I have a confession to make. I was never really that into Kirby: Canvas Curse. I know; it's weird. This is the dude who unabashedly adores Kirby's Epic Yarn. The same guy who considers Kirby Triple Deluxe to be one of the best 3DS platformers. This is the person who has replayed Kirby 64 like at least three or four times because he thinks it's an entertaining game. But for some reason, I just never was enamored with Kirby's revelatory DS debut that NWR's Jonathan Metts called "a fresh new approach" and "an excellent turn" for the pink puffball when he reviewed it in 2005.

I blame a lot of my blasé feelings towards Canvas Curse on the fact that I didn't play it at launch. While I zoomed to my local game store to get the DS on launch day, I sort of faded away from paying close attention to the system for most of 2005. As near as I can remember, I bought Yoshi Touch & Go in early 2005 and didn't buy another new DS game until Mario Kart DS. 2005 was likely the peak of my retro game collecting, as I can trace the most activity on my eBay account to that year.

When I finally played Canvas Curse a few years later, I just couldn't get into it. I imagine it's what people might feel when they go back to early motion control games. Sure, Twilight Princess' tacked-on Wii motion controls were novel in 2006, but pointing at the screen to shoot an arrow might not be as compelling after seeing the evolution and ultimate disappearance of major motion-controlled games. Still, the idea of Canvas Curse was intriguing, but it never really clicked with me. In retrospect, it felt more like a proof of concept that the touch screen could be used in an interesting manner than anything else.

That brings us to Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, the Wii U sequel coming out roughly a decade after Canvas Curse. Whether it's the allure of the adorable claymation graphics or the promise of seeing what crazy concepts HAL Laboratory can come up with in a world that won't be wowed by the mere existence of a touch screen, I'm way more excited for Rainbow Curse than I expected. It's just oozing charm and style. The gameplay from E3 was just a taste, and the recent Japanese trailer is a look at the full meal. I want it really badly.

Rainbow Curse might not be an epic, gigantic game, but it doesn’t need to be. It looks like it’ll be a gorgeous, charming adventure that could evolve the 10-year-old concepts of Canvas Curse into something even better. The prospect of the four-player multiplayer, which adds in three Waddle-Dees that are controlled traditionally, seems designed to take out any potential for frustration from the touch screen. Having trouble guiding Kirby around? Have your friend (or child, if applicable) play as Waddle-Dee to pick up the Kirby ball. Kirby also transforms into a tank, submarine, and plane in different levels, which judging from the tank level at E3 2014, should be a fun diversion. Also, seriously, the claymation is beyond adorable.

Though, I have to complain a little bit about the Amiibo support. I guess it's cool having getting an in-game boost from Kirby, King Dedede, and Meta Knight, but I hope it's not a harbinger of future Amiibo support. If the Amiibo support for Captain Toad is like "Mario gives Toad a Mario hat and he's permanently big Captain Toad!" then I'll never use it. At least in the current support for Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors, there is a benefit that transcends making the game easier, even if it's just cosmetic. However, if Mario and Luigi Amiibo give Captain Toad the ability to jump, I'll lose my mind, even if it completely breaks the game.

Amiibo complaints aside, I’m very excited to dive into Kirby and the Rainbow Curse when it lands in North America on February 13.