Kirby And The Rainbow Curse Ad Introduces a World of Clay

Compared to the likes of Star Fox, Splatoon and particularly Zelda, Kirby And The Rainbow Curse could be seen as a bit of an underdog when it comes to Nintendo's big releases for 2015. But there's something so airy and carefree about the Kirby games that we can't help looking forward to them - and it's heartening to see that Hal Laboratory are continuing to find new twists on the little pink character's side-scrolling adventures.

Kirby And The Rainbow Curse is a Wii U sequel to the 2005 DS game Kirby: Canvas Curse, where Kirby's guided by drawing a path for him to roll along across the screen. This time, that mechanic is joined by a range of additional features, including Kirby's old ability to shapeshift into different vehicles.

The jump to Wii U also allows for some greatly improved graphics; this time, HAL's gone for a new look where everything seems to have been sculpted out of modelling clay. The Kirby series has been experimenting with this sort of thing for years; Kirby's Dream Land 3was designed to look as though all the characters had been sketched with colored pencils. Kirby's Epic Yarn introduced a world made entirely out of string, patches of cloth and buttons.

For us, this modelling clay look in Rainbow Curse might be the best yet - it gives the game the feel of an old stop-motion children's TV show, which is perfect fit for the series' carefree gameplay. That clay aesthetic takes centre stage in the Nintendo ad below, and it's quite adorable.

Kirby And The Rainbow Curse is due out this year for the Wii U.