HERE COME THE TIPS! (Psst: watch the Demo Play videos for the basics. They're pretty helpful.)
General tipsUse the Y button to scroll around the course and plan your approach. Many holes (I'd say about half) have a pretty clear hole-in-one path if you look around. So plan ahead! The execution is often the tougher part once you know how the game works, but that'll come with practice.
Use the L and R buttons to aim in the eight cardinal/ordinal directions. Many courses have all of their objects aligned along these directions, so make sure to stay cleanly along these lines when appropriate.
Plan ahead and use the cardinals to stay perfectly on the grid path!If your shots need some extra oomph,
press the A button to bounce harder when impacting a surface (landing a jump, hitting a barrier, etc.).
Ground shot tipsWith most enemies and objects on the ground, you might assume ground shots are your best course of action. And sometimes, you'd even be right!
Line and shot-strength guides on flat groundA 1/4 meter Ground shot will move Kirby about 4 squares.
A 1/2 meter Ground shot will move Kirby about 12 squares.
A 3/4 meter Ground shot will move Kirby about 20 squares.
A full meter Ground shot will move Kirby about 29 squares.
(a "square" is the side-length of one square on the grid, i.e. the diagonal directions. It is NOT the length from one corner of a square to the opposite corner, i.e. up/down/left/right.)- - - - - -
Want to stop at the end of the Ground shot's short guide? That's just over 1/4 the shot meter.
Press down on the D-pad to bring up the long guide. The end of the long guide is just under 1/2 the shot meter.
Ground shot spin is tricky, and should be used sparingly. The guide doesn't give you a very good look at how the shot will go, and if uninterrupted, Kirby will basically just travel in a tightening circle until he stops. The spin is canceled if Kirby goes airborne or hits a directional pad, and in fact those are often the few times it is appropriate to use the Ground spin shot.
Fly shot tipsYou may be tempted to stick to the ground when that's where most of the objects in the game are, but Fly shots are surprisingly versatile! And they have some unexpected advantages over Ground shots, too.
The Fly shot guide is very dependable! A full-strength shot will follow the guide exactly, and it gives you a good look at where your first two bounces will go. A half-strength shot will land exactly half-way to the landing spot in the shot guide (or at the spot where the shot guide is at its highest point). Quarter-strength will land 1/4th of the way along, and so on...
Check the shadow on the ground to get some reference on the Fly shot's trajectory through the air. This can be helpful when the colors and moving dots can get a bit messy.
Full strength lands at the arrow, half-strength lands where the Fly guide is at its highest point (look up from the Gordo)When lining up your Fly shots,
use the B button to play with Topspin, Backspin, and Sidespin. These are incredibly useful for playing around with speed and direction.
Going for the cup? Try a Fly shot! Unlike Ground shots, Fly shots have a pretty constant speed no matter the strength of the shot: even a full-strength Fly shot will never skip over the cup once it's rolling.
How strong should that Ground shot be? Who knows. That Fly shot? That's easy: full-strength!Fly shot distance can easily be extended! If it seems like you're going to be short of your intended target, just
hit the A button each time Kirby lands to increase your distance several squares.
Copy Ability tipsUse Stone to land in a cup! Jump over the cup, then hit the B button when your shadow is directly overhead!
Tornado is tough to handle, but extremely useful! Left and Right will make Kirby swing in each direction from his perspective, e.g. if Kirby is rolling towards the screen (down), pressing right will make him curve left, and pressing left will make him curve right. Think of it like an old-school top-down racer, a la
RC Pro Am.
Hi-Jump is great for reaching higher platforms, hitting high objects, or just getting more distance at the end of your shot.
UFO's speed is dependent on Kirby's speed when he activates the ability. It can be tough to handle at high speeds, but every(?) course where you have UFO available can be cleared in one shot with the ability. If you need to travel VERY far with it, try landing a full-topspin jump and then immediately activating it: Kirby will be floating just off the ground, but can still hit enemies and will be going extremely fast. ALSO, make sure to be traveling in one of the diagonal directions when using UFO: it's easier to control when Kirby is traveling along the lines of the course.
