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. This is the 23rd 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, 2014, in Japan and in North America on May 2, 2014. It was released in Europe on May 16th, 2014 and May 17th in Australia.

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, and a new dodge move can be performed while guarding (or when guarding in mid-air). The game features stars that can be collected throughout levels, collecting 100 of them awards an extra life. Different colors and sizes award different star values, a feature returning from Kirby's Return to Dream Land. Green stars are worth five, red are worth ten, blue are worth twenty, and yellow stars are worth one. Kirby will lose a life if he runs out of health or falls into a bottomless pit, and running out of lives causes the player to experience a Game Over. Doors and food items, like Invincibility Candy and 1UPs, return. Bandana Waddle Dee occasionally provides Kirby with a random Assist Star, which is stored on the touch screen and can be used at any time.

Like most Kirby games, there is a bonus game at the end of every level that can award stars and recovery items. It can also award a Keychain, which is a collectible in this game. Players can obtain keychains of classic Kirby sprites in levels and look at them from the world map or the main menu screen. Sun Stones are also a collectible and a new item in this game. There are one to five of them are hidden in each level, and a certain amount need to be collected in order to unlock the boss level in each world, and in turn, complete the world.

The game is a 2.5D platformer, with playable characters moving on a 2-dimensional plane in a 3D environment. The physics and graphics are mostly reused from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, although there is a new feature that lets Kirby move into the foreground and the background using a 3D Warpstar. This installment takes advantage of the 3DS's 3D technology by frequently having Kirby, projectiles, enemies, and obstacles move toward or away from the screen, an example being the Springy Hand that will flatten Kirby against the screen if it hits him. Enemies also can enter Kirby's path from the background and foreground. Certain new items and abilities allow Kirby to attack enemies in the background from the foreground and vice versa, as well.

The game also uses the 3DS's motion controls. When Kirby comes across certain obstacles, the player can use it by tilting the 3DS. 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 can also obtain a new ability, called Hypernova, by touching a Miracle Fruit. It greatly increase the power of his inhale ability, allowing him to inhale things as large as trees; pull large items that are otherwise unmovable; or catch giant projectiles and fire them back.

This game is somewhat of a spiritual sequel to Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and many concepts return from it, 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.

Completing the main game unlocks Dededetour mode, in which the main game can be replayed as King Dedede in a manner similar to Meta Knightmare Ultra.

This game features two new sub-games, Kirby Fighters and Dedede's Drum Dash. In Kirby Fighters, the player chooses a Copy Ability and uses it to battle other Kirbys in various arenas, some of which hold references to past Kirby titles, and Dedede's Drum Dash, where the player controls King Dedede as he bounces on drums to the beat of classic 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 also features a four-player multiplayer mode, and works with Download Play.

The Arena and The True Arena also return 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 a key. Kirby's slide attack still breaks blocks, and by jumping, he can also break blocks from below, similar to Mario in his eponymous series. 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, another returning move, 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. All returning abilities retain their appearance and most of their movesets from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, excluding Wheel, as this ability did not appear in the Wii title.

King Dedede's Abilities
Dedede controls and functions similarly to how he does in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, in which his move set 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, such as his neutral attack sending out a shock wave in front of him, and his ability to charge his hammer to fire out a beam that cuts things like rope and grass.

Main Mode
After his home is lifted into the sky by a beanstalk called the Dreamstalk, Kirby travels through the six floating islands of a kingdom known as Floralia in pursuit of Taranza, a spider-like foe who has King Dedede captive. After saving Floralia's inhabitants, the People of the Sky, Kirby catches up to Taranza and defeats Dedede after Taranza brainwashes the king. Taranza summons his bee-like master, Queen Sectonia, who dispatches Taranza before attacking Kirby. Kirby defeats the evil queen as well, but she then combines herself with the Dreamstalk and threatens to cover Floralia, Dream Land, and all of Planet Popstar with vines in order to use the planet as her eternal sustenance. With the help of Dedede, the People of the Sky, and even Taranza, Kirby defeats Sectonia again and saves Floralia.

Dededetour (Extra Mode)
Dededetour 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 his move set in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, but Dedede can now shoot a beam by charging his hammer, and create a shock wave with his uncharged hammer attack when at full health. This mode is similar to Meta Knightmare Ultra in that each world is compressed into one sitting that must be completed before the player's progress and time can be saved and recorded. Like prior Extra Modes, this mode is more difficult than the main quest, with many changes mirroring Kirby's Return to Dream Land. Many enemies appear larger and are more numerous than they were before. Bosses and mid-bosses now have "DX" (meaning "Deluxe") at the end of their names, use a number of new attacks, and have alternate color schemes. All sections requiring the Hypernova ability in the main quest are skipped by Dedede, as Dedede cannot access that ability, or any at all. Finally, the stars from the main mode have been replaced by Dedede's trademark peace signs, which serve the same purpose as said stars, and Sun Stones do not appear in this mode.

Kirby Fighters
In this sub-game, players pick one of ten available Copy Abilities for their Kirby, including the new Archer ability. CPUs are always available as opponents, but the game also features a multiplayer mode. Items are included to aid players/CPUs in battle. There are seven available stages: Fine Fields, Castle Lololo, Bubbly Clouds, Coo's Forest, Dedede Arena, Factory Tour, and Another Dimension; an eighth selection, Random (which simply selects a random stage), is also available, depending on the mode. Rather than actually being directly fought, characters like Lololo & Lalala, King Dedede, and Kracko are merely hazards of their respective arenas that will occasionally appear. Bosses can be defeated if they take enough damage, however. All throughout the game, once a player defeats his/her opposition, the classic "level complete" tune from Kirby's Dream Land plays. The sub-game itself uses many classic tunes or remixes, as well as the presence of old foes, friends, and stages. Items from previous games return, such as the Mint Leaf and Cracker; new items, like the Timer Dynamite, and 1-time throwable Gordos (each enlarged Gordo functioning mainly as a barricade) are also introduced. There are three modes included: Single Player, Multiplayer, and Training.

Kirby Fighters Deluxe
Kirby Fighters Deluxe is an upgraded version of Kirby Fighters sold as a stand-alone eShop title. It includes new stages, a more advanced single player mode (including boss battles against Kracko and a team consisting of King Dedede and several miniature copies), team battles, a new item, and mouth-to-mouth. It also grants the new Beetle and Bell abilities, as well as the Waddle Dee Train Tracks stage, if the player owns a copy of Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

Dedede's Drum Dash
Players take the role of King Dedede, who bounces on drums and collects coins. Players press the A button when landing on a drum to increase the height of their jump, and consecutive jumps are higher. When King Dedede reaches the peak of the jump, players can press the A button again to perform a backbeat. Collecting coins and keeping the beat awards more points. 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 are four songs of increasing difficulty, one being unlockable after mastering the previous three.

Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe
Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe is an upgraded version of Dedede's Drum Dash and sold as a stand-alone eShop title. It includes newer, more difficult stages. The player can unlock masks for Dedede to wear, but most of them (Kirby, Meta Knight, Waddle Dee, and Taranza) require the player to own Kirby: Triple Deluxe.

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 an Assist Star; 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 Kirby's 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. Treasure chests containing keychains occasionally appear upon returning to the rest room.

The True Arena
The True Arena also returns in this game, pitting Kirby against the DX bosses that King Dedede fights in Dededetour. This mode is unlocked by beating Extra Mode once. Only four normal tomatoes and a single Maxim Tomato in an Assist Star are available in the rest room.

Story
After a day of fishing, flying, and relaxing, a massive beanstalk called the Dreamstalk 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 Floralia. 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 Taranza entering the castle. Kirby curiously follows Taranza 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. Taranza breaks through Dedede's glass ceiling and ascends the Dreamstalk with him in tow, with Kirby following close behind.

One way or another, Taranza prompts all of Kirby's boss battles. Prior to Royal Road, when Kirby catches up to Taranza, 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 Flowery Woods, turned a cloud into Kracko, and brought a stone Coily Rattler to life. On the other hand, he moved Paintra's drawing and threw a rock at Pyribbit, prompting them both to attack Kirby.

In Royal Road, Kirby enters several of what seem to be alternate dimensions and rescues The People of the Sky who are imprisoned there, who then help him find Taranza's hideout. Upon entering said hideout - a structure reminiscent of a castle - Kirby finds Taranza, who, rather than running, notes Kirby on his persistence. He vaguely states that he saw right through the People of the Sky's plan and assumes Kirby followed him in order to save "the hero of the lower world". Taranza then says he'll give Kirby his hero back (albeit "a bit more hostile"), and takes complete control of Dedede, turning him into his Masked form, and forcing him to fight Kirby. Kirby defeats Dedede, breaking his hammer and part of his mask in the process, but Taranza 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, and Taranza's control over the king dissipates.

Taranza approaches and unconscious Dedede, confused as to how Kirby defeated them, as he did just as his master ordered. He considers Kirby to be the true hero of Dream Land, and summons his master, Queen Sectonia, to save him from suffering the same fate as Dedede. Sectonia, displeased by Taranza's failure to follow her orders (she ordered him to kidnap Dream Land's hero, Kirby, and instead he kidnapped Dedede, who he mistook as Dream Land's hero), immediately blasts him out of the castle and into the sky, before attacking Kirby. Kirby defeats the evil queen, and begins to celebrates with a now-awake Dedede. However, Queen Sectonia rises again and combines herself with the Dreamstalk. Under her control, the Dreamstalk's vines begin to grow explosively, covering Floralia, Dream Land, and even Popstar itself. As Kirby and Dedede panic, the People of the Sky 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 Dreamstalk, 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 rises for a third time. Just then, Taranza appears with Dedede in tow, ready to help. Taranza throws Dedede at Kirby, and Dedede smacks Kirby free with his hammer. Dedede throws a KO'd Kirby at Taranza, who throws a Miracle Fruit at Kirby, giving Kirby his Hypernova ability and filling him with life. 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, negating Sectonia the ability to create a shield. 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 seemingly final time.

Sectonia's vines rapidly disintegrate, freeing Popstar and causing Kirby and Dedede to fall from the sky. The People of the Sky catch Kirby and his home and Taranza catches Dedede. It is explained that although the Dreamstalk did not directly bring Kirby to Floralia's rescue, Kirby ended up saving the People of the Sky regardless, thanks to Taranza kidnapping Dedede and Kirby attempting to save the king, as well as Taranza and Dedede's help in Eternal Dreamland: "The Dreamstalk works in mysterious ways."

Main Game

 * Kirby
 * King Dedede
 * Taranza
 * Queen Sectonia
 * The People of the Sky
 * Bandana Waddle Dee

Sub-games

 * Rick
 * Coo
 * Kine
 * Shadow Kirby

Playable Characters

 * Kirby
 * King Dedede
 * Colored Kirbys (Kirby Fighters)

Mid-bosses

 * Blocky (DX)
 * Bonkers (DX)
 * Flame Galboros (DX)
 * Gigant Edge (DX)
 * Grand Wheelie (DX)
 * Hornhead (DX)
 * Mr. Frosty (DX)

Bosses

 * Flowery Woods (DX)
 * Paintra (DX)
 * Kracko (DX)
 * Coily Rattler (DX)
 * Pyribbit (DX)
 * Masked Dedede and Masked Dedede's Revenge
 * Queen Sectonia (DX)
 * Shadow Dedede
 * Dark Meta Knight's Revenge
 * Soul of Sectonia
 * Shadow Kirby (Kirby Fighters)
 * Team DDD (Kirby Fighters Deluxe)

Obstacles

 * Furnace Bot
 * Flame Garaga
 * Springy Hand
 * Waddle Dee Train

Reception
By the end of 2014, the game had sold 687,957 copies in Japan. In North America, the game had sold over 360,000 copies as of December of 2014. As of the end of December 2014, the game has cumulative worldwide sales of 1.70 million.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe has received acclaim from players. The game holds an average of 80 on Metacritic based on 67 reviews and an 80.63% rating on GameRankings. GameSpot gave it a score of 8/10, praising the controls, level design, music, graphics, use of 3D technology, and lasting appeal. Polygon gave it a 7.5/10, praising its innovative level design but criticizing the overall aesthetics as "simple" and "drab" as compared to earlier games in the series. Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4/5, describing Kirby: Triple Deluxe as "one of the best handheld iterations in the beloved Nintendo franchise."

Unlike other reviewers, however, IGN's Jose Otero gave the game a 6/10 score, praising its boss battles and use of the 3D technology while strongly criticizing its low difficulty.

Trivia

 * Kirby: Triple Deluxe ' s opening was designed with Kirby Super Star ' s ending in mind, allowing it to pick up after the events of Milky Way Wishes.
 * The 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 North 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".
 * 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.
 * The first letters of all the levels in order, including Eternal Dreamland, spell F-L-O-W-E-R-E-D, a reference to the final boss's last form.
 * This is the fifth instance in the Kirby series where the first letters of the stages create an acronym; the other four are in Kirby's Adventure, Kirby: Canvas Curse, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition.
 * 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.
 * This is the first game to use gyro controls since Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble.
 * Subtle changes were made between the Japanese and North American box arts. The most notable of these changes (besides the title and ESRB ratings) was the removal of Shotzo from the cover. This may have been done for censorship reasons, as the Shotzo on the Japanese cover is depicted shooting at the viewer. The European box art is left unchanged, however.
 * The built-in Nintendo 3DS game StreetPass Mii Plaza ' s Puzzle Swap contains a puzzle panel for Kirby: Triple Deluxe.
 * Two recurring motifs of Kirby: Triple Deluxe are flowers and faces; many inanimate objects and pieces of scenery are made to look like they have two eyes and a mouth.
 * Once the game is beaten, the flowers on the Dreamstalk on the title screen bloom; once Dededetour is beaten, King Dedede is seen floating in the background; and finally once the game is completed 100%, Hypernova Kirby is seen walking on the Dreamstalk instead of the normal Kirby.
 * The game's title could be a homage to Kirby Super Star ' s, as Kirby Super Star is known in Japan as "Kirby of the Stars: Super Deluxe."
 * Kirby: Triple Deluxe was the first Kirby game to not be packaged with a physical instruction manual. It includes a digital manual instead.
 * In the Japanese version of Kirby: Triple Deluxe, the words "and more..." appear after the credits end. This is a reference to Milky Way Wishes's credits in Kirby Super Star (Japanese version only) and Kirby Super Star Ultra, which show the same words at the end. When Kirby: Triple Deluxe was localized in North America, the words were changed to "The End."
 * Kirby: Triple Deluxe consists of more than 100 different types of enemies (including bosses) and more than 300 rooms (excluding rest areas such as in The Arena), while Kirby's Return to Dream Land consisted of only about 280 rooms (excluding those in special modes).