I adore Kirby. I’ve always loved Kirby games, and it’s by far one of the most successful series of platform games in the gaming industry. Though as much as I loved Kirby as a kid, there was one Kirby game that I had never played. Funny enough, this game title is one of the most beloved Kirby games of all time. In fact, my boyfriend Mark was so shocked that I hadn’t played before, he made me review it for you guys. (Which I have no problems with! It’s a Kirby game after all, it can’t be bad.) So this week, I’ll be telling you guys about my first time playing Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
To give those who have never played any sort of Kirby game a little background, Kirby is a lovable pink ball that floats around and sucks up enemies to copy their abilities. Usually he uses these abilities to beat baddies and bosses to beat the game. It’s an extremely simple concept, but that’s one of the reasons that Kirby is so popular. The controls are never complex, the stages are never overly difficult, and every level is always colorful and pleasing to see. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was released on the Nintendo 64 in North America June 26, 2000, and was later released as downloadable content for the Wii in 2008. The game was developed by HAL Laboratory, the same team that developed games such as Earthbound, SimCity, and Pokemon Snap.
So let’s start at the beginning of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. On a planet inhabited by fairies, a dark power called Dark Matter invades and begins to consume the planet. Before it was too late, a little fairy named Ribbon flew to where the planets sacred crystal was held, took it in her arms and began to fly through space with the treasure to protect it. Dark Matter chases her down, and ends up shattering the crystal into pieces that scatter throughout the galaxy. Ribbon then falls and lands on Kirby’s home planet, where she realizes that she only had one of the crystal shards on hand. Kirby, being the little hero he is, volunteers to help Ribbon recover the crystal shards and defeat Dark Matter to save her home planet. The story is very cute, and although the plot is predictable, what more could you expect from a Kirby game? The whole point of every Kirby game is to find the bad guys and save the day.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is a 2.5D platform game, meaning while the graphics are 3D, you can only side scroll. You have one button to jump (keep pressing it to float around), a button to suck in enemies, and a button to eject powers out of Kirby so that you may get a new ability. There’s something about this Kirby game that makes it very unique, and it makes me wonder why HAL Laboratory didn’t put this in any Kirby games released after Crystal Shards. Usually Kirby is only able to have one ability as a time, while in The Crystal Shards if you have an ability, eject it from yourself and then throw the power-up at a different enemy, those power-ups will combine, making tons of possible powers for the players to experience. I loved this about the game, since there we’re power-ups that you could combine that either made you a human firework, or turned you into a fridge so you can throw food at your enemies while picking up the food afterwards to heal. As for the rest of the game, it’s very straight forward. Get from start to finish, while trying to find the 3 crystal shards hidden in each level. The bosses are easy, but not so easy that you don’t have to put effort into the fight. The game is either loved or hated for how simple the game play actually is, but for a lot of people it’s a nostalgia bomb ready to go off as they play and remember playing as a kid. In fact, with how simple the game actually is to play, it’s extremely family friendly in that you don’t have to be younger or older to be good at it. Anyone can play without much frustration.
Another thing that I enjoyed about the game is the fact that there’s a mini-game mode where you can play with multiple players. There are 3 mini-games in total, and none of the games have more than 2 controls to memorize, making it easy to understand for those who don’t game very much or are younger. There are different characters to play from, and if you and another player want to play the same person, the game just turns one of the players a different color so that the two can tell the difference. Although the games are short and there are just a few of them available to play, they’re definitely worth checking out.
Overall, I enjoyed the game and I wish I had it when I was a kid. I feel like this is a great game for younger kids to play if they’re just starting to learn how to game, while it’s enjoyable to revisit if you’re an older gamer. This is a game I’d also show my parents and have them try out as well, since the controls aren’t hard to figure out and it’s easy to navigate through a game that only lets you move left and right. Looking back at Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, it makes me appreciate how far Kirby games have come and just how much they’ve grown. I still wish they’d bring back the option to fuse your abilities together especially with todays graphics and technology, but I guess that gives players more of a reason to revisit this old gem of a game.
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