Kirby's canvas curse came out early in the lifespan of the DS. It was one of the first games that was fully stylist based. It is a 2d side-scrolling platformer. Use the stylist to draw rainbows for kirby to ride. They work like magic carpets and can move him up down left or right on the ribbon of joy. But don't use too many, you only have enough magic for so many rainbows. If you tap on a bad guy you would knock him out, disposing of the enemy.  If you get close to an enemy and tap on Kirby he would inhale the enemy consuming his powers. Kirby switches hats depending on his current power.
The game also features sonic style spring boards, and teleports. The stages presents some simple puzzles but the game is mainly built to challenge the players speed and reaction skills. The gameplay starts off simple and relaxed but increases in difficulty to later on in the harder levels.  

To the right is a picture of the two DS screens. The top screen offered a map, to get a bigger picture of the world you where in. The Pink dot is Kirby, the gold arch on the right is the door to the next level. The black bar on the bottom of the top screen is showing that the player is almost out of rainbow magic.  

Kirby's canvas curse had a unique 2D art style that tried to mimic water paintings, hence the name Canvas Curse. The game keeps a bright pastel color pallet, and has interesting transitions. Each of the 8 levels has a different motif, either a forest stage, future town as shown, an ice stage, and other platformer clichés. The different level settings provides enough variety to keep the game fun and exciting.