Kirby: Planet Robobot is Nintendo at its whimsical best

Kirby, the sentient, marshmallow-like creature who can eat anything and anyone in his path,has been around since 1992, when he first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land for theNintendoGame Boy.

Since then he's been a fixture inNintendo'scanon of heroes, right alongsideMario,Zeldaand Donkey Kong. The latest game,Kirby PlanetRobobotfor the 3DS portable system, is more of the same.Thankfully, that means more finely tuned 2Dplatforming, a gaggle of superpowers and an undeniable sense of fun.

Kirby's signature ability is his insatiableappetite. Press the B button and he'll open his giant, void-like mouth and inhale anything in his path. He can absorb several enemies' powers, letting him swing a sword, spit fire or ice, and so on.

The big addition this time around is the titularRobobot(yes, that's spelled with twobo's), a bipedalmechthat Kirby can commandeer from the enemy. Its bulkcauses even more mayhem than you can on your own, but it also bestows an entirely new category of powers. Think of themas Kirby's powers butoverclocked.

Some of them are genuinely surprising the Jet power, for example, turns theRobobotinto a fighter aircraft, as the level morphsinto aside-scrolling shooterlikeR-Type.

TheRobobotdoesn't reinvent the series'gameplay, it merely expands on it, adding some freshness to the proceedings without feeling out of place.

Easy isn't a bad thing

Kirby games have always been easier than most otherplatformgames, andPlanetRobobotis no exception. It's probably even easier than usual, since theRobobotallows players to run roughshod over everything in their path.

But while somehardcoregamers may scoff at the series, it's the playfulness and flexibilitythatstand out.

Everything about Kirby's world and the way he plays is full of whimsy and fun. Its strength is in its lack of challenge. It invites you to try out new powers and new ways to play, even as it throws carefully crafted environmental puzzles at a regular pace.

The handheld's 3D capabilities add depth to the playground as well, and you'll often travel between a stage's foreground and background, manipulating elements in one to clear a path in the other. It's an old trick seen inplatformersover the decades, but the3DS'scapabilities make it pop in a way a traditional screen can't.

Steampunkscenery

PlanetRobobot'santagonists, a corporate invasion force called theHaltmannWorks Company, add a faint political tone to the series' normalplayfulness.The company isset to extracting the natural resources of Kirby's home world, mechanizing the landscape in the process. Its buttoned-down president goes about his business with a condescending colonistattitude to the natives.

It's anunusual turn that only shows up in a few briefcutscenes, but sets the stage for an absolutely bonkers final boss sequence that I won't spoil for fans (who can find it onYouTubeif they want).

The main quest isn't especially long you'll be able to blast through it duringa lazy afternoonbut added modes like a boss rush and another starring Kirby'sBatman-likerivalMetaKnight will provide some extra crunch for purists.

A final note, though: thrifty gamers worried by the $50 price tagcan grab most of Kirby's back cataloguefor only a few dollars apiece onNintendo'sVirtual Console archives. They still play as well now as when they first hit stores, so you might want to start there instead.