The level design is varied and creative at times, there's plenty of different optional objectives to round out each level, and there's voluntary difficulty in meeting target times for the bite-sized challenges scattered around. Mouthful mode makes up for the limited number of copy abilities by being an extension of the power-up system with some objects giving Kirby atypical actions.
Not everything made a smooth transition to 3D, though. Some copy abilities felt too oversimplified, and some just do not feel as good as others in a 3D environment. The simplicity of Kirby's shape makes his direction hard to gauge, making quick aiming of abilities difficult. This mostly shows in the time attack challenges where one miss can mean not meeting the time.
Overall, I was impressed by the game after the demo left a bad taste. For better and for worse, it's a direct translation of Kirby into 3D. It's a little derivative, but after how uninspired Star Allies was this game restored my faith in the series and builds a promising foundation for Kirby's future.
Not everything made a smooth transition to 3D, though. Some copy abilities felt too oversimplified, and some just do not feel as good as others in a 3D environment. The simplicity of Kirby's shape makes his direction hard to gauge, making quick aiming of abilities difficult. This mostly shows in the time attack challenges where one miss can mean not meeting the time.
Overall, I was impressed by the game after the demo left a bad taste. For better and for worse, it's a direct translation of Kirby into 3D. It's a little derivative, but after how uninspired Star Allies was this game restored my faith in the series and builds a promising foundation for Kirby's future.