Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards: Part 1: Pop Star 1 (All 3 Shards)
12After Kirby made his Nintendo 64 debut through the original Super Smash Bros., it was decided that Hal Labs took the next step and give him a proper title game on this console.
A very cute game with some of the most enchanting songs ever made for a Kirby game, but this also means there's a nightmarish undertone that the Super Tuff Pink Puff will have to defeat, again.
This game is the third and final story of Shinichi Shimomura's "Dark Matter Trilogy", which also includes Kirby's Dream Land 2 & 3 (but not 1). Just as well, Kirby's creator, Masahiro Sakurai, actually had very little involvement in this game compared to his involvement with Smash 64.
Keep all of this in mind when comparing this game to others such as Kirby Super Star.
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So here's how the game's story starts:
On the planet of Ripple star, a planet full of happy little fairies, Dark Matter suddenly appeared once more, despite the fall of his master in the past. Through his powers of terrifying darkness, a black cloud flooded the entirety of Ripple Star in an instant.
In a last-ditch effort to protect her mystical Crystal from this horrible threat, the great Fairy Queen ordered one of her best subordinates, Ribbon, to take the Crystal with her into deep space and hide with it against the darkness, even if it meant sacrificing herself and everyone else to be consumed by Dark Matter.
However, Dark Matter saw Ribbon escape with the Crystal and chased after her through the cosmos. Through this conflict, Dark Matter shattered the Crystal into many MANY Shards.
As for Ribbon, she ended up crash landing on a very familiar star-shaped planet...
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First off, to make Kirby say "Hi!" at the title screen, hold L, R, Z, and then press Start. Select a file to use, and then start your new adventure!
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On Planet Pop Star, Kirby was enjoying the shooting stars of the night. That is until that little fairy Ribbon crash landed right on his head.
The poor fairy only had but little Shard of the Crystal she used to escape from her conquered homeland, but then Kirby also picked up a Shard of his own, and then the two combined it into one.
Ribbon, realizing how friendly Kirby is, decided that the two should go on a grand adventure together to regather all of the missing Crystal Shard and resemble them. They could possibly even work together to defeat the darkness that plagued Ribbon's planet, let alone Kirby's in the past.
And so started a new dimensional journey of teamwork, love and friendship!
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This is Kirby's first platformer with full-3D graphics. However, the gameplay is still limited to 2D movement, so its more like a 2.5D platformer.
Kirby can still slide and shoot air puffs as basic attacks. His floating in this game has been nerfed as he can only puff himself up like a balloon for just a few seconds before he has to breathe out.
His Inhale and Copy Ability technique is back. He still has no hats with it just like in Dream Land 2 & 3, and he has a much smaller range of abilities he can copy.
HOWEVER, the biggest deal with this game is that he can Mix any combination of his powers into stronger ones. For some examples.
Fire + Cutter = Big Fire Sword!
Bomb + Bomb = Missiles!
You can mix two different powers, or mix two of the same!
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You go from Point A to Point B to beat each level, but you also have to keep an eye on the Crystal Shards that Ribbon is looking for.
Some of these are picked up along the way, others from beating bosses, and others still locked in specifically-colored seals, cages, and walls.
Do know how to break these things, pay attention to their color(s). There's a Shard hidden in this level that's blocked off by a black clog, which means you need to use the Bomb ability (which is a black bomb icon) to bust open the clog.
That said, some of these locks may only be broken by a certain Ability Combo, if it has two colors instead of one.
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To finish off this level, we see that a Waddle Dee was one of Dark Matter's victims.
When Kirby & Ribbon get up to it, it has turned into a hostile Waddle DOO!
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After this Waddle Doo is beaten, he changes back to a Waddle Dee.
Noticing that the pink puffball and the pink-haired fairy saved his life, the Waddle Dee decided to tag along with them on their adventure to collect The Crystal Shards and once again defeat Dark Matter.
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The very end of each level, Kirby goes through a picnic hop. Aim where he will jump and then focus on how far he will jump. Have him land on Food, Maxim Tomatoes, 1UPs, or even an Enemy Info Card.