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The Nintendo 64 (also abbreviated to N64) is a home console that was produced by Nintendo. It succeeded the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and was succeeded by the Nintendo GameCube.

The Nintendo 64 is known for being Nintendo's first console to use 3D graphics instead of pixel sprites. It uses plastic cartridges called Game Paks to play games and has multiple accessories that allow the console to perform different functions.

Controller[]

The Nintendo 64 controller has a unique M-shape design with a direction pad on the left, an analog stick and a Start button at its center, and a green B button, a blue A button, and four directional C Buttons on its right. These C Buttons would later become the C-Stick on the GameCube controller. Behind the controller are a left L button and a right R button on its respective shoulders. A Z button is also placed behind the controller at its center piece. A port for controller accessories is also present on the controller's back.

Due to the controller's unorthodox design, the controller can be held in three different ways depending on which hand is holding the center piece for the analog stick. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards does not use the analog stick (despite what the manual claims[1]) as the game is meant to be played with both hands on each side of the controller. However, during the game's development, the analog stick was used in an early build of the game, but was changed to the directional pad as the game plays on a 2.5D plane instead of a 3D plane since the analog stick was meant for games that played in the latter.[2] This early version of the game also heavily utilized the Z button as HAL Laboratory made it a prominent control when developing Super Smash Bros., but after a play test at Space World with some children, the development team found out that the children preferred playing the demo without picking the controller up from its stand which made pressing the Z button difficult. This led the team to debate over scrapping the use of the Z button and changing the control configuration until the final set-up was ultimately decided when testing the controls again with a group of elementary students.[3] This makes Kirby 64 one of the few games to use the directional pad instead of the analog stick on the Nintendo 64 for movement. The C Buttons in the game also all had the same function to throw objects upwards regardless of which directional button was pressed.

Games[]

Below is a list of every Kirby game released for the Nintendo 64.

Title Box Art Release Date North America
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards K64 Boxart June 26, 2000

Other games featuring Kirby[]

Title Box Art Release Date
Super Smash Bros. SSB Boxart April 26, 1999

Unreleased Kirby games[]

Related Accessories[]

Rumble Pak[]

Rumble Pak

The Rumble Pak is a controller accessory that allows the controller to vibrate in conjunction to gameplay in real-time; it uses two triple A batteries to function. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Super Smash Bros. are both compatible with the Rumble Pak. Rumble Paks for the Nintendo DS and DS Lite systems were also made.

Wide-Boy64[]

The Wide-Boy64 devices are accessories that allow the Nintendo 64 to play games from older Nintendo consoles. Two versions of the Wide-Boy64 were made: the Wide-Boy64 CGB which plays games from the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, and the Wide-Boy64 AGB which plays games from the Game Boy Advance. With these add-ons, players can play Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Pinball Land, Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby's Block Ball, Kirby's Star Stacker, Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, and Kirby & The Amazing Mirror with the respective device on the Nintendo 64. Wide Boys were first created for the Famicom.

The Wide-Boy64 CGB has a display that mimics that of a Game Boy Color's screen while the Wide-Boy64 AGB mimics the display of the game in a box with the Game Boy Advance logo underneath it.

64DD[]

64DD

The 64DD is a large accessory that is attached to the bottom of the Nintendo 64 system. It was a device that accepted floppy discs that allowed the Nintendo 64 to use a magnetic storage and other features to create characters and videos with other games that could be shared online via Randnet, a now defunct service. Unfortunately, this device was a commercial failure and was never released out of Japan. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was originally planned to release on the 64DD, but after its failure, Nintendo announced that all planned 64DD games were going to be released as Game Paks instead.[4]

iQue Player[]

IQue Player

The iQue player is an integrated home console version of the Nintendo 64 released in 2003 targeted toward audiences in China. Nintendo created this console as a joint venture with iQue to reach and stop its Chinese audiences from emulating games as China banned home console games in 2000. It went through a rough launch but had decent success until its discontinuation in 2016. It has a 14-game library with Super Smash Bros. being one of them.

Artwork[]

References[]

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