Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
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Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is a platformer featuring Kirby and some of his friends, produced by HAL Laboratory and released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64. It is notable for being the first Template:Installment in the Kirby series to depict Kirby and his surroundings in full 3D, although only for visual effects. As the last part of the Dark Matter Trilogy, Kirby 64 was not directed by Masahiro Sakurai, but instead by Shinichi Shimomura.
Story
The story of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards begins on a far away planet called Ripple Star, which is inhabited by fairy-like beings. The inhabitants of Ripple Star are also the guardians of a powerful crystal. Shortly before the game begins, an ill-willed creature called Dark Matter attacks Ripple Star. Concerned with the crystal's safety, the Fairy Queen asks Ribbon, a young fairy, to take the crystal and escape to a safe place with it. Ribbon obeys her ruler, but as she flies off, she is pursued by Dark Matter. Eventually, the powerful being is able to assault Ribbon, which destroys the crystal and splits it into several Crystal Shards. Meanwhile, Ribbon crash-lands on Pop Star, Kirby's home planet.
It is not long before Ribbon meets Kirby, as she unintentionally uses him to break her fall. After both of them find and merge two of the Crystal Shards, Ribbon explains her misery to Kirby, who instantly agrees to help out. While they search for the missing shards on Pop Star, they manage to add a Waddle Dee, an artist girl called Adeleine, and even Kirby's arch rival King Dedede to their cause. The group then travels to several planets to look for shards, using the crystal's transportation powers.
After traveling through several regions on numerous planets, the group finally gets the chance to travel to Ripple Star. The planet has become covered in thick, black clouds and is generally in a bad state. The Fairy Queen herself has been possessed by Dark Matter, which the group remains unaware of. Ribbon is visibly shocked to see her home planet in such a condition, but the rest of the group quickly comforts her. They then journey to Ripple Star together, where they battle their way into the palace and confront Miracle Matter, the apparent master of the Dark Matter. Kirby finally manages to defeat the foe and restore peace to the fairy planet. The Fairy Queen remains influenced by the Dark Matter, however, and after Kirby and his friends leave the planet to return home in a spaceship, the queen can be seen giving Ribbon a malicious glare.
The ending changes if Kirby and his friends manage to collect all of the Crystal Shards. If they do this successfully, the restored crystal reveals the possession of the Fairy Queen, and expels the Dark Matter from her body. The remaining Dark Matter then flies off into space, where it forms a new world called Dark Star. Intending to destroy the dark threat, the group travels into the heart of Dark Star with Kirby's Warp Star. Inside the black cloud, Kirby uses the abilities of his friends for one last time. Eventually, Kirby and Ribbon engage Zero Two, the master of Dark Matter and an angelic version of Kirby's old enemy Zero, in a fierce battle. The two of them manage to defeat the creature with the help of the Crystal Shards, though, and Dark Matter is eliminated. To thank the heroes for their efforts, the Fairy Queen awards each of them with a piece of the crystal. In the end, Kirby receives a kiss from Ribbon.
Gameplay
Despite the fact that Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards features full 3D graphics for the first time, the game itself still plays like a 2D sidescroller. The players control Kirby's movements with the Directional Pad. This way he is able to walk, run, and crouch. Pressing the A button causes Kirby to jump, and another press of the button lets him inflate himself, making him able to fly. However, unlike in the previous games where Kirby was granted to fly for an infinite amount of time, this game limits his potential. After a set amount of time, he will automatically deflate himself and has to touch the ground first to be able to fly again. Pressing the B button makes Kirby use his signature inhaling attack, which lets him defeat enemies, destroy blocks, and copy abilities (given that the inhaled enemy possesses one). The game makes another distinction from its predecessors here, giving Kirby only seven different abilities to copy, as opposed to the vast ability pool of other games. However, by inhaling enemies, Kirby can create ability stars, which he can spit at other enemies. If an ability star connects to another enemy with an ability, the two abilities will merge and form a Power Combo. By combining abilities, Kirby can master 28 different abilities, plus the seven base abilities, making a total of 35 abilities. If the players choose they no longer need an ability, they can throw it away by pressing the L, R, or any C button.
The game features six worlds, or planets, with respectively four levels and one boss fight. From the beginning, only the first level of Pop Star is available. In every level, there are three Crystal Shards to be found. The Crystal Shards are often hidden in remote places or behind obstacles that can be destroyed only by a certain ability (usually indicated by the obstacle's Template:Colour). Finding all the Crystal Shards isn't necessary to complete the game, but it is essentially in getting a 100% complete, and finding all 80 Crystal Shards (72 from every level, six from every boss, and two during the intro) unlocks the true ending of the game.
Characters
Enemies, Bosses & Base Abilities
Regular Enemies | Bosses | ||||||||||
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Base Abilities | |||||||||||
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Locations
Bosses
Name | Appearance | Level | Copy Abilities | Description |
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Whispy Woods | File:WhispyWoods.jpg | Pop Star | None. | This fight with Whispy takes place on a looping circular stage, with the old tree occupying the middle. Kirby must first defeat his three children, called Whispy Woods Jr., by using the parent tree's Apples to hit them with. Once all three are gone, Whispy becomes furious, and attacks Kirby by shooting out his roots, and tossing out a lot of apples. Kirby must hit the roots to defeat the tree. |
Pix | File:Pix.jpg | Rock Star | None. | The first phase of this fight has Kirby dodging the attacks of each Pix crystal as the platform rises into the sky. At the top, Kirby can attack Pix by spitting out constructs of similar colTemplate:Our at the crystals to destroy them. |
Acro | File:Acro.jpg | Aqua Star | Cutter (Fishbone), Bomb (Torpedoes) | This fight takes place entirely underwater, as Kirby has to inhale and return objects that Acro spits at him, while avoiding the killer whale's gymnastics. The fight takes place in two separate phases, with a separate Stamina bar for each one. |
Magman | File:Magman K64 screenshot.png | Neo Star | Burning (Magoo, Burnis) | Magman is a giant Sandman, though made of magma. It fights in two phases, first with extending tendrils, then with its full body. It can cause tremors, breathe fire, and spit out smaller foes for Kirby to contend with. |
HR-H and HR-E | File:HR-H K64 screenshot.png | Shiver Star | Bomb (missiles) | A giant robot that can shift form between a humanoid and a lobster shape. It attacks by shooting missiles and attacking with its arms. |
Miracle Matter | File:MiracleMatter.jpg | Ripple Star | All base abilities | A polygonal foe with eyes on all of its facets. It continually shifts forms, based on each of the base Copy Abilities that Kirby can use in the game. To defeat it, Kirby has to attack it with the matching ability or spit out an element that appears during the attack to disable that form. Unless all the Crystal Shards were collected, this is the last boss. |
0² | File:Zero Two K64 battle.png | Dark Star | Fairy Wings-Crystal Gun | A reincarnated version of Zero that Kirby and Ribbon must team up to defeat. They have to continually shoot crystals into its eye to stun it, then hit the halo to flip it, and attack the green underside to defeat it. Defeating this boss completes the game. |
Copy Abilities
Regular Powers
Name | Appearance | Icon | Function |
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Burn | Engulfs Kirby into a fireball and lets him fly a short distance. | ||
Stone | Gives Kirby a hide of stone which lets him walk through enemies unharmed. | ||
Ice | Makes Kirby exhale a cold breath which can freeze enemies solid. | ||
Needle | Transforms Kirby into a spiky ball that can pierce enemies. | ||
Bomb | Gives Kirby an arsenal of explosives to throw at enemies. | ||
Spark | Lets Kirby generate a small force field of electricity around him. | ||
Cutter | Gives Kirby a boomerang to throw at his foes. Since the boomerang is a part of him, he can throw only one at a time. |
Power Combos
Name | Appearance | Icon | Function |
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Burn-Burn | Transforms Kirby into a large fireball and lets him fly over a long distance. | ||
Burn-Stone | Lets Kirby shoot burning rocks at enemies like a volcano. The direction can be altered with the Directional Pad. | ||
Burn-Ice | Changes Kirby into a burning ice cube that instantly melts. | ||
Burn-Needle | Transforms Kirby into a bow that shoots flaming arrows at enemies. The angle can be altered by holding down the B Button. | ||
Burn-Bomb | Lets Kirby summon three fireworks explosions that defeat enemies and have a great range. | ||
Burn-Spark | File:K64 A BurnStpark.png | Kirby rubs his head with a tinder sheet and lights it on fire, running about and damaging any enemies he makes contact with. | |
Burn-Cutter | Gives Kirby a flaming sword to wield against enemies. The sword can be swung, hold over the head, and thrown at enemies. | ||
Stone-Stone | Transforms Kirby into a giant version of himself, made of rocks. Can pass most enemies unharmed. | ||
Stone-Ice | Transforms Kirby into a curling stone that slides through enemies. | ||
Stone-Needle | Gives Kirby a giant drill that can be used against enemies. The drill head can also be launched forward. | ||
Stone-Bomb | Lets Kirby use dynamite that defeats all enemies on screen. When the dynamite explodes, Kirby needs to protect himself or he gets hurt as well. | ||
Stone-Spark | Lets Kirby summon a giant rock which he controls with a leash of electricity. The Rock soars through the air and bounces off of walls and floors. | ||
Stone-Cutter | Transforms Kirby into stone figurines of his friends from Kirby's Dream Land 3. The various animals possess different abilities. | ||
Ice-Ice | Transforms Kirby into a rolling snow ball that grows in size and runs over any enemy on its way. The direction cannot be changed. | ||
Ice-Needle | Lets Kirby hide inside a giant snowflake made of ice. Possesses great range, but is slow and makes Kirby unable to move. | ||
Ice-Bomb | Transforms Kirby into a walking snowman. The snowman eventually explodes, taking out enemies nearby. | ||
Ice-Spark | Changes Kirby into a refrigerator that generates healing food. The thrown food can also damage enemies. | ||
Ice-Cutter | Gives Kirby a pair of skates and lets him ice-skate through levels. He can also twist jump when the A Button is pressed. | ||
Needle-Needle | Gives Kirby the ability to use various pointy objects against enemies. | ||
Needle-Bomb | Transforms Kirby into a Gordo that can float through the air. After a short time the Gordo will explode and launch its spikes across the screen. | ||
Needle-Spark | Lets Kirby change into a lightning conductor and summon a bolt that fries enemies. | ||
Needle-Cutter | Transforms Kirby into a giant bear trap with two big spiky arms. The arms snap together once the B Button is released. | ||
Bomb-Bomb | Changes Kirby into a rocket launcher that shoots three missiles. The missiles home in on enemies. | ||
Bomb-Spark | Lets Kirby transform into a light bulb. The bulb can attack enemies, as well as lighten up dark rooms. | ||
Bomb-Cutter | Gives Kirby an arsenal of shuriken that can be thrown at enemies. The projectiles explode when they make contact with something. | ||
Spark-Spark | Lets Kirby generate a giant electrical force field around himself that calls lightning down upon enemies. The force field shrinks if Kirby moves around while using it. | ||
Spark-Cutter | Gives Kirby a double-bladed lightsaber which he can wield against enemies. Crouching will discard the lightsaber. | ||
Cutter-Cutter | Gives Kirby a greater boomerang to throw at his enemies. Only one boomerang can be thrown at a time. | ||
Fairy Wings-Crystal Gun | An ability that is usable only during the final battle against 0². It lets Kirby and Ribbon fly around while shooting crystal projectiles at the enemy. |
Kanji Display
In the Japanese version, a selectable display uses kanji instead of symbols.
Kirby 64 kanji display | ||
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Display | Kanji | Meaning |
Remaining Vitality bar | 気 | Energy |
Depleted Vitality bar | 鬱 | Depression |
No Copy Ability | 無 | Nothing |
Burn | 火 | Fire |
Stone | 石 | Stone |
Ice | 氷 | Ice |
Needle | 針 | Needle |
Bomb | 爆 | Burst |
Spark | 電 | Electric |
Cutter | 切 | Cut |
Fairy Wings-Crystal Gun | 妖晶 | Fairy-Crystal |
Mini-Games
Kirby 64 also features three Mini-Games that can be played with up to four players. The games are as follows:
- 100-Yard Hop: A game where players hop over obstacles in a race to the finish.
- Bumper Crop Bump: A game where players shove each-other to catch falling fruit.
- Checkerboard Chase: A game where players try to make the stage crumble under their opponents' feet.
Gallery
Trivia
- Although this was the first 3-D Kirby game, Kirby's actual first 3-D appearance was in Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. His appearance in that game served as direct inspiration for the way he looked and sounded in this game.
- Kirby visits many worlds throughout the course of this game's storyline. One in particular, Shiver Star, bears an uncanny resemblance to our own planet, Earth, albeit frozen over.
- Each world that is visited contains the word 'Star' at the end of its name. Two in particular, Pop Star and Rock Star, are likely puns referring to celebrities in music.
External Links
- Official website (Wayback Machine)
- Official Japanese website
- Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards on Kirby Informer