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Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

|Japan, Brazil|Adventure, Platform

7.6 /10

Pretty good

Hot

122 ratings
Time to beat
Main
4h
Where to get it
Trailers & screenshots
Why play it

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is a 2000 Adventure, Platform game rated 7.6/10 from 122 ratings, with a main story of about 4h, available on Nintendo 64, Wii, Wii U.

Kirby's first 3-D adventure is also his Nintendo 64 debut, and it finds the always-versatile hero battling a new enemy called Dark Matter. Dark Matter is after a distant land's powerful crystal, but a young fairy named Ribbon attempts to save it by escaping with the gem to Dream Land. Now the crystal has been broken, and it's scattered around the world. Take control of Kirby and help him journey across six worlds, battling a wide variety of enemies and challenging bosses, as he tries to collect all 100 pieces of the shattered crystal.

Story and worldbuilding

On the planet of Ripple Star, lives a group of kind and peaceful fairies. The planet itself is protected from danger by the power of the great Crystal, which watches over Ripple Star. This power, however, draws the attention of Dark Matter, who wishes to use the great Crystal for its own evil agenda. Its gigantic mass attacks and searches for the Crystal, blackening the sky and sending the fairies into panic. In response to the threat Dark Matter presents, the queen of Ripple Star orders a fairy named Ribbon to take the Crystal to a safe place. Ribbon tries to fly away with the Crystal in tow, but is stopped by three orbs sent by Dark Matter. The Crystal shatters into 74 shards, scattered throughout several planets, and Ribbon crashes onto Planet Popstar. Kirby finds one shard and gives it to Ribbon, whereupon the two set out to find the others. Once Kirby and his friends collect every Crystal Shard and defeat Miracle Matter, Dark Matter flees Ripple Star and explodes. The victory is cut short, however, as the Crystal detects a powerful presence of Dark Matter energy within the Fairy Queen and expels it from her, manifesting over the planet to create Dark Star. Kirby and his friends infiltrate Dark Star, and King Dedede launches them up to challenge 02. Kirby and Ribbon, armed with their Shard Gun, destroyed 02 and the Dark Star.

Game highlights
Rating momentum

Pretty good: 7.6/10 across 122 ratings. Overall vibes are good; safe to add to your backlog.

Play style

Leans into Adventure, Platform, with a main story around 4h. Check if that style and time commitment fit you.

Reviews

1 media reviews

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Nintendo LifeThomas Jones · 20 May, 2022
8/10

In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, HAL Laboratory managed to keep the core structure of what many know and love from the Kirby series while polishing it up with a shiny, new 64-bit coat of paint for the new console generation. While the likes of Mario and Zelda have gone on to feature in numerous fully 3D adventures, Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Switch was his first 'proper' 3D outing. This first brush with the 3D visuals still stands as one of the more unique entries in the series, then, and it's as infectiously appealing as ever. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards isn't without its drawbacks, but is still impressively pleasurable to play to this day.

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