Kirby 64 had the distinction of being possibly the only 2.5D platformer on the system. It didn't pull it off too well, either. When I rented it, I had to force myself through it. It's slow, short, and unbalanced.

The 3D graphics detracted from it. They couldn't hold a candle to games like Banjo-Tooie and other games that were fully 3D. They also made it seem that much more ridiculous that you couldn't walk around a column in front of you that couldn't be more than two feet in diameter.

Half of the fun in Kirby games was pummeling the crap out of your enemies. Kirby Super Star and Kirby's Adventure made that a blast. Comboing someone with Fighter Kirby or Cutter Kirby is really satisfying. In this game, they made defeating enemies seem like a chore due to how bland the hits felt.

The other half of the fun, being the platforming, was boring too. Kirby moved super slow, and the level design is just boring. Most of the game is super easy, yet some parts are impossibly hard. It's amazing how the game can transform from an easy island level to an impossible whale boss.

Super Smash Bros. was a great game; Kirby 64 was not. What happened with HAL in between these two games?