Skip to main content

Kirby 64 is Nintendo Switch Online’s next N64 addition

Nintendo is giving fans of Kirby’s latest 3D adventure, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the chance to go back in time and experience his first time taking a third-dimensional adventure. The next Nintendo 64 title hitting Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack membership is Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, and it’s coming May 20.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo Switch Online is Nintendo’s membership that allows players to not only play online but also gives access to tons of retro titles from the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo consoles. The Expansion Pack brings Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis titles to the membership at an extra price. This add-on costs more but is becoming a great value considering how much Nintendo has added to it, including all of Mario Kart 8: Deluxe‘s DLC and Splatoon 2‘s Octo-Expansion.

An iconic platformer featuring one of the Kirby’s creepiest final bosses, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is the latest title coming to the membership. It joins the likes of other available Nintendo 64 games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of TimeBanjo-KazooieStar Fox 64Paper Mario, Super Mario 64, and more.

According to an official financial results briefing interview with Nintendo representative director and president, Shuntaro Furukawa, and executive officer, Hajime Murakami, Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack is doing especially well with U.S. subscribers. The interview confirmed that due to positive reception, it plans to continue expanding the service. This continued growth may mean even more perks other than added games, similar to what Xbox does with Game Pass.

Nintendo Switch Online Expansion members can witness everyone’s favorite pink puffball’s first 3D title via the Switch on May 20.

Editors' Recommendations

DeAngelo Epps
De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…
Nintendo Switch loses an exclusive Square Enix game next month
A duel in the Wild West section of Live A Live.

Square Enix's beautiful HD-2D remake of Live A Live will no longer be a Nintendo Switch exclusive starting next month. The game comes out on PlayStation consoles and PCs on April 27.
Live A Live is a unique grid-based RPG with a fun narrative gimmick. Its story is split up into eight different sections set across eight different sections: Prehistory, The Middle Ages, Imperial China, Twilight of Edo Japan, The Wild West, Present Day, The Near Future, and The Distant Future. Each comes with its own protagonist and gameplay gimmicks before they all crescendo together in a final chapter.

On top of that, this remake of a 1994 SNES game also gives the experience an extreme visual facelift with the HD-2D visuals that make games like Octopath Traveler 2 shine. Digital Trends found the game charming, with George Yang saying Live A Live "has the hallmarks that make it a good entry in the genre" in his three-and-a-half star review of the title. 
In North America, Nintendo published the Switch version of Live A Live. Now that the game is coming to other platforms, though, Square Enix has taken back over. To promote the upcoming release, Square Enix has released a demo for Live A Live on PS4 and PS5 today, which lets players try some of the Twilight of Edo Japan, The Distant Future, and The Wild West sections of the game.
Live a Live is available now for Nintendo Switch and will be released for PC, PS4, and PS5 on April 27. PlayStation Plus members can currently preorder the game for a 20% discount as well.

Read more
The best N64 games of all time
ocarina of time hall fame the legend zelda

When the N64 was introduced to the gaming world, people were taken aback by how the graphics came to life compared to NES games and SNES. The concept of "3-D gaming" was entirely new, bringing us closer to the characters and stories we already loved. New Mario games and Pokemon titles became some of the highlights for the system, bringing characters to life in a way we had not seen before. Although not all the games from the N64 could survive the tests of time, there are quite a few that have place in our hearts. In honor of these games we grew up and loved so much, we have compiled a list of all of the best N64 games based on their genre.

If you think you can name all the best N64 games, read on and see how well you do.

Read more
How Zelda: Ocarina of Time speedrunners break the N64 in incredible new ways
ocarina of time speedrunners break game new ways respec featured

ReSpec is normally a column about the wonderful, technical world of PC gaming, but occasionally there are topics that are too good to pass up. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is universally acclaimed as one the best Nintendo 64 games ever made, and while it's not a PC title, the highest-level, most technical speedruns of the game expose how games work on a fundamental level. More importantly, these incredible feats are only possible with a lot of community effort.

Ocarina of Time is a game that would take a normal player around 30 hours to beat; the most skilled speedrunners, who aim to play the game as fast as possible, can beat it in around three hours and 40 minutes without glitches. But the Any% category of the game, which tasks players with completing the game regardless of the methods used, is down to three minutes, 54 seconds, and 566 milliseconds. And yes, those milliseconds matter. The second-place record holder is less than a full second behind the world record.

Read more