Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Help the pink puffball save the day! Inhale enemies, discover insane Power Combos, and explore eye-popping environments crawling with secrets.

Some call him a puffball, some call him a marshmallow, but most people prefer to simply call him Kirby. Kirby first entered the third dimension in Super Smash Bros., and he's starring in his very own adventure on Nintendo 64!If you check out the super-stylized screen shots for this game, you'll notice that Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is awash in the cheerful colors beloved of school lunch-box designers from Sapporo to Kyoto. The backstory scores high on the cute-o-meter, too, with Kirby and friends valiantly fighting to save the peaceful fairy folk of Ripple Star from the marauding Dark Matter. Fans of Super Mario RPG will recognize similar plot elements from that Super NES classic, as Kirby and friends must round up six pieces of a shattered magical crystal in order to set things right.The story is secondary to one of the most memorable video-game characters to grace any platform. As in earlier Game Boy and Super NES (Kirby's Dream Land 3) incarnations, Kirby has the amazing power to inhale enemies, acquire their attacks, then unleash them in brilliant new ways.For example, after inhaling a fiery enemy, Kirby can make a red-hot run through the opposition. After inhaling a rock enemy, Kirby can don a stony shield and bowl over the competition. Swallowing two similar enemies ratchets up Kirby's power even more. A big part of the fun in Kirby 64 is experimenting with different Power Combo mixtures to find all of Kirby's special powers. In all, Kirby can use nearly 30 different combinations to take out foes and avoid the many obstacles in its path.Kirby 64 is primarily a 2-½D platformer, with Kirby following a track left, right, up and down through picture-perfect landscapes strongly reminiscent of Yoshi's Story. Besides permitting gorgeous graphics, the 2-½D approach allows developer HAL Laboratories (Pokémon Stadium) to concentrate on the play control, which brilliantly conveys the feeling of Kirby flying, floating, rolling and swimming.Kirby 64 is primarily a one-player adventure, but three minigames allow as many as four players to mix it up. Kirby 64 is the perfect game for beginning players, and even expert adventurers can find a challenge by trying to find 100% of the hidden Shards.Even though we may never figure out exactly what Kirby is made out of, there's no doubt that Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards delivers some serious fun.

Source:

www.nintendo.com

Dart past enemies, soar the skies and swim the depths of the ocean as Kirby takes on Dark Matter in an all-new adventure. Inhale, exhale and swallow your enemies, then copy and combine their abilities and use them as your own! Team up with familiar friends and foes - like Waddle Dee and King Dedede - as you travel through dreamy worlds in search of the lost Crystal Shards. * Steal, copy and combine abilities - Steal enemy weapons, copy enemy abilities, then mix and match for dozens of new special attacks, ranging from a lightning-charged boulder to a refrigerated barrage of lethal leftovers! * Venture beyond Dream Land to six different planets featuring everything from a barren lava landscape to a futuristic candy factory! Platform action lovers are in for a real treat! * Blast, bash, and dash through three bonus multiplayer games - Uncover mini-games like 100-Yard Hop and Bumper Crop Bump for fun-filled four-player action!

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Back of Box - N64 (AUS)

Venture beyond Dream Land, and stop the power-hungry Dark Matter.

Kirby™ stars in his first 3D adventure, which is also his Nintendo 64™ debut. This game 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. Along the way, you'll use Kirby's trademark Copy Ability to use enemies' strengths against them. Not only that, but try combining any two abilities to create a brand-new one that is usually stronger than the original. Throw in three exciting multiplayer minigames, and you've got a package of which even King Dedede would be proud. Fans of Kirby and action games with bright, colorful graphics should vacuum this one up.

Source:

www.nintendo.com - Wii U (US)