Left Turn at Albuquerque

Platform: N64 Developer: HAL Laboratory Publisher: Nintendo NA Release date: June 26, 2000 Genre: Platformer Media: 256-Megabit cartridge

History:

Originally, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shard’s screenshots posted on Nintendo.com in 1999 show Waddle Dee, Adeliene, and King Dedede as playable characters, however, this feature was removed before the game was released. Although Kirby appears in other N64 games such as Super Smash Bros., this is the only strictly Kirby and the first 3-D Kirby game ever released. It was released on June 26, 2000 in North America.

Gameplay:

Although it’s Kirby’s first game in 3D, the gameplay remains similar to the Kirby games before it. There are 100 crystals for Kirby to find spread out throughout six worlds. Kirby still has the copy ability of swallowing enemies and being able to inherit their weapon. In fact, Kirby now has the ability to merge two seperate copy abilities for the first time ever. In the game there are 43 possible abilities of combinations and seven regular copy abilities. The game automatically saves as the player makes progress in the game.

In addition to the regular game, kirby 64 has three mini-games available where the player can play as Kirby, Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and King Dedede. The mini-games available are 100-Yard Hop, Bumper Crop Bump and Checkerboard Chase.

Review:

I was happy with the simple gameplay of the game. This is one of the easier Kirby games in comparison to the Kirby games of the past. The graphics are colorful and nice. The sound and music is good and also very similar to older Kirby games.

Seven copy abilities of Kirby:

• Burn
• Stone
• Ice
• Needle
• Bomb
• Spark
• Cutter

Six Worlds in the game:

• Pop Star
• Rock Star
• Aqua Star
• Neo Star
• Shiver Star
• Ripple Star

Controls:

• Digital pad left: Go to the left, tap twice to dash
• Digital pad right: Go to the right, tap twice to dash
• Digital pad up: Not used
• Digital pad down: Duck, swallow, get down from ledge
• A Button: Jump, fly, swim
• B Button: Inhale, throw enemy or star, exhale, use power
• L Button: Lift inhaled object
• R Button: Lift inhaled object
• Z Button: Not used
• Start Button: Pause
• C Buttons: Lift inhaled object

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