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Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is a Kirby video game published for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. This game is Kirby's only game for the N64, and probably has the deepest and best-explained storyline of any Kirby game (though it still requires some interpretation.) Although the game worlds are rendered with polygons, it remains a side scroller. What makes this game unique is Kirby's ability to merge two separate copy abilities to create a whole new one.
Storyline
Ripple Star ... A heart-shaped, peaceful, and serene planet populated by 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 happy and joyful world; 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, 0, 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. The Queen is immediately notified, and she decides to send her daughter, Ribbon, away to safety. They decide that Ribbon will take the Crystal with her, to keep it 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, too!
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's the jewel that she had been carrying. Looking at the Crystal, she notices that it's 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's another piece of the Crystal! Kirby and Ribbon throw their shards at each other, and the two shards join into one!
The Crystal is still incomplete, though. 98 more pieces remain to be found, scattered across 6 planets. Kirby and Ribbon have to traverse these worlds in a search for the Crystals. If they can make it all the way, they might be able to free Ripple Star from Dark Matter's grasp ... but only if they can find all of the Crystal's shards and restore it to its full power. Though they'll get help from Waddle Dee, Adeline, and even King Dedede, their journey won't be an easy one. Dark Matter is aware of Kirby and Ribbon's quest, and is doing everything in its power to stop them, and to get to the Crystal shards first. If the evil mass succeeds, the universe is doomed! With no time to waste, Kirby and Ribbon set off on their greatest adventure. Will Kirby and Ribbon find the shards ... or survive, for that matter? What has happened to 0 since we last saw it? Will we see any romance between our heroes? The answers to these questions, and more, can all be found in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards!
Copy abilities
There are 7 different copy abilities in Kirby 64, and two can be merged to create a new copy ability. They are Burn, Stone, Ice, Needle, Bomb, Spark, and Cutter. These abilities can be combined to create many different types of abilities. After you've copied an ability, it is possible to remove the ability from your mouth in the form of a "Molecule", which you can throw at other enemies with copyable abilities to create a "Super Molecule".
Here is a list of abilities that Kirby can use by combining 7 basic abilities:
Single abilities
- Burning: Kirby charges in form of a fiery ball, attacking whoever stands in his way.
- Ice: Kirby turns blue and freezes whoever stands around him into an ice cube. The frozen enemy can serve as a projectile.
- Spark: Kirby forms an electrical force field around him and damages whoever comes near. Kirby can perform this attack while moving, but the range of the field is reduced.
- Stone: Kirby transforms into a dark-gray stone replica of himself. He can still walk, but is slower and cannot walk up a slope because of his weight.
- Needle: Kirby grows spikes all over his body for few seconds, damaging his enemies.
- Cutter: Kirby throws a boomerang which is a part of himself. This reduces Kirby's size and deprives him of the multiple jump ability while the boomerang is flying.
- Bomb: Kirby throws a bomb to attack. Pressing B-button longer will send the bomb farther.
Compound abilities
In most games, where Kirby is able to copy abilities from an enemy, he can inhale two enemies at the same time. Usually, this results in the mix ability, mentioned above, which allows Kirby to randomly select one ability. In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, if Kirby inhales two enemies with abilities, he will receive a compound ability, which utilizes both abilities at once, even if both enemies Kirby inhaled are of the same ability or from two identical enemies.- Double cutter: Using two cutter abilities, Kirby is able to split himself, then throw a big boomerang with spikes.
- Double fireball: Upon inhaling two fire enemies, Kirby turns into a massive fireball, which can be used to destroy anything in his path.
- Double needle: By combining two needle abilities, Kirby can inflict massive damage to his enemies by using a vaiety of sharp objects, such as a cactus, needles, a bee stinger, amongst others.
- Double spark: Using two spark abilities, he can surround himself with a large electric charge.
- Double stone: By acquiring two stone abilities, Kirby can transform into a massive, walking stone, which makes him invincible.
- Dynamite: A mixture between rock and bombs, Kirby can throw dynamite at his enemies, set a trap for them, or use the bombs to break open hidden areas. However, this a very dangerous weapon, in that is can easily harm Kirby unless he ducks, producing a safety helmet.
- Electric rock: In a powerful mix of rock and spark, Kirby is able to spit out a rock attached by an electrical current, which will shock all encompassing enemies.
- Exploding Gordo: Mixing spike and bomb, Kirby will tranform into an exploding ball of spike, which will send spike in all direction.
- Exploding snowman: In a mix of bomb and ice, Kirby will cover himself in snow, run around with a bomb attached to his head, and wait for an enemy to touch him and explode.
- Fire starter: When capturing both the spark and fire ability, Kirby can set himself on fire and run through the stage, destroying anything he comes into contact.
- Fire sword: A combination between the fire and cutter ability, Kirby wields a giant sword made of fire.
- Firework: With a combination of the fire and bomb abilities, Kirby can light himself into the air, exploding like a firework, burning all enemies in sight.
- Flame thrower: In a combination of needle and fire, Kirby can shoot flaming arrows at his enemies.
- Giant snowball: Combining two ice abilities, Kirby can turn into a huge snowball and roll across the stage. In the process, he will suck in enemies and freeze them.
- Curling Stone: Mixing rock and ice, Kirby can turn into a curling stone and glide across the stage.
- Ice skating: Mixing ice and cutter, he can perform various skating tricks to attack his enemies.
- Light bulb: Mixing bomb and spark, Kirby will imitate a charged light bulb before exploding. This is also useful to light up dark areas.
- Light saber: Combining cutter and spark, Kirby now wields a powerful light saber, which he can used to attack enemies.
- Melting ice: In an unusual mixture of fire and ice, Kirby turns into a large melting ice cube. He can turn himself into an ice cube, only to almost instantly melt back to normal. This ability provides almost no usefulness.
- Missile: (not to be confused with the Missile ability mentioned above) With the combination of two bomb abilities, Kirby can spit out three missiles for thrice the damage of a normal bomb.
- Needle gun: By combining spike and spark, Kirby can turn into a needle and then shoot upwards like a cannon at his enemies.
- Ninja bomb: Combining bombs and cutter, Kirby can throw explosive ninja stars extremely fast.
- Power drill: In a combination of needle and rock, Kirby can shoot off big spikes or just hold down the button to let himself be dragged by the drill.
- Refrigerator: Combining ice and spark, Kirby can transform into a refrigerator, which will spit out food items to replenish Kirby's health.
- Snare: Combining cutter and needle, Kirby's arms turn into a giant trap and can snare any enemy unfortunate enough to get caught.
- Snowflake: After acquiring ice and needle, Kirby can transform into a giant snowflake, with spikes on all sides to destroy enemies.
- Stone friends: A combination between cutter and stone, Kirby can morph into one of six friendly characters, each of which has their own strengths and weaknesses.
- Volcano: A mixture between the rock and fire ability, Kirby turns into a walking volcano, and he can spit rocks and lava from his head.
Levels and Bosses
There are seven planets (Pop Star, Rock Star, Aqua Star, Neo Star, Shiver Star, Ripple Star, Dark Star), usually three or four levels in each world and one boss. Every standard level has 3 hidden crystal shards to find, and a crystal shard is rewarded for clearing each boss level, except for the final one against the boss of Dark Star. To gain access to the last world, Dark Star, all shards must be collected.The World 1 (Pop Star) boss is Whispy Woods. At first, there are 3 small Whispy Wood Jrs., aided by Whispy Woods, that Kirby has to destroy. Then Whispy Woods will shake apples off its branches, trying to damage Kirby. After the apples are gone, it sticks out its roots in order to attack Kirby. Kirby can attack the roots to damage it.
The World 2 (Rock Star) boss is Pix, a group of 3 diamond-shaped creatures, represented by 3 different colors; red, blue, and green. They do a group attack and two individual attacks. Kirby has to destroy the crystals with a power, or by inhaling and spitting an atom-like object at them. When a crystal is defeated, it becomes hollow and unable to do damage. It should be noted that by throwing an atom of the same color as the crystal, Kirby can deal significantly more damage.
The World 3 (Aqua Star) boss is Acro. He is an orca that is fought underwater. He has two phases. In one, he spits enemies and does belly flops and dives to hit Kirby. When Acro is defeated, he comes back swimming upward and spitting torpedoes.
The World 4 (Neo Star) boss is Magman. He is a monster made of lava that sits in the background and sends his tentacles toward the four platforms that Kirby stands on. The tentacles can do three attacks: heading straight for the platforms and sinking, bending down on the middle two platforms, or smacking the platforms against the ceiling one at a time. Kirby has to avoid the tentacles and attack them with a power or by spitting the enemies, called Magoos, that jump out of the lava, at them. When defeated, Magman comes back on solid ground rather than the lava he was in. He has three new attacks: hitting the ceiling to make rocks fall, breathing a massive stream of fire, and turning into a puddle of lava and sliding under Kirby. Magman's face is vulnerable to attack.
The World 5 (Shiver Star) boss is HR-H. It is a giant robot that fires missiles and lasers, and tries to hit Kirby with his arm (which can be attacked). When defeated once, it transforms into a spaceship called HR-E. It shoots warheads.
Miracle Matter is the World 6 (Ripple Star) boss. It is a white icosahedron that has 20 red eyes, one eye on each face. Miracle Matter attacks with every ability in the game. It can only be injured by the same ability as the one it is using, so it is important for Kirby to inhale Miracle Matter's weapons and spit them out, injuring Miracle Matter. As he takes damage, red eyes start to turn completely black, one at a time. Miracle Matter appears to be the final boss; in reality, there is an additional boss (O²) that can only be fought after collecting all the crystal shards.
When fighting 0² at the end of World 7 (Dark Star), the game enters a 3D rail shooter style mode in which Kirby, held in the air by Ribbon the fairy girl, fires at 0² using the Crystal Gun, a weapon formed from all of the crystal shards brought together. The use of shooter style gameplay for the very last boss is a recurring element in many Kirby games.
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 Dedede) are playable in multiplayer. Each difficulty has a differently colored background, with the Intense level having a unique background design.100 Yard Hop:
Four players line up in front of four columns of circles (spaces). Press B to hop one space forward, A to hop two spaces. The object of the game is to reach the end before your opponents. You must dodge obstacles by jumping over them. In the Intense level, the race takes place in a pond, in which players have to hop on rocks and blue turtle shells. Turtle shells continue to appear and disappear.
Bumpercrop Bump:
This minigame is played in a sidescrolling environment. Players have baskets and attempt to catch fruit falling from a tree. Each players can hinder others from catching a falling fruit by "bumping" (ramming into) them. In the Intense level, the game takes place on a cloud, in which players have to catch falling jewels hanging from a rainbow.
Checkerboard Chase:
Played on a checkerboard style platform, allowing players to move in four directions. The object of the game is to knock other players off the board by destroying the tiles beneath them. Press A to shoot a string of colored tiles forward. These tiles will fall after a second, along with anything else standing on them. Those fallen tiles regenerate after a while. The board becomes smaller as time goes on, adding to the challenge. Each player has 5 lives, and the last man standing wins.
Cards
There are 81 cards to collect in the game, which have pictures of characters, enemies, or bosses. Cards can be collected in the picnic sequence after Kirby completes a stage, excluding a boss battle.Trivia
- Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was the first and only Kirby game to come to Nintendo 64, besides the appearance in Super Smash Bros.. Kirby's Air Ride and Kirby Ball 64 were also being made for the N64, but were eventually cancelled. Later, Kirby Air Ride resurfaced on the Nintendo GameCube.
- Like most Kirby games, the final boss is some form or force controlled by 0, as proved from 0², a flying creature with a halo.
- Early screenshots from Gamespot show that Kirby`s health meter, and very well the entire HUD looked quite different. Also, other characters besides Kirby were originally going to be playable, from what can be gained by observing the screenshots.
External links
Kirby platform games | Nintendo 64 games | Cancelled 64DD games | 2000 computer and video games
"Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards"