I think Covid changed many of our lives, for better or worse. One of the more significant lifestyle changes I’ve gone through was seeing my friend group almost daily and not appreciating it, to not seeing them at all, to seeing each other again, but this time with appreciation and intent.
While I might not have returned to daily visits with friends, we all make sure it’s great when we do get together. I’m talking snacks, curated playlists, dinner, board games, and, if the mood is right: party games. So when I got to review Kirby’s Dream Buffet on my Nintendo Switch, I jumped, grabbed my friends, and settled in for a night of laughter, frustration, some swearing and a lot of fun.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a crazy mix of games, styles and genres that somehow manages to pull together into one fun, fleeting experience. The core concept is this: four of you enter a race as a different coloured Kirby (think Mario cart?) while racing players need to eat as many sweet treats as possible to score points at the end of the game. However, there is a bit of a “pros and cons” approach here. Players will score points at the end of the race based on how much they’ve eaten; however, eating makes their Kirby bigger. A bigger Kirby has more momentum and can roll faster than a small Kirby, but they battle to hover and can more easily fall off the edge.
Also, in the same vein as Mario Cart, Kirby has multiple abilities to pick up and use throughout the race, and any not used during the race can be carried over into the mini-games. Now the mini-games are where things get exciting and heated when playing with friends. Instead of thinking of Mario Cart, you should now think along the lines of Super Smash Bros. It’s a free-for-all, each Kirby for themselves battle royale. Players will still have to try to eat sweet treats, but now they’ll also be fighting and hitting each other off the play area.
Players only looking for one aspect of the game can play each component separately, but in truth, the magic is experiencing it all together. Now one thing I will say is the novelty wears off pretty quick. While I had a great night playing the game with friends and then playing it independently to review, I haven’t had the urge to return to the game.
This is undoubtedly a pity as there are so many things to unlock in the game. From cosmetics to new colours for your Kirby, music, and even a ranking system. While the short-lived nature of the game isn’t conducive, with so many things to earn, it is a wonderful game if you’re looking to have a date night with someone special or a night of laughter with friends.
And suppose the charm doesn’t wear off as fast for you as it did me. In that case, there is a solid online feature that allows you to compete with other players and a solo mode that pits you against virtual players. It’s also worth noting that if you plan on inviting friends over and making a night of it, local play is restricted to two players, regardless of how many joy cons you may have. So unless you have friends who also have a switch and also own a copy of the game, playing together isn’t going to be possible… unless you just have one friend, in which case -problem solved.
