The next Nintendo 64 game heading to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack is the 2.5 side-scrolling platformer, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, available to subscribers on May 20.
Originally released in 2000, Kirby 64 features copy abilities that can be combined into power combos, a mechanic that was adapted into Kirby’s first full 3D outing, The Forgotten Land which had upgradable copy abilities and mouthful mode. Nintendo shared the news in a Tweet yesterday, which you can see below.
The release of Kirby 64 means that Pokémon Snap is the only Nintendo 64 game that hasn’t been released from the original list of forthcoming games. As for Kirby’s releases on the Nintendo Switch, Kirby and The Forgotten Land is among the biggest launches for the series. The game has sold over two million copies in just two weeks, making it the fourth best-selling Kirby game ever. This news comes from Nintendo’s latest investor’s meeting.
The five best-selling Kirby games are, the DS remake Kirby Super Star Ultra at 3 million, followed by Kirby Star Allies, then the first-ever and highest selling game in the series, Kirby’s Dream Land. The Game Boy game sits at around double the number of sales compared to the most recent entry, at around 5.13 million.
Back to that list of forthcoming games though, Nintendo provided a list of upcoming Expansion Pack games in October 2021, with Pokémon Snap being the only one that hasn’t made the leap as previously mentioned. Nintendo has also said that more will be coming to Switch Online this year, so subscribers will continue to get more bang for their buck.
The company’s president, Shuntaro Furukawa, explained, “Of course, there are customers who allow their subscribership to expire, and then they don’t renew, so we believe it is important to continue releasing software that allows players to continue enjoying, not only online play, but also enhances their overall experience, we will continue to expand our services and create new content for our customers throughout this year.”
What this means exactly remains to be seen, but Gameboy and Gameboy Advance titles have been rumoured to be coming to the service sometime this year. In the meantime, though, Kirby fans and those looking to try it out for the first time, now have Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards to play as much as they want if they have the Expansion Pass.
