Yep, though Return made great strides modernizing classic Kirby and is still a very good game.
A part of the reason is that Hypernova stomps all over the Super Abilities. And to think I was kind of scared that Hypernova would be a bad thing before I started playing this game, just based on my experience with the Supers. Those were a misstep, especially in multi.
They're what I'd consider the weakest points of both games with an emphasis on spectacle.
I want to say there's more variety with the super abilities since there was a few different ones but even then most were pretty one note across the board. Hypernova gets used in more interesting ways than any super ability especially in later stages and swallowing trains is just plain fun to watch, but then there's that other moments where you're just kind of holding down the button waiting for the suction scene to end, as amusing to watch as some of these visual moments can be I can't imagine the novelty holds up as much on replays, by comparison most super abilities at least got done with things a bit quicker.
I guess you could say the hypernova highs are higher* but the lows are lower. Super ability sections also ended with the powerless challenge areas that added some balance to the sections which I missed having an equivalent to here.
*exception being the final boss of RTD.
I thought it was implimented decently enough, though resetting it every now and then was tiring.
Of all the 3DS gyro usage I've come across this one felt pretty high on my finicky meter either tilting too little or too much, what they ask you to do with the gyro is mostly fine but never anything that made me think it was anything particularly noteworthy.
And after Wind Waker HD had done such a good job in convincing me of gyro worth it's quickly come crashing back down.
This actually leads me onto another small step back. I figure that since RTD already tackled most of the various abilities in puzzle like rooms Triple Deluxe tries to not retread the same ground which led to a number of the puzzle rooms being variations on a previous puzzle based upon the games new elements like how you shoot the arrow through the gap, gyro tilt the water jug/weights/blocks with flammable rope 2 or 3 times each. Aside from the repetition I just don't think the gyro rooms were as good and there's less of a push for using the whole ability lineup as you progress through the game.
I finished it last night. While I enjoyed the game, I feel like it borrowed too many elements from other Nintendo platformers, giving the game an identity crisis of sorts. I also hated how the final world was basically a boss rush, which is lazy game design and one of my biggest pet peeves in gaming. Still, it's worth checking out.
I know you mentioned previously in the thread that some elements seemed like they were cribbing from other Nintendo platformers but Kirby's had his own barrel cannons since the SNES days.
The Mario collectables comparison does share the same angle where the more puzzling or skill requiring moments are based around the nabbing of collectables but that's pretty much par the course for the genre I'd say and Kirby handles it in a way that compliments the games copy ability dynamic. Basically I still think it feels distinctly Kirby like and stands out on its own.
Boss rush was a bit much though, even by expected Kirby standards it never felt quite as deflating as it did here.
