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News Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards Coming to NSO Expansion Pak on 5/20 (out now!)

This is a great chilled out cool down kirby game after the anime bombast that i just experienced wrapping up kirby and the forgotten land

Btw heres a fun throwback, Jeff Gertsmanns original review for gamespot. He liked it, gave it a 6.9 (which was okay at the time!)

6.9 sounds like an pretty decent acessment.

Its a fine kirby game, fun, but nothing special, did not push the series forward, hat its weaknesses.

Like i would grade a flawed album thats kinda more of the same from a solid band.
 
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I beat world 3 last night and just...man, that underwater bug SUCKS haha. Thank god for save states.

Also helped that I beat the game 40 or 50 times as a kid on my N64. Onto world 4!
 
It’s almost comical how unbalanced the different powers are.

You get something like the fireworks and it feels like you’re invincible. Just an instant, combo-able attack that hits 360 degrees around you.

And then you have stuff like cutter that feels like a straight up nerf to use. I’d rather inhale.
Yeah, playing this makes me appreciate the balance in Forgotten Land more!
 
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I beat world 3 last night and just...man, that underwater bug SUCKS haha. Thank god for save states.

Also helped that I beat the game 40 or 50 times as a kid on my N64. Onto world 4!
Yeah went through it yesterday too, seems it triggers if you get hit again while still in the hit stun/invincibility state. Got up to the final full world, plan to clear today
 
Really, really happy to see this officially addressed. But now I'm kind of concerned that they didn't do this about F-Zero X's framerate problems (probably because, like Ocarina's fog issues, it's going to take longer to fix and they don't want to draw attention to it being broken)
I think it's because this Kirby glitch is a much bigger issue and is something they felt like they had to bring attention to
 
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Jesus this game is a total joy

But, are we supposed to believe that all the devs at NERD are Kirby masters who never got hit in a water level? This isn’t even a long game, cmon now!
 
Jesus this game is a total joy

But, are we supposed to believe that all the devs at NERD are Kirby masters who never got hit in a water level? This isn’t even a long game, cmon now!
I'm asking myself if NERD is really responsible for the N64 emulator. Their pedigree was excellent up until now, but I'm kinda regretting getting the Expansion Pack.
 
I'm asking myself if NERD is really responsible for the N64 emulator. Their pedigree was excellent up until now, but I'm kinda regretting getting the Expansion Pack.
I suspect N64 emulation got pushed out of the door before it was actually ready and because of that NERD is now eternally stuck applying bandaids to everything.
 
I'm asking myself if NERD is really responsible for the N64 emulator. Their pedigree was excellent up until now, but I'm kinda regretting getting the Expansion Pack.
They weren’t responsible for the N64 emulator; but they are responsible for the N64 emulation. It makes sense, I promise.

The N64 emulator was made by iQue; first used on Wii U Virtual Console and then for Mario 64 in 3D All-Stars. From everything we’ve seen it appears that this emulator was thrust onto NERD relatively soon before the service launched; sometime after 3D All-Stars, so less than a year. The SNES emulator NERD use was an existing one too, but they obviously got more time to get accustomed to it and adjust it as it was first used for the SNES Mini in 2017 before the SNES NSO launch in 2019.

Why they didn’t launch Game Boy or Game Boy Advance instead despite them clearly already being in a better state years ago? We’ll never know. There are even more things developed by NERD that haven’t surfaced yet and aren’t likely to any time soon if ever as far as i’m aware; I think NCL is clearly a limiting force over them, and it’s a shame.
 
They weren’t responsible for the N64 emulator; but they are responsible for the N64 emulation. It makes sense, I promise.

The N64 emulator was made by iQue; first used on Wii U Virtual Console and then for Mario 64 in 3D All-Stars. From everything we’ve seen it appears that this emulator was thrust onto NERD relatively soon before the service launched; sometime after 3D All-Stars, so less than a year. The SNES emulator NERD use was an existing one too, but they obviously got more time to get accustomed to it and adjust it as it was first used for the SNES Mini in 2017 before the SNES NSO launch in 2019.

Why they didn’t launch Game Boy or Game Boy Advance instead despite them clearly already being in a better state years ago? We’ll never know. There are even more things developed by NERD that haven’t surfaced yet and aren’t likely to any time soon if ever as far as i’m aware; I think NCL is clearly a limiting force over them, and it’s a shame.
Thanks MondoMega, I remember reading something like this on the forum but now it makes sense. Working with an existing emulator (and for a notoriously hard-to-emulate system) would definitely explain why there's problems. It also gives me a bit of peace of mind that they're working hard to get the emulator up to snuff with their other work.

As far as the GBA emulation goes the thinking might've been that N64 was a more "premium" option to launch the Expansion Pack with. With how the launch has been so far I'd have preferred GBA over this - and NERD might have as well, so they could've ironed out the kinks of N64 before instead of during launch.
 
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I feel kinda silly for beating the game last week and suffering through that glitch but it’s nice it got fixed.
 
The SNES emulator NERD use was an existing one too, but they obviously got more time to get accustomed to it and adjust it as it was first used for the SNES Mini in 2017 before the SNES NSO launch in 2019.
I heard there might be some bsnes code for the NSO emulator they were using, since it was based on the SNES classic emulator.
 
I'm asking myself if NERD is really responsible for the N64 emulator. Their pedigree was excellent up until now, but I'm kinda regretting getting the Expansion Pack.

I'm a little more forgiving when it comes to the N64 of all things because of how absolutely bonkers the original hardware even was and how completely different every game behaved when interacting with it. I'm also a little more sympathetic considering that's the console I've struggled to emulate the most, there is always issues.
 
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I heard there might be some bsnes code for the NSO emulator they were using, since it was based on the SNES classic emulator.
I don’t believe Canoe has any bsnes code, no. Quick search brings up one case where Nintendo allegedly used bsnes code pre-SNES Mini (for Cx4 LLE emulation) but it was never explicably proven and the person who said it dipped from the thread and never elaborated.

I thought Canoe was first used for n3DS Virtual Console?
SNES on New 3DS VC uses the same emulator Wii U VC used; which is the emulator Canoe is built on. So not Canoe, though related to it.
 
The final hours of the Kirby event are here and so is my last plug for it! If you already played and 100%'ed 64 on NSO that right there is a badge and enters you for a chance to win a copy of 4 different Switch games.

 
The final hours of the Kirby event are here and so is my last plug for it! If you already played and 100%'ed 64 on NSO that right there is a badge and enters you for a chance to win a copy of 4 different Switch games.

Ahhhh, I kept meaning to do this all month but my executive dysfunction has been terrible lately, lol. I’ve already done literally all of these in the past, though not all on Switch, and I doubt I have enough time to complete the ones I’d need to get new screenshots for by the end of today…
 
Ahhhh, I kept meaning to do this all month but my executive dysfunction has been terrible lately, lol. I’ve already done literally all of these in the past, though not all on Switch, and I doubt I have enough time to complete the ones I’d need to get new screenshots for by the end of today…
Spring Breeze on Superstar counts for the Dream Land one and is a quick and easy romp If you want to get in on one!
 
Quoted by: Tye
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Spring Breeze on Superstar counts for the Dream Land one and is a quick and easy romp If you want to get in on one!
Do they have to be newly completed or can I boot up old save files that already have the task completed, where applicable? Definitely don’t have Kirby 64 done yet on NSO, for example, but I should have it completed on Wii VC if I can hook up the Wii U to get a pic of that, lol.
 
Do they have to be newly completed or can I boot up old save files that already have the task completed, where applicable? Definitely don’t have Kirby 64 done yet on NSO, for example, but I should have it completed on Wii VC if I can hook up the Wii U to get a pic of that, lol.
The general rule for these events has been newly completed AFAIK with certain exceptions (eg. Forgotten Land started before event) - you could always share with transparency and see how it's weighed!
 
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SNES on New 3DS VC uses the same emulator Wii U VC used; which is the emulator Canoe is built on. So not Canoe, though related to it.
Ah, that makes sense. I just remember hearing early on with SNES mini that the emu was functionally the same as the one for n3DS VC in contrast to the NES mini which had a ground up emu. Knowing NERD's Hanafuda/Boat design scheme that tracks then, even if it's not exactly Canoe on the VCs.
 
Ah, that makes sense. I just remember hearing early on with SNES mini that the emu was functionally the same as the one for n3DS VC in contrast to the NES mini which had a ground up emu. Knowing NERD's Hanafuda/Boat design scheme that tracks then, even if it's not exactly Canoe on the VCs.
On the surface level they'd appear very similar for sure, but NERD had the opportunity to do a lot of work with Canoe; even beyond the obvious of figuring out Super-FX emulation. Before SNES Mini Nintendo avoided emulating the S-SMP sound chip (might have something to do with it being a Sony chip) and relied on per-game hacks to use a different audio format. SNES Mini continued doing this for some games but those that were newly emulated officially had proper sound emulation in place; and by the time SNES NSO launched they had fixed this for every game and the hacky sound solution is no more. They've done a bit more work with Canoe that we haven't see surface publicly yet, so I hope that happens eventually.

Yeah, they've got a consistant naming scheming for their emulators that gives away their origins. Their suite of emulators is named Hanafuda and the emulators made by them from the ground up are named after Hanafuda (types of games played with Hanafuda, card names, etc):

Kachikachi (Famicom) - currently used for NES Mini, NSO
Hiyoko (Game Boy) - currently used nowhere (as far as we know; the compression on the Zelda Game & Watch files is uncrackable)
Hagi (GameCube / Wii) - currently used for Super Mario 3D All-Stars (all of Sunshine; GPU and audio emulation for Galaxy)
Hachihachi (DS) - currently used for Wii U VC

Those that have been developed based on an existing emulator instead have the names of various watercrafts:

Canoe (Super Famicom) - currently used for SNES Mini, NSO (base emulator was used for Wii U / New 3DS VC)
Hovercraft (Nintendo 64) - currently used for NSO (base emulator was used for Wii U VC, Mario 64 in 3D All-Stars)
Sloop (Game Boy Advance) - currently used nowhere (we still haven't figured out which specific GBA emulator it was based on)

Obviously the only NSO emulator to not follow this is Mega Drive, as that's just M2's own Mega Drive emulator M2Engage (one they've been using for ages, even before the Mega Drive Mini most recognise it from recently).
 
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Actually I think M2Engage is more M2's framework with different emulators. It pops up in various Sega Ages releases, NSO Genesis but also stuff like GBA on Wii U VC, Namco Museum Archives or Konami's Contra and Castlevania collections.

The only time I remember M2 naming specific hardware emulators was for 3D classics on 3DS with GigaDrive (MD) and ReMaster System (SG1k, SMS). Nothing for arcade though because those were actually ported natively I believe?
 
Actually I think M2Engage is more M2's framework with different emulators. It pops up in various Sega Ages releases, NSO Genesis but also stuff like GBA on Wii U VC, Namco Museum Archives or Konami's Contra and Castlevania collections.

The only time I remember M2 naming specific hardware emulators was for 3D classics on 3DS with GigaDrive (MD) and ReMaster System (SG1k, SMS). Nothing for arcade though because those were actually ported natively I believe?
I've heard it referred to as both the emulator name and their general framework; which would make it similar to iQue's emulation suite, TRL. That one covers four platforms:

NES - 3DS VC
GB - 3DS VC, Kirby's Dream Collection (the Game Boy games use a specific branch of TRL called WTRL; Wii TRL)
GBA - unused (the GBA ambassador games are actually running natively via the GBA Mode of the DS Mode; hence why they can't be susppended and have no save states or other emulation features. clearly at some point proper GBA VC was considered for 3DS though)
N64 - Wii U VC, Mario 64 in 3D All-Stars (hey, I just mentioned this one above! i'll add that the branch in 3D All-Stars is called TRL-NX)

The N64 emulator (even still in 3D All-Stars) also has references to the general Wii U emulator framework VESSEL (as does M2's GBA emulator for Wii U VC), so there is some overlap in these things. VESSEL's NES emulator has also managed to pop up on Switch from time to time via the FE Shadow Dragon localisation and Luigi Bros. in 3D World. They're both different builds that have been altered in different ways, but they've both got Wii U VC leftovers (and Luigi Bros. at least disabled the ugly Wii U dark filter).
 
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Please can someone help me with this one as I’m slowly loosing the will…

Is this game supposed to be really abstract if you want to get all the shards? I’m on the third world, first level and can’t work out how to break the ground to get to the green blob which presumably will shoot me up to the shard.

I’ve tried all the combo powers that I have access too, but can’t break it.

Similarly I’ve had trouble and had to look up a few up to now, which I really don’t like doing, but I have no clue, or signposting from the game on what I am supposed to do.

Frustrated
 
Please can someone help me with this one as I’m slowly loosing the will…

Is this game supposed to be really abstract if you want to get all the shards? I’m on the third world, first level and can’t work out how to break the ground to get to the green blob which presumably will shoot me up to the shard.

I’ve tried all the combo powers that I have access too, but can’t break it.

Similarly I’ve had trouble and had to look up a few up to now, which I really don’t like doing, but I have no clue, or signposting from the game on what I am supposed to do.

Frustrated
Wait….. is it actually indicated by the colour of the block?

Sorry for the double post!

8 hours later edit:

and I’ve worked it out, those shards that you need to find a way to access have blocks that match the cover of the power combo you need, which, now I think about it, is actually pretty clever and not obtuse.

The only frustration is knowing where to find each of the powers, but since I’ve worked this out I’m actually appreciating the game a lot more
 
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