Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a chaotic party game that pits players against each other to collect strawberries. Players will have to race or battle on different stages while eating fruit to grow in size.
The more Kirby eats, the fatter he gets, allowing him to roll faster and hit enemies harder. The premise of Kirby’s Dream Buffet is straightforward, allowing anyone to just jump in and play.
It can feel very simplistic at first but once players get accustomed to the different Copy Food Abilities and how to maximise the full use of Kirby’s weight, it becomes a much more intense but fun experience.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet is another stunning-looking game from HAL Laboratory. The game's colourful aesthetic is what you would expect from a Kirby game.
The developers have done a fantastic job at creating this new food-inspired world filled with everyone’s favourite treats such as cakes, churros, and biscuits with some veg thrown in there for good measure.
Everything comes together nicely, living up to the dreamy aesthetic we’ve seen in previous Kirby games.
The game is split into three main modes which include Battle, Online and Local Play. The Offline Battle Mode is where players will be spending most of their time and there’s an option for co-op.
After picking the CPU character’s difficulty level, players will be able to choose from five different Events. Gourmet Grand Prix is where players will take part in a two-race, two mini-game competition.
The aim is to finish the four stages with the most strawberries, with the beauty being that the standings can change at the moment
If you're not too far off the Strawberry count it can all be won back in the Battle Royale.
The remaining sections within Battle Mode allow players to partake in single versions of the games in the Grand Prix. There are several Race tracks and the game does a good job of randomising them, keeping everything exciting.
The stage designs are constructed with a vast array of food treats like cakes, biscuits, chocolates and even fried eggs.
The different food types aren’t just for aesthetics, but they play a core part in the stage's challenges and puzzles.
There is a good balance between racing and puzzle sections, with the game constantly trying to keep players on their toes.
However, when the puzzles did appear they were lacking a little complexity with only a few presenting a real challenge.
The Minigame Event lets players take part in levels where the aim is to eat more strawberries than anyone else. There are four mini-game types that take place on different stages.
As every stage in this game is randomly generated, players will never know what mini-game combinations they are going to get.
The mini-games are very simple for anyone to play, but knowing how to use the stages to your advantage is the basic strategy for victory.
There is a good selection of stages to keep the mini-games fresh and competitive, with some needing to be unlocked.
The Battle Royal is a four-way rumble where the player will have to use Copy Food Abilities to knock their opponent off the stage.
This is by far the most competitive mode as due to it coming last in the Grand Prix, everyone tends to go all out.
It's all very high stakes where one wrong move will cost players Strawberry total. The stages have been perfectly designed with obstacles and traps that add to the overall chaos.
Free Rolling is where players can practice their skills and Copy Food Abilities on a large stage. It's a great mode that makes learning the game easy and fun, allowing anyone to jump in.
There’s a great mix of games to play with the randomising element of stage selection adding to the thrill of the matchups.
The co-op mode worked well with next to no lag while in split-screen. The game doesn’t allow more than two players in the offline mode which is a huge miss as it massively reduces the multiplayer value.
The AI-controlled characters offer a good challenge, especially on a higher difficulty setting but it never felt the same as going against three other human players.
During each game, Kirby will have access to his Copy Food Abilities which grants special powers to be used at any given time.
Each of these abilities adds an extra layer of strategy to the game. The Slime ability is great for going under walls while the Tornado ability will draw more strawberries towards the player.
The Copy Food Abilities add an extra dimension to the gameplay allowing for more chaos and strategy.
The two other modes, Online and Local, allow gamers to engage in four-player matches. The online mode is split into two sections Random and Password, from there players will play a Grand Prix match.
The main issue with the online mode is the input lag which is very sporadic, sometimes occurring at crucial moments.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet isn’t light on the collectables, as there are tons of goodies unlocked, which range from new colours, music, stages and character stickers
There isn’t an in-game currency, everything is locked behind the Gourmet Rank which increases the more you play and win.
This is a great way to keep players coming back, increasing the game's lifespan.
Verdict 3 / 5
Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a fun addition to the pink heroes growing catalogue of games. Each stage and Copy Food Ability has been nicely designed to offer a frantic but fun experience that's accessible to anyone.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet can become very monotonous due to the repetitive nature of the game. The game needs more added to its core gameplay whether that means increasing the amount of players or adding a few more modes.
The large number of collectables will keep players locked in for a fair amount of time but more is needed if the game is to truly go to compete with its competitors.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet is out now for the Nintendo Switch
