Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (星のカービィ64 Hoshi no Kābī Rokujuyon, "Kirby of the Stars 64") is a Kirby platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the sequel to Kirby's Dream Land 3.
Although Kirby appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros., this is the only game in the Kirby series to be released on the Nintendo 64.
Kirby 64 is a 2.5D platform game, with gameplay similar to earlier Kirby titles, where the titular character Kirby has the ability to inhale enemies and objects and extract their abilities. Kirby travels across six planets, which consist of separate levels, and collect the scattered pieces of a Crystal, which is used to defeat the game's main villain, Dark Matter.
Ripple Star, a planet populated by fairies, is invaded and conquered by Dark Matter. Ribbon, one of the fairies, flees from home with their sacred treasure, the great Crystal. In their pursuit, three Dark Matter shatter the Crystal into pieces throughout the galaxy and Ribbon falls onto Pop Star. Ribbon, heartbroken to find she is left with only one of the shards, helps Kirby out of a predicament. Kirby then agrees to retrieving all the Crystal Shards and save Ripple Star from the Dark Matter's control.
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