Kirby: Triple Deluxe carries the core gameplay that sees Kirby sucking up enemies, absorbing their powers and advancing through to the next level. Yes, no spinoff game mechanics here, this is a classic Kirby game through and through. Triple Deluxe is a sidescroller played on a 2.5D plane. The gimmick here is that there are two planes that Kirby can travel upon. At certain points in levels, Kirby is able to travel to the foreground or background. Despite the simplicity of this, it adds new elements to the gameplay, including enemies that go between the planes, actions performed in one plane affecting the other and of course, the 3D. Triple Deluxe has some neat 3D effects, you can tell that the developer structured some environmental hazards and boss fights to utilize the 3D effect to its full potential.
3D effects include giant hands popping to right behind the screen and bosses flying and changing depth as it goes along the screen. It is impressive, although this doesn't mean you can't enjoy the game in 2D, it's still fully functional. Triple Deluxe has the classic Kirby gameplay and what this means is that Kirby will usually go from left to right in a level. In Kirby's normal form, Kirby can inhale an object and spit it back out. Inhaling certain enemies and swallowing them allows Kirby to inherit their powers, and with so many powers available, this is the fun part. Kirby can wield swords, shoot arrows and spit fire. In addition to classic powers, Kirby has a few new powers, including the touted Hypernova ability, which magnifies Kirby's inhaling powers. This is a mandatory power in sections as it is used to solve puzzles.
Perhaps the deepest aspect is that each power has multiple attacks depending on the button combinations. You might like the normal attack of an ability but the dash attack may not be to your tastes. Naturally, platforming is another big aspect of the game. Kirby is actually a very easy game to play and deaths are uncommon thanks to Kirby being able to fly/float. In addition, Kirby has a health bar so you won't have one-hit deaths. While some people may complain about the easy difficulty, the game is still very fun and is a nice stress free experience. Triple Deluxe is truly a game you'd play to relax. There are light puzzle elements scattered throughout each level. They are generally simple and solving them takes a matter of seconds. Various puzzles also require you to tilt your 3DS, such as moving cannons to aim Kirby. It is not obtrusive and works quite well.
Boss battles will occasionally occur, they resolve around recognizing their attack patterns and then dodging. You'll face some familiar enemies as well as new ones. The difference with bosses is that they have health bars so you'll have to take a bit of extra time to finish them off. One thing to note is that in the last world, the game tends to reuse bosses a lot, which feels lazy and boring. There are a total of six Worlds, combining to make 35 individual level and six boss levels. This translate to roughly 7-10 hours of gameplay the first time around, and it is an excellent 7 hours. To increase longevity, there are Sun Stones in each level to find, these are generally in obvious places.
The other collectible are keychains, these are 8-bit renditions of characters or objects from past Kirby games. It gets a little bit addictive to be honest and makes you want to complete the whole set. There are two types of keychains, normal ones which you can collect as many times as you want going through the level but it gives you a random one at the end (so you can have duplicates, which you can trade through Streetpass), and rare keychains which are once-offs. Whereas the Sun Stones are fairly easy, the rare keychains are cleverly hidden and takes a few run through the levels to find. The story is limited but begins with a fantastic pre-rendered cutscene when you start the game. One night while Kirby is sleeping, a magical beanstalk grows and sends Kirby's house up into the skies. When Kirby wakes, he sees King Dedede being captured by a mysterious new antagonist.
Kirby traverses through multiple locations as he climbs the beanstalk, trying to catch up. The antagonist throws a few bosses at Kirby until the final boss. While most of the game is pretty easy the final boss was a step up in difficulty which was surprising. It wasn't difficult to the point of annoyance but just noticeably harder than the rest of the game. What was also noticeable was the fact that it was so long, it takes a decent chunk of time to finish off this final section of the game and it seemed to drag on forever, especially when after each round a pre-rendered cutscene plays, leading you to assume that the game was finished. Once you've completed the game at least once, a few new modes are unlocked. First up is the Boss Arena, in which you fight one boss after another with limited health recoveries. You achieve high scores as you are timed.
The second unlockable is something called Dedede Tour, where you can play through the whole game as King Dedede. This is harder with less recovery items, no copy abilities (Dedede uses his hammer for the whole way through) and stronger bosses. There is no level select but you can find hidden warp areas to skip levels since you are also timed, it encourages you to speed run the game. This mode presents so much extra value. Once you've completed Dedede Tour, the True Arena is unlocked which is another boss chain fight, but this time with the harder bosses. Lastly, there are two minigames. One is Kirby Fighters which is a Smash Brothers clone, except using Kirby's different abilities. There are only ten available copy abilities to select but you get put into stages and brawl your way out. It's quite fun and there is even a multiplayer option.
The other minigame is Dedede's Drum Dash, which is a rhythm game. You traverse across the screen, tapping the A button in time for Dedede to smash onto the drums to jump higher and collect coins. It is also strangely addictive. The in-game graphics are really nice. Environments are pretty and enemies are animated beautifully. There are no complaints here, Kirby is a great game to look at and has some of the best graphics on the 3DS. Overall, Kirby: Triple Deluxe is a fantastic game. The main story mode is a blast to play and one of the best fun out there. With all the additional content, Triple Deluxe has a lot to offer, while also looking pretty and makes good use of the 3D effect. Triple Deluxe is definitely a must-have for any 3DS owner and is frankly, one of the best games on the system.
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