Kirby: Triple Deluxe

Kirby: Triple Deluxe (Hoshi no Kābī: Toripuru Derakkusu, or Kirby of the Stars: Triple Deluxe in Japan) is a Kirby game for the Nintendo 3DS. Kirby: Triple Deluxe was first announced in the October 1, 2013 Nintendo Direct; it was the last thing mentioned. This is the 15th Kirby game and the first for the Nintendo 3DS. It was made available for purchase in retail stores and on Nintendo eShop on January 11th in Japan, but it remains an unreleased title in other countries, with no other release dates being announced to date.

Gameplay
Kirby: Triple Deluxe stays true to classic Kirby games in that the player controls Kirby and the objective is to get to end of the stage by using Copy Abilities. Kirby retains his trademark abilities: the inhale, Star Spit, slide kick, air bullet, and floating. Guarding also returns from the Kirby Super Star games and Kirby's Return to Dream Land. Players can collect stars that have the same function as coins in the Mario series: collecting 100 awards an extra life. Different colors of stars award different star values, a feature returning from ''Return to Dream Land. ''Green stars are worth five, red are worth ten, and blue are worth twenty, while yellow stars are worth one. Like most Kirby games, there is a bonus game at the end of every level that can award stars and recovery items, and Kirby will lose a life if he runs out of health or falls into a bottomless pit. Running out of lives causes the player to experience a Game Over.

The game at the end of the level can also award a key chain, which is a collectible in this game. Players can obtain key chains of classic Kirby sprites in levels and look at them from the world map.

The game has mechanics that are used like a 2.5D platformer, and it appears to run on the engine of Kirby's Return to Dream Land. The physics and graphics are mostly reused from the Wii title, although there is a new feature that lets Kirby move into the foreground and the background with an item similar to the Warp Star, a similar mechanic seen in Donkey Kong Country Returns. This installment takes advantage of the 3DS's 3D technology by frequently having Kirby, projectiles, and other things move toward or away from the screen, an example being seen at the end of a trailer as Kirby gets flattened against the screen. Enemies also can enter Kirby's path from the background and vice versa. Certain new items and abilities allow Kirby to attacks enemies in the background from the foreground and vice versa. One trailer depicts a train resembling a Waddle Dee coming at Kirby from the background.

The game also uses motion controls. During a trailer made specifically to showcase the motion controls, the 3DS can be seen moving, which in turn moves an item that Kirby is using. For example, Kirby could be riding a gondola, and the player tilts the 3DS to move the gondola, or if Kirby is in a bowl of water, the player can tilt the 3DS to pour out the water.

Kirby obtains an ability called Hypernova by touching a bean of some sort, which amplifies his signature inhale exponentially, allowing him to eat things as large as trees, pull large items that are otherwise unmovable, or catch giant projectiles and fire them back. The final battle of this game takes advantage of the gyro controls and Hypernova ability; the player controls Kirby as he shoots flower buds at each other by tilting the 3DS, and the last section of the final boss requires Kirby to suck in and fire back large things like enemies and missiles.

This game is somewhat of a spiritual sequel to Return to Dream Land, and many things return from that game, such as Copy Abilities like Leaf and Whip, and items, like the Cracker and Keys. New mechanics, such as boxes with stars on them that teleport Kirby to other boxes if he steps on them, and glass walls that force Kirby to get rid of his ability when he walks through them, are introduced in this game.

King Dedede is a playable character in this game, but he is unlocked by unknown means. Players can choose to use Dedede and play through the story in an Extra Mode, which seems to be more difficult than the main game, as some enemies are bigger and bosses have "DX" added to the end of their name, implying they are more powerful. Bosses are also colored differently than in the main game. Dedede functions similarly to how he does in Return to Dream Land, with minor changes such as how he can charge his hammer to fire a beam that can cut things like rope and grass. The collectible stars in the main game are replaced by Dedede's symbol: a peace sign that is often mistaken as a rabbit's head, but they function the same way. When playing as Dedede, levels must be completed in one sitting, and times are recorded after doing so. Daranza does not appear in this extra mode, but Dedede still fights Queen Sectonia at Royal Road. Dedede then fights Black Dedede, a dark version of himself, after the latter emerges from the Dimension Mirror, and upon defeating him and entering said mirror, he finds Dark Meta Knight. After defeating him, Dedede destroys the Dimension Mirror and the mode is completed.

This game has two sub-games: Kirby Fighters, where the player chooses a Copy Ability and uses it to battle other Kirbys in various arenas, and Dedede's Drum Dash, where the player controls King Dedede as he bounces on drums to the beat of class Kirby songs and collects coins to earn points. Kirby Fighters is reminiscent of the Super Smash Bros. series, as both that series and the Kirby series were created by Masahiro Sakurai. Kirby Fighters is also multiplayer, but it is unknown whether or not it has online capability, or if more than one person needs a copy of the game in order to access multiplayer.

The Arena also returns from past games, where players choose one ability and use it to defeat as many bosses as they can back-to-back as fast as they can with limited recovery items.

Normal Abilities
Kirby can use all of his basic abilities in the game, like his trademark inhale, slide attack, running, jumping, and floating. Kirby can float for an unlimited amount of time in this game, but he cannot float at all while holding an item such as the Cracker or a Key. Kirby's slide attack still breaks blocks, and by jumping, he can also break blocks from below. He retains his air bullet move as well. Kirby can inhale multiple things at once and spit them back out; the more he inhales, the larger and more destructive the Star Spit will be. Kirby's guard returns from Kirby Super Star, which reduces the damage he takes when holding the guard button. A dodge move can also be performed while guarding, similar to the Super Smash Bros. series.

Copy Abilities
A total of 26 Copy Abilities appear in this game, five of which are new: Beetle, Bell, Circus, Hypernova, and Sniper. Leaf, Whip, and Spear from Kirby's Return to Dream Land return and retain their appearance and move sets from the game. It is unknown thus far whether some returning abilities, such as Needle and Spark, have been changed to fit the Nintendo 3DS's controls.
 * Beam
 * Beetle
 * Bell
 * Bomb
 * Circus
 * Crash
 * Cutter
 * Fighter
 * Fire
 * Hammer
 * Hypernova
 * Ice
 * Leaf
 * Mike
 * Needle
 * Ninja
 * Parasol
 * Sleep
 * Sniper
 * Spark
 * Spear
 * Stone
 * Sword
 * Wing
 * Wheel
 * Whip

King Dedede's Abilities
Dedede controls and functions similarly to how he does in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. In that game, his moveset is nearly identical to that of Hammer Kirby in the same game. Dedede can float and guard, just like in ''Return to Dream Land. Just like Kirby, he can perform a dodge while guarding, a move introduced in Triple Deluxe''. Dedede has a few new moves in this game, like how his neutral attack sends out a shockwave in front of him, and he can charge his hammer to fire out a beam that cuts things like rope and grass.

Main Mode
Kirby travels through six worlds after his home is lifted into the sky into a kingdom known as Floarald by a beanstalk called the World Tree. He follows Daranza, a spider-like creature who kidnaps King Dedede, and eventually defeats Dedede when Daranza possesses him. He then faces a queen bee-like creature named Queen Sectonia, who combines herself with the World Tree and covers Pop Star with vines, and with the help of Daranza, Dedede, and several Floarald inhabitants, defeats her and saves Pop Star and Floarald.

Extra Mode
This mode is unlocked by beating the main game once, and stars King Dedede as the main protagonist and playable character. Dedede's move set is similar to Hammer Kirby and his move set in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, but Dedede can also shoot beams by charging his hammer, create a shockwave with his uncharged hammer attack, and swing his hammer in a circle around himself like Kirby. The sub-game is similar to Meta Knightmare Ultra in that each world is compressed into one sitting that must be completed before Dedede's progress and time can be saved. Like prior extra modes, this sub-game is harder than the main quest, with many changes mirroring those in Kirby's Return to Dream Land's Extra mode. Enemies vary in size in this extra mode and are more numerous than they were before: further, bosses and mid-bosses now have 'DX' at the end of their names, and use a number of new attacks as well as a new color scheme. Finally, the stars from Kirby's game have been replaced by Dedede's trademark peace signs, which serve the same purpose as said stars and give Dedede an extra life if he collects 100 of them.

It is not explained why Dedede is travelling Floarald, since the only reason Kirby was doing so was to save Dedede himself. Daranza does not appear at all in this mode, but Dedede still fights Queen Sectonia DX's first phase at Royal Road, which - in Ex mode - is little more than the boss room. After she is bested, the Dimension Mirror makes a surprise appearance and creates a dark version of Dedede, known as Black Dedede, that promptly attacks the real Dedede. Dedede defeats his counterpart, who shatters into pieces of glass upon defeat, and enters the Dimension Mirror. In a dark alternate dimension-like area, the Dimension Mirror appears again and Dark Meta Knight emerges to confront Dedede for a final battle. Dedede ultimately vanquishes Dark Meta Knight, who is then sucked back into the Mirror. Dedede destroys the Mirror, and the mode is completed.

Kirby Fighters
What is currently known about this sub-game is that players pick one of ten available copy abilities for their Kirby, including the new Sniper ability. From what appears in a gameplay video, computer-controlled players are assigned colors randomly. They can then either play by themselves, or with three other players. When playing with computers, the player progresses through areas, similar to a fighting game such as Street Fighter. It is unknown if maps are chosen when not playing with computers. Rather than actually being fought, Lololo and Lalala, King Dedede, and Kracko are actually part of the map itself. That is, players could be fighting on the Castle Lololo stage (name not certain yet) and Lololo and Lalala come out of their doors to push through anything in their path while the Kirbys still fight each other. A warning sign usually pops up on the screen first, as is the case of King Dedede when playing on his stage, popping up on the bottom right of the screen. His stage is in an arena similar to the one seen in KSS and its remake. It is currently unknown if bosses can be KO'd, however, they can be damaged. The core focus of this game mode is apparently to find out "which Copy Ability is the best". Once a player beats their opposition, the classic "level complete" tune from Kirby's Dream Land plays. The sub-game itself use many classic tunes or remixes.

This minigame is multiplayer, allowing four people to play together. It is unknown if it is an online multiplayer or if it is used via Download Play, or if all players need a copy of the game to play.

Dedede's Drum Dash
Players take the role of Dedede, who bounces on drums to collect coins. Players press the A button to either adjust the height of Dedede's jump, or to cause him to perform an action at the highest point of his jump, awarding points, and they use the control pad to guide Dedede to the right. A significantly larger drum is the last one in the stage and upon bouncing on it correctly, it launches Dedede up off the screen, clearing the stage. There appear to be three difficulties or levels. Players bounce on the drums and also use cymbals to keep a "rhythm" going, that is, a song plays in the background and the player has to keep a beat going with that song. Players can keep the beat to classic Kirby tunes.

The Arena
Players choose one Copy Ability and battle the all of the game's bosses consecutively as fast as they can without dying. In this game's Arena, players are given five Maxim Tomatoes and a choice of two random Copy Abilities between battles, similar to Kirby's Return to Dream Land's Arena. One of the Maxim Tomatoes is in a bubble, like the recovery items in bubbles Bandana Waddle Dee occasionally gives to Kirby in the main game; this allows the player to take the Maxim Tomato into battle and use it whenever they like, similar to how they could carry a box with a Maxim Tomato in it into battle in Return to Dream Land's Arena. After a Maxim Tomato is used, a regular tomato appears in its place the next time the player enters the rest room, which does not respawn after being consumed. Note that returning to the arena has a chance to give Kirby a keychain.

In order to move on to the next boss, players must touch the new Warp Star-like item in order to move from the foreground, where the two random ability pedestals are, to the background, where the five Maxim Tomatoes and the door to progress is. Players fight every boss and mid boss in a random order, only returning to the rest room after the boss has been defeated. Like prior Arena sub-games, the mid-bosses are fought in groups before returning to the rest room; Grand Wheelie, Bonkers, and Helmehorn are fought in one set, while Mr. Frosty, Flame Galboros, Gigant Edge, and Blocky are fought in the other. Masked Dedede and his second form must also be defeated in one sitting before returning to the rest room. Queen Sectonia's third and final form is not fought, but her first and second forms are.

The True Arena
The True Arena also returns in this game, pitting Kirby against the new bosses that King Dedede fights in Extra Mode. This mode is unlocked by beating Extra Mode once. Only 4 normal tomatoes and a single maxim tomato in a bubble appear in this sub-game.

Like the arena, most of the bosses are fought in a random order: like prior True Arena subgames, however, the last few bosses (4 in this case) are fought in a specific order. Queen Sectonia DX's first form is fought first, followed by Black Dedede, Dark Meta Knight, and - for the first time in the game - Queen Sectonia's soul, a blue, zombified version of Sectonia's second form that resulted from Sectonia eating four Hypernova beans after her defeat in the main mode. After Sectonia Soul is defeated the first time, she rips her head and wings out of the wilted World Tree and  engages Kirby in a surprise final battle similar to the battles against Marx Soul and Drawcia's Soul. When the final blow is struck, Sectonia screams and explodes into a shower of blue petals, finishing the True Arena and ending her threat for good. 2

Levels

 * Fine Field
 * Lollipop Land
 * Old Odyssey
 * Wild World
 * Ever Explosion
 * Royal Road
 * Eternal Dream Land

Story
After a day of fishing, flying, and relaxing, a massive beanstalk known as the World Tree lifts Kirby's house high above the ground one night while he is sleeping. When he wakes up the next day, Kirby realizes his house isn't on the ground anymore, instead being in the air in the mysterious kingdom known as Floarald. He runs out of his house and falls onto a part of the beanstalk, and spots King Dedede's castle above him, which was also lifted by the beanstalk. He climbs the beanstalk to reach the castle, and spots a spider-like creature named Daranza entering the castle. Kirby curiously follows Daranza and watches as it easily dispatches many of Dedede's Waddle Dee guards and proceeds to capture Dedede, surrounding him in a strange purple aura. Daranza breaks through Dedede's glass ceiling and ascends the beanstalk with him in tow, with Kirby following close behind.

Daranza winds up directly or indirectly prompting all of the bosses which Kirby must fight in-game. Prior to Royal Road, when Kirby catches up to Daranza, he either aggravates an enemy, or animates it with spider web-esque magic so as to stall him. Using his magic, he turned a flower into Whispy Flowers, turned a cloud into Kracko, and brought a stone Toge Ro Gararga to life. On the other hand, he moved Paintcia's drawing and threw a rock at Vorugeromu, prompting them both to attack Kirby. In Royal Road, Kirby enters several of what seem to be alternate dimensions and rescues some of Florald's inhabitants, who then help him find Daranza's hideout. Upon entering said hideout - a structure reminiscent of a castle - Kirby finds Daranza, who, rather than running, briefly explains his plans to Kirby before taking complete control of Dedede, turning him into his masked form, and then forcing him to fight Kirby. Kirby defeats Dedede, breaking his hammer and part of his mask in the process, but Daranza enhances his powers still further, causing Dedede's robes to turn purple. Dedede grabs an axe and confronts Kirby once more. In spite of this, Dedede is defeated again and what remains of his mask is destroyed.

After Daranza fails to awaken Dedede, he summons a large queen bee-like creature named Queen Sectonia. Sectonia immediately attacks Daranza, sending him flying out of the castle and into the sky, before attacking Kirby. During the battle, Sectonia summons smaller bee-like creatures to assist her, and attacks with a variety of highly potent magical attacks, many of which involve crystals. Kirby defeats Sectonia, and celebrates with a now-awake Dedede, but Sectonia rises again and combines herself with the World Tree, transforming into a massive flower-like monster. Under her control, the World Tree's vines begin to grow explosively, covering the castle Kirby and Dedede are in and wrapping around Pop Star itself. As Kirby and Dedede panic, the Floarald inhabitants that Kirby previously saved appear with a cannon-like device that Kirby and Dedede then use to combat the vines. Dedede repeatedly shoots Kirby at flowers on the vines, weakening them and creating an opening to Queen Sectonia that Dedede fires Kirby into.

Kirby ascends the World Tree, and battles and defeats Sectonia a second time. Kirby again begins to celebrate, but a vine grabs Kirby by the foot and captures him as Sectonia reemerges. Just then, a Daranza appears with Dedede in tow, ready to help. Daranza throws Dedede at Kirby, and Dedede smacks Kirby free with his hammer. Dedede then throws Kirby at Daranza, who throws the Hypernova Bean at Kirby, giving Kirby his Hypernova ability. Kirby confronts Sectonia once more, who uses the buds on her vines to fire missiles at Kirby and shield herself. Kirby inhales the buds and shoots them at each other until all four are destroyed. Sectonia makes a last ditch attempt to defeat Kirby by firing an enormous beam at him, only for Kirby to inhale the beam and send it back at her, destroying her for the third and final time.[1].

Sectonia's vines rapidly disintegrate, freeing Pop Star and causing Kirby to fall from the sky. Two Floarald inhabitants catch him in the air while the other four catch Kirby's home and Daranza catches Dedede. Daranza explains something to Kirby, and they all admire Floarald while flower petals fall from the sky.

Announcement History
The first trailer was shown during a Nintendo Direct presentation on October 1, 2013, and the game was unveiled by Satoru Iwata. On November 14, 2013, the title for the game in North America was revealed to be Kirby: Triple Deluxe. The next day, on November 15, 2013, a teaser site was revealed in Japan and the release date for the game in Japan was announced. The game was slated for release on January 11, 2014 in Japan, with a TBA 2014 release window for North America and Europe.

On December 18, 2013, Nintendo revealed two new copy abilities, Circus and Sniper, and the new modes, Kirby Fighters and Dedede's Drum Dash, via Nintendo Direct.

The game saw its Japanese release on January 11, 2014. It is currently unknown when the game will be released in other regions.

Main Game

 * Kirby
 * King Dedede
 * Daranza
 * Queen Sectonia
 * Floarald inhabitants
 * Bandana Waddle Dee
 * Black Dedede (Extra mode)
 * Dark Meta Knight (Extra mode)

Sub-Games

 * Rick
 * Coo
 * Kine
 * Shadow Kirby (possibly different than the one found in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.)

Confirmed Playable Characters

 * Kirby
 * King Dedede

Confirmed Enemies
In the last level, Royal Road, many common enemies are replaced by different looking enemies that function the same, similar to the last two levels in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

Normal Enemies

 * Barbar
 * Big Waddle Dee (some with skis and/or what resembles brown fur)
 * Birdon
 * Blade Knight
 * Blipper
 * Bomber
 * Bouncy
 * Bronto Burt
 * Broom Hatter
 * Cappy
 * Carry Dee
 * Chilly
 * Chip
 * Como
 * Craby
 * Degout
 * Flamer
 * Foley
 * Giant Gordo
 * Glunk
 * Gordo
 * Grizzo
 * Hot Head
 * Kabu
 * Knuckle Joe
 * Lanzer
 * Leafan
 * Mumbies
 * Noddy
 * Pacto
 * Parasol (enemy)
 * Parasol Waddle Dee
 * Pierce
 * Poppy Bros. Jr.
 * Rocky
 * Scarfy
 * Search
 * Sheld
 * Shotzo
 * Sir Kibble
 * Soarar
 * Sparky
 * Sodory
 * Squishy
 * Tick
 * Tsukikage
 * Waddle Dee (some with skis)
 * Waddle Doo
 * Walky
 * Wheelie Bike
 * Whippy
 * UFO (post-level bonus game)
 * Unnamed beetle enemy
 * Unnamed bell enemy
 * Unnamed clown enemy
 * Unnamed archer enemy
 * Unnamed one-eyed ghost enemy
 * Unnamed ghost with a skull face
 * Unnamed ghost that can possess items
 * Unnamed golden cobra-like enemy that spits fire
 * Unnamed one-eyed Gordo-like enemy
 * Unnamed enemy resembling Kabu and Grumples
 * Unnamed ray enemy that resembles Blipper
 * Unnamed enemies that bear a ressemblence to Bullet Bills of the Mario franchise

Enemies That Require the Use of the Hypernova Ability

 * Unnamed giant eel enemy
 * Unnamed bug enemy which hides in tree trunks
 * Unnamed large ghost that possesses items
 * Unnamed giant mole enemy that throws Star Blocks (comes in yellow/orange, red, and purple variations)
 * Unnamed giant bird enemy (comes in blue, green, and purple variations)
 * Four unnamed dragon-like enemies with shields

Confirmed Mid-bosses

 * Blocky
 * Helmehorn
 * Mr. Frosty
 * Grand Wheelie
 * Gigant Edge
 * Bonkers
 * Flame Galboros

Bosses

 * Whispy Flowers (Fine Field)
 * Paintcia (Lollipop Land)
 * Kracko (Old Odyssey)
 * Toge Ro Gararga (Wild World)
 * Vorugeromu (Ever Explosion)
 * Masked Dedede (Royal Road)
 * Queen Sectonia (Eternal Dream Land)
 * Black Dedede (Royal Road Extra Mode)
 * Dark Meta Knight (Final boss of Extra Mode)
 * Shadow Kirby (Kirby Fighters, possibly different than the one found in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror)

Trivia

 * The Japanese box art for Kirby: Triple Deluxe depicts Kirby inhaling. This makes it the second game in the series to show Kirby's suction ability on the cover -- the first is the international box art for Kirby's Adventure.
 * This is also the first Kirby game to feature an angry-looking Kirby on the Japanese box art, as the expression is mostly used on American box arts.
 * The title references the 3D focus of this game; 'Triple' is derived from the number 3, and the 'Deluxe' can be shortened to its first letter, D. When put together, the title literally becomes "Kirby 3D".
 * During the new Hypernova ability's transformation, the pink and red colors of Kirby's body burst off of him.
 * Paintcia is an homage to Drawcia, the main antagonist of Kirby: Canvas Curse. Besides looking very similar, both are born out of a painting, both draw enemies and other hazards, and both are forced back into their painting upon defeat: they even share the same high-pitched cackle. One of Paintcia's attacks involve her using painted versions of Landia as an attack.
 * The background music in the first part of the trailer depicting the features of the Nintendo 3DS Gyroscope is possibly a remix of the unused theme from Kirby's Dream Land 2.
 * In the Japanese commercial and Overview Trailer, Kirby is shown to be able to interact with the environment, for example, using the Sword Copy Ability to cut down grass, a returning feature from Kirby: Squeak Squad.
 * Players can collect sprites of classic Kirby foes, allies, etc. in the form of key chains in levels and look at them from the world map in a gallery. These unlockables can also be awarded if the player succeeds at the post-level bonus game.
 * The first letters of all the levels in order, excluding Eternal Dream Land, spell FLOWER, a reference to Queen Sectonia's final form.
 * This is the fifth Kirby game where the first letters of the stages create an acronym, the first one being Kirby's Adventure, where they spell VIBGYOR (ROYGBIV in reverse, which is used to remember the colors of the rainbow), the second being  Kirby: Canvas Curse  where they spell RAINBOW, the third being  Kirby's Return to Dream Land , where they spell CROWNED, and the fourth being Kirby's Dream Collection's Challenge stages,where they spell HAL
 * This is the second game where the acronym is a direct reference to a major villain that is only seen at the end of the game, the first being Kirby's Return to Dream Land.