Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

"Kirb your enthusiasm."

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards generated something of a mixed reaction from me. I love Kirby. I liked just about every game he stars in (that I've played, that is) from the original Kirby's Dream Land to the far more recent Kirby: Canvas Curse for Nintendo DS. And there were some great ideas piled up into one for this good (not great) Nintendo 64 adaptation. But in the end I can only say that, while I liked the game, it felt a little too… familiar. That shouldn't be true at all – considering that the N64 was Nintendo's first fully 3D-compatible console, this was Kirby's first chance to enter the realm of 3D (outside of Super Smash Bros., which doesn't count because that was a collection of Nintendo franchises). When you keep that in mind, Kirby 64 could have been so much more. In fact, when I first heard about this title, I thought we would experience a Super Mario 64-esque revolution of the franchise. Instead, we got a beefed-up SNES platformer with very few new additions.

Normally at this point in a review, I would describe in detail the plot of the game I'm talking about and discuss its relevance to the game. Here, I can't really do that, since the plot of this game is indiscernible to some extent. The game has fully-rendered cutscenes, but no dialog or wording to go along with them. So, you'll see what's going on, but you won't fully understand what you're seeing. That said, it's pretty simple. It has to do with some heart-shaped planet getting overrun by a seemingly sticking black substance – I believe it's creatively called Dark Matter but I may be wrong. Obviously, Kirby's got to save the day by rounding up – you guessed it – the Crystal Shards. And to do this he's got to gather an assortment of friends (including long-time enemies King Dedede and Waddle Dee) to help him. These friends, despite having mouths, refuse to talk and instead we must decipher what they're saying by various hand signals and motion. It's not too hard, but it limits the story. Hey, this is a Kirby game, what do you expect?

Right from the get-go I was disappointed. Instead of opting for a sort of free-roaming setup with levels that can be explored to your heart's content (like the aforementioned Mario 64), Nintendo and HAL decided to simply stick to Kirby's root and stay with a side-scrolling environment. You're not free to go wherever you want to go. Instead, like all 2D platformers, you're directed along a single, linear path that takes you through a set of platforming challenges while always keeping the camera at your side. Essentially, the only difference from a straight glance between this game and Kirby's previous platformers is the fact that it's now being played in a fully 3D, fully rendered environment. The analog stick isn't even used – instead, you're limited to the d-pad. The path doesn't always go in a straight line, and often times you'll find yourself walking in half-circles or spirals, causing the camera to spin around and give you a good look at the environment. And while that's nice, I couldn't help but wish for a bit more.

But then again, if you've been a fan of Kirby's adventures on GB and SNES (I know I was), then you may find a lot to love here. It's still really the same thing – Kirby travels across a set of cutesy worlds and faces off against an enormous array of cutesy enemies, most of which can be inhaled and then spat back out at other enemies using Kirby's trademark suck/spit ability. Drawing from some of Kirby's more recent adventures, the little pink puffball now has the ability to copy certain enemy attacks and use them to his advantage. Only some enemies actually have attacks that can be copied, and it's only a set of, say, eight or nine special moves – things like fire, ice, stone, needle, cutter, etc. With Kirby 64, though, there's a catch, and that is that two abilities can now be combined into one. Upon swallowing an enemy and gaining an ability, the icon for that ability will appear at the bottom of the screen. However, if you manage to kill another copy-able enemy, you can combine the ability you currently have with the one they left behind.

This opens up for an amazing number of combinations. Aside from simply combining two of the same ability to create a more powerful version of that power (for example, two bombs makes a missile, and two cutters makes an enormous boomerang), you can combine two completely different abilities to put into play an amazing new one. You can go seriously crazy with this new mechanic. For example, if you combine ice and electricity, Kirby can turn into a refrigerator and toss food at enemies – not necessarily extremely practical, but a hell of a lot of fun. Mixing cutter and needle together turns Kirby into an oversized jaw that chomps down on enemies. And if you put stone and bomb together, you can drop a powerful stick of dynamite, and then protect yourself with a hard hat! On the other hand, I can definitely tell that the developers were starting to run out of ideas here in some cases, as some of the combined abilities are kind of lame. There's the flaming ice cube, as well as an ability that makes Kirby rub his head until he light himself on fire, then runs around like a maniac. Still, lots of originality where it counts.

The problem is that the levels themselves are extremely simplistic and linear despite the fact that they're now featured in 3D. It's just that they very rarely have any depth to them – they usually feel very flat and uninspired, and really just a matter of that “walk forward until you come to a jump or enemy, deal with it accordingly, then move on” design. The game isn't terribly difficult (in fact, for the majority of the time it's downright easy), and there really aren't many moments when I was truly stumped or stuck. Thankfully, the developers hid “Crystal Shards” throughout the levels, which are sometimes very cleverly hidden and add an extra layer to the design. Often times, you'll have to take advantage of a special combination of abilities, either to break a barrier or complete some sort of challenge. For instance, if you see a wall that's brown-and-yellow striped, it means you'll got to combine stone and electricity to create an electrified rock, and break through to get the Crystal Shard underneath. This also creates some of the game's most memorable moments, including a favorite of mine in which you must create a rare combination of stone and cutter to turn into a statue of a hamster and use timed button taps to climb an enormous wall and get the Shard at the top.

On the other hand, in those moments when you're not searching for Crystal Shards, Kirby 64 is actually somewhat simple and even a little boring. Levels seem to usually consist of a straight path that offers enemies to battle and a few platforms to jump – nothing terribly exciting. Other than said side quests, there are really no moments in the game when you'll be asked to put your abilities to practical use other than to explore new ways to brutally slaughter enemies – and even then, most enemies you'll encounter die in one hit so it's not like you can really go wild and crazy with your powers. Kirby, as was the case with his previous games, can float in the air to overcome large jumps and gaps. However, unlike his Dream Land self, he can't stay afloat forever. He controls a bit like he did in Super Smash Bros., as the player must repeatedly tap the jump button to keep him in the air until he simply runs out of breath. Thankfully this ability doesn't make the game any easier than it already is, but one must wonder if that's even possible – there's not even a difficulty setting, so you're stuck with super-freaking-easy.

The boss battles also sort of left me with a sort of emptiness on the inside. It's not that they're bad, they're just pretty uninspired and really fail to put to use the game's limited brilliance. Bosses each have their own special levels, and like all bosses you've simply got to pound them with attacks over and over until their health has reached zero. While this could have opened up for some really great occurrences in which you could copy enemies' abilities and test them out on bosses to see which ones are most effective (or possibly to work for a single combination that you must acquire), the battles aren't set up like that. Instead, you're simply given a small item or enemy (that doesn't have a power to copy) that you can suck up and spit at the boss when they've exposed their weak point. It's a repetitive matter of memorizing attack patterns, dodging attacks, then going in for the kill, and while it works, I once again felt that the developers just underutilized the game's potential.

At least they included some interesting extras and mini-games for those who enjoy Kirby 64. If you manage to find and collect all of the Crystal Shards by the final level, you'll unlock an uber-ending and an ultra cool final final boss battle. And every level ends in a prize-collecting mini-game that gives you the opportunity to score Enemy Info Cards – neat little doodads that list information for every enemy in the game and are perfect for collection freaks like me (and yes, I found all of the Gold Skulltulas in Ocarina of Time, thank you very much). The most interesting optional addition, however, is the set of three four-player mini-games that can be played with friends or computer opponents. While two of the mini-games are simple and get old kind of quickly, me and my friends really got hooked on Checkerboard Chase, an intense battle game in which you must collapse rows of block to knock your opponents off of the arena.

And Kirby 64 is, artistically, and very well produced game. The graphics, while not mind-blowing, are some of the most colorful and vibrant that I've seen on N64. Again, the graphics are not exactly the most technologically advanced, but the art direction and style have that distinct look that all Kirby games have, and the animation is terrific. I also loved the music – I've thought that Kirby tunes have always been genuinely catchy in their own sadistic and kiddy way and this is no exception. And in the end, all of these things add up to what seems like an authentic Kirby experience. That's because it is authentic – maybe a little too authentic, in fact. But this is the N64 era we're talking about, and I just think that this game had so much potential that's dragged down by one simple fact – Kirby 64 is a side-scroller. And because this game doesn't feel like it belongs in the generation it does, it relies on the few innovations it has to save it from being merely average.

Pros

+ It's Kirby's first 3D adventure!
+ Combining two powers into one and experimenting is awesome.
+ Lots of trademark Kirby charm in visuals and experience.
+ Searching for Crystal Shards makes for some great moments.
+ Lots of extras and a few addictive mini-games.
+ Great music.

Cons

- Completely pointless, incoherent story…
- …With no dialog to keep it together.
- A side-scroller? In a 3D game world? Why?
- Straightforward and sometimes boring level structure.
- Unoriginal boss battles.

Overall: 6/10

Don't get me wrong – I like Kirby games and I liked this. And I can easily find myself recommending Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards to any and all fans of the little pink puffball. It's just that personally, I feel let down, that somehow this game could have turned itself around and become something much more. If the developers had created a fully 3D, fully free-roaming platformer design (similar to Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie), not only could the game have been much better and more original, it also would have fit in with the list of current titles, and thus it would have stood out more. And Kirby 64 is a good, above-average game, and with a lengthy adventure filled with secrets and extras, it's unlikely that you'll quickly get bored. But as is, I can't see myself placing Kirby 64 among the N64 best of the best, and therefore it simply gets a mild thumbs-up from me.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/25/05