Kirby’s Dream Buffet

Genre: Party Game

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local Split-Screen), 2-4 Competitive (Local Wireless, Online)

.

Review:

Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a family-friendly Party Game released on Nintendo Switch in 2022. This game puts players in the role of a Kirby who has been shrunk down to a tiny size, competing against other mini-Kirbys to eat the most berries in one of three varieties of food-themed minigames.

The presentation in this game is phenomenal. Despite its simplistic nature and cartoony theme, Kirby’s Dream Buffet is one of the best-looking games on Nintendo Switch in 2022 Why? The food. The tasty treats each of this game’s areas is composed of look absolutely mouth-watering, thanks to an extraordinary amount of detail, excellent texture work, and some nice subtle lighting effects. The yumminess absolutely leaps off the screen here. This may be the best food has ever looked in a videogame.

That said, it’s not all about the food. Kirby is absolutely adorable as always, complete with his usual gleeful vocalizations. And the game’s visuals are backed by a lighthearted soundtrack that includes a mix of new themes and themes from earlier Kirby games. This is far from Kirby’s best soundtrack, but it works well enough for the sort of gameplay on offer here.

As for the gameplay itself, it’s largely split into three different game modes: “Race”, “Minigame”, and “Battle Royale”, with the game’s main event being a “Gourmet Grand Prix” that combines all of these. Regardless of game type, the controls remain the same – you can roll your character around, you can jump, and you can tap the R button to make use of a single-use ability if you’ve managed to grab one from the gift boxes that are spread throughout this game’s levels.

Race has up to four players (with empty slots filled by computer-controlled characters) racing down an obstacle course littered with strawberries. The ultimate goal is to get the most strawberries, but players won’t want to dawdle – being slow not only means that others in front of you can get to the goodies first, but the end of each race has bonuses for the first, second, and third Kirbys that reach the end.

Minigames is a tad misleading, as they all function somewhat similarly – you’re in an enclosed space trying to be the first to snatch up strawberries as they appear. Some of these “minigames will have you jumping into teacups as they appear and fill with strawberries, while others will have you bashing into boxes to get at the goodies inside, but these more or less operate the same way.

Finally, Battle Royale is not some game mode with hundreds of players, but rather it is much like the Minigame mode I mentioned a moment ago, except here you’ll frequently have single-use abilities appear along with the strawberries, and knocking other Kirbys out of the area will cause them to lose some of their strawberries, which then shower down on the arena.

It’s ultimately a decent variety of game modes, even if the core goal in all of them is the same. Some have compared this game to the likes of Fall Guys and Katamari Damacy, and while those comparisons are apt, this game doesn’t play quite like either of those titles – you don’t have the massive player count of Fall Guys, nor do you see a 1:1 character growth each time you gobble up a berry like you would have when rolling up objects in Katamari Damacy.

The gameplay is simple, fun, and accessible. There’s a bit of strategy and skill involved here, but also a bit a frenetic chaos too, and as you might expect with a Nintendo game, there are elements worked into the game to help the underdog – the second race of a set has the player with the lowest score starting first, Kirbys who have grown fat with berries will have a harder time jumping, race levels are gated in places with barriers needing to be broken so players in the rear have a chance to catch up, and the end of each Gourmet Grand Prix includes Mario Party-style bonuses that can help players squeak out a last-minute win by being the best at a random, previously-unannounced criteria. I suppose it’s going to be a subjective thing whether these sorts of “reverse slippery slope” mechanics are welcome, but given this game’s accessible, casual nature, mechanics like these that favor less-skilled players are perfectly understandable.

Also understandable is this game’s overall lack of content. With only three game types and a handful of maps for each, Kirby’s Dream Buffet isn’t big on variety. However, for the low price of $15, this can be largely forgiven, as what’s here is quite excellent, and I’d argue it’s worth the entry price. What’s more, this game gives players some reason to keep coming back by allowing them to unlock customization options so they can personalize their Kirby.

What’s somewhat less forgivable is a major oversight when it comes to this game’s multiplayer. Now, to be fair, this game does have some solid online play that’s great to see in a casual game like this. Players can even create their own private room, or play with up to three friends via local wireless. Unfortunately though, couch competitive play is limited to only two players. Given this game’s Party Game appeal, the fact that you can’t actually play this game with four players locally seems like a huge omission.

Ultimately, Kirby’s Dream Buffet is more of a light snack than a seven-course meal. It’s low on content, lighthearted and casual, and most crucially, it’s missing local 4-player gameplay, instead apparently favoring online and local wireless play. Despite these glaring omissions, the core game is still a lot of fun, the presentation is mouth-wateringly good, and the $15 price tag is undeniably tempting. If you’re looking for a fun and simple multiplayer diversion on Nintendo Switch, and aren’t too bothered by the above limitations, I think you’ll find this to be a tasty diversion.

tl;dr – Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a family-friendly Party Game where players compete as tiny Kirbys trying to eat the most berries in giant-sized, food-themed areas. The presentation here is absolutely delicious, and the core gameplay is fun, although it’s a bit light on content and the lack of 4-player local play is disappointing. Still, if you’re looking for some simple fun online or via local wireless, this game should be well worth the $15 price tag.

Grade: B-

.

This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Arcade / Party Game, Best Graphical Style, Best Graphics, Best Game for Kids and Casual Players, Best Multiplayer, Most Underrated (66), Most Efficient Use of File Storage Space (1.19GB)

.

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Andy Miller, Exlene, Johannes, Ilya Zverev, Connor Armstrong, Eli Goodman, Kristoffer Wulff, Stov, and Gabriel Coronado-Medina. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}