Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
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| Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards | |
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| Developer(s) | HAL Laboratory |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 64, Virtual Console |
| Release date |  JPN March 24, 2000 USA June 26, 2000 EU June 22, 2001 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone |
| Media | 256 Megabit cartridge |
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, known in Japan as Hoshi no Kirby 64 (星のカービィ64 Hoshi no Kābī Rokujūyon?, lit. "Kirby of the Stars 64"), is one of many Kirby titles directed by Masahiro Sakurai, released on the Nintendo 64 in the year 2000 and on Virtual Console on February 25, 2008 in North America [1] and March 7, 2008 in Europe. It is Kirby's first 3D adventure. The game is notable for Kirby's ability to merge two separate copy abilities together as opposed to just using one.
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[edit] Plot
Ripple Star is a heart-shaped planet populated by serene and peaceful fairies. It is home to a great Crystal, which possesses great holy power. The Crystal is the sacred watcher of Ripple Star, and helps to ensure that it remains a perfect place for fairies to live. Unfortunately for the fairies, the Crystal's power has attracted the attention of Dark Matter. The black blob, and its controller, 02 (Zero Two), came to steal the Crystal. To that end, as well as the domination of the universe, Dark Matter has come to Ripple Star to steal its Crystal and use its power for its own evil purposes.
As the fairies notice a dark cloud enveloping their home, they begin to panic. In the midst of the chaos, as the darkness begins to envelop the castle, the Queen sends one fairy, Ribbon, to ride off with the crystal to somewhere safe. Dark Matter, of course, isn't pleased with this development, and it sends three pieces of itself after Ribbon. They catch up with her after a short chase. Ribbon tries to evade them, but the Dark Matter violently body-slams her, knocking her unconscious and shattering the Crystal into pieces. The pieces of the Crystal are scattered by the impact, and the pieces land on various planets all over the solar system. Ribbon herself, stunned by the blow, helplessly falls towards a familiar, star-shaped world ... the planet Pop Star.
Meanwhile, Kirby is taking a walk at Pop Star. Suddenly, a gem plummets from the sky and hits Kirby on the head. Kirby gets up and looks around. Seeing the gem, Kirby walks over to pick it up, when he's hit on the head by another jewel and a fairy.
When Kirby comes to, he finds the fairy lying on the ground. As he walks over to see if she's okay, she begins to stir, and then wakes up. It turns out that the fairy is Ribbon. After she and Kirby exchange hellos, Ribbon asks about the Crystal. Kirby, of course, doesn't know what she's talking about. Ribbon points out that it is the jewel that she had been carrying. Looking at the Crystal, she notices that it is only a fraction of its normal size... it must have been split into pieces! Realizing that she's failed to protect her planet's sacred jewel, Ribbon sighs in self-pity. Kirby notices that Ribbon is about to burst into tears, and tries to console her. Suddenly, Kirby notices the stone that had fallen on him. He points it out to Ribbon, and she realizes that it is another piece of the Crystal! Kirby and Ribbon throw their shards at each other, and the two shards join into one, prompting them to search for more.
The Crystal is still incomplete with 98 more pieces remain to be found, scattered across 6 planets. Kirby and Ribbon traverse these worlds in a search for the Crystals. Their journey to liberate Ripple Star and restore the Crystal to its full power takes them through Pop Star where they meet Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and King Dedede, who have all found shards of their own and all agree to help. They traverse the planets using everyone's skills to collect the crystals.
However, even when you finish the game, something doesn't seem right. If you don't collect all 100 crystals, you will receive a different ending. The so called "unhappy ending" shows Kirby and his friends returning to Dreamland, but then the Ripple Star Queen looks at Ribbon with evil and darkened eyes, signaling that the game is not quite finished.
After they collect all 100, the ending cinema is changed. The completed crystal fires a ray of holy energy at the Queen, sensing the Dark Matter possessing her, and so releasing her of it. The Dark Matter released from her forms a new planet at the center of the ring of planets called Dark Star. Kirby and co. enter Dark Star, where there is a short level with few enemies. At the end of the level, King Dedede fires Kirby upward off the screen. There, 0² reveals himself as the game's final boss. Using the restored crystal, Kirby destroys him in a shooter-like battle and restores peace to the solar system.
At the game's end, the fairies reward the heroes from Dream Land with crystal medallions. Ribbon shyly gives Kirby a kiss, causing him to nervously swoon, he falls off the ceremonial platform.
[edit] Gameplay
[edit] Copy abilities
There are seven different copy abilities in Kirby 64, and any two can be merged to create a new copy ability. They are Burn, Stone, Ice, Needle, Bomb, Spark, and Cutter. Though Kirby only needs one element in his body to gain an extra attack, two of the abilities can also be combined. Copy Abilities can also be merged with abilities of the same type for more powerful versions of the basic abilities. In total there are 28 combined abilities. Combined abilities are usually stronger or have added effects. For example, the Burn ability alone makes Kirby turn into a fireball for a very brief period of time and fly through the air. The Cutter ability allows Kirby to throw his face like a boomerang, though its movements cannot be controlled and it has a very small impact area. Putting these two abilities together, however, results such that Kirby can pull fire swords out of his mouth (see picture). The sword automatically kills anything behind him (he drags it behind him as he goes), but Kirby can also swing it for enemies at close range, hold it above him for enemies in the air, or throw it as a projectile. After Kirby has copied an ability, he can spit the ability from his mouth in the form of a "Power Star", which can be thrown at other enemies with copyable abilities to create a "Combo Star". Combo Stars can be thrown at enemies if Kirby wishes to rid himself his current power as they are strong projectiles. Also, there are out-of-place colored blocks throughout the game. To break open the blocks, Kirby needs to have the ability that is the same color as the block. Some of these blocks have more than one color. Kirby then needs the combined ability with both of the same colors to open the block.
[edit] Minigames
Three minigames can be played separate from the main quest in Kirby 64. Each game can be played by 1-4 players on one of four difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, Hard, Intense.) Medium, Hard, and Intense modes must be consecutively unlocked by winning as a human player in the previous difficulty level. Characters from the game (i.e. Kirby, Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and King Dedede) are playable in multiplayer. Each difficulty has a differently colored background, with the Intense level having a unique background design.
[edit] Beta
Screenshots of the game's beta, under the name of Kirby's Cloud, was originally posted on Nintendo.com June 1st 1999, portrayed Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and King Dedede as playable characters all throughout the game, the game also featured many more aquatic levels. The multiple characters and water based levels were removed before the game's release.[2]
[edit] Reception
The game sold 1.07 million copies in Japan [3]
The Japanese magazine Famitsu gave Kirby 64 an overall score of 32/40.[4] Nintendo Power gave it an overall rating of 8.1/10.[5] GameSpot gave it a score of 6.9/10,[6] and IGN gave it a score of 7.9/10.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Kirby 64 and Psychosis Hit Wii Virtual Console (February 25, 2008).
- ^ Kirby's Cloud
- ^ http://www.the-magicbox.com/topten2.htm 1.7 million copies sold in Japan.
- ^ Rating a Fat Blob. IGN (March 16, 2000).
- ^ "Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards review" (.jpg) (July 2000). Nintendo Power (134): 116.
- ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (April 14, 2000). Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards review. GameSpot.
- ^ Boulding, Aaron (June 23, 2000). Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards review. IGN.
[edit] External links
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