The 15th and most recent N64 version for Switch Online was released on May 20; however, users rapidly began reporting a serious flaw that was soft-looking participants during gameplay. The glitch caused Kirby 64’s underwater levels to occasionally lock players in a stunning animation, which could only be resolved by quitting the level.
Late last week, Nintendo apologized for the mistake and pledged to repair it in an update, which has finally been released. According to OatmealDome, who often gives further datamined information about Nintendo’s upgrades, the purpose of the new update is merely to repair the Kirby glitch.
“The bug-fixing version 2.3.1 of Kirby 64 is now available,” they tweeted. “That concludes it.” The Kirby 64 glitch is the most recent issue reported by gamers with Switch Online’s emulated N64 ports. Paper Mario crashed due to at least one more defect, the majority of them were graphical in nature.
Paper Mario’s crash was eventually rectified two months after the game was introduced to the site, however, Star Fox 64 and Yoshi’s Story still have graphical flaws. Launched in October 2021, the Switch Online Expansion Pack tier was received with anger from several players due to emulation issues and a lack of functionality, such as button mapping.
Since January, Nintendo has released sporadic updates that appear to be addressing some of these issues, particularly the graphics ones.
For instance, the Water Temple chamber in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time did not resemble its appearance on the original console until later patches rectified the water clarity and added fog.
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How To Fix Kirby 64’s Bug?
The N64 emulator on Nintendo Switch Online makes rediscovering your favorite 3D games from the past a breeze. Ocarina of Time, Banjo-Kazooie, and Star Fox 64 are available in high definition and on the go. However, not everything is perfect: If you repeat Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards using the service, you may encounter a glitch that causes the game to crash in the middle of a level. Fortunately, there is now a solution.
On May 20, a Reddit user was the first to report the game-ending issue. As evidenced by their post, Kirby will be permanently stunned while taking damage underwater from specific sources. In the video, after being attacked by the killer whale, Kirby is rendered unresponsive and immobilized. At the time, the only solution was to restart the level, resulting in the loss of all previous progress.
Seven days after the initial Reddit post, Nintendo has since recognized the issue publicly. However, the firm responded swiftly, as an official update to repair Kirby 64 on the Switch is now available. Three days after Nintendo first pledged to issue a fix, Twitter user OatmealDome broke the news:
Technical details!
The bug may have originated in N’s AOT recompiler for MIPS -> aarch64, since the only files updated were the AOT .nro and .pcb.
Interestingly, switchbrew says the NRO isn’t used, but those were the only files changed (not even the emulator main executable).
— OatmealDome (@OatmealDome) May 31, 2022
The Switch Online N64 application has been updated from version 2.3.0 to version 2.3.1 with the latest patch. You should notice the update the next time you open the app, but you can manually check for updates if you don’t. Click the plus sign (+) when hovering over the Nintendo 64 — Nintendo Switch Online app, and then verify the version number below the app’s name. If “Version 2.3.1” appears, you’re fine to proceed. Otherwise, select Software Update > Internet, then enable the application to update.
This is not the first time Nintendo has published a software patch to address issues with its N64 emulation. Since the release of the Nintendo Switch Online expansion, the company has added fog to Ocarina of Time, addressed an issue in Paper Mario that caused the game to crash if you perished with Watt as your partner, and applied an unidentified code patch to Banjo-Kazooie. Bugs are annoying, but Nintendo has a reputation for promptly addressing them.