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[img width=500 height=349]http://i.imgur.com/fo4Pdjm.jpg[/img]
HiiIIIiii! It's Kirby in his first 3D adventure, Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards. The sixth entry in the Kirby series since he arrived on the Nintendo Gameboy eight years earlier. This is the second game in the series I've had the pleasure of playing, the first being Kirby's Dream Land on Gameboy. Each game has a new story, and can be easily picked up without prior experience with Kirby.
[img width=445 height=326]http://i.imgur.com/rg6eaTd.png[/img]
Ripple Star, a peaceful planet inhabited by Fairies is one day attacked by a mysterious cloud of Dark Matter! It was after the Fairies' secret Crystal, but a Fairy named Ribbon got to it first. Escaping before the planet was overrun, she rescued the Crystal only to be followed by three small clouds of Dark Matter that broke off from the main mass. They caught up to her and attacked, shattering the Crystal into shards that scattered across the entire solar system! Grabbing hold of a shard, Ribbon fell with it onto the planet Pop Star, where she bumped right into Kirby himself. When he heard what happened he knew he had to help, and set out to gather all the shards and take back Ripple Star from the evil Dark Matter.
"Where's the title music?" was the first impression of Kirby 64 I had after the introduction sequence. There is none for whatever reason, but that was the only complaint about music I had throughout the whole game. Each level and menu screen had some great tunes; from the happy and up-beat (http://youtu.be/uUJhAeCOCHQ), to the intense (http://youtu.be/hU2h5NyF68M). One of my favourites has to be from the Forest stage of level 2, it perfectly captures the atmosphere of a calm walk through the forest. There's a good selection of original tracks and remixes of the old themes. By the time you finish Kirby 64 you'll definitely have some songs stuck in your head, in a good way.
[img width=600 height=345]http://i.imgur.com/1KI9SpF.jpg[/img] We're all gamers here, what really matters most in a game is the gameplay. How are the controls? How fun is it? The answers are "Great", and "Heaps of fun!" This is one of the few N64 games that employed the D-pad over the Joystick that is favored by most games. It may not be commonplace but it gets the job done, with Kirby responding nicely to your every command. Alongside flying, running, sliding kicks, and shooting blasts of air at enemies, Kirby has his classic ability to inhale enemies and gain a new ability from them. Not only can he get one power up, but he can now inhale 2 enemies to combine their powers into one super power! With 7 different powers to combine, there are dozens of awesome abilities. From crushing enemies as a giant walking rock, to slicing them with a light saber, to exploding in a burst of fireworks. You can even turn into a refridgerator and kill enemies with the tasty foods expelled from inside you. I did have one complaint about the controls, as responsive as they are Kirby always feels a bit slow. Yes, you can run with a double tap of the D-pad, but the difference is so minor that sometimes I had trouble knowing if I was even running or just walking. Other than that they're great though.
[img width=442 height=325]http://i.imgur.com/ILo6aRE.png[/img] Along the way you'll meet 4 friends that are there to lend a hand when you need it. First is Ribbon the Fairy, who doesn't actually help any, she's just along for the ride and holds onto the Crystal shards you've collected. Next up is Waddle Dee, who does something useful! Whenever you need some transportation he's the man...thing...to help. At certain points he'll jump in with a boat, minecart, sled, or other vehicle to help you get where you need to go. Then there's Adeleine, the artist who's paintings come alive. She'll be there to draw you some health items or a 1UP at certain locations. Lastly is your old enemy, King Dedede, who reluctantly decides to help you this time. He shows up when you're stuck between a rock and a hard place with a hammer to smash the way through. None of these characters are there very often, but when they are it's a nice way to change up the gameplay.
[img width=641 height=349]http://i.imgur.com/E3YFP5m.png[/img] I said this game was Kirby's "first 3D adventure" above, but it's really 2.5D. Everything is rendered in 3D, but the entire game plays on a 2D plane. It feels a lot like Yoshi's Story in that sense, and even some of the visuals are similar, which is great in my books. There aren't many technically impressive visuals in this, except for a couple spiral staircase rooms. Where it lacks in the "wow" factor though, it makes up for with style. Almost every level has a unique style that just looks great, with places like the moody autumn forest, snow covered Shiver Star stages, or the weird awesomeness of the upside-down pyramid stage. There's a bit of everything, and it's a real treat for the eyes.
There's also a multiplayer component to Kirby 64, in the form of three mini-games. They're Mario Party style games like a foot race where you can only jump either one or two spaces to move. Then there's a simple catch-the-fruit game where you aim for the highest score while bumping around your opponents to make them miss their fruit. Lastly is a survival game that involves a floating checkerboard that gradually shrinks, and you can direct a row of blocks to fall in an attempt to drop the other players. Last one standing wins, and that has the most potential replayability. Speaking of replayability, this game has that covered. With six main worlds and one bonus, a ton of shards to collect for 100%, cards you collect from the post stage mini-game, and multiplayer, you aren't going to stop having fun with this for a long time. Experimenting with all the power-up combinations alone is a ton of fun.
In conclusion, this is a game clearly aimed at younger players, with its gradual learning curve and (mostly) easy bosses, but don't let that deter you from playing. With it's charming style, memorable music and solid gameplay, this is something everyone can enjoy.
Title: Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: June 26, 2000
Genre: Action/Adventure, Platforming
Players: 1-4
Controller Pak: No (Saves to Cartridge)
Rumble Pak: Yes
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