"It's not so bad," is about the meanest thing you can say about any Kirby game. It's easy to gush with praise for games like Kirby Super Star and Kirby's Adventure, but even at their worst, Kirby games remain "all right," "good enough," and "okay, I guess."
So how's Kirby 64? Eh. I've played worse.
Kirby 64 falls somewhere in between Kirby Squeak Squad and Kirby's Dreamland 3 in terms of quality. It's got its moments, and the whole thing is pretty painless overall, but you're not missing anything if you skip it.
So what makes Kirby 64 worth playing? Well, the characters and backgrounds are in full 3D (though gameplay takes place on a 2D plane, ala Klonoa), and everything is really nice looking, especially considering that many N64 games look kind of assy nowadays.
Kirby 64 also gives you the option of combining enemy abilities, and while Kirby Super Star pulled it off a little bit better, Kirby 64's take on it still allows for a decent amount of gameplay variety.
You can also play as King Dedede! Sometimes.
Otherwise, there's not much here that makes Kirby 64 worth playing over the many other platformers in the series. That new DS remake of Super Star is going to be GREAT, though. Just you watch.
Conveniently, you can save yourself $10 by watching this video, which shows off every single combined ability in Kirby 64. I think my favorite is fire plus electricity. AAAAAHH!
