It had been considered a bit of a tradition that every time a Kirby game would get a console release it would be at the final lap of its life cycle showing off some of the most ambitious hardware wizardry available; Kirby 64 is not an exception to the rule.

It may not require an Expansion Pak to run, but it has some of the absolute best artistic direction on the console along an electrifying soundtrack; and I haven't even started on the feature gimmick of ability combos, always making it fun to experiment the possibilities.

Along the single player mode, it is also loaded with side features including a card collecting album that you can slowly fill if you get a card at the end of each level, and 4-player party mini-games that do make an amusing amount of chaos with friends.

This game lives to its reputation, some fans still believe the caliber of this entry has not been fully matched despite how 3D Kirby games are no longer a rare occurrence. Do not be mislead by the cuddly cover art of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, you WILL want it on your collection.

Easily the best in the Dark Matter trilogy. The pastel/anime style makes the visuals look gorgeous on the N64 and there's nothing quite like it in the console's library.
In regards to the gameplay, Kirby can feel a little too slow at times but it's easy to get used to. However, the best part is the inclusion of fusing copy abilities. Even if not all of them are easy to use, it makes the game feel fresh from start to finish. Besides, the level design is pretty fun and the level themes are extremely creative making the experience all the more memorable.
Overall, one of the best Kirby games I've played and a very fun platformer in general.

A classic Kirby game that has been on my to do list for years and after finally playing it. I would genuinely consider it my favourite of the pre Wii/3DS era Kirby's

Being able to fuse your abilties is such a fun thing to mess around with and makes up for how few abilities there are in the game overall, the game looks amazing and aside from a couple collectables was a comfortable breeze.

Highly Reccommend (though those playing on the Switch NSO might find it uncomfortable because of where the D-Pad is placed)

Kirby 64 brought Kirby to the realm of 2.5D platforming. It has a bright and visually appealing aesthetic with a great soundtrack.

I’m sure a standard play, where you run through each level and do the bare minimum is a brisk and enjoyable. Playing with the different power combinations are fun and the levels themselves are varied visually where the gameplay may be lacking - a lot of it are basic left to right which is probably suited to the audience.

The true ending is frustrating, you need not just the specific power, but a combination of powers to collect every single crystal. At the very least you don’t need to finish the level for the crystal to be collected. I used a guide to cheese this, because it is really unreasonable and a waste of time and erroring which power up can destroy a block three quarters into a stage.

People say Kirby 64 is the downslope, but I sorta consider Kirby’s Dreamland 3 to be in the same general ballpark. Both are visually impressive games that don’t innovate on the 2D plat-former. Can be beaten quickly if you avoid all side content, but the moment you shift gears it’s difficult and unrewarding pulls from some crazy overarching plot.

AsrielXSamus
@AsrielXSamus
·
29. Mai 2022
100%'d Kirby 64™: The Crystal Shards

I never knew how many enemies, abilities and other obstacles this game created that were reused in later games.

It's a pretty fun game, but some of the Shard requirements are a annoying because you don't always get the proper abilities in the same level.

Pros: The Copy Ability mixing gimmick is a fun novel concept, and seeing what two elements combined together creates, is a fun sensation. Bomb + Fire = fireworks, Cutter + Stone = carved statues, Electric + Ice = a literal refrigerator. Just seeing what these things create, based on intuition even, is satisfying. The graphics are also pretty charming, 3D constructed worlds with stages built around a moving camera, so it has a nice visual flair to it, despite the gameplay still being on a 2D plane. There's also cute little cutscenes of Kirby interacting with other characters. It's delightful. The gameplay itself, more like Kirby's Dreamland 3, does the job, it's a 2D platformer with hidden trinkets in each stage, many of which require specific combinations of copy abilities to obtain. I will say, that mode of gameplay is more fun than the "missions" in each stage for KDL3 anyway... But...

Cons: The game has even slower and less fluid movement than KDL3 (can't even fly for very long), and especially less fun without the animals to help shake things up. Nor is there co-op anymore... And, considering the copy abilities (by themselves or mixed) still only provide one attack each, they get old fast, especially after the novelty of combining abilities loses its luster. This is when the series felt like it lost its way to me, that it forgot everything that Kirby Super Star did... and to me, this was the dark ages for Kirby.

What it means to me: I liked Kirby, and so I really wanted more games like Super Star... this wasn't that, I still played it and tried to enjoy what I could, but I found myself quickly going back to Super Star afterwards. This just wasn't the direction I wanted for the little pink creampuff. Middle of the road game, in my opinion, not terrible, but disappointing.