

The fighting game’s diverting enough, if you want to see Kirby cosplaying as Link and slicing other kirbies up in Smash Brothers-style melees. It’s not all that engaging, can be frustrating, and overall it’s hard to know why Nintendo thought it warranted its own mode: it would have been fine as simply a between level bonus collect-em-up (it’s got classic Kirby tunes though, if that’s your bag). You’ve got to time your jumps in order to get him to collect coins. You’ve got one full platformer, a fun but limited fighting mode and a rhythm action type with King Dedede bouncing along. That indicates that you’ve got three full games to play here, which isn’t really the case. ‘Triple Deluxe’ is a bit of a misnomer, though.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe isn’t going to be the type of game that people go crazy over like, say… Super Mario 3D World, but nor is it a big old snoozy disappointment like Yoshi’s New Island.
