take from here on out.

Mix:
* Wing - mix from the three crash enemies the room after ES89
* Spark - Dubior, but recycle Wing
* ES90, eat the recycled Wing.
* ES 91

Non-mix (or backup):
* Mike – Walky in End of Room after Underwater Room
* Spark - Dubior
* ES90, ES91

Level 6-3 (note: If you mixed for wing, keep it the entire level until Flare Beam):
* Spark - start
* ES92
* Parasol - Parasol Dee in third room, before King Doo & Moundo Fight
* ES93
* Flare Beam
* Hammer - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES94, ES95

Level 6-4:
* Hammer - Start
* ES96, ES97
* Parasol - Ability Stand in third room which has water
* ES98 by firing Kibble Blade's body at the switch
* ES99
* Spark - Sparky in the dark room with the energy sphere, but carry the Parasol
* ES100 then recycle Parasol

Level 6-5:
* Parasol - Start
* Fire - Fire Galbo in first room
* ES101
* Wing - Owgulf in second room
* ES102, ES103, ES104, ES105

Level 6 Boss:
* Wing - Start

=== Level 7 - Dangerous Dinner ===

Level 7-1:
* Wing - Start
* ES106
* Water - Water Galboros
* ES107
* Tornado - First twister in the room after E107
* ES108
* Snow Bowl
* Whip - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES109, ES110

Level 7-2:
* Whip - Start
* ES111
* Ninja – Tsukikage in Second Room
* ES112
* Hi-Jump – Starman Third Room
* ES113
* Fire - Fire Galboros in room with falling ceiling
* Grand Hammer
* Leaf - Before Sphere Doomer
* ES114, ES115
* Mix (Player should try to go for Wing via home-menu pausing, but if it lands on Fire or Tornado, those will work fine too)

Level 7-3:
* Whatever was Mixed last level - Start (if not Wing/Fire/Tornado, get Fighter from the Knuckle Joe in the first screen)
* ES116
* Ice - Fourth room, before Dubior. Only if you don't have wing/fire/tornado.
* Parasol - Start of room after Dubior. Only if you don't have wing/fire/tornado.
* Wing - almost right after getting Parasol, at the top of the room. Only if you don't have wing.
* ES117, ES118
* Ultra Sword
* Water - Before Sphere Doomers
* ES119, ES120, All energy spheres collected!

=== Challenge Rooms ===

Order: Water, Bomb, Hi-Jump, Sword, Whip, Item, Wing

The ideal order is listed above, as it minimizes travel time between ability rooms, starts with one of two ability rooms that is closest to the entrance, and ends with Wing which is ideal for fighting the last stretch of bosses. Remember that for 100% main mode completion, challenge room ranks do not matter, so just clear the rooms as quickly as possible and ignore getting the coins.

=== End-Game ===

Landia: Fight with Wing.

Alternate Dimension: Auto-Scroller, don't get yourself killed by messing around too much.

Lor: Spam Spiral Dragons (Press 2) for the most consistent strat. Spamming Burst Breaths (Hold 1, then release) is barely faster than Spiral Dragons but is much more difficult and only works if every single star (including the small ones) hits and the shots are timed near frame-perfectly, so it is hardly consistent.

Magolor: Wing, keep it at the end by using the Ultra-Sword Finishing Animation Skip.

Magolor's Soul: Start and Finish the game with Wing.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters and Copy Abilities/Hammer

2016-01-14T20:36:44Z

Kirbymastah:

Hammer is one of the most rare abilities, and for good reason. It has reasonable mobility options, and it's one of the most powerful in the game for combat. Hammer Swings are faster than slide attacking, and goes through enemies, so use it as much as possible on ground. Aerial Hammer Twirls give upward boosts to jumps, so use that when extra height is needed.

For combat, reverse Hammer Flips and Hammer Twirls are your best friends. The first has more power, the second has almost nonstop invincibility and can be used in the air. Use them appropriately.

===== Hammer (Press 1) =====

* Tips
** Avoid using Hammer, as it is generally better to use Hammer Swing or Giant Swing, thanks to its extra moability, coming out faster, and better spammability. The only use it has is if the player cannot jump for some reason; the extra 2 dmg is negligible, especially for generic enemies.
** Hammer comes out when the player lets go of 1; this is due to the fact that the game also wants to give the option of holding 1 to charge for Triple Hammer. As a result, this move tends to be slow.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"> An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037</ref>
** 28 dmg
** Star - 12 dmg

===== Hammer Swing (Dash + 1) =====

* Tips
** Use this in place of sliding, as it's a little faster and plows through enemies.
** Use this off ledges if falling off, as speed carries over past ledges, but be wary of bouncing off walls unintentionally.
** Doing Hammer Throw by pressing minus during this attack maintains full Hammer Swing speed, whereas pressing minus while dashing without using Hammer Swing considerably slows down Kirby at the end of the animation <ref name="RR"/>
** Use this against bosses/minibosses when you need to reposition yourself for Hammer Flip or Hammer Twirl spamming, as it damages anything in the way and has invincibility (should never be necessary against minibosses though).

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 26 dmg per hit
** Invincible for the duration of the move
** Press '-' anytime to do Hammer Throw

* Distance <ref name="FTY">Frame tests by Yoshifan. This involved DVD-recording a test run, and then analyzing the recording frame-by-frame in 60 FPS using VirtualDub. For detailed info on the setup, see [http://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/convenient_way_to_analyze_dvd_recordings_in_60_fps_9.html this SDA forum post]. The block measurements and frames/block tests are particularly prone to inaccuracy, because the human eye is used to count "blocks" in the terrain and figure out exactly how many frames it takes for Kirby to travel a certain amount of blocks. It is estimated that test results may be up to 0.5 frames/block off from the actual values, possibly more if block-counting or math mistakes were made. If one could test on emulator, using a memory value to see what is Kirby's x and y position (or even x and y speed) according to the game, that could result in much more robust tests than these.</ref>

** Flat ground: 6.8 blocks for successive, well-timed Hammer Swings, holding forward for the duration of the swing.

* Speed <ref name="FTY"/>
** Successive first-frame Hammer Swings are 51 frames apart. That's 51/6.8 = 7.5 frames/block on flat ground.
** Slower timing, say 56 frames on average, gets somewhere between 7.5 frames/block and 56/6.8 = 8.2 frames/block on flat ground. Closer to 8.2 though, since 56-frame swings don't get much extra walking distance between swings.

* Hitlag: 3 frames for both enemies and breakable blocks. <ref name="FTY"/> This move knocks enemies far away, so it generally does not get multiple hits on a single enemy.

===== Hammer Flip (Up + 1) =====

* Tips
** Reverse Hammer Flips are stronger than Forward ones, thanks to the flames
** Never, ever use Triple Hammer, as Hammer Flip outclasses it in every way possible
** The hitbox on the flames and the flip itself goes higher than it visually seems. It can hit every miniboss and boss in the game with only three situational exceptions:
*** Goriath when he jumps around.
*** Fatty Puffer when he clings to the ceiling.
*** Mini-Landias that are high up.
** Sometimes it may be beneficial to use a forward hammer flip instead, as it deals more damage in one blow than reversed. This is a case-by-case basis, but situational examples include:
**# Hitting a boss when it's vulnerable for only a split moment (Mr. Dooter phase 2, Galacta Knight, Magolor's Soul)
**# Knocking a boss into phase 2 with as little health as possible (Whispy Woods, Metal General)
**# When Kirby has idling time, so the charge-up of the forward hammer flip can be used during the idle time (minibosses spawning, Grand Doomer)

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** Hammer hit only - 80
** Hammer hit after flame hits - 70 dmg
** 1st Flame hit - 8 dmg
** 2nd, 3rd, 4th Flame hit - 7 dmg per hit
** Total max - 99 dmg
** Fire property (melts ice and burns fuses)

===== Triple Hammer (Hold 1, release) =====

* Tips
** Never, ever use this attaack, as it takes longer, is weaker, and has less range than Hammer Flip. In other words, this is 100% outclassed by Hammer Flip.
** Kirby can jump-cancel the charge, in case you decide to not use Triple Hammer while charging, which is a good idea.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st & 2nd hit - 16 dmg per hit
** 3rd hit - 40 dmg
** Total max for hammer - 72 dmg

** 1st & 2nd Star - 12 dmg per hit
** 3rd Star - 28 dmg
** Total max for stars - 52 dmg

===== Hammer Twirl (Down + 1) =====

* Tips
** Can be used in the air, which is its best attack against anything high that Hammer Flip can't reach.
** To reach high, press down + 1 immediately after jumping.
** Used primarily for its huge amount of invincibility.
** Hold the guard button during the move on the ground, and Kirby will instantly guard after finishing Hammer Twirl with zero defenseless frames in between.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st Hit - 16 dmg
** 2nd, 3rd 4th hit - 14 dmg per hit
** Total max - 58 dmg
** Invincible for the duration of the move

===== Giant Swing (1 in air) =====

* Tips
** Very useful to use while running, as it doesn't slow you down
** Use this on generic enemies instead of Ultra Giant Swing, while its dashing counterpart causes more hitlag (1 hit vs 3 hits)
** On the other hand, Ultra Giant Swing is better for bosses as it does 4 more damage

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 26 dmg
** Can be used on the ground if you execute the move just before landing.

===== Ultra Giant Swing (1 in air) =====

* Tips
** On generic enemies, the extra 4 damage isn't useful, so the 3 hits this attack deals causes more hitlag than Giant Swing. Avoid using this on generics if possible.
** On the other hand, this does more damage to bosses, so use this in place of Giant Swing.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st hit - 16 dmg
** 2nd hit - 14 dmg
** Max total - 30 dmg

===== Hammer Throw (Dash + (-) OR Hammer Swing + (-)) =====

* Tips
** Using it out of Hammer Swing maintains the momentum from Hammer Swing, so you don't lose speed
** You lose your hammer ability after using this move. Only theoretically useful as a finisher if you don't want hammer after a fight for some reason.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** Spin - 26 dmg
** Thrown Hammer - 80 dmg
** Total max - 106 dmg
** Invincible during the spin and briefly during the throw

== References ==
<references />

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters and Copy Abilities/Fire

2016-01-14T20:33:50Z

Kirbymastah:

Fire is one of the best abilities in the game for horizontal mobility. Burn is useful both in ground and in air, and should be used as much as possible. For vertical height, Fire Spin up walls if possible.

For combat, inferno is Fire's best attack. However, Kirby isn't invincibility, and is completely immobile, so finding proper situations for it can be difficult. When not using inferno, use Spinning Fire on bosses.

===== Fire Breath (Press 1) =====

* Tips
** Use this only to attack while preparing for Inferno; otherwise Spinning Fire Breath is stronger and more mobile.
** Can be aimed by pressing the corresponding direction.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"> An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037</ref>
** 1st Hit - 8 dmg
** Repeat hits - 7 dmg per hit

===== Fireball Inferno (Fire Breath + Hold Back) =====

* Tips
** Kirby is completely immobile and not invincible at all while using Fireball Inferno.
** It has a high vertical hitbox, meaning it can hit sphere doomers, Grand Doomer, Dubior, hopping Water Galboros and Mr. Dooter and sometimes Goriath, Landia, Magolor, and Magolor's Soul.
** This has one of the highest DPSs in the game, but is very difficult to set up and requires memorization of the boss/miniboss pattern. Further advice is mostly a case-by-case basis.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 40 dmg per hit

===== Burn (Dash + 1) =====

* Tips
** The main reason you'd use fire is this move. Great horizontal speed with invincibility frames. Essentially an inferior Wing's Condor Head.
** Can be aimed up or down with the control pad. However, during successive aerial Burns, the amount that it can be aimed up diminishes with each Burn.
** Between successive aerial Burns, holding forward on the control pad actually slows Kirby down. Not touching left or right between Burns will give maximum distance.
** Running, jumping, and slide attacking with invincible candy are all, on average, faster than using non-frame perfect burnings.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 20 dmg if initiated on the ground
** 22 dmg if initiated in the air
** Invincible for the duration of the move
** Can break metal blocks

* Distance <ref name="FTY">Frame tests by Yoshifan. This involved DVD-recording a test run, and then analyzing the recording frame-by-frame in 60 FPS using VirtualDub. For detailed info on the setup, see [http://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/convenient_way_to_analyze_dvd_recordings_in_60_fps_9.html this SDA forum post]. The block measurements and frames/block tests are particularly prone to inaccuracy, because the human eye is used to count "blocks" in the terrain and figure out exactly how many frames it takes for Kirby to travel a certain amount of blocks. It is estimated that test results may be up to 0.5 frames/block off from the actual values, possibly more if block-counting or math mistakes were made. If one could test on emulator, using a memory value to see what is Kirby's x and y position (or even x and y speed) according to the game, that could result in much more robust tests than these.</ref>
** Successive, well-timed aerial Burns:
*** 9 blocks apart (not holding left or right between Burns)
*** 8.5 blocks apart (holding forward between Burns)

* Speed <ref name="FTY"/>
** Successive first-frame aerial Burns are 63 frames apart. That's 63/9 = 7.0 frames/block.
** Slower timing, say 67 frames on average, gets somewhere between 7.0 and 67/9 = 7.4 frames/block. Kirby is still traveling forward in between Burns, so it's not exactly 7.4 frames/block.

* Hitlag: 5 frames on enemies, 3 frames on breakable blocks. <ref name="FTY"/>

===== Burning Flame (Press 1 during Burn) =====

* Tips
** Not very applicable as an attack, as generally Kirby will fly over the enemies that Burning Flame will damage anyways.
** Discovered by yoshifan, the Burning Flame can hold down switches, which has its niche uses for certain energy spheres (primarily Level 2-4).

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st hit - 6 dmg
** 2nd hit - 5 dmg
** Total max per flame - 11 dmg

===== Spinning Fire Breath (1 in midair) =====

* Tips
** To use this move most effectively, if possible, short-hop then press 1 to hit twice. Kirby can repeatedly do this very quickly.
*** Trying to get all 3 hits in is not recommended, as Kirby must do a full-jump and there is a period of time while he ascends that he is not attacking, whereas in the above method, Kirby is almost non-stop attacking.
** Use this primarily when Inferno is not viable, or when Kirby needs to move while attacking, as this is more versatile and also allows Kirby to be more mobile while attacking.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st hit - 12 dmg
** 2nd & 3rd hit - 10 dmg per hit
** Total max - 32 dmg

===== Fireball Spin (Down + 1 in midair) =====

* Tips
** To spin up vertical walls, press the direction against the wall after pressing down+1.
** Climbing straight walls is faster than floating, so use this to your advantage if there is a convenient wall nearby.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 24 dmg
** Invincible for the duration of the move

* Hitlag: 5 frames on enemies, 3 frames on breakable blocks. <ref name="FTY"/>

===== Fireball Roll (Hit ground during Fireball Spin) =====

* Tips
** When doing a Fireball Roll off of a ledge, get maximum midair distance by not touching forward or back on the control pad.
** Slower than burning, but handy to use if Kirby is not in running-mode while in the air for a quick boost across the ground (such as when Kirby just enters a room in the air), or when Kirby wants to fling himself across a ledge

* Distance <ref name="FTY"/>
** This is measured from touching the ground to the end of the move. The distance is the same regardless of whether the Fireball Spin is started just before touching the ground, or some time earlier.
** Note that doing successive Fireball Rolls along continuous ground (without ledges, stairs, or gaps) requires a short hop between Rolls. Each short hop adds about 34 frames of walking acceleration and speed, if the hop is timed perfectly.
** Flat ground (roll only): 7.9 blocks

* Speed <ref name="FTY"/>
** With flat ground and short hops between Rolls:
*** Successive first-frame Fireball Rolls are 74 frames apart. About 40 of these frames are the duration of the Fireball Roll itself, while the remaining frames (about 34) have Kirby accelerating and then moving at walking speed. Unfortunately, more testing is needed to figure out the overall speed this gives for successive Fireball Rolls.

== References ==
<references />

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters and Copy Abilities/Fighter

2016-01-14T20:30:17Z

Kirbymastah:

Fighter is a very versatile ability, both in combat and mobility. It also has a lot of neat combos that look cool. Spin Kick is slower than slide attacking, but not by much, so use it if you need to go through enemies on ground. Short hops with Double Kick work while running forward as well, to take out enemies from afar.

Sky Kick is good for downward mobility. It's also useful for horizontal aerial mobility, as you can puff-cancel it and maintain horizontal momentum. Use Rising Break for an extra boost in height after a jump, if needed.

For grounded bosses, spamming Insta-hadoukens is fighter's best form of DPS. If you need invincibility or to re-position yourself, Spin Kick is good. Rising Break combos into Sky Kick, so use that in conjunction with Double Kick against Aerial bosses. Also, Foe Grab whenever you can.

===== Vulcan Jab (Press 1) =====

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"> An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037</ref>

** 1st hit is an early hit - 10 dmg
** 1st hit is a late hit - 5 dmg
** Repeat hits – 4 dmg per hit
** Vulcan jab's first hit has early/late properties, meaning there's less damage for the hit if Vulcan jab is out longer as opposed to hitting immediately after execution.
** Mash 1 to continue jabbing

===== Smash Punch (Hold 1) =====

* Tips
** Very useful projectile on the ground. However, outclassed by the insta-hadouken.

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 20 dmg

===== Leg Sweep (Dash + 1) =====

* Tips
** Near useless move, as it slows you down dramatically. Only useful for its invincibility, and even then, you should use spin kick unless you don't want to move far.

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st hit – 6 dmg
** 2nd, 3rd, 4th hit - 5 dmg per hit
** Total max - 21 dmg
** Invincible for duration of move

===== Spin Kick (Dash + Hold 1) =====

* Tips
** Sliding is faster than Spin Kick along flat ground; however, spin kick is faster than running, and should be used when enemies and obstacles are in the path preventing sliding
** For maximum damage, start the move as close as you can to the foe; you shouldn't be using this against bosses/minibosses unless you need to reposition yourself while attacking simultaneously

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st hit is an early hit - 20 dmg
** 1st hit is a late hit - 18 dmg
** 2nd & 3rd hit - 15 dmg per hit
** Total max - 50 damage
** Invincible for the duration of the move

* Distance <ref name="FTY">Frame tests by Yoshifan. This involved DVD-recording a test run, and then analyzing the recording frame-by-frame in 60 FPS using VirtualDub. For detailed info on the setup, see [http://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/convenient_way_to_analyze_dvd_recordings_in_60_fps_9.html this SDA forum post]. The block measurements and frames/block tests are particularly prone to inaccuracy, because the human eye is used to count "blocks" in the terrain and figure out exactly how many frames it takes for Kirby to travel a certain amount of blocks. It is estimated that test results may be up to 0.5 frames/block off from the actual values, possibly more if block-counting or math mistakes were made. If one could test on emulator, using a memory value to see what is Kirby's x and y position (or even x and y speed) according to the game, that could result in much more robust tests than these.</ref>
** 8.7 blocks for successive, well-timed Spin Kicks on flat ground, making sure to hold forward when falling as the move ends.
** When going uphill, there will generally be less falling distance as the move ends. Due to the reduced falling distance, the horizontal coverage going uphill is less than 8.7 blocks, but the next Spin Kick can be started more quickly. The latter fact probably means that Spin Kicks become faster when going uphill, but more testing is needed to confirm this.

* Speed <ref name="FTY"/>
** Flat ground
*** Successive first-frame Spin Kicks seem to be 80 frames apart (not so sure about this, though; it may be a frame or two lower). That's 80/8.7 = 9.2 frames/block.
*** Slower timing, say 86 frames per spin kick on average, would get somewhere between 80/8.7 and 86/8.7 = 9.9 frames/block. It's not exactly 86/8.7 because there is a tiny bit of walking/running between imperfect Spin Kicks.

* Hitlag <ref name="FTY"/>
** 1, 3, or 5 frames on enemies, depending on which part of the Spin Kick animation hits the enemy: 1 when early in the kick animation, 5 when in the middle, and 3 when late. Enemies are often comboed to be hit two times (one middle, one late) or three times (one early, one middle, one late).
** 3 frames on breakable blocks, regardless of which part of the Spin Kick animation hits.

===== Down Kick (1 in air) =====

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 18 dmg

===== Double Kick (Hold 1 in air) =====

* Tips
** Essentially the same as smash punch except in the air
** Excellent for defeating enemies while jumping, without stopping your horizontal movement. Use short-hop double kicks to continuously move while defeating generic enemies from far away.

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** Foot - 26 dmg
** Projectile – 18 dmg

===== Rising Break (Up + Hold 1) =====

* Tips
** Invincible for duration of the move, plus slightly after. The invincibility frames at the end allow you to safely transition into another fast aerial move without taking damage. The best example is Rising Break into Sky Kick on a boss, as Sky Kick bounces you away from the boss to not take damage afterwards.

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st hit - 16 dmg
** 2nd, 3rd hit - 8 dmg per hit
** 4th hit - 14 dmg
** Max total - 46 dmg

===== Sky Kick (Down + 1 in air) =====

* Tips
** Like with Ninja Kicks, you can cancel a Sky Kick into a flutter to transfer the Sky Kick's horizontal momentum to the flutter; and by alternating Sky Kicks and flutters repeatedly, Kirby can move horizontally through the air more quickly than with just fluttering. See the [[#Ninja Kick (Down + 1 in air)|Ninja Kick]] section for more details on how to do this.
*** Unlike the Ninja Kick, the Sky Kick doesn't start descending immediately after the move is executed, so it is quite possible to flutter before Kirby kicks downward at all (and Kirby will still get the kick's horizontal momentum). Thus, it is actually easy to gain height during repeated Sky Kicks and flutters.
** Sky Kick falls faster than just falling normally.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 18 dmg

* Speed (to do)

===== Instant Mega Force Blast (Down, Forward + Press 1) =====

* Tips
** If the controls above confuse you, think of Hadouken and executing quarter-circle-forward. Or alternate between pressing down and forward+1 in a rhythmic fashion
** This is fighter's main DPS on the ground, as Insta-Hadoukens are very powerful and spammable, and completely outclass Spark Wave on the ground
** Avoid spamming this too quickly against bosses/minibosses, or else some Hadoukens will pass through the boss before its invincibility frames are finished. Practice the rhythm such that every Hadouken will hit the boss just as its invincibility finishes from the previous Hadouken

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 36 dmg

===== Force Blast (LVL 1 Charge, Down + Hold 1, release) =====

* Tips
** Never use this, as the instant version outclasses this

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 24 dmg

===== Mega Force Blast (LVL 2 Charge, Down + Hold 1, release) =====

* Tips
** Never use this, as the instant version outclasses this

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 36 dmg

===== Giga Force Blast (LVL 3 Charge, Down + Hold 1, release) =====

* Tips
** This is slightly stronger than Insta-Hadoukens, but requires significant charge-up. Though because it is stronger, it should be used during idle time (i.e. while a miniboss is spawning, or a boss is transitioning phases) then commence spamming Insta-Hadoukens

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 42 dmg

===== Moon Somersault Kick (Press 1 in air next to foe) =====

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 16 dmg

===== Foe Grab (Press 1 on ground next to object) =====

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** Held Object - 36 dmg

===== Arm Throw (Press 1 + up, forward, or nothing) =====

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 45 dmg

===== Judo Throw (Press 1 + down or back) =====

* Attack Properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 52 dmg

== References ==
<references />

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters and Copy Abilities/Cutter

2016-01-14T20:19:56Z

Kirbymastah:

Cutter has some uses for mobility, but it's limited in combat. Cutter's main form of movement is cutter dash, which is faster than sliding and goes through enemies. It also lets Kirby travel across one-block gaps without slowing down the cutter dash. Cutter drop is very useful for descending as well.

Cutter Drop combos into Final Cutter, which is cutter's best attack for grounded bosses. For aerial enemies, cutter's only reasonable option is its boomerang attacks, which are weaker.

* All attacks cut ropes
* Projectiles can travel up slopes
* Projectiles can be angled up or down; press up or down while the boomerang is tossed

===== Cutter Boomerang (Press 1) =====

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"> An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037</ref>
** 12 dmg

===== Hyper Boomerang (Hold 1, release) =====

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** No rebound hit - 24 dmg
** Rebound hit - 16 dmg
** Rebound combo hit - 14 dmg each
** Max total - 72 dmg
** Can rebound off walls up to 3 times.

===== Cutter Dash (Dash + 1) =====

* Tips
** Successive Cutter Dashes are faster than slide attacks, and also pierce through enemies, so it should be used over slide attacks.
** Cutter Dashes carry off past ledges, so they should frequently be used off of edges as well if dropping down or bypassing single-block gaps.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 16 dmg
** Invincible for the duration of the move

* Distance <ref name="FTY">Frame tests by Yoshifan. This involved DVD-recording a test run, and then analyzing the recording frame-by-frame in 60 FPS using VirtualDub. For detailed info on the setup, see [http://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/convenient_way_to_analyze_dvd_recordings_in_60_fps_9.html this SDA forum post]. The block measurements and frames/block tests are particularly prone to inaccuracy, because the human eye is used to count "blocks" in the terrain and figure out exactly how many frames it takes for Kirby to travel a certain amount of blocks. It is estimated that test results may be up to 0.5 frames/block off from the actual values, possibly more if block-counting or math mistakes were made. If one could test on emulator, using a memory value to see what is Kirby's x and y position (or even x and y speed) according to the game, that could result in much more robust tests than these.</ref>
** Flat ground: 3.8 blocks

* Speed <ref name="FTY"/>
** Successive first-frame cutter dashes seem to be 32 frames apart. That's 32/3.8 = 8.42 frames/block.
*** This is harder to do than first-frame slides, because both the dash and the 1-button press must be perfectly timed.
** Slower timing, say 38 frames per cutter dash on average, would get somewhere between 32/3.8 and 38/3.8 = 10.0 frames/block. It's not exactly 38/3.8 because there is a tiny bit of walking/running between imperfect cutter dashes.

* Hitlag: 3 frames for both enemies and breakable blocks. <ref name="FTY"/>

===== Sweep Cutter (Hold 1 in air) =====

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 22 dmg

===== Cutter Drop (Down + 1 in air) =====

* Tips
** Use this for descending, as it's faster than just falling.
** Though it has a hitbox, Kirby is not invincible for the duration of the move, so be careful not when using this.
** If landed, can instantly be linked into any ground move. <ref name="RR"/>

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 22 dmg

===== Cleaving Cutter (1 next to foe) =====

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** Slash 1 - 12 dmg
** Slash 2 - 8 dmg
** Leads into Final Cutter if 1 is mashed

===== Final Cutter (Mash 1 next to foe) =====

* Tips
** This is Cutter's best form of damage against grounded bosses/minibosses.
** Combo this from a landing Cutter Drop for a quick extra 22 dmg for even better DPS.

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** Rising Slash – 7 dmg
** Falling Slash- 8 dmg
** Shockwave Near - 35 dmg
** Shockwave Far - 40 dmg
** The shock wave does more damage to a foe the farther away it is.
** Entire combo (Cleaving cutter + Final Cutter) does 70 dmg

== References ==
<references />

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters and Copy Abilities/Bomb

2016-01-14T20:17:12Z

Kirbymastah:

Bomb has reasonable DPS with throwing bombs, and is versatile in the sense that it can aim wherever the boss is. Repeated bomb bowls is bomb's best form of DPS, but against aerial enemies, you are better off just doing standard upward bomb throws, depending on your position.

Bomb does not have many mobility-enhancing attacks. Using a bomb set in the air at the height of your jump gives a slightly boost in height and distance. When in the air, it's best to alternate between puffs and bomb sets for horizontal movement.

Furthermore, doing a bomb drop on a grounded enemy is useful if you're running on ice, as jumping is slower than running on ice, and using bomb drop does not slow Kirby down on ground.

* All bomb explosions give light in dim rooms.

===== Bomb Prep (Press 1) =====

* Tips
** Hold 1 to aim with a reticule for Bomb Throw
** Bombs are non-elemental, so they do not burn anything
** Explosions from bombs provide light in dark areas
** If kirby self destructs while Bomb Prepping, he takes no damage, but he takes mercy invincibility frames

===== Bomb Throw (Release 1 during Bomb Prep) =====

* Tips
** This is very spammable, and has reasonable DPS. It is excellent against aerial bosses
** It has yet to be tested whether Bomb Throw or Bomb Bowl have higher DPS

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"> An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037</ref>
** Direct Hit - 16 dmg
** Explosion Only - 26 dmg

===== Bomb Bowl (Dash + 1) =====

* Tips
** This is the strongest move against bosses/minibosses, though it isn't as applicable against aerial bosses

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 32 dmg
** Do not need to Dash a second time to do continuous bowls after the first
** Kirby is boosted forward if he already has a bomb prepped

===== Bomb Drop (1 next to foe) =====

* Tips
** Though Bomb lacks a mobile ability, this partly makes up for that by allowing Kirby to finish a foe in the way and barely stopping. This allows Kirby to spam slide attacks, run up to an enemy, Bomb Drop, then continue slide attacking almost nonstop (or in the case of ice levels, running)

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 26 dmg
** Can plants bombs on foes in midair

===== Bomb Set (Down + 1) =====

* Tips
** Thanks to its boost in the air, Kirby can move horizontally in the air reasonably quickly by alternating between Bomb Sets and puffing/unpuffing
** This also gives a minor vertical boost, which is particularly useful for jumps that Kirby's full jump can't make by a single block and require a puff/unpuff (which is slower)
** Both of the above are most notably useful in running the Bomb Challenge Room, whether it be outrunning the moving wall in the air without regarding score, or giving an extra bit of height to reach the last secret door; these applications were discovered by yoshifan28

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 28 dmg
** Gives Kirby a minor horizontal and vertical boost when used in the air

== References ==
<references />

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters and Copy Abilities/Beam

2016-01-14T20:16:06Z

Kirbymastah:

Beam is a ranged combat ability with reasonably powerful and safe attacks. Beam is notable in that there is a brief invincibility window at the start of almost every move. For bosses, Cycle beam has the best consistent DPS on ground, dealing 54 damage per use. Wave Beam should be used if there is a waiting period before a boss becomes vulnerable again. Beam Blast is ideal for aerial bosses. Capture Beam should always be used whenever possible, however.

The only mobility-enhancing attack Beam has is Beam Blast, which gives Kirby a reasonable height boost if used at the peak of a standard jump.

===== Beam Whip (Press 1) =====

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"> An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037</ref>
** 8 dmg
** Can hit twice at mid-range; three times at close-range
** Attacks through walls

===== Cycle Beam (Dash + 1) =====

* Tips
** Use this move primarily against grounded bosses/minibosses
** Take advantage of its brief invincibility to 'tank' an attack without having to go out of the way to dodge it

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 18 dmg per hit
** Can hit up to 3 times for a total of 54 dmg
** Brief invincibility upon startup

===== Beam Blast (Dash + 1 in midair) =====

* Tips
** Beam Blast gives a considerable vertical boost when used at the height of Kirby's jump; use this to reach higher ledges just out of reach (1 or 2 blocks about) of Kirby's full jump
** Beam Blast can be used multiple times within one jump, especially when used at the peak of the initial jump
** In most cases, use this against bosses/minibosses when you can't use Cycle Beam (i.e. when they're in the air)

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 1st hit - 16 dmg
** 2nd & 3rd hit - 14 dmg per hit
** Max total - 44 dmg
** Brief invincibility upon startup

===== Revolution Beam (Mash 1 in air) =====

* Tips
** Beam Blast is much stronger than Revolution Beam as an aerial attack, and should be used over Revolution Beam
** Use this instead of Beam Blast when it is important to stay suspended to dodge while attacking (for example, when Fatty Puffer shoots a geyser of water), as Kirby descends when using Beam Blast

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 20 dmg
** Kirby stays suspended in place
** Brief invincibility upon firing the beam

===== Wave Beam (Hold 1, Release) =====

* Tips
** This has weaker DPS than Cycle Beam thanks to the required charge-up
** Use this primarily during idling time against grounded bosses/minibosses (for example, when a miniboss is spawning, or a boss is in the background)

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** 32 dmg
** Brief invincibility upon firing the beam

===== Capture Beam (Up, Forward or Down next to foe + 1) =====

* Tips
** This is just about the fastest grab attack in the game with excellent power, and should be used against bosses/minibosses whenever there's an opportunity to use it
** This hits diagonally above Kirby in a roughly 45 degree angle, very quickly

* Attack properties <ref name="RR"/>
** Held object - 16 dmg
** Thrown object - 60 dmg
** Invulnerable while holding objects
** Can capture foes in mid air.

== References ==
<references />

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Any% Main Mode

2016-01-14T19:15:38Z

Kirbymastah: /* Route */

= Current Fastest Time =

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hFPPYu5SGQ 1:38:17 by Jet Toast]

= Route =

The Any% route is very straightforward and simple, because Wing is the best overall ability in this game for speedrunning purposes, due to it having the best horizontal mobility in the game, second best vertical speed, excellent downward speed, much invincibility, amazing maneuverability, and excellent DPS for defeating bosses and minibosses.

Level 1-1
*Cutter - First Sir Kibble in first room
*Fire - First Hot Head in second room
*Wing - Mix from three Sir Kibbles in third room, past the Ultra Sword Knight

Note: If the player does not wish to mix, then the player can keep Fire until Level 1-4, then obtain Wing from the hidden HAL room.

From here on out, the player should ideally keep Wing for the rest of the game. To keep it through Grand Doomer and Magolor, the Ultra Sword Animation Skip needs to be used.

Due to how overpowered Wing is, and the simplistic nature of any%, it may seem like it is very easy to keep wing the entire game. It is surprisingly difficult to do so, seeing as a small mistake can cost the player the Wing ability, and in the midst of races, the player should have back-up strats.

If Wing is lost, the next best abilities for speedrunning include:
* Fire - The best after wing for horizontal movement. Lacks in vertical, but fire spin is an option if there are walls. Inferno and Spinning Fire Breath are good for bosses.
* Tornado - Also very good for horizontal movement and boss fights. It has a lot more invincibility than fire, but less horizontal speed. Use hyper tornado and tornado dash depending on how much distance you need.
* Water - Really good for grounded horizontal movement, with plenty of invincibility. However, really lacks in any form of aerial mobility.
* Hi-Jump - One of the best for upward movement, and reasonable for horizontal. Provides lots of invincibility, but lacks in boss fights.
* Parasol - Good horizontal mobility on ground, somewhat limited in air. However, there's a lot of hitlag if you hit enemies with Parasol Drill.

This is not set in stone, and varies depending on the level you are in. For example, if much aerial movement is needed, then water is near useless. Again, this requires extensive knowledge of level layouts and what abilities are available.

Also, know where there are mixing opportunities; this is especially more useful in races.

Sonic Advance 3/General Mechanics

2015-11-25T19:56:34Z

Kirbymastah:

= General Mechanics =

;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. A+T and A+C cannot spindash, whereas A+K can spindash without rolling.

;Slope Jump:When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

;Loop Jump:A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

;Aerial Speed:Sonic Advance 3 is different in that when in the air, your character will accelerate much more quickly than on the ground, even when ascending. This means that one of the best ways for most teams to accelerate (aside from Sonic's Tag Action) is to do a 2-tap spindash, then immediately jump.

;Rails:Your character will always land on a rail first try (exception is at specific angle changes, this is seemingly random). However, the moment you jump off that same rail, you can't land on it again. If you want to get off of a rail, just jump again. If you want to land on it, try to aim for spots that aren't angle changes.

= Tag Action =

The Tag Action is the unique feature in this game that differentiates it from all other sonic games, and adds another layer of depth in execution. This mechanic has so much depth that it deserves an entire section to itself in this page.

In a given team, the second character has the ability to perform a supporting action for the lead character, called the tag action. To perform a tag action, start holding the R button. After 1.5 seconds, the support character will automatically jump into the lead characters hands, and you can release R to perform the tag action at any time after this happens.

While charging a tag action, if the charging animation is interrupted, but R is still held, then the tag action will begin charging as soon as possible, except it will only take 1 second to charge. This is a VERY important mechanic to understand and take advantage of. Interrupting the charging animations includes (but is not limited to) the following:

* Taking damage
* Running up a wall or through a loop
* Running through a spiral
* Attacking
* Grabbing a pulley

For example, suppose you need to have a tag action charged as soon as possible after coming out of a loop, but 1.5 seconds is too much time. If you start charging after coming out of the loop, you'll end up waiting a bit to finish charging before using it. However, if you charge before entering the loop, keep holding R, have it canceled by running through the loop, then it will only take 1 second to charge upon exiting the loop, saving 0.5 seconds over otherwise.

What the tag action is depends on two things: who the support character is, and whether it is used on the ground or in the air. Here is a list and analysis of all the tag actions for each support character.

== Sonic ==
;Ground Tag Action: Give the lead character a sudden burst of speed forward and puts him/her in boost mode.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air.

Both of Sonic's tag action actually puts the lead character on an invisible grounded boost pad for one frames. This means that by pressing A the frame R is released, the lead character can jump in the air. This can be pause buffered by charging the tag action, pausing, letting go of R and holding A, then unpausing while continuing to hold A.

It's also important to note that by rolling or jumping the frame this tag action is used, the lead character actually goes faster than otherwise. As a result, it's generally best to always either hold down to roll while releasing R, or buffer a jump from the tag action, though there are a few cases where having lower speed helps.

== Tails ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Toss the lead character up and slightly to the side.
;Air Tag Action: - Fly and carry the lead character.

Tail's ground tag action is similar to Amy's in that it's purely a height gainer. His ground tag action gives a bit more height than Amy's, but sends the lead character to the side (hers sends the character straight up) which depends on the situation. A disadvantage to this is that the lead character cannot perform any air action after being tossed, until landing; this includes charging another tag action.

== Knuckles ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Tossed forward by the lead character as a power attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Glide and carry the lead character.

Knuckle's tag actions are generally not very useful for speedruns as his ground tag action does not do any extra damage than normal attacks, and being carried by knuckle's glide isn't useful either since Sonic's air tag action works better for horizontal distance.

== Cream ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Give the lead character control of Cheese. Pressing B commands Cheese to attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air. Also gives the lead character an upward boost.

Cream's air tag action is unique in that it directly amplifies the lead character's vertical velocity. If used at the peak of a jump, the lead character will get some height. If used at the start of a jump, the lead character will gain a lot of height (though not as much as Tails/Amy's ground tag actions). If used off a spring, the lead character goes flying. While Cream's air tag action doesn't give as much height as Tails/Amy, it makes up for that with giving the lead character a lot of horizontal movement during the jump. As a result, this is more versatile.

== Amy ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Shoot the lead character straight up with her hammer.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but gives significantly less height.

Amy's tag action is useful in that she tosses the lead character straight up. While her ground tag action gives slightly less height than Tail's, the lead character can immediately start charging another tag action while in the air, which has its advantages. This also applies to her air tag action.

Sonic Advance/General Mechanics

2015-08-27T15:37:58Z

Kirbymastah: /* Sonic */

= General Movement =

;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

;Quickstop:Generally, when you land while moving horizontally, you'll maintain some of that momentum on the ground and slide. If you hold down, your character will roll. You generally want to come to a complete stop before attempting to spin dash, which can be done by either using a character's attack, or pulling back.

;Slope Jump:When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

;Loop Jump:A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

;Aerial Speed:Generally, your character's horizontal speed will decrease whenever the vertical speed is upward, but it will increase when the vertical speed is downward. This means your character will slow down when ascending in jumps, and speed up upon descending. This is also why downhill slope jumps are important for gaining speed, since your character gains no height (thus no speed loss) but will gain speed thanks to jumping downward. Understanding this mechanic is important in gaining speed or losing minimal speed.

= Sonic =

Sonic is the fastest-moving character all around, but at the cost of not really having any abilities to enhance his movement outside of air dash. This means he can't access some shortcuts that the three other characters can access. If you want to play as Sonic, be prepared to mash the d-pad a lot to doair dashes as his air dash is what sets Sonic apart from the others.

;Slide Attack:Press B once to spin slowly. A second time makes him flip. A third time makes him slide. This move is primarily useful for bringing Sonic to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around, though if you want to do this, just press B twice instead of three times. The full combo can be useful for bosses though. The initial roll upon pressing B once can also be useful as he will always roll at the same slow speed, at that same distance.

;Air Dash:Double tap right or left after jumping in the air to do an air dash. Alternatively, press a direction while running, jump, then press the same direction again to do an air dash. As long as the second tap is in the air, and not too long after the first tap, the jump can be before or in between the taps. This ability is what sets sonic apart from the other characters and helps him move very quickly, since it gives him more forward momentum each time he does an air dash. You want to do air dashes, especially from downhill slope jumps (and not uphill) since you'll gain more speed that way. It's also useful for adjusting your jumps or if you need a little bit of extra distance from a jump.

;Insta-Shield:After jumping in the air, press A again to perform insta-shield. This gives you a very brief moment of invincibility, which can be useful for damaging bosses (particularly the angel island boss). It also gives you an extra bounce if you bounce off of an enemy or item box.

= Tails =

Tails has the unique ability to fly, which is handy in basically every level. He's the most versatile in terms of aerial movement, but his flight is also very slow. Understanding how to maintain speed from his flight, and taking advantage of slope jumps to avoid his slow vertical flight is key to getting fast times with him.

;Tail Swipe:Press B to perform a tail swipe. This move is primarily useful for bringing Tails to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around. It's also useful for bosses, since it has long reach and Tails won't get hurt if you hit something with his tail.

;Flight:Press A after jumping to start flying. Each tap of A will increase his height. His flight is pretty slow for vertical movement, but his horizontal speed carries into the flight. It's primarily useful for crossing larger gaps without losing much speed, though if it allows for shortcuts, it's also useful for that. Note that Tails loses speed when flying if he's ascending, and gains speed when descending. So generally, each tap of A will make him lose a little bit of horizontal speed, whereas he'll gain speed whenever you don't, so mashing A is generally a bad idea for horizontal distance. Learn to pad out your A presses so you have exactly enough height to reach your destination while losing as little speed as possible.

= Knuckles =

;Punch Combo:Press B three times to perform a triple punch combo. This move is primarily useful for bringing Knuckles to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around, though only the first punch is necessary for this. He has the best ability for this since his first punch is very quick and shorter than Sonic's and Tail's ground attacks. His first punch also gives him a brief increase in speed before coming to a stop; use this punch to move very short distances very quickly, or off a ledge so he gains horizontal speed.

;Gliding:Press A after jumping to start gliding, and hold A to continue gliding. This is useful for gaining extra horizontal distance. This will also always set your horizontal speed to a set amount, so it's useful for controlling your speed, especially if you want to abruptly change directions in the air while jumping. Another nice use is that Knuckles will always be at a complete stop upon landing from gliding, allowing you to spindash immediately. So if Knuckles needs to spindash immediately from a jump, glide just before landing so he doesn't have to adjust his speed.

;Climbing:Glide into a wall to have Knuckles cling to it. Press up or down to climb. Climbing should be avoided since it's very slow, though it has its situational uses.

= Amy =

Amy is the slowest moving character as she cannot spindash nor enter ball mode at will. However, she compensates for having a lot of abilities to control her height and speed, as well as an overpowered hammer. She jumps the highest out of the four characters, even without using hammer flip. Hitting a vertical or diagonal spring (not horizontal) with her hammer launches her much farther than hitting it without a hammer, allowing for several nice shortcuts. Her hammer's hitbox is way bigger than the game makes it look. She's also easily the best boss slayer all around in the game, requiring very minimal luck for some key bosses thanks to how many options she has with her high jump and huge hammer. She's also the only character who can crouch while running, as the other characters will roll instead.

;Giant Step:Press Down+A while on the ground to perform a giant step. This is Amy's primary method of acceleration. While significantly slower than spindashing, this is something she can do multiple times without revving nor without worrying about having to come to a complete stop to perform it. Avoid giant stepping into an uphill slope though, since Amy will usually come to a complete halt if done so.

;Faceplant:Press B while doing a Giant Step to have Amy faceplant on the ground. Why this is an attack, I don't know, but it does damage bosses and enemies. It's also useful for a skip in Angel Island 1, and going through item boxes that she can't jump around.

;Hammer Combo:Press B twice to perform a hammer combo. This can be used to hit bosses with its huge hitbox, and also hit springs. The second hit is sort of not very useful.

;Air Hammer:Press B after jumping to have Amy swing her hammer. This is VERY useful as it does not slow her down in the air, and allows her to hit springs while in the air without actually touching them. It's also useful for bosses thanks to its ridiculous reach. Using this on enemies or item boxes will let her "bounce" off of it like other characters do. Keep in mind she can't perform any other air actions after this, until she lands.

;Hammer Jump:Press Down+B on the ground to perform a really high jump. Slope jump mechanics apply to this. This ability is very useful as it does not significantly slow Amy down (and can speed her up, if used downhill), yet still has really high vertical reach. Use this to reach higher platforms as necessary. Keep in mind that she cannot perform any air actions from a Hammer Jump.

;Hammer Twirl:Press Down+B in the air to have Amy twirl her hammer. This ability is very useful as it sets her horizontal speed to 0 without affecting her vertical speed, no matter how fast or slow Amy is moving. The hammer also has nice horizontal reach, so she can hit springs with this. It's incredibly useful for coming to a complete stop, or basically turning any diagonal spring into a vertical one. This is also what allows her to bounce on bosses to deal damage repeatedly.

Sonic Advance/General Mechanics

2015-08-27T15:36:16Z

Kirbymastah: Created page with "= General Movement = ;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two..."

= General Movement =

;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

;Quickstop:Generally, when you land while moving horizontally, you'll maintain some of that momentum on the ground and slide. If you hold down, your character will roll. You generally want to come to a complete stop before attempting to spin dash, which can be done by either using a character's attack, or pulling back.

;Slope Jump:When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

;Loop Jump:A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

;Aerial Speed:Generally, your character's horizontal speed will decrease whenever the vertical speed is upward, but it will increase when the vertical speed is downward. This means your character will slow down when ascending in jumps, and speed up upon descending. This is also why downhill slope jumps are important for gaining speed, since your character gains no height (thus no speed loss) but will gain speed thanks to jumping downward. Understanding this mechanic is important in gaining speed or losing minimal speed.

= Sonic =

Sonic is the fastest-moving character all around, but at the cost of not really having any abilities to enhance his movement outside of air dash. This means he can't access spome shortcuts that basically everyone else can access. This makes him clear stages more slowly than Tails and Knuckles, and roughly even with Amy. If you want to play as Sonic, be prepared to mash the d-pad a lot to do air dashes as that's the main reason to use him instead of other characters.

;Slide Attack:Press B once to spin slowly. A second time makes him flip. A third time makes him slide. This move is primarily useful for bringing Sonic to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around, though if you want to do this, just press B twice instead of three times. The full combo can be useful for bosses though. The initial roll upon pressing B once can also be useful as he will always roll at the same slow speed, at that same distance.

;Air Dash:Double tap right or left after jumping in the air to do an air dash. Alternatively, press a direction while running, jump, then press the same direction again to do an air dash. As long as the second tap is in the air, and not too long after the first tap, the jump can be before or in between the taps. This ability is what sets sonic apart from the other characters and helps him move very quickly, since it gives him more forward momentum each time he does an air dash. You want to do air dashes, especially from downhill slope jumps (and not uphill) since you'll gain more speed that way. It's also useful for adjusting your jumps or if you need a little bit of extra distance from a jump.

;Insta-Shield:After jumping in the air, press A again to perform insta-shield. This gives you a very brief moment of invincibility, which can be useful for damaging bosses (particularly the angel island boss). It also gives you an extra bounce if you bounce off of an enemy or item box.

= Tails =

Tails has the unique ability to fly, which is handy in basically every level. He's the most versatile in terms of aerial movement, but his flight is also very slow. Understanding how to maintain speed from his flight, and taking advantage of slope jumps to avoid his slow vertical flight is key to getting fast times with him.

;Tail Swipe:Press B to perform a tail swipe. This move is primarily useful for bringing Tails to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around. It's also useful for bosses, since it has long reach and Tails won't get hurt if you hit something with his tail.

;Flight:Press A after jumping to start flying. Each tap of A will increase his height. His flight is pretty slow for vertical movement, but his horizontal speed carries into the flight. It's primarily useful for crossing larger gaps without losing much speed, though if it allows for shortcuts, it's also useful for that. Note that Tails loses speed when flying if he's ascending, and gains speed when descending. So generally, each tap of A will make him lose a little bit of horizontal speed, whereas he'll gain speed whenever you don't, so mashing A is generally a bad idea for horizontal distance. Learn to pad out your A presses so you have exactly enough height to reach your destination while losing as little speed as possible.

= Knuckles =

;Punch Combo:Press B three times to perform a triple punch combo. This move is primarily useful for bringing Knuckles to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around, though only the first punch is necessary for this. He has the best ability for this since his first punch is very quick and shorter than Sonic's and Tail's ground attacks. His first punch also gives him a brief increase in speed before coming to a stop; use this punch to move very short distances very quickly, or off a ledge so he gains horizontal speed.

;Gliding:Press A after jumping to start gliding, and hold A to continue gliding. This is useful for gaining extra horizontal distance. This will also always set your horizontal speed to a set amount, so it's useful for controlling your speed, especially if you want to abruptly change directions in the air while jumping. Another nice use is that Knuckles will always be at a complete stop upon landing from gliding, allowing you to spindash immediately. So if Knuckles needs to spindash immediately from a jump, glide just before landing so he doesn't have to adjust his speed.

;Climbing:Glide into a wall to have Knuckles cling to it. Press up or down to climb. Climbing should be avoided since it's very slow, though it has its situational uses.

= Amy =

Amy is the slowest moving character as she cannot spindash nor enter ball mode at will. However, she compensates for having a lot of abilities to control her height and speed, as well as an overpowered hammer. She jumps the highest out of the four characters, even without using hammer flip. Hitting a vertical or diagonal spring (not horizontal) with her hammer launches her much farther than hitting it without a hammer, allowing for several nice shortcuts. Her hammer's hitbox is way bigger than the game makes it look. She's also easily the best boss slayer all around in the game, requiring very minimal luck for some key bosses thanks to how many options she has with her high jump and huge hammer. She's also the only character who can crouch while running, as the other characters will roll instead.

;Giant Step:Press Down+A while on the ground to perform a giant step. This is Amy's primary method of acceleration. While significantly slower than spindashing, this is something she can do multiple times without revving nor without worrying about having to come to a complete stop to perform it. Avoid giant stepping into an uphill slope though, since Amy will usually come to a complete halt if done so.

;Faceplant:Press B while doing a Giant Step to have Amy faceplant on the ground. Why this is an attack, I don't know, but it does damage bosses and enemies. It's also useful for a skip in Angel Island 1, and going through item boxes that she can't jump around.

;Hammer Combo:Press B twice to perform a hammer combo. This can be used to hit bosses with its huge hitbox, and also hit springs. The second hit is sort of not very useful.

;Air Hammer:Press B after jumping to have Amy swing her hammer. This is VERY useful as it does not slow her down in the air, and allows her to hit springs while in the air without actually touching them. It's also useful for bosses thanks to its ridiculous reach. Using this on enemies or item boxes will let her "bounce" off of it like other characters do. Keep in mind she can't perform any other air actions after this, until she lands.

;Hammer Jump:Press Down+B on the ground to perform a really high jump. Slope jump mechanics apply to this. This ability is very useful as it does not significantly slow Amy down (and can speed her up, if used downhill), yet still has really high vertical reach. Use this to reach higher platforms as necessary. Keep in mind that she cannot perform any air actions from a Hammer Jump.

;Hammer Twirl:Press Down+B in the air to have Amy twirl her hammer. This ability is very useful as it sets her horizontal speed to 0 without affecting her vertical speed, no matter how fast or slow Amy is moving. The hammer also has nice horizontal reach, so she can hit springs with this. It's incredibly useful for coming to a complete stop, or basically turning any diagonal spring into a vertical one. This is also what allows her to bounce on bosses to deal damage repeatedly.

Sonic Advance

2015-08-27T15:35:54Z

Kirbymastah:

[[Category:Game Boy Advance]]
[[Category:Games]]
{{sda run|http://speeddemosarchive.com/SonicAdvance.html}}

Sonic Advance is the first installment in the sonic advance series, which follows the standard 2D sonic gameplay, and is a spiritual followup to the genesis series.

[[Sonic_Advance/General_Mechanics|General Mechanics]]- Start here to learn about the general mechanics of the game 

[[Sonic_Advance/Level_Analysis|Level Analysis]]- Analysis and strategies for every level 

== External Links ==

* [http://www.soniccenter.org The Sonic Center]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance Sonic Advance rankings]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance/times Sonic Advance record times]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/videos/sonic_advance Sonic Advance videos]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/guides/sonic_advance Sonic Advance guides]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/maps/sonic_advance Sonic Advance level maps]

Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Mechanics

2015-08-26T20:22:58Z

Kirbymastah: /* Hidden Rooms */

== General Movement Tips <ref name="FD"> General Movement Tips are supported by frame data tested by yoshifan28; more details can be found in the Ability Info page at tp://kb.speeddemosarchive.com/Kirby%27s_Return_to_Dream_Land/Ability_Info#Kirby </ref> ==

* If lacking an ability boosting horizontal movement, or if carrying an item, almost always slide attack. Even if you have an ability, sometimes slide-attacking is faster for shoter distances.
** The main exception is on ice; for moderate and longer distances, start a dash and immediately short-hop to accelerate to full running-on-ice speed, which is faster than sliding
** Other minor exception is going up 45 degree slopes. You should jump over 45 degree slopes to move horizontally at the same speed as running on flat ground, since sliding on upward slopes slows Kirby down.
* Unlike most Kirby games, jumping (without puffing) is horizontally the same speed as running in KRtDL; Kirby jumping is as fast as how fast Kirby was moving before jumping. Slide attacking should still be used when possible, however.
* Avoid puffing whenever possible, for both vertical and horizontal distances. Use full jumps and jump-through platforms. Jumping Repeatedly is faster than puffing at all.
** To add on to that, if much horizontal air needs to be covered, then puff a few times, fall, and repeat. Falling is horizontally faster than puffing.
* Jumping up ladders and ropes is just about the fastest forms of upward movement (faster than wing and hi-jump), as it is essentially jumping nonstop. Do it as much as possible.
* In contrast, if you can, avoid climbing down ladders as it is slightly slower than falling at top speed, and there is a slight pause to dismount ladders. But don't go out of your way too much to avoid climbing down, as it isn't that much slower.
* When inhaling a non-ultra enemy, try to suck it in when Kirby is almost touching the enemy, so the enemy will instantly enter Kirby rather than having to wait a half second for Kirby's inhale animation.
* For attacks with hitlag, avoid hitting enemies if possible. This is most apparent with parasol's dash attack.
* Swimming diagonally does not slow you down horizontally nor vertically, compared to swimming strictly horizontally or vertically respectively. As in, swimming right for 3 seconds will achieve the same horizontal distance as swimming diagonally right-up or right-down (or even alternatively) for 3 seconds.
** Take advantage of the above by avoiding enemies underwater whenever possible, as opposed to killing them, because firing Kirby's water gun (with the Water ability or not) slows him down a little. The exception is with Spear Kirby, where Kirby (or Waddle Dee) doesn't slow down when attacking upwards or sideways underwater.
** Swimming is horizontally slower than jumping or falling out of the water, so if possible, jump out of the water repeatedly. In general, avoid swimming if you can.
* Kirby can take light or heavy hits. Light hits don't slow Kirby down much, but heavy hits completely knock him over, wasting a few seconds. Sometimes it may be faster to take a light hit so that via invincibility frames, Kirby can move through obstacles that would otherwise deal heavy hits.
* How Kirby drops his ability is unique in this game. He doesn't drop it anytime he takes a hit like in Nightmare in Dreamland, Amazing Mirror, or Squeak Squad, nor is it random like in Super Star and 64. Certain hits will always make kirby drop his ability, whereras others will never do so. This is 100% consistent. Here are some general guidelines on what to know:
** Touching an obstacle (or gordo) will always make Kirby drop his ability. This includes boulders, spikes, ice+fire bowling pins, spike balls, and so on. Many obstacles also will instantly destroy the dropped ability.
** Getting hit by an enemy or boss ''attacking'' you will always make Kirby drop his ability. Almost every generic enemy has some kind of attack that if it hits, Kirby will drop it, for example, a Sir Kibble throwing his cutter or a Tsukikage throwing a ninja star. This also includes ramming attacks, such as a Sheld ramming into Kirby or Sphere/Grand Doomer flying across the screen.
** Touching an ''idling'' non-gordo enemy or boss will never make Kirby drop his ability.
* The end-goal minigame is fastest if Kirby is launched as low as possible, but directly above the 7 line such that Kirby does not hang on the edge. Thus hitting A as early as possible is not necessarily fastest, but it is generally consistent for a quick goal game. One can use sound-cues as well, since the ideal timing is to press A between two tiny jingles in the third set of jingles.

== Hidden Rooms ==

There are five hidden rooms/secrets scattered throughout the game, two of which are HAL rooms. Unfortunately they are mostly useless for speedrunning, though they can be used as challenge goals and such.

1. In level 1-2, in the third room (where Kirby is climbing up the inside of a tree), there is a hidden door above the maximum tomato at the side. This leads to a small room with an invincible candy. It is extremely unlikely that taking this detour for the candy is faster for completion of the level, because Gigant Edge is taken out quickly anyways with Wing or Fire, but it has yet to be tested.

2. In level 1-4, in the first room, reach the very right end of the room, past the door. Move left and the spot with the stone logs will have collapsed, revealing a hidden door leading to a HAL room with ability stands for Hammer, Fighter, Wing, and Ninja. To note, these are the four rarest standard abilities in the game, as outside of mixing, it is impossible to obtain fighter or ninja before White Wafers, wing before Nutty Noon, and hammer before Egg Engines outside of the Bonkers in level 2-1. There is currently no use for this in any% nor 100%, as Kirby should already have Wing in the former from mixing in 1-1, and for 100% Kirby must discard whatever ability he obtains anyways due to the dimensional rift at the end of the level. However, if one wishes to not use mixing for an any% run, the runner can take this detour to obtain Wing extremely early as a viable alternative (though mixing in 1-1 is much faster).

3. In level 5-5, instead of entering the door into the mini-boss tower, float straight up and enter what looks to be a jailed entrance. This leads to a series of rooms with smaller arenas for minibosses, with every miniboss (Rather than just 4) to fight. There is no advantage to taking this route other than an extra challenge, though every energy sphere can still be obtained in this route.

4. In level 6-5, in the third room with the long conveyer belts, reach the end of the room. Instead of entering the door, take out the enemies falling from above, navigate the conveyer belts above and enter the black square in the top right corner leading to another HAL room. This one has several stars, a few 1ups, and most notably, ability stands for Spear, Water, Leaf, and Whip (interesting to note is that these are all the new abilities in this game). There is currently no use for this in any% nor 100%, as Kirby will have just received Wing before reaching this room, which outclasses all four for speedrunning.

5. In level 7-3, directly above the level exit door is what looks to be a black meteor/moon hybrid. Kirby can enter this as if it was a door, and it leads to a vertical room with many 1ups and stars. There is currently no advantage to entering this room, unless a goal of the run is to end with as many lives as possible.

== Mixing Mechanics ==

As with most Kirby games, you can start the mixing roulette by sucking in multiple enemies with abilities, and obtain almost any ability at random. However, because of the ability to inhale more enemies and larger objects, KRtDL requires Kirby to simultaneously inhale at least three ability enemies (instead of the usual two)
* The roulette is completely randomized, but each individual roulette is a true roulette, meaning the second and third cycles of the wheel will have the same ability order as the first cycle. <ref name = "Mix"> Mixing testing and data by yoshifan28 at http://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/kirbys_return_to_dreamland_speedrunning_discussion__wii_51.html </ref>
** First Cycle: All abilities, but one, show up for 4 frames each.
** Second Cycle: All abilities show up for 7 frames each.
** Third Cycle: Ten abilities show up for 10 frames each, followed by a last ability that the roulette ends on.
* The roulette cycles through all 20 standard abilities, along with crash, mike, and sleep.
* Though there is no direct way to pause during mixing, the wii home menu can be accessed. If the home menu is brought up, and the '1' button is held while closing the home menu, then the roulette will stop on the ability that the home menu stopped on. Note that it is near impossible to consistently home menu on every slot.
* The main way to try to get the desired ability through a mix is to repeatedly press the home button until it either stops on the desired ability (which then, the '1' button should be held to obtain it) or the player spots it in between home menu presses. Then the player should try to calculate how many abilities are left before it re-appears, then roughly count and then open the home menu around that time. It is not very reliable, and still luck-dependent, unfortunately.
* Key locations with opportunities to mix include:
** Level 1-1, the last room, right past the ultra sword knight, with three sir kibbles
** Level 4-1, the three poppy bros. jr's in the second room
** Level 4-1, the last room before Gigant Edge, with the waddle doo and two chilly enemies
** Level 6-2, the third room with the triple flamers
** Level 6-2, the eighth room with the three searches enemies (you need to jump into one of them towards the other two to be able to inhale all three at once)
** Level 7-2, the very first room with the descending floor with the triple cutters
** Level 7-2, the very end with the three Tsukikages

== Ability Recycling ==

Similar to storing an ability via a helper in Kirby Super Star, Kirby can "store" the current ability he has by discarding it and carrying the ability star. This can be done by discarding it with the '-' button and then standing right where the ability will land on the ground. Note that Kirby cannot catch an ability on its first bounce; he can only catch it after it has bounced once.
* If Kirby inhales two abilities, the first ability that kirby inhales will take priority over the second ability. For example, if Sword Kirby is carrying a Fire ability, tosses the Fire ability star, discards sword, inhales both, and fire happens to be closer (in other words he inhales it first), then he will become Fire Kirby.
* Note that when Kirby swallows an ability, any ability that is discarded will start flashing and disappear within a few seconds. However, by picking it up, the timer for disappearing resets.
* Ability stars that touch water, spikes, boulders, or solid ultra-ability obstacles will instantly shatter. One must take particular care to not take heavy hits underwater.
* However, since objects can be carried in water, ability stars can still be carried underwater as well, as long as it isn't dropped while swimming. There is currently no use for this in speedrunning at the moment.
* The main advantage is allowing Kirby to recycle the current ability he has, and briefly use a different one required, then switch back. This is especially handy for 100%, as it allows Kirby to save a mobile ability, use a different less-mobile ability required for an Energy Sphere, then quickly switch back.

== Ultra Sword Finishing Blow Animation Skip <ref name="Ultra Skip">Animation Skip first documented by gsk6930 at http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/61821094</ref> ==

Against both Grand Doomer and Magolor, after finishing off their ultra barrier, the game intends for you to finish off both bosses with an ultra sword attack, resulting in a lengthy animation of Kirby finishing off the boss (and a lengthy sequence to shake the wiimote against Magolor). However, this animation can be skipped, as the final hit can be dealt with any attack. The problem is, typically there are no enemies directly available to either copy or shoot at the boss. This can be circumvented, however, and requires Kirby to have some sort of standard offensive ability before the ultra-barrier phase.

# When starting the boss's ultra-barrier phase, before eating an ultra enemy, recycle the current ability you have, and carry it.
# When the ultra enemy appears, slide attack the enemy and touch the dropped ultra ability. This is faster and safer than tossing your current ability, inhaling the ultra enemy, and trying to pick it up again.
# When attacking the boss, drop the ability, attack, and pick up the discarded ability. Due to how the ability-star-timer works, it will not disappear for a while so there is no panic to pick it up again (though still pick it up quickly).
# For Magolor, after 2 hits, discard the ultra ability and pick up the original ability. When picking up a new ultra ability, repeat step 2.
# When the barrier is gone, quickly discard the current ultra ability, eat the ability you've been carrying this entire phase, and attack Grand Doomer / Magolor with it when they come to the center. This will finish off the boss and skip the animation.

This may seem minor, but this trick is extremely useful because:

* '''Grand Doomer''': In both the current any% and 100% routes, the player should be fighting it with Wing (especially since it is conveniently available in the pre-boss lobby). This allows Kirby to keep Wing after defeating Grand Doomer, and use it for level 6-1 and on without having to backtrack to fetch wing or resort to using Fire provided at the start of level 6-1.
* '''Magolor''': The developers intended the player to start the final fight against Magolor's Soul without any abilities. Normally, after Magolor's Soul flies across the screen, he will toss objects and enemies at Kirby which one of which, if inhaled, will always give Kirby the ability he had when facing Magolor (for example, if you fought Magolor with Ninja, one of the first enemies Magolor's Soul throws at you is a Tsukikage). As a result, ability-less Kirby must wait before the ability is given back. But using the trick above, Kirby can start the fight with whatever ability he finished the previous phase with, and will not have to wait for Magolor's Soul to give him an ability. This makes it possible to finish the first phase of Magolor's soul before he disappears into the background for a time-wasting attack.

== Wing-Swim Glitch <ref name="Wing Swim"> Wing Swim Glitch discovered by KirbyMastah at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkJ2ujhOJG8 </ref> ==

Video with demonstration, explanation, and applications: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFcbud9T3J8

This glitch allows Wing Kirby to fly underwater, as if he were in the air. Simply Condor Head into the side of a body of water, and press 2 at the right time. The time-frame to hit 2 is very lenient, and mashing 2 while condor heading is enough to practically guarantee activating the glitch.

In theory, this is very useful as hover-flapping is horizontally as fast as running, and running is faster than swimming for horizontal movement. Furthermore, hover-flapping upward is far faster than swimming upwards, and Wing Kirby can dive bomb underwater as well for downward movement. While flying underwater, Wing Kirby can do the following:

* Hover Flap
* Dive Bomb (and cancel those with hover flap)
* Feather Gun (but feathers disappear in water so this is useless)

Furthermore, if Wing Kirby dive bombs out of the side of water, the dive bomb will end when he exits the water, and will be flung out at high speeds. The closer Kirby is to the edge of water before dive bombing, the higher and more horizontal the momentum.

Unfortunately this doesn't have many applications, as there are only three rooms in the game (outside of dimensional rifts, which in those cases, kirby must be ability-less) that have bodies of water that can be entered from the side (world 3 map, levels 4-3 and 6-4). Furthermore, in the current 100% route, the player will not have wing for any of those rooms, so it is useless for 100%. But for any%, though, the glitch does save time, whether several seconds or less than a second. Be sure to practice glitch, as it's very easy to do.

== References ==
<references />

Sonic Advance 2

2015-08-26T19:19:25Z

Kirbymastah:

Sonic Advance 2 is the second installment in the sonic advance series, which follows the standard 2D sonic gameplay. This game introduces the boost-state mechanic, which makes this one of, if not the, fastest 2D sonic games along with making it a very challenging fast-paced game to speedrun.

[[Sonic_Advance_2/General_Mechanics|General Mechanics]]- Start here to learn about the general mechanics of the game 

[[Sonic_Advance_2/Level_Analysis|Level Analysis]]- Analysis and strategies for every level and boss 

== External Links ==

* [http://www.soniccenter.org The Sonic Center]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 rankings]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_2/times Sonic Advance 2 record times]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/videos/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 videos]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/guides/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 guides]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/maps/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 level maps]

Sonic Advance 2/Level Analysis

2015-08-26T19:17:35Z

Kirbymastah: Created page with "= Leaf Forest = == Act 1 == == Act 2 == == Egg Hammer Tank II == = Hot Crater = == Act 1 == == Act 2 == == Egg Bomber Tank == = Music Plant = == Act 1 == == Act 2 ==..."

= Leaf Forest =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Egg Hammer Tank II ==

= Hot Crater =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Egg Bomber Tank ==

= Music Plant =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Egg Totem ==

= Ice Paradise =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Aero Egg ==

= Sky Canyon =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Egg Saucer ==

= Techno Base =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Egg-Go-Round ==

= Egg Utopia =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Egg Frog

= XX Zone =

Sonic Advance 2

2015-08-26T19:14:22Z

Kirbymastah:

Sonic Advance 2 is the thirdsecond installment in the sonic advance series, which follows the standard 2D sonic gameplay. This game introduces the boost-state mechanic, which makes this one of, if not the, fastest 2D sonic games along with making it a very challenging fast-paced game to speedrun.

[[Sonic_Advance_2/General_Mechanics|General Mechanics]]- Start here to learn about the general mechanics of the game 

[[Sonic_Advance_2/Level_Analysis|Level Analysis]]- Analysis and strategies for every level and boss 

== External Links ==

* [http://www.soniccenter.org The Sonic Center]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 rankings]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_2/times Sonic Advance 2 record times]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/videos/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 videos]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/guides/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 guides]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/maps/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 level maps]

Sonic Advance 2

2015-08-26T19:13:44Z

Kirbymastah: Created page with "Sonic Advance 2 is the thirdsecond installment in the sonic advance series, which follows the standard 2D sonic gameplay. This game introduces the boost-state mechanic, which..."

Sonic Advance 2 is the thirdsecond installment in the sonic advance series, which follows the standard 2D sonic gameplay. This game introduces the boost-state mechanic, which makes this one of, if not the, fastest 2D sonic games along with making it a very challenging fast-paced game to speedrun.

[[Sonic_Advance_3/General_Mechanics|General Mechanics]]- Start here to learn about the general mechanics of the game 

[[Sonic_Advance_3/Level_Analysis|Level Analysis]]- Analysis and strategies for every level and boss 

== External Links ==

* [http://www.soniccenter.org The Sonic Center]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 rankings]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_2/times Sonic Advance 2 record times]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/videos/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 videos]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/guides/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 guides]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/maps/sonic_advance_2 Sonic Advance 2 level maps]

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-26T18:13:41Z

Kirbymastah:

= Team Types =

Sonic Advance 3 allows you to pair any of the 5 characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Amy) with any other. This means there are 20 possible teams in the game, all of them with their unique traits. For the purpose of brevity, teams will be abbreviated as two character's abbreviations, with a + in between:

* Sonic = S
* Tails = T
* Knuckles = K
* Cream = C
* Amy = A
* Any character = ?

While the tag actions depend solely on the support character (the list of tag actions are [[Sonic_Advance_3/General_Mechanics#Tag_Action|here]]), the lead character also gains or trades abilities depending on who they are paired with.

Teams are categorized by speed, power, and flight. This is shown in the upper-left corner of the screen during standard gameplay with either a S (Speed), P (Power), or F (Flight).

The type of team is determined by if sonic or knuckles are in your team, as they have the dominant traits. If Sonic is in the team, then the team is automatically speed. If Sonic is NOT in the team, but Knuckles is, then the team is automatically power. If neither Sonic nor Knuckles are in the team (in other words, if Cream or Tails are in the team and Sonic and Knuckles are NOT), the team is flight.

* Speed teams can enter boost mode, either by running for a period of time, hitting a boost pad, or using Sonic's Tag Action
* Power teams can break power barriers, and also take 2 hits to destroy some normal barriers instead of 4.

The "exceptions" to the above rules are S+K and K+S. These are speed teams, but they also have power attacks because both sonic and knuckles are in the same team, so this team has traits from both speed and power.

The team type is honestly a meaningless label aside from the rules above. For example, while S+T can enter boost mode, they can still fly using Tail's air tag action.

= Sonic & Tails =

* Boost Mode
* Tails Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = skid attack
* Can trick off springs and ramps

This is a well-balanced starting team that adapts well to many scenarios casually. Access to boost mode, along with Tail's height-reaching tag actions and tricks off springs, makes this a team well suited for speedrunning vertical levels with boost pads. A key example is Ocean Base 1.

= Sonic & Knuckles =

* Boost Mode
* Knuckles Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = long-lasting power skid attack
* B in air = insta-shield
* Up+B in air = upward air dash attack
* Down+B in air = bounce attack

Sonic gains a lot of interesting aerial attacks when paired with Knuckles. None of these attacks are power-type, though he can toss Knuckles to break power barriers. The Up+B in air attack is useful for gaining a bit of extra height when used at the peak of Sonic's jump. Unfortunately for speedrunning levels, while this team has access to boost mode, it's completely outclassed by other S+? teams. However, this team is well-suited for some bosses thanks to the extra reach from the Up+B attack, along with insta-shield and his skid attack. Examples include Ocean Base's boss, and Altar Emerald's boss.

= Sonic & Cream =

* Boost Mode
* Cream Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = skid attack
* Side+B in air = sideways air dash attack
* A in air near enemy = homing attack
* Can breath underwater

This team has a lot of neat properties. Access to boost mode and Cream's air tag action makes this a very versatile team. While S+T and S+A are more suited for vertical levels, and T+S is more suited for horizontal, S+C is the in-between team which can reach both high heights at decent horizontal speeds. This makes this team one of the best for navigating larger levels that have a lot of walls, like Chaos Angel 1 and 2.

S+C's aerial side attack is useful for gaining a bit of extra distance or getting a bit of extra horizontal momentum out of a jump. Breathing underwater, while useful casually, shouldn't really be a big deal for speedrunning, but it doesn't hurt.

Of course, having access to cheese makes this a decent team for bosses too.

= Sonic & Amy =

* Boost Mode
* Amy Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = hammer
* B in air = spin
* Does not automatically spin jump

Many people think being paired with Amy is a detriment to the lead character but this isn't necessarily true. The fact that the main character straight jumps, and also can spin in the air at all gives you a lot of extra control in the air, which is very useful.

Having boost mode and Amy's tag actions makes this team well-suited for vertical levels. While S+T generally excels a bit more for climbing, S+A gains a hammer that Sonic can use on springs, giving this team a useful niche.

= Tails & Sonic =

* Boost Mode
* Sonic Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = Tail Swipe
* A in air/water = flight/doggy paddle as normal
* Can trick off springs and ramps

This team is, hands down, the best team in the game for time attacks. Tail's flight has the unique property in this game where he does not lose any horizontal speed at all (unlike C+S where her flight DOES lose horizontal speed). If a jump is buffered from Sonic's Tag Action, then he starts flying, while he does lose boost mode, he will maintain all of that speed through his flight. In addition to that, while Tail's flight is slow for vertical climbing, he can jump in the air thanks to abusing the mechanics of Sonic's Tag Action. This makes this team overall the best in the game for horizontal speed. Being able to trick and swim are just bonuses. His tail swipe attack is also one of the better attacks as it has good reach, doesn't hurt himself, and the hitbox stays out for a little bit of time.

= Tails & Knuckles =

* Knuckles Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = Tornado attack
* A in air = Tails Glide
* A in water = Breast Stroke
* B in air = Insta-Shield

This team is unique in that it's the only instance ever where Tails can use insta-shield! His tornado attack can be used repeatedly for a while and its hitbox stays out for some time until you either stop mashing B or he gets tired. Unfortunately, its lack of range makes it dangerous to use on bosses.

Tails also learns how to sort of glide like Knuckles (both in air and water), which is a little unique but not that useful since he can't climb like Knuckles, and he can no longer actually fly. This team doesn't really have much use all around.

= Tails & Cream =

* Cream Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = Tail Swipe
* A in air = Upward Propeller Flight
* A in water = Doggy Paddle
* A in air near enemy = Homing Attack

The tail swipe is a great attack as it has good reach and stays out for a bit of time. Having access to both this and Cheese makes this team a great choice for bosses. While his propeller flight suggests that this team should be useful for just vertical reach, this style of flight lasts for a very short time and is also outclassed by T+A's flight. As a result, this team is mostly outclassed for clearly levels, but great for bosses.

= Tails & Amy =

* Amy Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = hammer
* A in air = Flight with Hammer. Lasts shorter than normal flight, but gains more vertical height
* B while flying = Hammer while flying
* A in water = Doggy Paddle
* B in air = spin
* Does not automatically spin jump

Many people think being paired with Amy is a detriment to the lead character but this isn't necessarily true. The fact that the main character straight jumps, and also can spin in the air at all gives you a lot of extra control in the air, which is very useful.

This team is one of the better ones for exploration and vertical reach, having both T+A's flight with hammer, Amy's tag actions, and also being able to hammer springs. Keep in mind that being able to hammer while flying gives this team potential for aerial bosses as well, like Altar Emerald's boss. Unfortunately, what puts this team behind S+T and S+A is the lack of being able to enter boost mode, but it has its unique niche.

= Knuckles & Sonic =

* Boost Mode
* Sonic Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = double punch
* A in air = headbutt
* A in water = breast stroke, can climb walls
* Floats on water surfaces

This team is well suited for levels that require a lot of horizontal speed while having power attacks as well. While knuckles can't glide like normal, his headbutt works the same way as his forward trick in Sonic Advance 2, in that he gains a forward burst of speed, bounces off enemies, and rolls upon landing (and maintains boost mode if he does it while in it). If it weren't for being able to destroy power barriers, however, this team is generally outclassed by other ?+S teams, since his headbutt isn't as useful as other ?+S team abilities in the air.

= Knuckles & Tails =

* Tails Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = uppercut
* A in air = midair hop into glide, can climb walls
* A in water = breast stroke, can climb walls
* Floats on water surfaces

This team is very popular among casual players for good reason. Access to gliding, climbing, flying, and Tail's ground tag action makes this team excellent for exploration. In a speedrunning context, this team is a niche at best, thanks to the lack of boost mode. The uppercut is a great fast attack that has a large hitbox and stays out for some time, but unfortunately isn't really applicable for bosses; it's best for the Gemerl fights in stages.

= Knuckles & Cream =

* Cream Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = double punch
* A in air = glide, can climb walls
* B while gliding near enemies = homing attack
* A in water = breat stroke, can climb walls
* Floats on water surfaces
* Cheese flies around Cream as a hitbox

This team is a pretty standard knuckles, with a normal glide, normal punch, normal climbing, and normal floating. Having access to Cream's air tag action makes this a very well-rounded team. It's generally slower than S+C but sacrifice access to boost mode and the aerial side+b attack for having power attacks and gliding, so this team can be used as a safer team instead of S+C. This can also be a good team for bosses thanks to having Cheese access and rotating Cream.

= Knuckles & Amy =

* Amy Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = hammer
* A in air = glide, can climb walls
* Can spindash up walls
* Down+B in air = drill attack
* Floats on water surfaces
* B in air = spin
* Does not automatically spin jump

This is another great team both for exploration and vertical levels. Being able to spindash up walls gives this team a niche that S+T and S+A wish they had. Having Amy's tag actions and being able to hammer springs is just icing on the cake. The drill attack is a power attack that's great for attacking downward; unfortunately the only boss this could be applicable for would be Cyber Track's boss, and that's not reliable.

= Cream & Sonic =

* Boost Mode
* Sonic Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground or air = Cheese Bullet
* A in air = flight
* Floats on water surfaces

A pretty versatile team. It's similar to T+S except Cream's flight loses horizontal speed so it's slower. However, Cream can cancel her flight at any time unlike T+S, and her initial vertical flight speed is faster, so this can be worth it in a few levels. In general, a great team for horizontal levels.

Cheese is no longer a homing attack. Instead, Cheese fires forward in a bullet, which is both good and bad. Cheese can be fired at any time (normally he needs a target to be used), and the hitbox is a lot larger and lasts way longer than it looks, so this can be really useful for bosses. Cream can also use this attack while running in boost mode, and continue to run with boost mode.

= Cream & Tails =

* Tails Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground or air = Cheese Attack
* A in air = parasol

A very mediocre team. The only unique thing about this team is having a parasol, which is unique but not very useful because it's so slow.

= Cream & Knuckles =

* Knuckles Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground or air = Cheese Attack
* A in air = flight
* Cheese rotates around Cream as a hitbox

This is a solid team for bosses, as C+K has access to both the homing attack, and having Cheese as protection. Cream can also fly as usual. The only power attack available is using Knuckle's ground tag action, as using Cheese is not a power attack.

= Cream & Amy =

* Amy Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = hammer
* B in air = Cheese Attack
* Down+B in air = ground pound
* A in air = flight
* Does not automatically spin jump
* Can trick off springs and ramps

This team is interesting in that Cream actually gets her own attack that doesn't use cheese: hammer, and a ground pound. This team is also one of four teams that can trick. Cream flight and Amy's tag actions makes this team well suited for vertical levels, while also having access to cheese and tricks.

= Amy & Sonic =

* Boost Mode
* Sonic Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash
* B on ground = hammer
* A in air = elbow dash
* B in air = air hammer
* Down+B in air = hammer twirl

This is the only team in the game led by Amy where she can spindash and spin at will, so she controls like the other four characters. Being able to boost mode, have a bit of extra air control with her elbow dash (this maintains boost mode), and being able to hammer springs gives this team a niche in horizontal movement, as no other speed team in the game can hammer springs besides S+A.

= Amy & Tails =

* Tails Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = giant step
* B during giant step = faceplant attack
* B on ground = hammer
* A in air = balloon float
* B in air = midair hammer jump attack

Very similar to A+C, but instead of being able to trick, this team has Tail's tag actions and a midair jump. This team is hindered by being unable to spindash, instead being replaced by her inferior giant step like from advance 1. However, this is the only team that has a direct midair jump that doesn't require a tag action. This can be useful for vertical climbing, but there aren't any situations where this would be particularly useful.

= Amy & Knuckles =

* Knuckles Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = spindash but no spin
* B on ground = giant hammer
* Down+B on ground = hammer flip
* B in air = air hammer

On paper, this team sounds like Amy from sonic advance except with an actual pseudo-spindash. Hammer attacks, air hammers, and being the only team that can hammer flip like from sonic advance. However, her hammer flip goes at a set speed, so her horizontal speed doesn't carry over, making it not very useful. The giant hammer, while cool, is slow and doesn't really deal any extra damage so it's also useless for bosses. On another note, this is also the only team in the game that can spindash without balling up, which could be useful as there are times you don't want to ball up.

= Amy & Cream =

* Cream Tag Actions
* Down+A on ground = giant step
* B during giant step = faceplant attack
* B on ground = hammer
* A in air = balloon float
* B in air = air hammer
* Can trick off springs and ramps

Very similar to A+T, but instead of having a midair hammer jump, this team can trick and has Cream's tag actions. This team is hindered by being unable to spindash, instead being replaced by her inferior giant step like from advance 1. It's not too big of a deal since Cream's air tag action can give a lot of acceleration in the air. This team can also trick. There aren't really any real uses for this team currently.

Sonic Advance 3/Level Analysis

2015-08-26T16:21:56Z

Kirbymastah:

Note: This page is incomplete

= Route 99 =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Sunset Hill =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Ocean Base =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Toy Kingdom =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Twinkle Snow =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Cyber Track =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Chaos Angel =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

Sonic Advance 3/Level Analysis

2015-08-26T16:21:43Z

Kirbymastah: Created page with "= Route 99 = == Act 1 == == Act 2 == == Act 3 == == Boss == = Sunset Hill = == Act 1 == == Act 2 == == Act 3 == == Boss == = Ocean Base = == Act 1 == == Act 2 ==..."

= Route 99 =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Sunset Hill =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Ocean Base =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Toy Kingdom =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Twinkle Snow =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Cyber Track =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

= Chaos Angel =

== Act 1 ==

== Act 2 ==

== Act 3 ==

== Boss ==

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-26T16:14:38Z

Kirbymastah:

= Team Types =

Sonic Advance 3 allows you to pair any of the 5 characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Amy) with any other. This means there are 20 possible teams in the game, all of them with their unique traits. For the purpose of brevity, teams will be abbreviated as two character's abbreviations, with a + in between:

* Sonic = S
* Tails = T
* Knuckles = K
* Cream = C
* Amy = A
* Any character = ?

While the tag actions depend solely on the support character (the list of tag actions are [[Sonic_Advance_3/General_Mechanics#Tag_Action|here]]), the lead character also gains or trades abilities depending on who they are paired with.

Teams are categorized by speed, power, and flight. This is shown in the upper-left corner of the screen during standard gameplay with either a S (Speed), P (Power), or F (Flight).

The type of team is determined by if sonic or knuckles are in your team, as they have the dominant traits. If Sonic is in the team, then the team is automatically speed. If Sonic is NOT in the team, but Knuckles is, then the team is automatically power. If neither Sonic nor Knuckles are in the team (in other words, if Cream or Tails are in the team and Sonic and Knuckles are NOT), the team is flight.

* Speed teams can enter boost mode, either by running for a period of time, hitting a boost pad, or using Sonic's Tag Action
* Power teams can break power barriers, and also take 2 hits to destroy some normal barriers instead of 4.

The "exceptions" to the above rules are S+K and K+S. These are speed teams, but they also have power attacks because both sonic and knuckles are in the same team, so this team has traits from both speed and power.

The team type is honestly a meaningless label aside from the rules above. For example, while S+T can enter boost mode, they can still fly using Tail's air tag action.

= Sonic & Tails =

* Boost Mode
* Tails Tag Actions
* B on ground = skid attack
* Can trick off springs and ramps

This is a well-balanced starting team that adapts well to many scenarios casually. Access to boost mode, along with Tail's height-reaching tag actions and tricks off springs, makes this a team well suited for speedrunning vertical levels with boost pads. A key example is Ocean Base 1.

= Sonic & Knuckles =

* Boost Mode
* Knuckles Tag Actions
* B on ground = long-lasting power skid attack
* B in air = insta-shield
* Up+B in air = upward air dash attack
* Down+B in air = bounce attack

Sonic gains a lot of interesting aerial attacks when paired with Knuckles. None of these attacks are power-type, though he can toss Knuckles to break power barriers. The Up+B in air attack is useful for gaining a bit of extra height when used at the peak of Sonic's jump. Unfortunately for speedrunning levels, while this team has access to boost mode, it's completely outclassed by other S+? teams. However, this team is well-suited for some bosses thanks to the extra reach from the Up+B attack, along with insta-shield and his skid attack. Examples include Ocean Base's boss, and Altar Emerald's boss.

= Sonic & Cream =

* Boost Mode
* Cream Tag Actions
* B on ground = skid attack
* Side+B in air = sideways air dash attack
* A in air near enemy = homing attack
* Can breath underwater

This team has a lot of neat properties. Access to boost mode and Cream's air tag action makes this a very versatile team. While S+T and S+A are more suited for vertical levels, and T+S is more suited for horizontal, S+C is the in-between team which can reach both high heights at decent horizontal speeds. This makes this team one of the best for navigating larger levels that have a lot of walls, like Chaos Angel 1 and 2.

S+C's aerial side attack is useful for gaining a bit of extra distance or getting a bit of extra horizontal momentum out of a jump. Breathing underwater, while useful casually, shouldn't really be a big deal for speedrunning, but it doesn't hurt.

Of course, having access to cheese makes this a decent team for bosses too.

= Sonic & Amy =

* Boost Mode
* Amy Tag Actions
* B on ground = hammer
* B in air = spin
* Does not automatically spin jump

Many people think being paired with Amy is a detriment to the lead character but this isn't necessarily true. The fact that the main character straight jumps, and also can spin in the air at all gives you a lot of extra control in the air, which is very useful.

Having boost mode and Amy's tag actions makes this team well-suited for vertical levels. While S+T generally excels a bit more for climbing, S+A gains a hammer that Sonic can use on springs, giving this team a useful niche.

= Tails & Sonic =

* Boost Mode
* Sonic Tag Actions
* B on ground = Tail Swipe
* A in air/water = flight/doggy paddle as normal
* Can trick off springs and ramps

This team is, hands down, the best team in the game for time attacks. Tail's flight has the unique property in this game where he does not lose any horizontal speed at all (unlike C+S where her flight DOES lose horizontal speed). If a jump is buffered from Sonic's Tag Action, then he starts flying, while he does lose boost mode, he will maintain all of that speed through his flight. In addition to that, while Tail's flight is slow for vertical climbing, he can jump in the air thanks to abusing the mechanics of Sonic's Tag Action. This makes this team overall the best in the game for horizontal speed. Being able to trick and swim are just bonuses. His tail swipe attack is also one of the better attacks as it has good reach, doesn't hurt himself, and the hitbox stays out for a little bit of time.

= Tails & Knuckles =

* Knuckles Tag Actions
* B on ground = Tornado attack
* A in air = Tails Glide
* A in water = Breast Stroke
* B in air = Insta-Shield

This team is unique in that it's the only instance ever where Tails can use insta-shield! His tornado attack can be used repeatedly for a while and its hitbox stays out for some time until you either stop mashing B or he gets tired. Unfortunately, its lack of range makes it dangerous to use on bosses.

Tails also learns how to sort of glide like Knuckles (both in air and water), which is a little unique but not that useful since he can't climb like Knuckles, and he can no longer actually fly. This team doesn't really have much use all around.

= Tails & Cream =

* Cream Tag Actions
* B on ground = Tail Swipe
* A in air = Upward Propeller Flight
* A in water = Doggy Paddle
* A in air near enemy = Homing Attack

The tail swipe is a great attack as it has good reach and stays out for a bit of time. Having access to both this and Cheese makes this team a great choice for bosses. While his propeller flight suggests that this team should be useful for just vertical reach, this style of flight lasts for a very short time and is also outclassed by T+A's flight. As a result, this team is mostly outclassed for clearly levels, but great for bosses.

= Tails & Amy =

* Amy Tag Actions
* B on ground = hammer
* A in air = Flight with Hammer. Lasts shorter than normal flight, but gains more vertical height
* B while flying = Hammer while flying
* A in water = Doggy Paddle
* B in air = spin
* Does not automatically spin jump

Many people think being paired with Amy is a detriment to the lead character but this isn't necessarily true. The fact that the main character straight jumps, and also can spin in the air at all gives you a lot of extra control in the air, which is very useful.

This team is one of the better ones for exploration and vertical reach, having both T+A's flight with hammer, Amy's tag actions, and also being able to hammer springs. Keep in mind that being able to hammer while flying gives this team potential for aerial bosses as well, like Altar Emerald's boss. Unfortunately, what puts this team behind S+T and S+A is the lack of being able to enter boost mode, but it has its unique niche.

= Knuckles & Sonic =

* Boost Mode
* Sonic Tag Actions
* B on ground = double punch
* A in air = headbutt
* A in water = breast stroke, can climb walls
* Floats on water surfaces

This team is well suited for levels that require a lot of horizontal speed while having power attacks as well. While knuckles can't glide like normal, his headbutt works the same way as his forward trick in Sonic Advance 2, in that he gains a forward burst of speed, bounces off enemies, and rolls upon landing (and maintains boost mode if he does it while in it). If it weren't for being able to destroy power barriers, however, this team is generally outclassed by other ?+S teams, since his headbutt isn't as useful as other ?+S team abilities in the air.

= Knuckles & Tails =

* Tails Tag Actions
* B on ground = uppercut
* A in air = midair hop into glide, can climb walls
* A in water = breast stroke, can climb walls
* Floats on water surfaces

This team is very popular among casual players for good reason. Access to gliding, climbing, flying, and Tail's ground tag action makes this team excellent for exploration. In a speedrunning context, this team is a niche at best, thanks to the lack of boost mode. The uppercut is a great fast attack that has a large hitbox and stays out for some time, but unfortunately isn't really applicable for bosses; it's best for the Gemerl fights in stages.

= Knuckles & Cream =

* Cream Tag Actions
* B on ground = double punch
* A in air = glide, can climb walls
* B while gliding near enemies = homing attack
* A in water = breat stroke, can climb walls
* Floats on water surfaces
* Cheese flies around Cream as a hitbox

This team is a pretty standard knuckles, with a normal glide, normal punch, normal climbing, and normal floating. Having access to Cream's air tag action makes this a very well-rounded team. It's generally slower than S+C but sacrifice access to boost mode and the aerial side+b attack for having power attacks and gliding, so this team can be used as a safer team instead of S+C. This can also be a good team for bosses thanks to having Cheese access and rotating Cream.

= Knuckles & Amy =

* Amy Tag Actions
* B on ground = hammer
* A in air = glide, can climb walls
* Can spindash up walls
* Down+B in air = drill attack
* Floats on water surfaces
* B in air = spin
* Does not automatically spin jump

This is another great team both for exploration and vertical levels. Being able to spindash up walls gives this team a niche that S+T and S+A wish they had. Having Amy's tag actions and being able to hammer springs is just icing on the cake. The drill attack is a power attack that's great for attacking downward; unfortunately the only boss this could be applicable for would be Cyber Track's boss, and that's not reliable.

= Cream & Sonic =

* Boost Mode
* Sonic Tag Actions
* B on ground or air = Cheese Bullet
* A in air = flight
* Floats on water surfaces

A pretty versatile team. It's similar to T+S except Cream's flight loses horizontal speed so it's slower. However, Cream can cancel her flight at any time unlike T+S, and her initial vertical flight speed is faster, so this can be worth it in a few levels. In general, a great team for horizontal levels.

Cheese is no longer a homing attack. Instead, Cheese fires forward in a bullet, which is both good and bad. Cheese can be fired at any time (normally he needs a target to be used), and the hitbox is a lot larger and lasts way longer than it looks, so this can be really useful for bosses. Cream can also use this attack while running in boost mode, and continue to run with boost mode.

= Cream & Tails =

* Tails Tag Actions
* B on ground or air = Cheese Attack
* A in air = parasol

A very mediocre team. The only unique thing about this team is having a parasol, which is unique but not very useful because it's so slow.

= Cream & Knuckles =

* Knuckles Tag Actions
* B on ground or air = Cheese Attack
* A in air = flight
* Cheese rotates around Cream as a hitbox

This is a solid team for bosses, as C+K has access to both the homing attack, and having Cheese as protection. Cream can also fly as usual. The only power attack available is using Knuckle's ground tag action, as using Cheese is not a power attack.

= Cream & Amy =

* Amy Tag Actions
* B on ground = hammer
* B in air = Cheese Attack
* Down+B in air = ground pound
* A in air = flight
* Does not automatically spin jump
* Can trick off springs and ramps

This team is interesting in that Cream actually gets her own attack that doesn't use cheese: hammer, and a ground pound. This team is also one of four teams that can trick. Cream flight and Amy's tag actions makes this team well suited for vertical levels, while also having access to cheese and tricks.

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-26T15:58:54Z

Kirbymastah: /* Knuckles & Amy */

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-25T19:45:13Z

Kirbymastah:

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-25T19:42:54Z

Kirbymastah:

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-25T19:40:21Z

Kirbymastah:

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-25T19:28:34Z

Kirbymastah:

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-25T19:13:16Z

Kirbymastah:

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-25T19:11:56Z

Kirbymastah:

Sonic Advance 3/Team Specific

2015-08-25T19:01:22Z

Kirbymastah: Created page with "Sonic Advance 3 allows you to pair any of the 5 characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Amy) with any other. This means there are 20 possible teams in the game, all of..."

Sonic Advance 3 allows you to pair any of the 5 characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and Amy) with any other. This means there are 20 possible teams in the game, all of them with their unique traits. For the purpose of brevity, each character will have appropriate abbreviations when naming a team.

* Sonic = S
* Tails = T
* Knuckles = K
* Cream = C
* Amy = A
* Any character = ?

While the tag actions depend solely on the support character (the list of tag actions are [[Sonic_Advance_3/General_Mechanics#Tag_Action|here]]), the lead character also gains or trades abilities depending on who they are paired with.

Teams are categorized by speed, power, and flight. This is shown in the upper-left corner of the screen during standard gameplay with either a S (Speed), P (Power), or F (Flight).

The type of team is determined by if sonic or knuckles are in your team, as they have the dominant traits. If Sonic is in the team, then the team is automatically speed. If Sonic is NOT in the team, but Knuckles is, then the team is automatically power. If neither Sonic nor Knuckles are in the team (in other words, if Cream or Tails are in the team and Sonic and Knuckles are NOT), the team is flight.

* Speed teams can enter boost mode, either by running for a period of time, hitting a boost pad, or using Sonic's Tag Action
* Power teams can break power barriers, and also take 2 hits to destroy some normal barriers instead of 4.

The "exceptions" to the above rules are S+K and K+S. These are speed teams, but they also have power attacks because both sonic and knuckles are in the same team, so this team has traits from both speed and power.

The team type is honestly a meaningless label aside from the rules above. For example, while S+T can enter boost mode, they can still fly using Tail's air tag action.

= Sonic & Tails =

* Boost Mode
* Tails Tag Action
* Can trick off springs and ramps
* B = skid attack

This is a well-balanced starting team that adapts well to many scenarios casually. Access to boost mode, along with Tail's height-reaching tag actions and tricks off springs, makes this a team well suited for speedrunning vertical levels with boost pads. A key example is Ocean Base 1.

General Mechanics

2015-08-25T16:30:53Z

Kirbymastah: Blanked the page

Sonic Advance 3/General Mechanics

2015-08-25T16:30:49Z

Kirbymastah: Created page with "= General Mechanics = ;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two..."

= General Mechanics =

;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

;Slope Jump:When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

;Loop Jump:A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

;Aerial Speed:Sonic Advance 3 is different in that when in the air, your character will accelerate much more quickly than on the ground, even when ascending. This means that one of the best ways for most teams to accelerate (aside from Sonic's Tag Action) is to do a 2-tap spindash, then immediately jump.

;Rails:Your character will always land on a rail first try (exception is at specific angle changes, this is seemingly random). However, the moment you jump off that same rail, you can't land on it again. If you want to get off of a rail, just jump again. If you want to land on it, try to aim for spots that aren't angle changes.

= Tag Action =

The Tag Action is the unique feature in this game that differentiates it from all other sonic games, and adds another layer of depth in execution. This mechanic has so much depth that it deserves an entire section to itself in this page.

In a given team, the second character has the ability to perform a supporting action for the lead character, called the tag action. To perform a tag action, start holding the R button. After 1.5 seconds, the support character will automatically jump into the lead characters hands, and you can release R to perform the tag action at any time after this happens.

While charging a tag action, if the charging animation is interrupted, but R is still held, then the tag action will begin charging as soon as possible, except it will only take 1 second to charge. This is a VERY important mechanic to understand and take advantage of. Interrupting the charging animations includes (but is not limited to) the following:

* Taking damage
* Running up a wall or through a loop
* Running through a spiral
* Attacking
* Grabbing a pulley

For example, suppose you need to have a tag action charged as soon as possible after coming out of a loop, but 1.5 seconds is too much time. If you start charging after coming out of the loop, you'll end up waiting a bit to finish charging before using it. However, if you charge before entering the loop, keep holding R, have it canceled by running through the loop, then it will only take 1 second to charge upon exiting the loop, saving 0.5 seconds over otherwise.

What the tag action is depends on two things: who the support character is, and whether it is used on the ground or in the air. Here is a list and analysis of all the tag actions for each support character.

== Sonic ==
;Ground Tag Action: Give the lead character a sudden burst of speed forward and puts him/her in boost mode.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air.

Both of Sonic's tag action actually puts the lead character on an invisible grounded boost pad for one frames. This means that by pressing A the frame R is released, the lead character can jump in the air. This can be pause buffered by charging the tag action, pausing, letting go of R and holding A, then unpausing while continuing to hold A.

It's also important to note that by rolling or jumping the frame this tag action is used, the lead character actually goes faster than otherwise. As a result, it's generally best to always either hold down to roll while releasing R, or buffer a jump from the tag action, though there are a few cases where having lower speed helps.

== Tails ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Toss the lead character up and slightly to the side.
;Air Tag Action: - Fly and carry the lead character.

Tail's ground tag action is similar to Amy's in that it's purely a height gainer. His ground tag action gives a bit more height than Amy's, but sends the lead character to the side (hers sends the character straight up) which depends on the situation. A disadvantage to this is that the lead character cannot perform any air action after being tossed, until landing; this includes charging another tag action.

== Knuckles ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Tossed forward by the lead character as a power attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Glide and carry the lead character.

Knuckle's tag actions are generally not very useful for speedruns as his ground tag action does not do any extra damage than normal attacks, and being carried by knuckle's glide isn't useful either since Sonic's air tag action works better for horizontal distance.

== Cream ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Give the lead character control of Cheese. Pressing B commands Cheese to attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air. Also gives the lead character an upward boost.

Cream's air tag action is unique in that it directly amplifies the lead character's vertical velocity. If used at the peak of a jump, the lead character will get some height. If used at the start of a jump, the lead character will gain a lot of height (though not as much as Tails/Amy's ground tag actions). If used off a spring, the lead character goes flying. While Cream's air tag action doesn't give as much height as Tails/Amy, it makes up for that with giving the lead character a lot of horizontal movement during the jump. As a result, this is more versatile.

== Amy ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Shoot the lead character straight up with her hammer.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but gives significantly less height.

Amy's tag action is useful in that she tosses the lead character straight up. While her ground tag action gives slightly less height than Tail's, the lead character can immediately start charging another tag action while in the air, which has its advantages. This also applies to her air tag action.

Sonic Advance 3

2015-08-25T16:30:39Z

Kirbymastah:

[[Category:Game Boy Advance]]
[[Category:Games]]
{{sda run|http://speeddemosarchive.com/SonicAdvance3.html}}

Sonic Advance 3 is the third installment in the sonic advance series, which follows the standard 2D sonic gameplay. However, this game features a gimmick in that you control a team of two characters: a lead and support character. This leads to much variety in the game, as this game effectively offers 20 characters in this game!

[[Sonic_Advance_3/General_Mechanics|General Mechanics]]- Start here to learn about the general mechanics of the game 
[[Sonic_Advance_3/Team_Specific|Team Specific Details]]- Detailed information and analysis on every team in the game 
[[Sonic_Advance_3/Level_Analysis|Level Analysis]]- Analysis and strategies for every level and boss 

== External Links ==

* [http://www.soniccenter.org The Sonic Center]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_3 Sonic Advance 3 rankings]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_3/times Sonic Advance 3 record times]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/videos/sonic_advance_3 Sonic Advance 3 videos]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/guides/sonic_advance_3 Sonic Advance 3 guides]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/maps/sonic_advance_3 Sonic Advance 3 level maps]

General Mechanics

2015-08-25T16:27:42Z

Kirbymastah: /* General Mechanics */

= General Mechanics =

;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

;Slope Jump:When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

;Loop Jump:A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

;Aerial Speed:Sonic Advance 3 is different in that when in the air, your character will accelerate much more quickly than on the ground, even when ascending. This means that one of the best ways for most teams to accelerate (aside from Sonic's Tag Action) is to do a 2-tap spindash, then immediately jump.

;Rails:Your character will always land on a rail first try (exception is at specific angle changes, this is seemingly random). However, the moment you jump off that same rail, you can't land on it again. If you want to get off of a rail, just jump again. If you want to land on it, try to aim for spots that aren't angle changes.

= Tag Action =

The Tag Action is the unique feature in this game that differentiates it from all other sonic games, and adds another layer of depth in execution. This mechanic has so much depth that it deserves an entire section to itself in this page.

In a given team, the second character has the ability to perform a supporting action for the lead character, called the tag action. To perform a tag action, start holding the R button. After 1.5 seconds, the support character will automatically jump into the lead characters hands, and you can release R to perform the tag action at any time after this happens.

While charging a tag action, if the charging animation is interrupted, but R is still held, then the tag action will begin charging as soon as possible, except it will only take 1 second to charge. This is a VERY important mechanic to understand and take advantage of. Interrupting the charging animations includes (but is not limited to) the following:

* Taking damage
* Running up a wall or through a loop
* Running through a spiral
* Attacking
* Grabbing a pulley

For example, suppose you need to have a tag action charged as soon as possible after coming out of a loop, but 1.5 seconds is too much time. If you start charging after coming out of the loop, you'll end up waiting a bit to finish charging before using it. However, if you charge before entering the loop, keep holding R, have it canceled by running through the loop, then it will only take 1 second to charge upon exiting the loop, saving 0.5 seconds over otherwise.

What the tag action is depends on two things: who the support character is, and whether it is used on the ground or in the air. Here is a list and analysis of all the tag actions for each support character.

== Sonic ==
;Ground Tag Action: Give the lead character a sudden burst of speed forward and puts him/her in boost mode.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air.

Both of Sonic's tag action actually puts the lead character on an invisible grounded boost pad for one frames. This means that by pressing A the frame R is released, the lead character can jump in the air. This can be pause buffered by charging the tag action, pausing, letting go of R and holding A, then unpausing while continuing to hold A.

It's also important to note that by rolling or jumping the frame this tag action is used, the lead character actually goes faster than otherwise. As a result, it's generally best to always either hold down to roll while releasing R, or buffer a jump from the tag action, though there are a few cases where having lower speed helps.

== Tails ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Toss the lead character up and slightly to the side.
;Air Tag Action: - Fly and carry the lead character.

Tail's ground tag action is similar to Amy's in that it's purely a height gainer. His ground tag action gives a bit more height than Amy's, but sends the lead character to the side (hers sends the character straight up) which depends on the situation. A disadvantage to this is that the lead character cannot perform any air action after being tossed, until landing; this includes charging another tag action.

== Knuckles ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Tossed forward by the lead character as a power attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Glide and carry the lead character.

Knuckle's tag actions are generally not very useful for speedruns as his ground tag action does not do any extra damage than normal attacks, and being carried by knuckle's glide isn't useful either since Sonic's air tag action works better for horizontal distance.

== Cream ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Give the lead character control of Cheese. Pressing B commands Cheese to attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air. Also gives the lead character an upward boost.

Cream's air tag action is unique in that it directly amplifies the lead character's vertical velocity. If used at the peak of a jump, the lead character will get some height. If used at the start of a jump, the lead character will gain a lot of height (though not as much as Tails/Amy's ground tag actions). If used off a spring, the lead character goes flying. While Cream's air tag action doesn't give as much height as Tails/Amy, it makes up for that with giving the lead character a lot of horizontal movement during the jump. As a result, this is more versatile.

== Amy ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Shoot the lead character straight up with her hammer.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but gives significantly less height.

Amy's tag action is useful in that she tosses the lead character straight up. While her ground tag action gives slightly less height than Tail's, the lead character can immediately start charging another tag action while in the air, which has its advantages. This also applies to her air tag action.

General Mechanics

2015-08-25T16:26:34Z

Kirbymastah:

= General Mechanics =

;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

;Slope Jump:When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

;Loop Jump:A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

;Aerial Speed:Sonic Advance 3 is different in that when in the air, your character will accelerate much more quickly than on the ground, even when ascending. This means that one of the best ways for most teams to accelerate (aside from Sonic's Tag Action) is to do a 2-tap spindash, then immediately jump.

= Tag Action =

The Tag Action is the unique feature in this game that differentiates it from all other sonic games, and adds another layer of depth in execution. This mechanic has so much depth that it deserves an entire section to itself in this page.

In a given team, the second character has the ability to perform a supporting action for the lead character, called the tag action. To perform a tag action, start holding the R button. After 1.5 seconds, the support character will automatically jump into the lead characters hands, and you can release R to perform the tag action at any time after this happens.

While charging a tag action, if the charging animation is interrupted, but R is still held, then the tag action will begin charging as soon as possible, except it will only take 1 second to charge. This is a VERY important mechanic to understand and take advantage of. Interrupting the charging animations includes (but is not limited to) the following:

* Taking damage
* Running up a wall or through a loop
* Running through a spiral
* Attacking
* Grabbing a pulley

For example, suppose you need to have a tag action charged as soon as possible after coming out of a loop, but 1.5 seconds is too much time. If you start charging after coming out of the loop, you'll end up waiting a bit to finish charging before using it. However, if you charge before entering the loop, keep holding R, have it canceled by running through the loop, then it will only take 1 second to charge upon exiting the loop, saving 0.5 seconds over otherwise.

What the tag action is depends on two things: who the support character is, and whether it is used on the ground or in the air. Here is a list and analysis of all the tag actions for each support character.

== Sonic ==
;Ground Tag Action: Give the lead character a sudden burst of speed forward and puts him/her in boost mode.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air.

Both of Sonic's tag action actually puts the lead character on an invisible grounded boost pad for one frames. This means that by pressing A the frame R is released, the lead character can jump in the air. This can be pause buffered by charging the tag action, pausing, letting go of R and holding A, then unpausing while continuing to hold A.

It's also important to note that by rolling or jumping the frame this tag action is used, the lead character actually goes faster than otherwise. As a result, it's generally best to always either hold down to roll while releasing R, or buffer a jump from the tag action, though there are a few cases where having lower speed helps.

== Tails ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Toss the lead character up and slightly to the side.
;Air Tag Action: - Fly and carry the lead character.

Tail's ground tag action is similar to Amy's in that it's purely a height gainer. His ground tag action gives a bit more height than Amy's, but sends the lead character to the side (hers sends the character straight up) which depends on the situation. A disadvantage to this is that the lead character cannot perform any air action after being tossed, until landing; this includes charging another tag action.

== Knuckles ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Tossed forward by the lead character as a power attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Glide and carry the lead character.

Knuckle's tag actions are generally not very useful for speedruns as his ground tag action does not do any extra damage than normal attacks, and being carried by knuckle's glide isn't useful either since Sonic's air tag action works better for horizontal distance.

== Cream ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Give the lead character control of Cheese. Pressing B commands Cheese to attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air. Also gives the lead character an upward boost.

Cream's air tag action is unique in that it directly amplifies the lead character's vertical velocity. If used at the peak of a jump, the lead character will get some height. If used at the start of a jump, the lead character will gain a lot of height (though not as much as Tails/Amy's ground tag actions). If used off a spring, the lead character goes flying. While Cream's air tag action doesn't give as much height as Tails/Amy, it makes up for that with giving the lead character a lot of horizontal movement during the jump. As a result, this is more versatile.

== Amy ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Shoot the lead character straight up with her hammer.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but gives significantly less height.

Amy's tag action is useful in that she tosses the lead character straight up. While her ground tag action gives slightly less height than Tail's, the lead character can immediately start charging another tag action while in the air, which has its advantages. This also applies to her air tag action.

General Mechanics

2015-08-25T16:24:21Z

Kirbymastah:

= General Mechanics =

;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

;Slope Jump:When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

;Loop Jump:A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

;Aerial Speed:Sonic Advance 3 is different in that when in the air, your character will accelerate much more quickly than on the ground, even when ascending. This means that one of the best ways for most teams to accelerate (aside from Sonic's Tag Action) is to do a 2-tap spindash, then immediately jump.

= Tag Action =

The Tag Action is the unique feature in this game that differentiates it from all other sonic games, and adds another layer of depth in execution. This mechanic has so much depth that it deserves an entire section to itself in this page.

In a given team, the second character has the ability to perform a supporting action for the lead character, called the tag action. To perform a tag action, start holding the R button. After 1.5 seconds, the support character will automatically jump into the lead characters hands, and you can release R to perform the tag action at any time after this happens.

While charging a tag action, if the charging animation is interrupted, but R is still held, then the tag action will begin charging as soon as possible, except it will only take 1 second to charge. This is a VERY important mechanic to understand and take advantage of. Interrupting the charging animations includes (but is not limited to) the following:

* Taking damage
* Running up a wall or through a loop
* Running through a spiral
* Attacking
* Grabbing a pulley

What the tag action is depends on two things: who the support character is, and whether it is used on the ground or in the air.

== Sonic ==
;Ground Tag Action: Give the lead character a sudden burst of speed forward and puts him/her in boost mode.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air.

Both of Sonic's tag action actually puts the lead character on an invisible grounded boost pad for one frames. This means that by pressing A the frame R is released, the lead character can jump in the air. This can be pause buffered by charging the tag action, pausing, letting go of R and holding A, then unpausing while continuing to hold A.

It's also important to note that by rolling or jumping the frame this tag action is used, the lead character actually goes faster than otherwise. As a result, it's generally best to always either hold down to roll while releasing R, or buffer a jump from the tag action, though there are a few cases where having lower speed helps.

== Tails ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Toss the lead character up and slightly to the side.
;Air Tag Action: - Fly and carry the lead character.

Tail's ground tag action is similar to Amy's in that it's purely a height gainer. His ground tag action gives a bit more height than Amy's, but sends the lead character to the side (hers sends the character straight up) which depends on the situation. A disadvantage to this is that the lead character cannot perform any air action after being tossed, until landing; this includes charging another tag action.

== Knuckles ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Tossed forward by the lead character as a power attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Glide and carry the lead character.

Knuckle's tag actions are generally not very useful for speedruns as his ground tag action does not do any extra damage than normal attacks, and being carried by knuckle's glide isn't useful either since Sonic's air tag action works better for horizontal distance.

== Cream ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Give the lead character control of Cheese. Pressing B commands Cheese to attack.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but in the air. Also gives the lead character an upward boost.

Cream's air tag action is unique in that it directly amplifies the lead character's vertical velocity. If used at the peak of a jump, the lead character will get some height. If used at the start of a jump, the lead character will gain a lot of height (though not as much as Tails/Amy's ground tag actions). If used off a spring, the lead character goes flying. While Cream's air tag action doesn't give as much height as Tails/Amy, it makes up for that with giving the lead character a lot of horizontal movement during the jump. As a result, this is more versatile.

== Amy ==
;Ground Tag Action: - Shoot the lead character straight up with her hammer.
;Air Tag Action: - Same as ground, but gives significantly less height.

Amy's tag action is useful in that she tosses the lead character straight up. While her ground tag action gives slightly less height than Tail's, the lead character can immediately start charging another tag action while in the air, which has its advantages. This also applies to her air tag action.

General Mechanics

2015-08-25T16:13:21Z

Sonic Advance 3

2015-08-25T16:07:29Z

Kirbymastah: Created page with "Category:Game Boy Advance Category:Games {{sda run|http://speeddemosarchive.com/SonicAdvance3.html}} Sonic Advance 3 is the third installment in the sonic advance ser..."

[[Category:Game Boy Advance]]
[[Category:Games]]
{{sda run|http://speeddemosarchive.com/SonicAdvance3.html}}

Sonic Advance 3 is the third installment in the sonic advance series, which follows the standard 2D sonic gameplay. However, this game features a gimmick in that you control a team of two characters: a lead and support character. This leads to much variety in the game, as this game effectively offers 20 characters in this game!

[[General Mechanics|General]]- Start here to learn about the general mechanics of the game 
[[Team Specific|Team]]- Detailed information and analysis on every team in the game 
[[Level Strategies|Level]]- Analysis and strategies for every level and boss 

== External Links ==

* [http://www.soniccenter.org The Sonic Center]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_3 Sonic Advance 3 rankings]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance_3/times Sonic Advance 3 record times]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/videos/sonic_advance_3 Sonic Advance 3 videos]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/guides/sonic_advance_3 Sonic Advance 3 guides]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/maps/sonic_advance_3 Sonic Advance 3 level maps]

Sonic Advance

2015-08-25T15:43:00Z

Kirbymastah:

[[Category:Game Boy Advance]]
[[Category:Games]]
{{sda run|http://speeddemosarchive.com/SonicAdvance.html}}

== General Movement ==

;Spin Dash:When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

;Quickstop:Generally, when you land while moving horizontally, you'll maintain some of that momentum on the ground and slide. If you hold down, your character will roll. You generally want to come to a complete stop before attempting to spin dash, which can be done by either using a character's attack, or pulling back.

;Slope Jump:When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

;Loop Jump:A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

;Aerial Speed:Generally, your character's horizontal speed will decrease whenever the vertical speed is upward, but it will increase when the vertical speed is downward. This means your character will slow down when ascending in jumps, and speed up upon descending. This is also why downhill slope jumps are important for gaining speed, since your character gains no height (thus no speed loss) but will gain speed thanks to jumping downward. Understanding this mechanic is important in gaining speed or losing minimal speed.

== Sonic ==

Sonic is the fastest-moving character all around, but at the cost of not really having any abilities to enhance his movement outside of air dash. This means he can't access spome shortcuts that basically everyone else can access. This makes him clear stages more slowly than Tails and Knuckles, and roughly even with Amy. If you want to play as Sonic, be prepared to mash the d-pad a lot to do air dashes as that's the main reason to use him instead of other characters.

;Slide Attack:Press B once to spin slowly. A second time makes him flip. A third time makes him slide. This move is primarily useful for bringing Sonic to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around, though if you want to do this, just press B twice instead of three times. The full combo can be useful for bosses though. The initial roll upon pressing B once can also be useful as he will always roll at the same slow speed, at that same distance.

;Air Dash:Double tap right or left after jumping in the air to do an air dash. Alternatively, press a direction while running, jump, then press the same direction again to do an air dash. As long as the second tap is in the air, and not too long after the first tap, the jump can be before or in between the taps. This ability is what sets sonic apart from the other characters and helps him move very quickly, since it gives him more forward momentum each time he does an air dash. You want to do air dashes, especially from downhill slope jumps (and not uphill) since you'll gain more speed that way. It's also useful for adjusting your jumps or if you need a little bit of extra distance from a jump.

;Insta-Shield:After jumping in the air, press A again to perform insta-shield. This gives you a very brief moment of invincibility, which can be useful for damaging bosses (particularly the angel island boss). It also gives you an extra bounce if you bounce off of an enemy or item box.

== Tails ==

Tails has the unique ability to fly, which is handy in basically every level. He's the most versatile in terms of aerial movement, but his flight is also very slow. Understanding how to maintain speed from his flight, and taking advantage of slope jumps to avoid his slow vertical flight is key to getting fast times with him.

;Tail Swipe:Press B to perform a tail swipe. This move is primarily useful for bringing Tails to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around. It's also useful for bosses, since it has long reach and Tails won't get hurt if you hit something with his tail.

;Flight:Press A after jumping to start flying. Each tap of A will increase his height. His flight is pretty slow for vertical movement, but his horizontal speed carries into the flight. It's primarily useful for crossing larger gaps without losing much speed, though if it allows for shortcuts, it's also useful for that. Note that Tails loses speed when flying if he's ascending, and gains speed when descending. So generally, each tap of A will make him lose a little bit of horizontal speed, whereas he'll gain speed whenever you don't, so mashing A is generally a bad idea for horizontal distance. Learn to pad out your A presses so you have exactly enough height to reach your destination while losing as little speed as possible.

== Knuckles ==

;Punch Combo:Press B three times to perform a triple punch combo. This move is primarily useful for bringing Knuckles to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around, though only the first punch is necessary for this. He has the best ability for this since his first punch is very quick and shorter than Sonic's and Tail's ground attacks. His first punch also gives him a brief increase in speed before coming to a stop; use this punch to move very short distances very quickly, or off a ledge so he gains horizontal speed.

;Gliding:Press A after jumping to start gliding, and hold A to continue gliding. This is useful for gaining extra horizontal distance. This will also always set your horizontal speed to a set amount, so it's useful for controlling your speed, especially if you want to abruptly change directions in the air while jumping. Another nice use is that Knuckles will always be at a complete stop upon landing from gliding, allowing you to spindash immediately. So if Knuckles needs to spindash immediately from a jump, glide just before landing so he doesn't have to adjust his speed.

;Climbing:Glide into a wall to have Knuckles cling to it. Press up or down to climb. Climbing should be avoided since it's very slow, though it has its situational uses.

== Amy ==

Amy is the slowest moving character as she cannot spindash nor enter ball mode at will. However, she compensates for having a lot of abilities to control her height and speed, as well as an overpowered hammer. She jumps the highest out of the four characters, even without using hammer flip. Hitting a vertical or diagonal spring (not horizontal) with her hammer launches her much farther than hitting it without a hammer, allowing for several nice shortcuts. Her hammer's hitbox is way bigger than the game makes it look. She's also easily the best boss slayer all around in the game, requiring very minimal luck for some key bosses thanks to how many options she has with her high jump and huge hammer. She's also the only character who can crouch while running, as the other characters will roll instead.

;Giant Step:Press Down+A while on the ground to perform a giant step. This is Amy's primary method of acceleration. While significantly slower than spindashing, this is something she can do multiple times without revving nor without worrying about having to come to a complete stop to perform it. Avoid giant stepping into an uphill slope though, since Amy will usually come to a complete halt if done so.

;Faceplant:Press B while doing a Giant Step to have Amy faceplant on the ground. Why this is an attack, I don't know, but it does damage bosses and enemies. It's also useful for a skip in Angel Island 1, and going through item boxes that she can't jump around.

;Hammer Combo:Press B twice to perform a hammer combo. This can be used to hit bosses with its huge hitbox, and also hit springs. The second hit is sort of not very useful.

;Air Hammer:Press B after jumping to have Amy swing her hammer. This is VERY useful as it does not slow her down in the air, and allows her to hit springs while in the air without actually touching them. It's also useful for bosses thanks to its ridiculous reach. Using this on enemies or item boxes will let her "bounce" off of it like other characters do. Keep in mind she can't perform any other air actions after this, until she lands.

;Hammer Jump:Press Down+B on the ground to perform a really high jump. Slope jump mechanics apply to this. This ability is very useful as it does not significantly slow Amy down (and can speed her up, if used downhill), yet still has really high vertical reach. Use this to reach higher platforms as necessary. Keep in mind that she cannot perform any air actions from a Hammer Jump.

;Hammer Twirl:Press Down+B in the air to have Amy twirl her hammer. This ability is very useful as it sets her horizontal speed to 0 without affecting her vertical speed, no matter how fast or slow Amy is moving. The hammer also has nice horizontal reach, so she can hit springs with this. It's incredibly useful for coming to a complete stop, or basically turning any diagonal spring into a vertical one. This is also what allows her to bounce on bosses to deal damage repeatedly.

== External Links ==

* [http://www.soniccenter.org The Sonic Center]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance Sonic Advance rankings]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/rankings/sonic_advance/times Sonic Advance record times]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/videos/sonic_advance Sonic Advance videos]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/guides/sonic_advance Sonic Advance guides]
**[http://www.soniccenter.org/maps/sonic_advance Sonic Advance level maps]