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 the Nintendo Game Boy.

Since then he's been a fixture in Nintendo's canon of heroes, right alongside Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong. The latest game, Kirby Planet Robobot for the 3DS portable system, is more of the same. Thankfully, that means more finely tuned 2D platforming, a gaggle of superpowers and an undeniable sense of fun.

Kirby's signature ability is his insatiable appetite. 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 titular Robobot (yes, that's spelled with two bo's), a bipedal mech that Kirby can commandeer from the enemy. Its bulk causes even more mayhem than you can on your own, but it also bestows an entirely new category of powers. Think of them as Kirby's powers but overclocked. 

Some of them are genuinely surprising — the Jet power, for example, turns the Robobot into a fighter aircraft, as the level morphs into a side-scrolling shooter like R-Type.

The Robobot doesn'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 other platform games, and Planet Robobot is no exception. It's probably even easier than usual, since the Robobot allows players to run roughshod over everything in their path.

But while some hardcore gamers may scoff at the series, it's the playfulness and flexibility that stand 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 in platformers over the decades, but the 3DS's capabilities make it pop in a way a traditional screen can't.

Steampunk scenery

Planet Robobot's antagonists, a corporate invasion force called the Haltmann Works Company, add a faint political tone to the series' normal playfulness. The company is set 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 colonist attitude to the natives.

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

The main quest isn't especially long — you'll be able to blast through it during a lazy afternoon — but added modes like a boss rush and another starring Kirby's Batman-like rival Meta Knight will provide some extra crunch for purists.

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