K64:100% Route
This article is a guide on how to perform the 100% speedrun of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Before learning the route, it is recommended that new players familiarize themselves with the movement basics here.
World 1
1-1
Route
Grab single fire on the first Bobo. The closer you are to the enemy when you start inhaling, the quicker it goes into your mouth. After getting the powerup, there are lots of enemies at different heights before you see Shard 1. It is safer to stay higher up on screen while single firing, since most of the enemies are lower down.
The N-Z miniboss inside the cabin takes 3 hits to kill. Do a very quick short hop before the first single fire attack, as this will reduce Kirby's recovery time. After the first hit, you should be able to headbutt the newly spawned in N-Z before performing the second single fire attack. Finish with a third attack on the ground and leave the cabin.
After the cabin, jump up high and single fire over to the Poppy Bros. Jr. enemy for the firework power combo.
The safer, slower way to get this combo is to stop firing after passing the second Shotzo, slide off the platform to stay low, fire through the N-Z enemy, then run and jump over the Poppy Bros. Jr. while pulling out your Fire ability. Turn and throw the ability at the Poppy Bros. Jr. and absorb the power combo. This should give the Poppy Bros. Jr. time to throw a bomb and clear the Bouncy enemy out of the way.
The riskier, faster way to get this combo is to continue single firing after passing over the second Shotzo enemy, clear the upper Bronto Burt with a puff cancel, fire once more onto the platform before the Poppy Bros. Jr., walk off the platform while pulling out the Fire ability, and throwing it at the Poppy Bros. Jr. to get the power combo. Use a firework attack while jumping up onto the platform to clear the Bouncy enemy out of the way.
Proceed to the water to break the black platform to reveal Shard 2, then make your way out of this area to the Waddle Doo fight.
The best way to finish the Waddle Doo fight as quickly as possible is to make sure that you always have a firework attack active after Waddle Doo's invincibility frames (i-frames) run out. Get 4 hits with the firework attack, then throw or spit your double ability star at Waddle Doo for the final 2 hits. Grab Shard 3 and stay afloat up high so that Ribbon can return to Kirby sooner to trigger the cutscene slightly sooner.
See the video below for a demonstration of 1-1:
1-2
Route
With well timed jumps onto the first platform and over the Poppy Bros. Jr., you can avoid taking damage from the Mite enemy and the bomb that Poppy Bros. Jr. throws while maintaining running speed. Absorb the first Bobo enemy on the third semisolid platform and single fire your way into the tree at the end of this area.
In the first tree room, jump and single fire onto the first platform while holding Left on the D-Pad to slow your single fire attack and avoid overshooting the platform. Jump up through the platforms on the right, then jump and fire over the Sparky enemy onto the platform to the left of it. On the top level, run forward to just before the Chilly enemy and fire through the Poppy Bros. Jr. and leave the tree.
In the Waddle Dee gondola area, single fire onto the gondola, then either run or slide off of the gondola. Continue to fire to the right while dropping height to grab Shard 1, then float back up to enter the second tree.
In the second tree, run and jump into the hole and fall into the miniboss room. For the Bouncy miniboss fight, time your first single fire to the right so that you hit the miniboss with the lower part of your hitbox while still flying over it. Then, turn around, puff cancel, and mash B to get your next 2 hits on the miniboss. Jump after landing on the ground and fire through the miniboss to defeat it. When grabbing Shard 2 after the miniboss is defeated, you can perform a slight movement optimization by holding back on the D-Pad to slow your fire attack for a split second, then hold forward to accelerate again towards the shard and float into the small Bouncy enemy while grabbing the shard, which will push you towards the exit door.
For the first phase of the Adeleine fight, you can get rid of the first 4 enemies at whatever pace you want. However, the 5th enemy (the blurred out one) needs to be defeated as soon as it hits the ground to start the next phase as quickly as possible.
For the Ice Dragon phase, time the first fire attack to hit as soon as it hits the ground. Each subsequent hit after that needs to be at least 1.5 seconds after the previous one. This rule also applies to the Dark Matter phase that follows.
Finish the fight by taking out Adeleine with a single fire attack as soon as she hits the ground. Grab Shard 3 and stay afloat up high so that Ribbon can return to Kirby sooner to trigger the cutscene slightly sooner.
See the video below for a demonstration of 1-2:
1-3
Route
Single fire through the first area on the ground while doing your best to avoid all of the enemies. You may need to experiment with taking steps inbetween fire attacks to best avoid hitting any of the enemies or getting stuck on blocks.
Fire through the second room, and stay high while firing through the third room to best avoid the Sir Kibble and Bronto Burt enemies. In the Gordo room, jump along the left sides of the semisolid platforms to best avoid them.
In the area after the Gordo room, fire once, drop down a bit, fire under the Sir Kibble enemy, drop down a bit more, then fire twice under the Bronto Burts. Throw away your fire power, jump up to the platform, then inhale and immediately spit the Sir Kibble. This will combine with the other Sir Kibble ahead of you. Run forward and absorb the double cutter power star.
Jump into the next room and use a well-timed double cutter attack to break the green platform underneath you for Shard 1. Get rid of the power star before leaving Adeleine's room, and once you leave it, jump up to the left for Shard 2. Run up 3 of the steps to the right, then start floating all the way up to the top level. Absorb the first Bobo enemy, fire twice towards the chain, get around the chain, fire once towards the other Bobo, then pull out your fire ability and throw it to get the double fire combo. Float up out of this room to the King Dedede fight.
The standard way to do phase 1 of the King Dedede fight is to walk forward until you're right in front of the intersection between the shaded and bright parts of the flower planter in the background then do 3 consecutive double fire attacks. If you want to test your luck and try to save about 1 second, however, you can get 2 double fire hits, then hit Dedede when he is at the peak of his jump, assuming he does either the triple jump attack or the single jump and hammer attack. If you get unlucky and he does not do either of these attacks, you will lose some time. Hitting Dedede at the peak of his jump puts him closer to the spot that he floats to in order to start the second phase, which is why this strategy can save time.
For the second phase of the fight, simply jump and attack him 3 times. Grab Shard 3 and stay afloat up high so that Ribbon can return to Kirby sooner to trigger the cutscene slightly sooner.
See the video below for a demonstration of 1-3:
Whispy Woods
Route
In the Whispy Jr. phase of the fight, they can attack in 1 of 4 different patterns:
1. 4 Hops -> 4 Hops
2. 4 Hops -> Puffs
3. Puffs -> 4 Hops
4. Puffs -> Puffs
If they start with 4 Hops, no matter which of the 2 patterns you get, take out the Whispy Jr. on your left first, then the one farthest away to the left, and finally the middle one last.
If they start with 1 puff of air, get 1 hit on both of the Whispy Jrs. to your left with double fire's large hitbox as you fly over them. Then, watch for the second attack:
1. If they follow up with 4 hops, short hop and attack to the left to hit the Whispy Jr. farthest away, walk under it to the left, then attack to the right until all Whispy Jrs. are defeated.
2. If they follow up with more puffs of air, attack to the right until all Whispy Jrs. are defeated.
On the Whispy Woods phase of the fight, if you are on the left side of Whispy's face, his roots will shoot out clockwise, and vice/versa. The easiest way to 2-cycle this part of the fight is to get the first hit on whatever side of the root you're on, then jump to about the height of the root and attack in the opposite direction that the roots shot out in, twice. This will give you the largest window of opportunity to get 3 hits in a single cycle, as the last root stays active for about 0.7 seconds longer than the second one. Do this twice, and you will end the fight as quickly as possible.
See the video below for a demonstration of Whispy Woods:
World 2
2-1
Route
The first room of 2-1 has you double firing in specific ways to get through enemies and land in certain spots. See the video below on where and at what speed to activate your double fire attacks.
In the second room, float up to the blocks and double fire through Shard 1. Toss your ability once you land and absorb the Cairn enemy on the right. Make your way up to the miniboss room afterwards.
At the start of the miniboss room, run on the ground for about half a second before hopping up the slope in order to manipulate the Kacti's cycle to prevent you from bumping into it as you roll back and forth underneath it while attacking with your stone powerup. Get 4 hits to defeat the Kacti miniboss and grab Shard 2 before leaving.
Make your way through the next autoscroller room without taking damage from any enemies along the way. In the room after this one, make your way over the sand hill and keep jumping all the way over to avoid slowdowns from the heavy sand and slopes. Once over the hill, pull out your stone ability and throw/spit it at the Sparky on the other side, timing your throw to avoid missing or having the stone ability star break on one of Sparky's attacks. Get the stone/spark combo and make your way back over the hill to break the brown & yellow wall for Shard 3, then go back over the hill a third time and make your way out of the level. If you need health, grab the Chocolate Bar under the Bronto Burt enemy on the way out.
See the video below for a demonstration of 2-1:
2-2
Route
Make your way past the enemies in the beginning, using the yoyo power to clear out the Kacti enemy on the upper platform. Toss your power away before the first pillar and wait for the pillar to fall, then jump over it and run past the following three. Make your way past the rest of the enemies and absorb the Bobo for single fire after passing the next Sparky. Fire on the ground through the rest of the room.
Make your way through the platform maze and grab Shard 1 before leaving this room. Grab Shard 2 in the following room by firing through it, and be sure to avoid the death plane below. Use single fire through the next room, and use the final rising platform to help you get up higher towards the exit without needing extra float inputs while firing.
Continue using single fire to proceed through the following room. You can jump up high before firing to avoid as many enemies as possible, or stay down on the ground to try and save some more time, although you're more at risk of hitting the enemies staying low. Toss your fire ability and grab the ice power from the Propeller enemy before leaving this room.
The final room of this level is the first Dedede section of the game. Follow the left path to grab Shard 3 while avoiding the fire attacks from the [1] enemies, using Dedede's hammer to break any walls in your way. Then, go back and take the middle path to reach the exit of the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 2-2:
2-3
Route
Backtrack to 2-2 and combine your ice power with the Hack enemy right before the falling pillars. Exit 2-2 and enter 2-3 with your newly acquired curling stone power.
Start 2-3 by activating a curl for about the first half of your fall. Continue to curl over to the giant fossil and break the brown block to grab Shard 1 in the skull of the fossil. The slopes of falling sand in this room are good to stay on, since they actually push you forwards and make your overall horizontal movement faster. Curl all the way to the exit of this room, then head left after falling through to enter the correct hole that leads you to the miniboss. If you enter the hole on the right here, you will skip the miniboss fight, and subsequently make the second shard unavailable unless you restart the level.
Defeat the Fishbone miniboss by jumping & curling into it to reduce the amount of time it takes Kirby to recover inbetween hits. Fall through the hole and grab Shard 2 off to the left in the next room. Curl out of this room and all the way through the next one as well.
In the next room with the sand whirlpools, continue to curl all the way through, but remember that here you can run down the left sides of the whirlpools before jumping and curling for a little extra speed. Avoid staying on the ground much when going up the right side of each whirlpool, as you will be slowed down by both the sinking sand AND the slope effect. Be sure to run, jump, and curl into the water pool at the end, as this will give you faster horizontal speed towards the exit door than regular swimming would.
In the following room, swim up to the roof of the mouth-door and start a curl. Break your curl shortly after hitting the wall and passing the Fishbone on the right, then turn around, swim forward and up a bit, then start another curl towards the exit door.
Mash A and swim up along the left wall in the final room. Wait in the alcove at the top for the last spine fossil to pass below you, then grab Shard 3. Curl towards the exit door and pull out your curling stone ability before leaving the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 2-3:
2-4
Route
Absorb the Skud enemy at the start of the level, then make your way over to the spaceship platform.
In the rising platform section, start floating up and hit the second Shotzo on the right, and then the third Shotzo on the left in order to reset Kirby's float timer and make it all the way up to the next room without having to wait for the platform to fully rise.
The key aspect to keep in mind when getting through the moving platform room is to avoid getting crushed by one of the platforms against a wall, instantly killing Kirby and requiring you to restart the level. Jump onto the first yellow platform and ride it over to the left side wall. Wait for the pink platform immediately above you to fully enter the wall, then jump up onto it as it comes back out, jump onto the little piece of the yellow platform above it, then jump into the middle section and grab Shard 1. Jump out to the upper semisolid platform before the yellow and pink platforms cover your exit. Throw your bomb ability star at one of the Spark-i enemies, but make absolutely sure that they are not in the process of shooting an attack at you, as this will break your power star if you throw it into the attack. You can optimize the moving platform section a bit by pulling out your bomb power and putting it into Kirby's mouth while jumping into the section with the shard, then jumping out on the yellow and pink platforms.
In the next room, use your newly acquired lightbulb power to reveal the drawings that Adeleine has made for you. Enter the following room and push down on the three buttons that correspond to Adeleine's drawings to reveal Shard 2. Enter the next room and float all the way up to the rising platform at the top, then put your power star into Kirby's mouth. Be sure to grab the Maxim Tomato on your way up if you're low on health at this point.
For the Spark-i miniboss, jump forward to the edge of the pink platform while spitting your power star at the miniboss. Absorb the small Spark-i in front of you as it spawns in, get 1 hit on the miniboss directly underneath it, then jump and attack through it for the final hit while pulling out your power star and holding it above your head. This will manipulate the second small Spark-i to fly direcetly over you. After it moves into place, jump and throw your power star into the Spark-i and absorb the resulting double spark combo. Grab Shard 3 and leave the miniboss room.
Climb up the poles in the next room towards the exit of the level, making sure to move quickly and avoid the Bivolts on the way out.
See the video below for a demonstration of 2-4:
Pix
Route
The first minute of this fight is an autoscroller where Pix is invulnerable. The red part that shows up first can move in two different ways: clockwise or counter-clockwise. For the clockwise pattern, stay in place and avoid the two attacks that pass by, then stay in place until the autoscroller is over. At the very top, however, you will need to move out of the way as the red part passes over for the last time to avoid taking damage. For the counter-clockwise pattern, move to the position off to the left of your initial starting position shown in the video below and wait out the rest of the autoscroller.
For the second phase of the fight, Pix can do 1 of 3 attack patterns. Hitting each piece of Pix with the corresponding color deals double damage, as does hitting the pieces with a double power star.
1. Perhaps the easiest of the patterns, Pix will spin in one direction continuously, attacking by dropping tiny pellets. In this pattern, Pix will not change directions, so it is best to move in the opposite direction when attacking. Spit your double power star to hit 2 of the pieces of Pix, then finish off the rest by running against Pix's direction and hitting each piece with the corresponding colors.
2. Pix will be slightly lower down, each color will shoot a laser along a different axis, and they can all change direction randomly. The best way to deal with this pattern is to hit 2 of the pieces with your double power star at the beginning of the phase, then attempting to finish off the rest with their corresponding colors using your best judgment on how to move about the stage.
3. Pix will come together and spin in a circle while moving along the stage. Re-absorb your double spark power, run opposite to Pix's movement direction, get 3 hits on each piece by jumping through the hoop and attacking, and get the 4th hit on each piece by jumping through the hoop as it's about to return to the middle and attacking with double spark.
See the video below for a demonstration of Pix:
World 3
3-1
Route
Run past the enemies in the beginning while headbutting any Pompey rocks/Floppers that you pass to stay at running speed. Absorb the Bobo enemy after the 3 Floppers and fire to the end of the room. You may need to practice good spacing here to avoid hitting any enemies or getting stuck behind blocks while firing.
In the following room full of Zebon enemies, fire forward once, then float up and land on the first platform you see. Landing is important because it resets Kirby's float timer, and floating all the way up from the floor would otherwise be impossible. Continue floating up the left side to grab Shard 1, then make your way further up and out the exit to the right.
In the next room, you can proceed in 1 of 2 ways:
1. (Slower, safer) Fire forward once, throw away fire, inhale the [2], then run with it in Kirby's mouth until you reach the Poppy Bros. Jr.. Spit the [3] at the Poppy Bros. Jr. for the snowman power combo. When jumping past the Gloms in the room, make sure to jump IMMEDIATELY after landing on the platforms in front of them, otherwise Kirby will get eaten and the Pengy held in his mouth will despawn.
2. (Faster, riskier) Fire forward once, jump up high, then fire across the room until you pass the final Glom enemy. Land on the solid platform, WALK forward (to prevent despawning the Pengy running behind you), jump, and fire through the Poppy Bros. Jr.'s bomb attack. Throw away fire into the next thrown bomb, then inhale both the Pengy and Poppy Bros. Jr. and absorb the resulting snowman power combo.
Get through the next room by headbutting the Yariko enemies' spears, puff cancelling through the Floppers, and jumping over all of the slopes. For the miniboss fight, get down onto the lower platform and jump into the big Tick with your snowman power active 4 times. Grab Shard 2 when it is revealed after defeating the miniboss.
Run past the enemies in the beginning of the final area, then make your way down the semisolid platforms afterwards. Activate the snowman ability as soon as you get down to the lowest level to start the timer as soon as possible. Stand directly over the black and blue platform and wait for your power to blow up to grab Shard 3. Slide off the top platform, pull out your power combo, and jump into the second Zoos enemy to get rid of it before running to the end of the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 3-1:
3-2
Route
This level features flowing water that will either push you forward faster or push against you and slow you down. Keep this in mind when running through the level and be sure to move accordingly.
At the start of the level, run forward and inhale the Cairn enemy on the bridge without absorbing it. Hold this in Kirby's mouth all the way through the end of the next room before the miniboss. Spit the Cairn at the Bobo right outside the miniboss room and absorb the resulting volcano power combo.
Jump up through the semisolid platforms to the highest level. There are 2 ways you can carry out the miniboss fight:
1. (Safer, slower) Take out the Kany miniboss with all volcano shots. Toss the power combo away after the fight. Grab Shard 1 before leaving the room.
2. (Faster, trickier) Get 2 hits on the miniboss with volcano shots, then float up to grab the shard, pull out the ability star, and throw it at the miniboss for a double hit. Grab Shard 1 before leaving the room.
The river boat ride in the following room has an optimal path that can save over 2 seconds if done properly; see the video demonstration below for all of the optimal spots to jump. Be sure to grab Shard 2 during the ride, or you will need to restart the whole level.
After the boat ride, inhale the first Kany that you run past, grab the invincibility candy, and run down the river until the final waterfall. Run over this waterfall, turn around, and grab Shard 3. Spit your Kany at the last Flopper that is in your way and make your way to the final room.
The river is pushing against you all throughout the final room, so be sure to constantly jump while making your way through this room. Avoid all enemies and obstacles, then absorb the first Galbo that you see. Continue making your way up this river, using single fire to more quickly cross horizontal stretches on the way up and avoiding all enemies and obstacles until you leave the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 3-2:
3-3
Route
Single fire all the way through the first room, and continue through the second room until you reach the platforms with the Kapar enemy. Land on the platform in front of the Kapar, throw away your fire power, inhale the Kapar, then run and swim with it until you spit it forward at the Blowfish enemy in the water for the ninja star power combo. Inhale this power combo and absorb it while running through the transition zone to the next room.
In the next room, run forward until the third rising platform and ride it up to the top of the hill. Jump inside the hill, fall to the bottom, use your ninja star attack on the green & black wall, and grab Shard 1. Break the block on the middle platform and ride it up and out of the cave. Run to the end of this room and inhale the Cairn enemy before King Dedede sends you flying to the next area.
The power combination in the next room can be done 1 of 2 ways:
1. (MUCH safer, slightly slower) Run up to the first Fishbone enemy and spit your Cairn at it to get the animal friend power combo.
2. (MUCH riskier, slightly faster) [DISCLAIMER: This movement can lose MAJOR time, or even possibly kill your run entirely; do this at your own risk!!!] From the center of the shadow of the third falling Bumber enemy, perform 2 full jumps to land as far left on the platform in front of the Fishbone as possible. Then, run as far right on that platform as you can and do a rapid A -> B input. Inhale the power combo as soon as it's created. This should allow you to continue forward at running speed instead of having to stop to perform the combo.
For the miniboss fight, head left and do 2 puff cancels to place yourself above the right side of the big Kapar miniboss. Transform once for hit 1, transform again for hits 2 and 3, then time the breaking of your transformation after the i-frames are done for hit 4. Make sure to run to the right ASAP so that you don't fall through the hole, because the shard will despawn after this even if you return to this room and you will need to restart the level to get it. Grab Shard 2 before proceeding.
In the next room, transform into an animal friend to fall faster and break the transformation in front of the green & brown wall at the bottom. Go up into the left area, then keep transforming until you get Rick the Hamster. Climb all the way up the wall to grab Shard 3. Don't break your transformation until you are closer to the bottom to fall faster. Make your way up the platforms to the right and exit the level at the bottom right side. Note that the platforms coming out of the RIGHT side wall will fall immediately after you land on them, so you will need to jump and float right after touching them. The platforms coming out of the LEFT wall fall after 18 frames, giving you some time to run before jumping and floating.
See the video below for a demonstration of 3-3:
3-4
Route
Start off the level by mashing B to transform into an animal friend. Use this transformation to position yourself as close to the exit door on the right as possible. If you transform into Kine and cannot move, it is not worth it to transform again for better luck; keep Kine and sink all the way to the bottom. Get rid of your power combo before entering the next room.
In the next room, inhale a Flopper enemy, swim above the middle of the screen, and hold the Flopper above your head to quickly cross this long horizontal stretch of water. Toss the Flopper away at the end and enter the next room.
Mash A to swim up as quickly as possible here, and make sure to stay on the left side, as you will not be able to swim left after reaching the top level of this room. Grab Shard 1 in the alcove in the ceiling, then exit the room to the right.
Swim through the next room while avoiding all enemies until you reach the pole. Once you grab the pole, double tap the D-Pad Down to slide down faster, move to the right side of the pole while sliding down, hit B to jump off the pole just below the shard's height, then hold Down + Right to stay low and grab Shard 2. After grabbing the shard, turn left and mash A to let the current push you against the right side wall. Keep swimming up until you come up to the right side of the Blowfish enemy. Inhale it before it explodes, and hold it in your mouth until you reach the exit to the next room. Absorb the bomb power right before entering the miniboss room.
Get 4 hits on the Blowfish miniboss to leave the room. The fastest way to do this is to start by mashing A and holding Right to swim up, throw bomb 1 on the way up, turn around, swim up into the alcove, then throw 3 more well-timed bombs while falling down to finish off the miniboss.
In the final room, swim low to the ground, avoid the boulders as best you can, and grab Shard 3 in the third alcove at the bottom before exiting the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 3-4:
Acro
Route
At the start of the Acro fight, swim Up and Right to position yourself in a good spot above him. You can time the first bomb throw to hit as Acro's health bar gets to about 2/3 full. Throw 5 well-timed bombs after that to make quick work of phase 1.
The second phase of the fight can be 2 different patterns:
1. Acro moves left and right, shooting missiles up at you. With this pattern, throw 6 well-timed bombs at Acro to finish off the fight ASAP.
2. Acro pops up briefly, then goes under the screen and shoots up the middle. With this pattern, throw 5 well-timed bombs at Acro before he fully goes off the top of the screen, then throw the final bomb at him once he returns to the foreground.
When grabbing the shard after Acro is defeated, you can put the bomb power into Kirby's mouth and float to the top-center of the screen to make his hitbox slightly larger and grab the shard slightly sooner.
See the video below for a demonstration of Acro:
World 4
4-1
Route
Run through the first room using puff cancels, headbutts, and slides to avoid all enemies and damage. Grab Shard 1 under the second last Pupa enemy. Enter the next room and slide off the platform to grab Shard 2 down below. Climb up the vines and inhale the first Galbo enemy by the piece of cake. Climb all the way up the vines and out to the moving vine room.
This room can be done 2 different ways: one slower but easier, and the other faster but trickier, saving about 3 seconds. No matter which strategy you use, make sure to stay high enough above the death plane to not die and lose your fire power. See the video below for a demonstration on how to execute both patterns.
Take out the Big Galbo miniboss in the following room with 4 single fire hits, making sure to jump before the first 3 hits to decrease Kirby's recovery time. After the miniboss fight, fire over to the first swinging log and wait until it reaches its max horizontal speed (when it's at it's lowest height in the swing) to jump off. After jumping off the log, do 2 single fires, float up just under the second Pteran enemy, do 1 more fire, then float all the way to the top of the screen and keep firing until you grab Shard 3. Drop back down and fire all the way through the next two rooms, making sure to grab the invincibility candy to get through the final room.
Right before leaving the level, be sure to get rid of your fire power and absorb the Cairn enemy on your way out, as you will need to combine the stone power later for dynamite in the next level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 4-1:
4-2
Route
Backtrack to 2-4 and combine your stone power with the Skud enemy at the very beginning. DO NOT take any steps forward before throwing your power, or this might cause the Skud to start flying away which makes getting the combination trickier!!
Return to 4-2 with your dynamite ability and grab Shard 1 on the left side of the first room while falling down. In the minecart ride, take the upper path about halfway down the railroad and grab Shard 2. Make sure to jump into it, as hitting the front of the rock right before it will cause you to jump over it and miss the shard.
After the minecart section, fall into the next room and throw a dynamite before hitting the ground so Kirby doesn't waste time bouncing after impact. Run forward and weave through all of the enemies and obstacles in this room. Check out the video demonstration on how to best go about this; sometimes, you will need to damage boost off of the I3 enemies and puff cancel through the blocks that are in your way, but make sure you have enough health to do this safely before proceeding.
The key thing to do in the following room with the sloped, running water is to keep jumping over all water that is rushing down against you and keep running on the water that moves with you and pushes you forward faster. After this room, continue weaving through all enemies and obstacles. You can blow up the black & brown wall using dynamite in a few ways:
1. (Standard, slower movement) Jump over the final Kapar on the upper level, run off the edge, then throw the dynamite at the first Squibby enemy down below to blow up the dynamite ASAP
2. Perform a rapid jump & throw (A -> B) input while jumping over the Squibby in front of the last Kapar on the upper level. If done properly, this will blow up the wall from above and push Kirby either left or right after exploding. If pushed left, hold forward and perform a puff cancel to quickly recover. If the wall did not blow up from this movement, revert to the standard strategy of blowing up the dynamite off of the first Squibby enemy down below.
Grab Shard 3 after blowing up the wall and proceed over to the miniboss fight in the next room. The key thing to remember here is to hit one of the Drop towards the center of the room ASAP in order to defeat all of the enemies in each wave as quickly as possible. Also, it can save some more time staying closer to the exit door as the last wave of enemies blows up to leave sooner. Do not worry about losing too much health in this fight, as there is a Maxim Tomato available for you to grab immediately after leaving the fight.
Grab the tomato after the fight, toss your power combo away, then weave your way through all of the pillars to the exit. Watch the video below for a demonstration on how to make it through without getting crushed, which results in instant death.
See the video below for a demonstration of 4-2:
4-3
Route
After entering 4-3, inhale and immediately spit the Punc into the Cairn just ahead of it, then absorb the resulting drill power combo. Jump and headbutt your way through the Rocky enemies until you get to the brown platform housing the first shard. Break the platform with your drill power, grab Shard 1, then float out, hold your power above your head, and break it while jumping into one of the Bouncy enemies. Inhale, but do not absorb, the Propeller at the end of this area.
In the beginning of the next area, combine your Propeller with the Pompey in front of you and absorb the resulting curling stone power combo.
For the rest of the level, you will need precise curling stone movement for the 2 long horizontal rooms and fast, precise movement to carve out the painting that Adeleine makes for you. Some of the curling stone movement that you'll see performed in the video, like short hopping before a curl is activated, is done on purpose to prevent Kirby from bouncing off of blocks and being sent in the other direction. Don't worry too much about getting super optimal movement with curling stone when first starting out; The key things to keep in mind while navigating the rest of the level are to avoid taking too much damage from enemies, stay out of pitfalls to avoid instant death, and put precision over speed when starting out with learning the patterns for Shard 2. Check out the video below for a demonstration on how to navigate through this level with curling stone, and the best ways to carve out Adeleine's painting.
Be sure to grab Shard 3 down in the space below the right side of the highest platform in the final room before heading towards the exit of the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 4-3:
4-4
Route
Curl through the first room as quickly as possible while avoiding as many of the falling boulders as you can. Continue curling through the next room, but keep in mind that you can run with the moving platforms to get a bit of a speed boost that allows you to cross some wider gaps with the curling stone. Like in 4-3, you do not need your curling stone movement throughout this level to be perfectly optimal when starting out; just make sure to avoid enemies and pitfalls whenever possible. Thankfully, though, none of the pitfalls in this level cause instant death. Avoiding damage is extra important in this level, because you need to hold onto your power until the second shard that requires ice to break the platform and reveal the shard.
In the Dedede room, avoid the lava and use your hammer to clear enemies out of the way to avoid taking too much damage. Use your hammer to break the pillars that are in your way, and be sure to break the thicker pillars with a charged hammer swing (performed by holding B until Dedede starts swinging his hammer in circles). Grab Shard 1 in the upper half of the 5th thick pillar in this room (right before the section with the 2 small platforms and Bronto Burt, very close to the end of the room).
Continue curling through the next long room, making sure to avoid enemy damage and pitfalls. Some of the platforms here are very narrow and require extra careful attention to land on, so be wary of that.
Grab Shard 2 in the next small room by curling into the platform in the middle, which will break it and reveal the shard for you. If you have only 1 HP going into this room, be extra careful when breaking the platform, as there is a pool of lava directly underneath the shard that can very easily damage you if you aren't careful around it.
Enter the next room, curl forward once, throw away your curling ability, then combine any 2 of the fire enemies to pick up double fire. Fire forward once and wait for the little cutscene of the fire wall coming towards you to play out. The positioning and speed at which you activate your double fire attacks in this room is very important; watch the video demonstration below to learn the optimal movement through this room.
In the final room, run forward and float up and around the platform above you to where the Sandman is stationed. Take it out with a puff cancel, jump up and grab Shard 3, then float up and out the center of the room. Throw your double fire ability star straight up to break the star blocks in your way, and absorb one of the Fishbone enemies before leaving the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 4-4:
Magman
Route
At the very start of the Magman fight, put the cutter ability in Kirby's mouth and try to combine with one of the [4] that jump out of the lava to get the fire sword combo. The fire sword has a very large hitbox, which will make the rest of the fight much more manageable. If none of the [5] spawn near you, it is safer to reabsorb the cutter power and go for 2 hits on Magman's first attack instead of trying to combine with a [6] that is far away. Then, try again for the combo after the first attack.
Magman has 3 different attack pattern he can perform in the first phase:
1. 2 of his tentacles shoot up from the lava and attack in the order in which they came up. It is possible to get 3 hits here while holding the fire sword out, but at minimum, you should be able to land 2.
2. Magman shoots 3 columns of lava at you all at the same time, leaving one space open. Jump over to this open space and hold the fire sword out at one of the columns to land 2 hits
3. Magman shoots 4 columns of lava at you one at a time. You should be able to land 4 hits here using a combination of holding out the fire sword and throwing it at further away columns if necessary.
In the second phase of the fight, Magman once again has 3 attack patterns he can perform:
1. Magman drops little rocks from the ceiling. Get 3 hits from holding the fire sword and jumping into his hitbox, 1 hit from throwing the sword at him, and 2 hits from throwing your power star at him. Be sure to hold the fire sword above your head to clear the rocks out of your way if they are at risk of hitting you.
2. Magman breathes fire at you. Get 3 hits from holding the fire sword and jumping into his hitbox, 1 hit from throwing the sword at him while on the ground directly underneath him, and 2 hits from throwing your power star at him after the fire breath attack is finished.
3. Magman goes underground, moves to the other side of the screen, shoots rocks out of the ground, and summons 3 Burnis enemies to attack you. Get 2 hits by holding the fire sword and jumping into his hitbox before he goes underground, 2 hits by spitting your power star at him as he's coming back out of the ground, and 2 hits from absorbing a Burnis and hitting him with single fire. This is by far the slowest of the 3 patterns, but one benefit is that you can start 5-1 with single fire already obtained, allowing for a faster beginning to that level.
See the video below for a demonstration of Magman:
World 5
5-1
Route
Run forward and absorb the first Bobo that you encounter. Get up high on the screen and single fire all the way to the end of the room, avoiding as many Frigis enemies as possible.
In the next room, fire over to the ladders and climb all the way up. One optimization you can perform here is jumping to the top of the ladder and attempting to have Kirby throw himself up the platform edges to quickly get up higher on the following ladder.
At the beginning of the sled room, single fire over to the sled to avoid running on the thick snow, which slows down Kirby quite a bit. Make sure to keep short hopping in the sled section and grab Shard 1 on the igloo-like structure immediately after passing by the Sparky enemy.
In the miniboss room, float up and fire through the chunk of ice coming out of the ceiling first, then take out the Chilly miniboss to reveal Shard 2. Be sure to jump between each fire attack against the miniboss to shorten Kirby's recovery time, but time the 4th hit such that you take out the Frigis enemy as it dives into you to avoid taking damage from it.
In the following area, single fire past the first 3 Chilly platforms and into the water hole. Single fire will be your fastest method of horizontal swimming here. Head through the tunnel to the right and grab Shard 3 in the hole at the bottom of the far right side of the water. Make your way back out of the water, but keep in mind that you will most likely hit either the Gordo, Nruff, or Propeller on the way out. This is perfectly normal, but make sure not to lose too much health if you are already low. Head out of this area after leaving the water, avoiding the 2 Propellers on the way out.
The final room requires you to go both forward and up; make sure to float up a bit between some of your single fires to keep moving horizontally at high speed while also rising up over the mountain. It is advised to stay away from the ground while climbing to avoid getting rolled over by the giant boulders thrown by the Putt enemies. After passing over the peak of the mountain, make sure to drop some height between each subsequent single fire to get close to the ground before leaving the level, but make sure to avoid the Maw enemies before the exit too.
See the video below for a demonstration of 5-1:
5-2
Route
At the start of the level, fire up the hill into the hole and have the Zebon shoot you up to the next room. Continue firing forward until you reach the first set of 3 Pterans, then drop through the 2 platforms and continue firing while lower down on the screen. Grab Shard 1 on the lower platform, then fire over to the end of the room, riding the updraft to get back up to the higher platforms.
In the following room, fire over to the first Zebon, have the second Zebon shoot you out at the 10:30 position for Shard 2, then out of the room at the 12:00 position. Fire through the next room until you reach the 3 Tick enemies and land on the platform to the right of the right Tick. Throw away your fire power and absorb the Tick to get needle. Weave your way through the star blocks and enemies and make your way up and out of this room.
This next room has some unique movement. When running past the Maw enemies, run down the slope slightly before jumping over if they are coming out of the ground, and short hop right before passing them if they are coming out of the ceiling. This will manipulate them so that they don't end up eating Kirby as you run past. Also, when passing the Pteran enemies, be sure to headbutt the first one so that they all shift up a bit, leaving enough room for you to run under the second one and jump over the third.
Put your needle power in Kirby's mouth before reaching the area with Sparky. The combination with Sparky can be done in a few ways:
1. Optimally, Sparky will hop to the left and avoid jumping into the hole. If this happens, spit your needle power at it when it is not currently attacking and absorb the resulting power combo.
2. If Sparky jumps into the hole to the right, reabsorb your needle power, take out the 2 Maws around the area, then respawn Sparky and attempt the combination again as many times as necessary.
3. This movement is a bit trickier, but allows the combination to work the moment Sparky spawns into the area. Put needle in Kirby's mouth, run under the first of the three Mopoos, full jump over the second, spit the needle power just above the star blocks' height, then float up onto the block and run forward. The combination should hit everytime if done correctly. See the video below for a proper demonstration of this method.
After getting the lightning rod power combo, run into the Mopoo miniboss fight and take it out with 4 attacks while avoiding the Propellers and breaking the yellow & orange box in the upper middle of the screen. Grab Shard 3 and leave the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 5-2:
5-3
Route
Put the power combo in Kirby's mouth before entering the escalator room. Spit the power combo on the second escalator right before the first Poppy Bros. Jr. enemy. At the top of the 4th escalator, float up to the platform and grab Shard 1 before making your way out of this room.
On the first level of the next room, you can clear out the enemies in your way by running up to the first platform, letting go of the D-Pad, jumping over the Mahall's bubble attack, holding Right on the D-Pad again, and inhaling both the Mahall and Sawyer enemies, then spitting the resulting double power star forward. See the video below for a demonstration on how to do this in real time.
In this room, when entering each elevator, try and jump to the spot that Kirby normally walks to before the elevator goes up. This makes for a small optimization, as Kirby normally walks to these spots instead of running. Be sure not to jump past this spot though, or else Kirby will have to stop, turn around, and walk back to the spot, ultimately losing time.
Weave your way through the enemies on the second level and absorb a Tick on the third level. Use the needle power to damage boost your way past the I3 enemies on the fourth level. Make your way out of this room on the fifth level, take out the Pupa miniboss with needle in the next room, and grab Shard 2 before leaving.
Adeleine will draw 3 out of 7 foods for you; depending on which ones you get, push Down on the corresponding colored buttons on the floor of the next room to reveal Shard 3. A diagram of these foods and which colors they match is shown in the video below.
In the next room, there are 2 ways you can get the drill power combo:
1. (Safer, slower) Pull out the needle power while jumping over the first Bronto Burt and run straight under the Cairn enemy in front of it. This is safer because there is less risk of getting crushed by a falling bookcase.
2. (Faster, riskier) Pull out the needle power while jumping over the first Bronto Burt and hitting it on the right side to put the needle power directly into Kirby's mouth. Then, spit the power at the Cairn when it is on the ground.
After obtaining the drill power combo, jump up to the water pool and avoid the Gloms while swimming to the other side. Be sure to hold Up and Right on the D-Pad while getting across the water to stay at the top, and perform full jumps out of the water to get across as quickly as possible. Use the drill power to clear out enemies in front of your as you make it all the way out of this room.
The Shotzo enemies in the final room are very good at predicting where Kirby will be when their shots reach him. We can manipulate them to shoot out of our way by jumping over their shots or causing them to shoot above Kirby by jumping right before they shoot. Make it out of this room while taking as little damage as possible.
See the video below for a demonstration of 5-3:
5-4
Route
When jumping into the factory, pull out the drill power and hold it in Kirby's mouth to skip the animation of Kirby climbing down the ladder after entering the factory. Reabsorb the power when walking off the edge leading to the semisolid platforms with the Rockn enemies, and shoot a drill straight down after passing through all of the platforms to break the brown & orange block covering the path to the first shard. Throw away the drill power after that, absorb the Burnis enemy, make your way down to the last semisolid platform, then head right and up the ladder to grab Shard 1. Make your way out of this room after grabbing the shard.
The following Dedede room has a conveyor belt that is always pushing against you. Make sure to continually jump whenever possible while making your way through to minimize slowdown from the conveyor belt. An optimization you can do is to swing your hammer at the walls while you're in air to keep moving forward while breaking the walls out of the way. If you move through this room quickly enough, it is possible to skip the final hammer and save 3 seconds, but you have to not hit any enemies or slow down too much after waiting for the 4th hammer to pass, otherwise you will get instantly killed by the hammer's attack. See the video below for a demonstration on how to skip the last hammer.
The conveyor belt effects continue in the next room; be sure to run with the green conveyor belts that push you forward and fire over the red conveyor belts that push against you. Toss away your fire power once you get between the two [7] enemies, absorb the Sir Kibble immediately after, then make your way forward and throw your cutter power straight up the column at the end of the final red conveyor belt to combine with the Turbite. Grab the resulting lightsaber power combo, and make your way into the miniboss fight.
Before jumping down to where the Burnis miniboss is, break the yellow & green cage at the top of the room. If you are low on health (less than 3 HP), take out the miniboss by either swinging the lightsaber into it or by jumping and turning around to hit without swinging the saber. If you have 3 HP or more, it is faster to attack the miniboss by jumping directly into it while swinging the saber to reduce recovery time and get the hits in faster. Get 4 hits on the miniboss, then throw your power combo at it for the final 2 hits. Absorb one of the Magoo enemies before floating up, grabbing Shard 2, and making your way out of the room.
Avoid getting crushed in the next room, as this will instantly kill Kirby and make you lose your fire ability. Fire into the first hole, then fire into the first hole after the gap between the first two crushers. Proceed to the space between the next two crushers, then fire into the first hole after the next gap between crushers. After this, you should be able to fire straight out of the room with a little delay waiting for the last crusher to rise. See the video below for a demonstration on this room.
Make your way up to the 5th level of the final room and fire all the way to the right to grab Shard 3. Get through the grate quickly after grabbing the shard to avoid hitting the electrically charged wall being pushed towards you and to avoid getting crushed. Make your way up to the top level, throw your fire power away, and absorb a Zoos enemy before leaving the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 5-4:
HR-H / HR-E
Route
In the first phase of the fight, HR-H will alternate randomly between 4 attacks:
1. Slap
2. Clap
3. Laser
4. Missiles
While holding onto Spark, you cannot hit HR-H during the Laser or Missile attacks.
During the Clap attack, you can hit HR-H up to 4 times, but should aim for at least 3. Jump over the clap for hit 1, jump and hit the hands up high for hit 2, hit the hands on the ground for hit 3, then run and jump off to the left side for hit 4. For the Slap attack, simply jump over the attack and use spark for 1 hit. At the end of phase 1, you can stand at the edge of the screen and hold a spark attack to position yourself under HR-E for the second phase and land the first hit.
In the second phase of the fight, HR-E will alternate between 3 attacks:
1. 4 small missiles
2. 1 big missile
3. Double pincers
No matter which ones you get, you should be able to land all 6 hits with spark easily. For the "big missile" attack, you will need to do a VERY short hop before attacking to land the second hit quickly on HR-E. Try to avoid bumping into HR-E during this phase, otherwise you will take damage and be sent flying to the other side of the screen.
Get rid of your spark ability before grabbing the shard and ending the fight.
See the video below for a demonstration of HR-H / HR-E:
World 6
6-1
Route
A very close copy of 1-1.
With well-spaced jumps, it is possible to jump onto the very front of the Ghost Knight platform and straight over it with a full jump while keeping running speed. Absorb the first Bobo after this and fire forward through the enemies until you grab Shard 1. Throw away fire after grabbing the shard and inhale the Ghost Knight right in front of you. Absorb the power as you enter the miniboss room.
Take out the Sawyer miniboss with 6 needle attacks, then grab Shard 2 and put the power in Kirby's mouth as you leave the room.
With the needle power in Kirby's mouth, weave your way through all of the enemies until you reach the Poppy Bros. Jr.. Run straight at the Poppy Bros. Jr. and let it's bomb throw hit you perfectly into place right in front of it. After getting put in this position, spit your needle at the Poppy Bros. Jr. and absorb the resulting combination. Continue forward to the pond and use your attack to break the orange & black platform in the center of the pond to reveal Shard 3. Grab the shard and pull out your power combo before leaving the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 6-1:
6-2
Route
Re-enter 6-1 and absorb the first Plugg enemy to the right. Leave the level and enter 6-2.
After jumping into the hole, move to the right a bit so that Kirby is positioned to avoid the Flopper in the water and use the diving animation to sink faster. Break the yellow platform with a spark attack and grab Shard 1. Put the spark power into Kirby's mouth as you leave this room.
Swim forward and spit your spark power at the Fishbone enemy. Inhale the power combo, jump out of the hole, absorb the power, and make your way forward through the enemies with the lightsaber to the Dedede cutscene. Exit the room after this, and make your way down to the water in the next room using the lightsaber to clear enemies and obstacles out of your way. Once you're in the water, head left and grab Shard 2. Jump out of the hole at the far right of the water and exit the room.
In the next room, grab Adeleine's invincibility candy, run forward through the blocks, then use your lightsaber to break the green pillar and grab Shard 3. Make your way out of the room, then jump onto the platform and finish the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 6-2:
6-3
Route
There are 5 rooms of multiple enemy waves in this level. Rooms 1, 3, and 5 all have a shard to collect in them.
For rooms 1 and 2, it is best to take out the enemies by holding the lightsaber out and turning to swing it at them, starting on the right side each time. Grab Shard 1 in Room 1 after defeating all the enemies.
In room 3, take out the first 3 enemies, throw your power combo at the Kapar on the right side, inhale the Bobo that spawns in on the left, hold it over your head, combine it with the Kacti that spawns in after it, shoot a fire arrow onto the center of the red & orange floor, throw the power away, grab Shard 2 in the newly created hole in the ground, inhale the Plugg, hold it over your head, and combine it with the Sir Kibble that spawns in after it. Absorb the resulting power combo and head out the exit. If you got hit while inhaling the Plugg, proceed with absorbing the Sir Kibble and combine it with the Zoos in the center of the second wave of enemies in the 4th room.
In the 4th room, starting from just left of the center of the room, jump and attack each enemy wave with the lightsaber, moving from left to right in the air to ensure that each of the 3 enemies will be defeated each time.
In the 5th room, the enemy waves will spawn in a diagonal formation from top left to bottom right. Run between the center and right enemies, then jump and attack with the lightsaber, moving from right to left in the air for the first wave, then left to right for the remaining waves. Grab Shard 3 after all the waves are defeated and proceed through the next room to the end of the level.
See the video below for a demonstration of 6-3:
Miracle Matter
Route
At the beginning of the Miracle Matter fight, hold onto the lightsaber power in case you start with the Cutter and/or Spark phases. If either of these show up, jump and attack 3 times with the lightsaber to quickly take them out, then toss the power away once you get a phase that isn't one of the two.
Stone:
1. (Slower, safer) Stand towards the left side of the screen, inhale the first rock that drops on the left, activate the stone attack, let MM drop into you for Hit 1, pull out & throw the power at MM for Hit 2, the inhale & spit the remaining double stone for Hit 3
2. (Faster, riskier) Get MM to drop the first set of stones towards the middle of the screen; jump, inhale, and spit the stone on the right for Hit 1; inhale & spit the new stone on the right for Hit 2; and inhale & spit a remaining stone for Hit 3
Needle:
1. (clockwise) Stand between the 3:00 and 4:30 positions; jump & inhale the 3:00 shot; jump towards the middle and spit the power for Hit 1; absorb the 6:00 shot; and jump & attack for Hits 2 and 3
2. (counter-clockwise) Stand between the 9:00 and 7:30 positions; jump & inhale the 9:00 shot; jump towards the middle and spit the power for Hit 1; absorb the 6:00 shot; and jump & attack for Hits 2 and 3
Cutter:
Cutter can fly around clockwise or counter-clockwise. With either one, you should be able to 1-cycle every time with a combination of:
1. Throwing the powers up when MM is in the upper middle
2. Spitting/throwing the powers when MM is on a side
Ice:
Whether you inhale single or double ice, you should be able to 1-cycle every time by continuing to jump and attack until this phase is defeated. If you decide to throw a single ice power star at any time, make sure that MM's i-frames are no longer active before doing so.
Bomb:
The best way to defeat the Bomb cycle is to absorb the earliest single bomb power that makes itself available and get 2 hits with the attack, since the hitbox is somewhat large and lasts for about half a second.
If you inhale a double bomb power, it is better to spit it at MM for the first hit and find another power to spit at MM for the second hit unless you have no other option, since the missile attack's hitbox is not as big and doesn't last as long as single bomb's.
Fire
There are 3 variants of the Fire phase that you can get:
1. (2 vertical pillars) The easier variant to 1-cycle. Absorb a single fire power and get 3 hits before the phase is over.
2. (2 horizontal pillars) The harder variant to 1-cycle. Absorb a single fire power, get 1 hit by firing into MM, get hit 2 by firing just under MM and hitting with the upper part of single fire's hitbox, then fire into MM again for hit 3.
3. (4 pillars) This variant cannot be 1-cycled. Depending on how MM moves, the highest amount of hits you can land is 2. It is best to absorb a single fire power and get 1 or 2 hits with it's attack.
If you end up with Fire as the last phase on MM, be sure to hold onto it after the fight is over and use it in the first 2 rooms of Dark Star to speed them up.
Spark
The hardest phase of MM to 1-cycle. You can move in different ways to try and manipulate where the spark powers are going to make themselves available, but ultimately you need to get lucky enough that the powers become available early enough to absorb and land 3 hits in time.
See the video below for a demonstration of Miracle Matter:
Dark Star and 02 (Zero Two)
Route
If you entered this level with single fire after Miracle Matter, use it to cross the first 2 rooms quickly and get to the Zero Two fight. If you did not enter with single fire, use platform sliding and puff cancelling to cross gaps and clear out the various N-Z enemies scattered about. Grab Adeleine's Maxim Tomato before the fight if you need health.
In the first phase of the Zero Two fight, you will need to hit the eyeball with 30 shots (8 sets of 4 crystal shots does the job). Tapping the D-Pad Down + Left while shooting lets you hit the eye with your shots while also avoiding Zero Two's attacks.
Zero Two's halo takes 10 shots to break. Shooting 3 sets of 4 shots will break the halo and hit the bandage in one go to start the next phase. Once the halo is broken, it takes 20 seconds to come back.
The green spike on the bottom of Zero Two takes 60 shots (15 sets of 4) until they are defeated. Try to avoid the green gas shots as best you can in order to get as many crystal shots off in each cycle as you can.
It is possible to get Zero Two to flip back over and expose the green spike again once they start resetting to the first phase. If you notice that either:
1. The spike is getting VERY small, or
2. You've already shot 10 sets of 4 shots
Start heading to the bottom of the screen to influence Zero Two to flip back around in a way that exposes the bandage once again. Hit the bandage and Zero Two will start flailing again, and you can keep shooting the green spike. This strategy is luck based, since the time it takes Zero Two to start resetting to the first phase is random, but it can save 15 seconds if done properly.
See the video below for a demonstration of Dark Star / Zero Two:
