Virtual Console Review - Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

While Kirby has starred in a few Nintendo DS games as of late, not to mention his appearance in the Gamecube racing title Kirby Air Ride, it's been quite a while since the pink puff has graced us with his presence in a console-based platform game. In fact, his last turn in a true adventure-style title was way back in the Nintendo 64 days, in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. While Kirby fans continue to wait and hope for an upcoming Wii title starring everyone's favorite little pink walking vacuum cleaner, Nintendo has at least thrown us a bone by re-releasing The Crystal Shards as a Virtual Console download, and the game is as enjoyable as ever.

The once-peaceful fairy-inhabited planet of Ripple Star has been invaded by the sinister Dark Matter, and its precious guardian crystal has been shattered into fragments. It just so happens that one of the fairies and one of the crystal fragments have both wound up on Pop Star, Kirby's home planet. Being the cheerful, innocent, trusting and helpful sort, Kirby agrees to help the young fairy girl, whose name is Ribbon, retrieve the shards of the shattered crystal and stop Dark Matter. Along the ways, he must battle numerous foes, including eventual allies Waddle Dee, King Dedede and Adeline while all three are possessed by Dark Matter, and put his hunger powers to good use in order to save the day. There's no real writing to speak of in this game; nearly the entire story plays out via silent story sequences, which is especially good for younger gamers and not particularly bothersome for older ones as well. Assuming the developers intention was to go for cute, I'd say they definitely succeeded.

Kirby 64 is a side-scrolling adventure game with a generous portion of platforming thrown in for good measure. Most of the game is in 2D, though some of the boss fights take place in 3D. The controls are pretty simple, and gamers can opt to use either the Classic Controller or the Gamecube one to play the game. The control stick is used to move, one button is used to suck up enemies, another to jump and another to pop out an item or enemy you've already sucked up in order to throw it at another creature. Pushing down on the stick also causes you to swallow whatever you've inhaled. Nothing new there, since Kirby has always been able to suck up items to gain powers, but this title marked the first time he could combine two different types to create different effects. For example, combining fire and boomerang gets you a fire sword, mixing two rock powers turns you into a giant stone lumbering Kirby, while bomb and rock creates dynamite and ice and electricity turn you into a fridge, which can be used both as a weapon and to create healing food items. You'll need these powers to find all of the hidden crystal shards, which is the only way to gain access to the game's final level and the true final boss fight.