The year 2000 was a banner year for the video game industry. The PlayStation 2 was released. Nintendo sold its 100 millionth Game Boy. Games like Chrono Cross, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, and Final Fantasy XI were causing a stir at your local Toys “R” Us and Babbages. But how can we forget our favorite pink puffball’s first foray into 3D? (In his own game, anyway.) 2000 saw the release of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, and next week, anyone with a Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription will be able to play the classic title.
The announcement comes days after Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa claimed that more updates to the online service would be coming through 2022.
Despite being the character’s first polygonal game, Kirby 64 remains a side-scrolling platformer. While this is similar to other Kirby games found on the Game Boy, NES, and SNES, Kirby had a few more tricks up his sleeve in the Nintendo 64 hit. While Kirby can still use his Copy Ability, there are only seven abilities to inhale. That may seem scarce–until you realize that the character can store two at once, combining them to create up to 35 unique abilities.
If you haven’t played the game since the first year of the new millennium, check out the trailer below as a refresher:
With this new addition, 15 Nintendo 64 titles will be available on the Switch Online service. They include:
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Dr. Mario 64
- F-Zero X
- Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- Mario Golf
- Mario Kart 64
- Mario Tennis
- Paper Mario
- Sin & Punishment
- Star Fox 64
- Super Mario 64
- WinBack
- Yoshi’s Story
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was originally released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64. The title was re-released for the Virtual Console on the Wii and Wii U in 2008 and 2015 and was included in the Wii compilation Kirby’s Dream Collection in 2012. It was the last Kirby game for home console until Return to Dream Land in 2011.
The most recent Kirby title, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, was released on March 25, 2022. The game sold over two million copies in only two weeks, making it the fourth best-selling Kirby game of all time.
