Kirby: Triple Deluxe is a platformer displayed in a 2.5D perspective. Some enemy attacks also emanate from the background. Kirby can eat a rainbow-colored Miracle Fruit to become Hypernova Kirby, which allows him to inhale extremely large objects. Bandana Waddle Dee also throws Assist Stars at Kirby, which, by pressing the Y button, can heal Kirby.
New copy abilities include Beetle, which allows Kirby to use a Japanese rhinoceros beetle's horn to impale enemies, slam them on the ground, or carry them around; Bell, which lets Kirby wield twin bells, use them as a shield, and attack with sound waves; Archer, which lets Kirby fire arrows and use fake trees and boulders to avoid enemy attacks; and Circus, which allows Kirby to ride on a giant rolling ball to bowl over enemies, juggle flaming bowling pins to attack enemies above him and use exploding balloon animals as weapons. At least 20 copy abilities from previous games return, including Wheel, which was absent from Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
Two new subgames are Kirby Fighters, a Super Smash Bros. style fighting game where the player can customize their own Kirby and give him one of ten copy abilities to battle other Kirbys in stages based on levels from previous Kirby games; and Dedede's Drum Dash, a rhythm game starring King Dedede, who jumps on drums while avoiding enemies and collecting coins to the tune of classic Kirby songs. The main game is single player only. Players can also find and collect keychains which depict characters from previous Kirby games.
After the main story mode is completed, players unlock an extra mode called Dededetour, featuring King Dedede as the playable character. In this mode, all of the bosses are replaced by their "DX" counterparts, who sport different color schemes, are more powerful, and have new attacks. At the end of this mode, Dedede fights Shadow Dedede and Dark Meta Knight, who are King Dedede's and Meta Knight's evil clones from the Mirror World.
