KDL2:Any%
Route summary
The KDL2 Any% route is, for the most part, straight forward and somewhat easy to pick up (at least compared to some other games in the series). While there are some bumpy spots that might take a while to figure out, there's also a lot of slower but alternative strategies that people have come up with to make things easier overall. This guide will show you a variety of methods of traversing levels, as there are a few places where you can figure out what works best for you without losing too much time compared to the most optimal strategies.
Both Coo and Kine, the animal friends, will be used a few times in this game. Rick unfortunately is notoriously terrible in this game and it's very hard to include him in the any% segment. Coo is the fastest animal friend in the game, so in theory you are gonna wanna keep the bird as long as possible until you are at a point where his size gets in the way.
When starting out, I heavily recommend abusing the fact that this is the only Kirby game in the series that keeps both your ability and animal friend after a soft reset. If you mess up and no longer have Coo and if you don't know a backup, you can soft reset and improve on it later. Another thing I recommend beginners use during runs is the HP you can obtain through goal games. More on both of these in the Mechanics and Tech section.