Kirby games are rarely rough around the edges, but this is positively slick - polished to the sheen you'd normally associate with the best first-party games. The fluidity is really quite something: it runs at a consistent 60 frames per second, even with the 3D on.

It helps that it's as bright and colourful a game as you're ever likely to see, and while the enemy design isn't particularly inventive - bosses aside - their animations are smooth and full of character. The upshot is that, while Triple Deluxe's art style isn't as distinctive as, say, Epic Yarn, its levels are more visually interesting. It's doing one or more of these things all the time. But the total absence of subtlety or restraint is strangely infectious. There's nothing especially exciting about Kirby grabbing warp stars to move between layers, and enemies similarly shifting between planes, though the effect is very nicely done. It isn't the first 3DS game to have objects rattling from background to foreground, to make it appear they're coming out at the viewer. This isn't the first 3DS game to squash enemies - or its protagonist, for that matter - against the screen, like a toddler pulling silly faces against a glass window. You'll have seen most of these visual tricks before, but you can sense the enthusiasm of HAL's artists and level designers in the way they're employed. Either way, they're dynamic and well-staged. You probably won't die on the boss fights, but you might come close during one or two.

So tough luck if you own a 2DS, or you're one of the 12% who can't see 3D properly: Triple Deluxe is a demonstrably better game when you push that slider all the way up.

Recently, of course, Nintendo's been trying to downplay the importance of what was first pitched as the 3DS console's main point of interest, but HAL was evidently having too much fun with the possibilities of autostereoscopy to listen. Happily, there is plenty going on in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, and it starts with the use of 3D. If, however, you don't happen to mind easy games as long as they've got enough going on elsewhere to compensate, then read on. Triple Deluxe has its moments, but the kind of player who believes that the greatest rewards come from conquering the steepest hurdles probably won't be tickled pink. The same caveat applies to just about every mainline Kirby game, but it's worth repeating for those who've never had the pleasure of his company: if you're looking for a challenge, you've come to the wrong place.

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