Kirby 64 - Ribbon

[LunarRainbowShyGuy]

I really love this boss, not because of anything related to gameplay, but because of the transition between phases. I like seeing things collapse or fall apart, so seeing the floor break apart and big rocks fall from above is something I always love seeing. Also, Kirby's underwater victory animation is pretty cute.

With that out of the way I think I'll take a step back and talk about the level before the boss, which I like more than the rest of the levels in this world. It's entirely underwater, which is a nice change of pace (for a water world there's a surprising lack of swimming). And although swimming is rather slow, most of the level has currents to help you go fast (and as raocow discovered, you can hold a fish above your head to swim faster, which helps a lot in that first horizontal room).

Also, like raocow I also like these cut-scenes that are basically just Kirby and friends hanging out together. I was going to say this regardless, but it's interesting to know that raocow feels the same way.

[strongbadman]

This shard blows becuase there really isn't a way to get bomb and rock in the level. So if you fail, you have to mwnu put of neo star, back to popstar to the one level where everything is, get the powers, menu back out to neo star, and attempt the level once more. The later kirbies got better at putting the powers you need in the levels they're required in, but this is rough.

[Piesonscreations]

I'd say that if you were taking a more leisurely stroll through the levels, bomb + rock isn't that bad, but I do understand the need for speed.

[Kilgamayan]

wtf Dynamite is great fun :(

It explodes prematurely if the stick hits an enemy (or an enemy collides with the stick) so you don't have to wait ten seconds every time

[ano0maly]

Maybe there should have been a Top Secret Area level for this game.

But I do like how you can hold up above you the enemies you absorb and sometimes use their attacks, kind of like in SMBX. I hadn't thought of this as it got overshadowed by the 7 abilities you can combine, but it expands the creativity beyond just those abilities.

[Blivsey]

something about younglings

[LunarRainbowShyGuy]

Although it does have its problems, I actually like using bomb + rock. The large explosion radius lets it clear out entire rooms of enemies, and it also explodes on contact with an enemy or projectile; if you're careful with it it can actually be pretty useful. And while the capability of hurting yourself is pretty bad, I personally like to look at it as a way to balance the power, because if you couldn't hurt yourself I imagine it would be kind of overpowered.

As for the challenge of taking this power through most of this level, it's pretty rough regardless of whether or not you actually use the power, but I kind of like it. Although, while I do appreciate having a level where you have to take one power through the entire level, I do wish that the powers you need were at least obtainable at the very start of the level so you didn't have to take a trip to another level any time you failed. At least using the dynamite to blow up all the water enemies in the "mid-boss" room is a fun way to celebrate victory.

[Kilgamayan]

raocow Kirby 64 Abilities 122319.png (14.54 KiB) Viewed 3397 times

Filling out the grid something fierce today! Only three to go. imo Double(v)Bomb is mildly interesting, Needle/Bomb is novel but uninteresting, and Needle/Cutter is neither novel nor interesting, but others may disagree.

I believe any Ice ability will get that shard in the volcano; I distinctly recall getting it with ice skates at least once because of how utterly rude the hidden lava floor was to me.

[LunarRainbowShyGuy]

The first level today is one I really like the look of; all the colourful rocks, as well as the fog enveloping the mountains in the background, look great to me. I also like the rocks spelling out "KIRBY" at the end of the level.

The crystal shard requiring ice in the second level is one that I would agree with anyone that says it's questionable design. Just looking at it on its own: it makes sense to use ice to cool things off in a volcano. Except this game has always had things you need to destroy be indicated by matching the colour of the power(s) you need, and then this suddenly goes against that.

I believe any Ice ability will get that shard in the volcano; I distinctly recall getting it with ice skates at least once because of how utterly rude the hidden lava floor was to me.

I was going to say this, and coincidentally I also had an unpleasant experience with the ice skates here, except in my case I only had one health so I died and had to exit the level and grab ice again.

Anyway, raocow used a lot of powers for the first time this video, and a lot of them are ones that I like. There's the giant snowflake, which I don't actually like that much, but seeing it in the same video as the volcano level triggered a bit of nostalgia for me: I distinctly remember the falling rocks in the first area giving me a lot of trouble, and using that power to protect myself as I very slowly made my way forward.

The curling stone power gives you a small burst of forward momentum when you use it, which I find pretty fun. Spark + Fire is amusing, and I also find it to be really useful. Ice + Fire, while not as useless as it might look, is still pretty bad, but I still like it anyway. And then there's the refrigerator, which is definitely one of my favourites; the ability to heal yourself at any time is really good, and I'm pretty sure I used it a lot the first time I played this game.

[PSI Ninja]

Watching raocow play through this game is bringing back lots of warm memories of simpler times. I haven't touched or seen anyone play Kirby 64 in almost 20 (!) years, and I'm having fun trying to remember what all the different power combinations do. And get frustrated whenever raocow messes up combining them.

Also: I like how we keep getting to see Dedede's backside in the video thumbnails.

[Grounder]

I have some fond memories of this game, but how stupid some of the crystals are to get is coming back to me,

[Bean]

A part of me is wanting to feel bad for Earth, but maybe it's better there aren't people on that frozen rock ruining it in the dream world version. You keep on freezing on, icy Earth.

[LunarRainbowShyGuy]

This boss is a boss I really like, and one that I remember quite well; earlier I had said that I once played through this game using only the ice skate power, and that is not a good power to fight this boss with. It's really awkward to land a hit during the first phase, and in the second phase it's impossible to hit the boss without getting hit yourself (at least as far as I could tell), so the only way to win is to get through the first phase without getting hit so you can afford to repeatedly fling yourself at the boss's face and not die before it does.

Anyway, this first level of world five isn't really anything special, but I like using the snowball power in the first section; since there aren't any walls or pits or anything you can just roll through the entire thing.

[Leet]

I never noticed the Earth thing and I feel like this has changed my understanding of Kirby forever

[Awoo]

I, for one, cannot wait for the

Factory Exploration

since not only does it reference a game raocow has played earlier this year, but it's also got decent music, and,

factory! factory!! factory!!! factory!!!!

[Kilgamayan]

Wow I legitimately never noticed that Shiver Star was Earth

raocow Kirby 64 Abilities 122419.png (14.63 KiB) Viewed 3265 times

[ano0maly]

It's neat that having ice + ice actually has a different effect than single ice. And that effect worked pretty well in the volcano level.

I dig the bosses in this game, how they're savvy in attacking you in a 3D manner while you're limited to a 2D plane or ring.

[Kilgamayan]

I completely forgot that Butter Building remix was in this game

Also I will continue being proud of you for dying in a Kirby game whether you call me out or not =P

raocow Kirby 64 Abilities 122519.png (15.22 KiB) Viewed 3178 times

[ano0maly]

Now that we saw all ability combinations, I think it may be good to have a quick moment to check out the cards you have in the collection, even if you're not going for them all.

[Alice]

Bear trap is clearly the best power in the game.

[10204307]

Kirby turning into a giant beartrap made of flesh is "neither novel nor interesting"???

[Kilgamayan]

Honestly, yes. It's an incredibly unwieldy melee weapon, which takes away a lot of the entertainment when compared to about 95% of the other combos, and it isn't hilariously stupid enough to make up for being largely unusable, like, say, Spark/Fire or Spark/Ice.

Like, at the end of the day, is anyone actually *surprised* Kirby can do that?

[xnamkcor]

Gotta love those close quarters ICBMs.

[FPzero]

Bear trap is funny to me because Kirby stays all happy during it

[Grounder]

Yes, modern Kirby unironically has a good amount of lore for each mainline game, currently culminating in Star Allies, which probably had the biggest drop of lore ever in the series.

A lot of it is relegated to the pause screens, though.