Chapter 1: Crystal Clear Memories
As a Kirby fan, I always enjoy playing Kirby's series of games that's been out on each consoles, Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Dream Land 2 for the Game Boy, Kirby's Adventure for the NES, Kirby Super Star and Kirby's Dream Land 3 for the SNES, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror for the GBA, Kirby Triple Deluxe for the 3DS, but there was one that was considered a favorite in my collection, Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards.
I remember the day it came out back in the year 2000, I was only 8 years old back then. Although I didn't get it on the N64, I had it as a Virtual Console on my Wii years later, the game may looked simple and colorful, but there are some levels that were challenging, which made it more fun to play.
I even remember the cast of characters that were in The Crystal Shards, Kirby, everyone's favorite adorable pink puffball, Waddle Dee, the trusting companion, King Dedede, Kirby's classic rival who's now a helpful ally, Ribbon, the small yet cheerful fairy from Ripple Star who companies Kirby and friends to reform the Crystals. But of all of them, one stood out very particular among the group, and it's safe to say that I like this character very much... Adeleine.
She was a young artist, what made her more interesting among Kirby characters, she was the only human in Pop Star, most denizens of Pop Star always have either a round shape or an oval shape, Adeleine on the other hand, is something that came to Pop Star by an unexpected surprise. When I first saw her while playing that game the first time, she was drawing on her easel, then noticed the crystal shard near her, but the Dark Matter showed up on her easel and ended up possessing her, I did got startled that occurred to her of all characters.
A mini boss fight started, and the possessed Adeleine began drawing creatures from her easel, fortunately for me, I mixed the Ice ability with the Electric Ability to make Food Fridge, I did shoot out food with precise aim, and each of her drawings were defeated one after another. Eventually, the possessed Adeleine got so mad, she jumped off the stump and charged while swinging her brush wildly, I easily jumped over her, but I realized that one of the food was laying on the ground and she was going to run into it. It was a hot dog, I watched as the possessed Adeleine made contact with it, and flew off screen, I did laughed more than I should have, but I did felt a bit bad for it.
After the mini boss fight, the Dark Matter was released from Adeleine, she was no longer possessed, Kirby and Waddle Dee high fived each other as they claimed a crystal shard, Adeleine, now back to normal, decided to aid Kirby on his adventure, they agreed to have her join in, which made me smile a lot, that goes to show that Kirby may be the proclaimed Star Warrior, but he can also be merciful and kind to friends alike.
As I progressed further in the game, Adeleine does provide hints on puzzles and on some occasions, draw a Maxim Tomato or a 1-up, I always found her to be very reliable compared to Waddle Dee and King Dedede.
After I collected every crystal shards and beat every bosses, all that's left was to take down Zero Two, he was quite tough, since his attacks spread out and trying to avoid the explosions at the same time was tricky to me, so I mostly focused on dodging them rather than shooting him straight at his eye. After shooting at Zero Two long enough, he became stunned, I then shoot at his halo which changed to yellow, to blue, to green, to orange, to pink, and to red, shooting out his halo revealed his true weak spot, a thorny branch that sprouted below him, I shoot as fast and as much as I can, eventually defeating Zero Two.
Kirby and his friends were honored in a ceremony in Ripple Star, each of them were awarded with medallions with crystal shards on them, Kirby got more than just a medallion, he got a kiss from Ribbon, his entire face was glowing pink, he got so dazed from that kiss, he ended up falling off a small set of stairs, which always makes me laugh.
