I was really stressing out about my driving test yesterday, so I decided to boot up an old favorite to help take my mind off of it. It's been a few years since I've played Kirby 64, but I played it a TON when I was little, and I remember it very fondly~. Part of my love for it is certainly down to nostalgia, but I think it still holds up really well among the increasingly large pantheon of Kirby games. I got all the shards to get the real final boss, and it took me around 5 or 6 hours. I played through the Japanese version, but aside from some very small cosmetic differences, it's identical to its international counterparts.
An evil darkness has attacked a planet of fairies and shattered their giant crystal. One of the fairies, Ribbon, takes a larger crystal shard and is flung to the far off planet of Pop Star where she plummets onto Kirby's head. Kirby quickly agrees to help his new friend and they team up with Waddle Dee, Adeleine the painter, and King Dedede to save the solar system from these evil black blobs. As in the manner of Kirby games before it, the story is told with no words through brief cutscenes that play between worlds. Your friends largely play cosmetic roles, but they occasionally hop in to aid Kirby and add a special section to the gameplay. Waddle Dee provides vehicles for minecart sections (like DKC but nowhere near as brutal), you can hop on Dedede's back for hammer swinging action, and you'll sometimes pass Adeleine and she'll paint a powerup (health or a 1up) that will come to life to aid you.
The gameplay otherwise is fairly standard Kirby with some new twists. 22 stages across 6 worlds with 7 boss fights, it's not a super long game, but it's definitely longer if you're going to try and find all the crystal shards to fight the real final boss. There are 3 hidden within each non-boss stage, and they're either a reward for beating a mini-boss, a reward for completing a simple puzzle, hidden in the stage, or hidden behind a colored bit of level that you need a special power or power combo to break.
Kirby's animal friends may be gone from the Kirby's Dream Land games, but the main gimmick for this Kirby game is that you can combine powers. You have many mainstays of Kirby, cutter, rock, fire, but you can combine them with themselves or one another to make all new powers! Combining powers just to see what they'll be is still something that makes me smile all these years later. You can either combine a power with another of itself for an upgrade of that power (cutter + cutter = BIG cutter blade) or combine them with other powers for all new stuff (cutter + electric = double-bladed lightsaber, one of my personal favorites X3). This does however mean that most of the powers are just "press B to make power", and most powers have virtually no directional inputs to change how they work (like how powers worked in Kirby Super Star).
The presentation is colorful, happy, and very Kirby. Cute enemies, cute powers, cute allies, it's nothing out of the ordinary for Kirby of this era. The music is fantastic though. This is easily one of the best soundtracks on the N64 in my book.
The only real negatives I can say about it, other than that the solutions and locations for some of the shards can be a bit obtuse at times, is the lack of any co-op. The co-op in Kirby Super Star is one of the reasons I adore that game as much as I do, and the lack of it here is very unfortunate. There are some multiplayer competitive mini-games you can play from the game's main screen, which are all games I've had good fun with friends with in the past, but it's hardly a replacement for Super Star-style co-op play. The game is also harder than I remembered it was. Newer Kirby games are certainly quite easy, but a lack of tons of healing items in later stages as well as the use of the Kirby's Dream Land 6-hit health bar system means you can't just barrel through a level and probably be okay. You do have to try at least a little XP
Verdict: Highly Recommended. One of my favorite Kirby games and always will be. The power combo gimmick is a really strong one that I really wish newer Kirby games had at least tried to experiment with a bit more. Given that this is on the Wii Kirby Anniversary Collection, I'm not sure the game is worth hunting down on its own if you're gonna pay a big bundle for it, but if you're fixin' for Kirby and want a good one, it's hard to find much better Kirby than this UwU
An evil darkness has attacked a planet of fairies and shattered their giant crystal. One of the fairies, Ribbon, takes a larger crystal shard and is flung to the far off planet of Pop Star where she plummets onto Kirby's head. Kirby quickly agrees to help his new friend and they team up with Waddle Dee, Adeleine the painter, and King Dedede to save the solar system from these evil black blobs. As in the manner of Kirby games before it, the story is told with no words through brief cutscenes that play between worlds. Your friends largely play cosmetic roles, but they occasionally hop in to aid Kirby and add a special section to the gameplay. Waddle Dee provides vehicles for minecart sections (like DKC but nowhere near as brutal), you can hop on Dedede's back for hammer swinging action, and you'll sometimes pass Adeleine and she'll paint a powerup (health or a 1up) that will come to life to aid you.
The gameplay otherwise is fairly standard Kirby with some new twists. 22 stages across 6 worlds with 7 boss fights, it's not a super long game, but it's definitely longer if you're going to try and find all the crystal shards to fight the real final boss. There are 3 hidden within each non-boss stage, and they're either a reward for beating a mini-boss, a reward for completing a simple puzzle, hidden in the stage, or hidden behind a colored bit of level that you need a special power or power combo to break.
Kirby's animal friends may be gone from the Kirby's Dream Land games, but the main gimmick for this Kirby game is that you can combine powers. You have many mainstays of Kirby, cutter, rock, fire, but you can combine them with themselves or one another to make all new powers! Combining powers just to see what they'll be is still something that makes me smile all these years later. You can either combine a power with another of itself for an upgrade of that power (cutter + cutter = BIG cutter blade) or combine them with other powers for all new stuff (cutter + electric = double-bladed lightsaber, one of my personal favorites X3). This does however mean that most of the powers are just "press B to make power", and most powers have virtually no directional inputs to change how they work (like how powers worked in Kirby Super Star).
The presentation is colorful, happy, and very Kirby. Cute enemies, cute powers, cute allies, it's nothing out of the ordinary for Kirby of this era. The music is fantastic though. This is easily one of the best soundtracks on the N64 in my book.
The only real negatives I can say about it, other than that the solutions and locations for some of the shards can be a bit obtuse at times, is the lack of any co-op. The co-op in Kirby Super Star is one of the reasons I adore that game as much as I do, and the lack of it here is very unfortunate. There are some multiplayer competitive mini-games you can play from the game's main screen, which are all games I've had good fun with friends with in the past, but it's hardly a replacement for Super Star-style co-op play. The game is also harder than I remembered it was. Newer Kirby games are certainly quite easy, but a lack of tons of healing items in later stages as well as the use of the Kirby's Dream Land 6-hit health bar system means you can't just barrel through a level and probably be okay. You do have to try at least a little XP
Verdict: Highly Recommended. One of my favorite Kirby games and always will be. The power combo gimmick is a really strong one that I really wish newer Kirby games had at least tried to experiment with a bit more. Given that this is on the Wii Kirby Anniversary Collection, I'm not sure the game is worth hunting down on its own if you're gonna pay a big bundle for it, but if you're fixin' for Kirby and want a good one, it's hard to find much better Kirby than this UwU
The shift from 2D to 3D games was the biggest change the video games industry has ever seen (and possibly will ever see). Decades of established design needed to be rethought. It's not surprising this era brought with it major changes to the players in the industry: The birth of Sony and the death of Sega can at least partially be attributed to the PS1's strong lineup of early 3D classics, and Sega's haphazard translation of Sonic to 3D.
The point is, a huge part of why Nintendo maintained their presence in the industry is because of just how good Nintendo's early 3D titles were. Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time are more than just great games--they are so good, they made the transition to 3D look effortless.
This is why Kirby 64 is so fascinating. Kirby 64 is the only example of Nintendo seriously dropping the ball on the shift to 3D. Kirby 64 is more than just a mediocre game for the Nintendo 64. It gives us a view into an alternate timeline, one where Nintendo fumbled the transition to 3D games, and maybe even went the way of Sega.
It's especially surprising Kirby 64 is such a flop because... well... the game is hardly 3D. Kirby 64 is a 2.5D platformer. The game is rendered in full 3D, but the player's movement is restricted to a 2D axis. This ends up being the worst of both worlds. Kirby 64 gains almost nothing by presenting the player a 3D view. But, since rendering 3D environments is so graphically intensive, the dense levels of Kirby Superstar are not technically possible. The result is that Kirby 64's levels are barren wastelands compared to older Kirby games.
The combo transformations are actually a great concept. Kirby 64 has 35 different copy abilities, still the largest pool of any Kirby game to date. These are really fun to discover and experiment with: the resulting combination is always surprising, yet still makes perfect sense considering the reagents. Spark + Ice turning Kirby into a fridge is particularly memorable. Honestly, its amazing the execution of this concept is so strong, considering the rest of the game is such a slog.
This said, the level design seriously drops the ball on this concept. A great example of emergent design is the lightbulb power (bomb + spark) which can light up dark rooms. This is how Kirby 64's puzzles should have worked. Instead, most of the actual use of these copy abilities stems from colored blocks that require specific abilities to break. Not only is this a glorified lock-and-key, but it is completely impossible to know what power will be needed until the player reaches the block and it is already too late. This means that, if you want to actually collect the titular Crystal Shards, you're forced to play every stage twice. The stages usually aren't even fun the first time.
Anyway, Kirby 64 isn't all bad, but it seems to misunderstand what makes a 3D game great, and what makes a Kirby game great. In short, Kirby 64 isn't a horrible game, but it is no surprise Nintendo would wait another 20 odd years before attempting another 3D Kirby.
The point is, a huge part of why Nintendo maintained their presence in the industry is because of just how good Nintendo's early 3D titles were. Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time are more than just great games--they are so good, they made the transition to 3D look effortless.
This is why Kirby 64 is so fascinating. Kirby 64 is the only example of Nintendo seriously dropping the ball on the shift to 3D. Kirby 64 is more than just a mediocre game for the Nintendo 64. It gives us a view into an alternate timeline, one where Nintendo fumbled the transition to 3D games, and maybe even went the way of Sega.
It's especially surprising Kirby 64 is such a flop because... well... the game is hardly 3D. Kirby 64 is a 2.5D platformer. The game is rendered in full 3D, but the player's movement is restricted to a 2D axis. This ends up being the worst of both worlds. Kirby 64 gains almost nothing by presenting the player a 3D view. But, since rendering 3D environments is so graphically intensive, the dense levels of Kirby Superstar are not technically possible. The result is that Kirby 64's levels are barren wastelands compared to older Kirby games.
The combo transformations are actually a great concept. Kirby 64 has 35 different copy abilities, still the largest pool of any Kirby game to date. These are really fun to discover and experiment with: the resulting combination is always surprising, yet still makes perfect sense considering the reagents. Spark + Ice turning Kirby into a fridge is particularly memorable. Honestly, its amazing the execution of this concept is so strong, considering the rest of the game is such a slog.
This said, the level design seriously drops the ball on this concept. A great example of emergent design is the lightbulb power (bomb + spark) which can light up dark rooms. This is how Kirby 64's puzzles should have worked. Instead, most of the actual use of these copy abilities stems from colored blocks that require specific abilities to break. Not only is this a glorified lock-and-key, but it is completely impossible to know what power will be needed until the player reaches the block and it is already too late. This means that, if you want to actually collect the titular Crystal Shards, you're forced to play every stage twice. The stages usually aren't even fun the first time.
Anyway, Kirby 64 isn't all bad, but it seems to misunderstand what makes a 3D game great, and what makes a Kirby game great. In short, Kirby 64 isn't a horrible game, but it is no surprise Nintendo would wait another 20 odd years before attempting another 3D Kirby.
NOTA: 6,75
Sendo o primeiro game com visuais 3D e uma gameplay 2.5D Kirby 64 é um game bem divertido, com uma proposta um pouco fora do habitual, o game introduz a mistura dos powerups. Com os designs dos levels bem feitos e diferentes cenários, gostei também de como o jogo esconde alguns dos seus coletaveis pelas fases e achei as boss fights um tanto quanto criativas e desafiadoras.
Se por um lado me surpreendi com os mix de power ups ( achei muito legal principalmente os misseis e a espada de choque ou fogo) por outro lado não pareceu que essa mecânica agradou de maneira geral, já que se não estou enganado, ela jamais foi mantida.
Sem dúvidas o principal ponto para se criticar aqui tambem acaba sendo a jogabilidade, para hoje é um pouco datada, a movimentação do Kirby é bem pesada, além disso o jogo não varia tanto os inimigos e nem as soundtracks das fases, os boss de meio de fase também não brilham e acho que o game poderia ter levels com mais eventos repentinos e trechos em conjunto com o restante do grupo.
Finalmente, o verdadeiro boss final definitivo apesar de variar a gameplay, é bem simples em relação ao outro boss final caso não se pegue todos os cristais.
Concluindo, Kirby 64 de fato tem o carisma da franquia, embora não tão detalhado e nem incrível como um mario 64 ou zelda OOT, achei bem divertido e desafiador pela jogabilidade mais pausada, para fãs da franquia, recomendo dar uma chance ainda mais pela surpresa ao se deparar com diferentes power ups misturados do Kirby.
Sendo o primeiro game com visuais 3D e uma gameplay 2.5D Kirby 64 é um game bem divertido, com uma proposta um pouco fora do habitual, o game introduz a mistura dos powerups. Com os designs dos levels bem feitos e diferentes cenários, gostei também de como o jogo esconde alguns dos seus coletaveis pelas fases e achei as boss fights um tanto quanto criativas e desafiadoras.
Se por um lado me surpreendi com os mix de power ups ( achei muito legal principalmente os misseis e a espada de choque ou fogo) por outro lado não pareceu que essa mecânica agradou de maneira geral, já que se não estou enganado, ela jamais foi mantida.
Sem dúvidas o principal ponto para se criticar aqui tambem acaba sendo a jogabilidade, para hoje é um pouco datada, a movimentação do Kirby é bem pesada, além disso o jogo não varia tanto os inimigos e nem as soundtracks das fases, os boss de meio de fase também não brilham e acho que o game poderia ter levels com mais eventos repentinos e trechos em conjunto com o restante do grupo.
Finalmente, o verdadeiro boss final definitivo apesar de variar a gameplay, é bem simples em relação ao outro boss final caso não se pegue todos os cristais.
Concluindo, Kirby 64 de fato tem o carisma da franquia, embora não tão detalhado e nem incrível como um mario 64 ou zelda OOT, achei bem divertido e desafiador pela jogabilidade mais pausada, para fãs da franquia, recomendo dar uma chance ainda mais pela surpresa ao se deparar com diferentes power ups misturados do Kirby.
A game that I think is underappreciated. The levels and bosses aren't all there and collecting the crystal shards to get the true ending is a real pain in the ass, but the charm and the novelty of the combo abilities makes it a blast to play.
I feel like locking some of the crystal shards behind specific ability combos was a bit frustrating since it meant I had to either replay levels or go to other levels to find the abilities and then get back to the level I'm actually on.
Otherwise yea it alright!
The music is still fantastic tho btw
Otherwise yea it alright!
The music is still fantastic tho btw
kind of a pain to control but very fun regardless, final boss is raw as fuck for no reason
Another game from my childhood that sticks really well and has aged really good too.
Very fun levels, combining abilities is so fun, bosses are great.
The 3D models still look very charming to this day.
Very fun levels, combining abilities is so fun, bosses are great.
The 3D models still look very charming to this day.
copy fusion is cool and all but this games kinda wack
The fusion stuff is so cool man
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)
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)
Esse aqui é Goat, não sei porquê ninguém fala dessa jóia do 64
Would be a really fun game if everything just moved like 50% faster. Nonetheless, incredibly charming and cute with fantastic visuals.
i just really really like this game...i really like when kirby and waddle dee do their special handshake to show that they're best buds.
Very loveley and cute game, the music is really good and I love all the characters. I'd say its one of the more cozier kirby games from the series. Nostalgia hard carrying this game for me but its still so good.
Esse jogo consegue me deixar nostálgico mesmo tendo jogado pela primeira vez agora. Divertido e com uma estética bem vibrante e única, me lembra chiclete. Tem poucos elementos, mas o fato de conseguir fundi-los torna a gameplay bem criativa e diversificada.
Played on Kirby's Dream Collection, and did the following: achieved 100% completion on my save file, got 1st place on each minigame on the hardest difficulty, and collected every Enemy Info Card. I did not finish Boss Endurance.
you take one power, combine it with another, now you got a combo power. incredible settings and level design, cute little art style and soundtrack. one of the more challenging Kirby games if you wanna call it that (still not hard). very underrated game
It's alright. A proper conclusion to the "Dark Matter trilogy", I suppose. Only annoyance was discovering how not obvious some crystal shards were with specific Kirby fusion copy-abilities (which btw is one of the most awesome mechanics that hardly will ever return).
Weirdly beautiful game, love the visuals and soundtrack.
Playing this entire game through tear welled eyes knowing I can never feel the joy Kirby does in just his walk cycle alone.
I really don't care about the slow gameplay when the visuals and soundtrack are THIS good.
Great game! I loved it as a kid and playing through it again was so much fun. Got 100% shards for the first time, all this time I never realized there was another biblical angel looking boss after the supposed final boss. I love finding new things to love in my favorite childhood games. The Refrigerator is my favorite fusion copy ability.
QUE JOGO DIVERTIDO! A ideia de misturar poderes pra criar novas habilidades é genial e extremamente criativa, é um poder mais legal de usar do que o outro. Cada fase do jogo demonstra desafios diferentes na Gameplay pra conseguir experimentar todo tipo de combinação possível nos poderes. Mesmo sendo bem fácil e simples, ainda consegue ser absurdamente viciante e gostoso demais de jogar, foi maravilhoso explorar cada coisa que essa bolinha cor de rosa e fofa era capaz de fazer.
O real problema desse aqui é o mesmo dos Dream Land: Não apresenta nenhum desafio. Acredito q eu poderia ter terminado esse jogo usando apenas um poder o jogo inteiro.
Mas o level design é bem interessante, a nova mecânica de combinação de poder é bem legal, e se vc se instigar a aproveitar o que o jogo oferece, ignorando a falta de desafio, vc encontra um bom jogo.
Mas o level design é bem interessante, a nova mecânica de combinação de poder é bem legal, e se vc se instigar a aproveitar o que o jogo oferece, ignorando a falta de desafio, vc encontra um bom jogo.
I sure love getting Fire + Bomb and then sprinting through the entire game, only to have to backtrack every single level just so I can get the shards for the not bad ending
So playable, so adorable, so simple.
Punishing af, especially for the specific ability crystal shards.
A really unique Kirby game, i should comeback to it to fully beat it
lindo, maravilhoso e tudo de bom.
genuinamente um dos jogos mais bonitos do Nintendo 64, com modelos muito expressivos e bem animadinhos. o Kirby em si controla melhor do q em Dream Land 3, voltando a ter mais mobilidade e velocidade. apesar disso, é meio q bem mais difícil do q a maioria dos jogos anteriores, com pequenas mudanças de gameplay q tornam o platforming mais desafiador. no geral gostei dessa mudança, apesar de alguns chefes serem meio frustrantes. a combinação de habilidades é uma novidade até q interessante, mas meio q esqueci q isso isso era uma coisa pela maior parte do jogo.
um dos melhores trabalhos de Jun Ishikawa e Hirokazu Ando na série tbm. acho q é a minha trilha sonora favorita do Kirby até o momento. e um dos meus jogos favoritos do Kirby até o momento. curtinho e muito doce.
genuinamente um dos jogos mais bonitos do Nintendo 64, com modelos muito expressivos e bem animadinhos. o Kirby em si controla melhor do q em Dream Land 3, voltando a ter mais mobilidade e velocidade. apesar disso, é meio q bem mais difícil do q a maioria dos jogos anteriores, com pequenas mudanças de gameplay q tornam o platforming mais desafiador. no geral gostei dessa mudança, apesar de alguns chefes serem meio frustrantes. a combinação de habilidades é uma novidade até q interessante, mas meio q esqueci q isso isso era uma coisa pela maior parte do jogo.
um dos melhores trabalhos de Jun Ishikawa e Hirokazu Ando na série tbm. acho q é a minha trilha sonora favorita do Kirby até o momento. e um dos meus jogos favoritos do Kirby até o momento. curtinho e muito doce.
Nostalgia personified. All it takes is to hear a single note of any song from this game's soundtrack and I'm instantly six years old again, in my friend's game room and spending what seemed like an eternity enraptured by N64 goodness. I want to go back, bros.