The wrapper around Nintendo’s digital event delivered on the mandatory charm. Puppet Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Reggie Fils-Aime were perfectly bizarre (Fils-Aime’s fuzzy creation in particular might inspire nightmares), and hit all the right playful, quirky notes.

But there was more to the shtick, as Fils-Aime later explained - this year’s theme for Nintendo at E3 was ‘transformation’. Not long-term transformation - which would involve juicy details on Nintendo’s next console, its mobile future and broader vision - but transformation in its more immediate future. The resulting event was a fun and breezy - yet at heart, inessential - direct focused entirely on upcoming games.

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Star Fox Zero lead the charge with a new gameplay trailer highlighting how the game works with the Wii U’s second screen. Nintendo once again focused on its developer’s stories and inspiration, and Miyamoto’s was particularly charming here (ThunderBirds and arches were among his inspiration for Star Fox). These videos delighted in the little details, which was a nice change of pace from the usual guitar-peeling-slap-your-face-off demos.

Nintendo’s collaboration with Activision’s Skylanders franchise was an entirely unexpected announcement, a point surprisingly acknowledged by Fils-Aime (“Nintendo keeps its properties very close to its chest”). It will be interesting to see how far those worlds broaden out in the future, and how much money they can hoover from our wallets combined.

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The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes for 3DS trailer and demo followed - not quite the heavy-hitting Zelda game we wanted to hear about, but the multiplayer dungeon crawler looks intriguing enough.

It would have been nice to have had some more context around the quick succession of hyper-coloured trailers, but considering the 9-hour live Treehouse stream, elaboration is not Nintendo’s bag at its E3 direct anymore. Hyrule Warriors Legends, Metroid Prime Federation Force, Fire Emblem Fates, Xenoblade X, and Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem all received trailers; the latter two got a western release date.

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The next Mario and Luigi RPG is Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam for the 3DS, which mixes the classic series with Paper Mario graphical style and gameplay. Again, a pleasant surprise, though a Spring 2016 release date feels brutally far away (and I know, I know, Wii U owners). With a basic trailer, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash felt like a somewhat subdued announcement in comparison.

For amiibo fans, the 8-bit amiibo announcement will surely excite, while Nintendo confirmed some of the Amiibo that'll work with Super Mario Maker (Link, Marth, Isabelle, Yoshi, Luigi and Wii Fit Trainer). Miyamoto’s explanation of the Mystery Mushroom power-up, which allows you to transform into another character using amiibo, was incredibly endearing; if E3 conferences were rated by smiles, Nintendo would win hands down.

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Nintendo closed its conference with the announcement that Super Mario Maker - one of the most significant exclusives for the Wii U in 2015 - would be out September 11 in North America. Without a big announcement reveal, this felt like a somewhat damp note to end on; one gets the feeling the company had run out of things to fill the running time.

Certainly, without a single knock-out announcement or elaboration, this year’s E3 Nintendo Digital Event won’t stick in the memory. The presentation was absolutely charming and fun, but like a wrapped candy, this was all style, without the substance.

Lucy O'Brien is an editor at IGN AU. Follow her on Twitter.