While I was never a very big fan of Kirby as a kid, this game was still an enjoyable experience for me while growing up.
The fairy inhabited planet Ripple Star has been invaded by a malevolent force known as Dark Matter. One of the fairies, Ribbon, flees with a sacred crystal, only to be intercepted by Dark Matter and the crystal is subsequently shattered. The shards are scattered all over while Ribbon crash lands on Pop Star. There, she meets Kirby, who quickly volunteers to help her. Along the way, they are joined by Waddle Dee, Adeiline the Artist, and even King Dedede to collect the crystal shards and thwart Dark Matter's plans.
I would have hoped the environment would be fully 3D, like Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time. Instead, we got a 2.5D platformer adventure that follows the same side-scrolling formula of past Kirby games with a dynamic camera thrown in. Nevertheless, the game was still fun. The controls were easy and quick to get used to. The worlds and levels were brightly colored and lively, as typical for a Kirby game. You'll see plenty of enemies return from previous game and the boss battles were fairly challenging and enjoyable, especially the last two.
The best feature was the interesting combination-based ability copying allows you to use over 30 different abilities. Some are stronger and cooler than others. And since some crystal shards are hidden behind barriers that require certain powers to destroy, you'll be using a lot of them. This is especially important if you wish to truly beat the game, since collecting all of the crystal shards is necessary to fight the final boss.
My main gripe is that the game isn't especially difficult and was meant for young gamers at the time. There's almost no voice acting except for a few sounds from Kirby. There was a multiplayer mode, but I didn't find it particularly fun as a kid.
Overall, this was a fun, memorable game and a successful transfer to 3D for everyone's favorite pink puffball.
