Nintendo is slowly rolling out N64 games to its Switch Online expansion pack, with new additions coming every month. After picking up Mario Golf in April, last Friday saw Kirby 64: Crystal Shards coming to the subscription service. Unfortunately, this re-release introduced a new game-breaking bug on Switch.
This new issue was discovered shortly after launch and appeared in the underwater level of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Nintendo Switch Online doesn’t look very good as further testing has confirmed this is not present in the original N64 version.
Shared in the Nintendo Switch subreddit u/Keyblademasternadrojthey confirmed that “being hit by certain damage sources underwater will cause you to go into a stun state forever, and you need to exit the level to fix it. I don’t remember this happening on original hardware.”
kirby_64_has_a_game_breaking_bug_in_under_water From r/NintendoSwitch
Currently, Nintendo has not officially commented on the bug, but in the past it has usually quietly updated any issues with its emulation without making any announcements. Unfortunately, if you want to start playing Kirby 64 ASAP, there’s currently no real workaround unless you want to try this level without taking any damage. If you get hit, all you can do is exit the level and try again, so you’re better off waiting for a patch.
Not the first sign of emulation problems
We’ve yet to see the smoothest launch of the Nintendo Switch Online expansion pack. Last October, Nintendo gave its subscription service a new level, adding Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and N64 games to the hybrid console, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen emulation issues with these N64 games.
At launch, many blamed N64 games for input lag, framerate issues, and lack of functionality. For example, Mario Kart 64 had issues saving ghost data, Paper Mario would crash if you died with Watt as a partner, and also fixed a bug in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s infamous Water Temple fog problem. However, it is worth noting that technical analysis does not consider this to be too much of a problem.
Even so, Nintendo made great strides in emulating N64 games in January, notably fixing issues with Zelda and Paper Mario. We hope it will also address this new Kirby 64 issue in a future update, but it’s unclear exactly when. For a company with Nintendo’s resources, though, you’d hope that doesn’t continue to happen.