DKC GBA Tricks and Movement

Rolling

• Rolling is faster than running, so try to roll as much as you can. Rolling through 1 enemy only gives you a speed boost sometimes. Rolling through 2 or more enemies always gives you a speed boost though (similar to SNES).

Swimming

• Holding B while swimming makes you swim faster (not sure if it matters for Enguarde movement outside of lunging though)
• Diddy and DK swim at the same speed horizontally but Diddy swims faster vertically
• Hugging a wall doesn't slow down your horizontal speed like in the SNES version, so it's optimal to hug walls when going around corners (water levels with Kongs are ez mode)

Ledge Rolls

If you roll from the very edge of a platform, you will get a roll with significantly low trajectory. The window for getting these rolls is fairly tight, but it can be useful for reaching certain enemies from below, such as the Krem at the end of Barrel Cannon Canyon while rolling off the tree. It's also good to be aware of so you don't kill yourself doing it accidentally!

Unrestricted Rolls

While being shot out of a barrel onto regular terrain, if you initiate a roll upon landing without running prior to the roll, you can continue running after the roll rather than needing to jump before the roll ends. This can be used to chain 2 rolls in a row without needing to jump and can be used in various places in the run, such as the end of Barrel Cannon Canyon and in Tree Top Town.

Jump Momentum Conservation (JMC)

When you jump out of a roll, your speed immediately gets snapped to regular running speed. However, if you have B released prior to jumping, your speed will more gradually decrease from whatever it was during your roll down to walking speed. With this in mind, you can conserve some of your momentum out of rolls while you jump. Ideally you will begin holding B again right before or at the time your speed drops down to around the value for regular running speed, which takes some getting used to. This can be used all throughout the run to save frames everywhere. The effects of this are more dramatic when you have more speed built up before jumping, but even doing this optimally out of a standard roll can save ~1-2 frames, which could add up over the course of the run. In scenarios where doing this would compromise your platforming in any way (e.g. make your rolls/jumps slightly less optimized) it's not worth it to go for.

Roll Momentum Conservation (RMC)

While rolling through multiple enemies, if you release forward on the dpad during the final enemy you will conserve your momentum for a longer period of time, causing you to slide forward. This seems to primarily work while rolling through enemies while in the air but it can also be done while grounded at times (needs more testing). This can be seen done at the end of Forest Frenzy (notice how Diddy slides into the exit while standing still briefly). This is rarely used, as Jump Momentum Conservation is more practical in most situations

Fast Shots

When you shoot out of barrels, if you hold forward while holding B (run button, not jump!) you will actually slow down in most cases. To avoid slowing down, you will typically want to avoid holding B until near the end of being shot out of a barrel aka when you start slowing down (or when you land depending on how high you are after your momentum ends from the barrel shot). However, holding A is completely fine and can even extend Fast Shots quite a bit while bouncing off of enemies. This is used extensively in Vulture Culture, but has applications pretty much everywhere there are barrels that shoot you horizontally.

Note that there are other fast shots where it is alright to hold B, as long as you're not holding forward. This usually is only the case for certain blast barrels, like the one leading up to halfway in Snow Barrel Blast.