Kirby’s Dream Buffet REVIEW – Nintendo Switch

In the past year, I’ve become a pretty big fan of Nintendo’s Kirby franchise. One of my most anticipating games of the year was Kirby and the Forgotten Land on the Nintendo Switch back in March. I even dedicated the whole week to a bunch of posts talking about the game. So when Nintendo announced a brand new multiplayer Kirby game last month, I was pretty excited. That game is Kirby’s Dream Buffet, in which you race against other Kirbys locally or online to eat the most strawberries, along with fighting in other minigames. So with the release of this new installment in the Kirby series, here is my review on Kirby’s Dream Buffet.

Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a very fun change of pace from Kirby and the Forgotten Land and most other Kirby games I’ve played. The fun multiplayer racing game sees Kirby about to eat a giant cake when a magic fork shrinks him down, along with other Kirbys. Kirby then must race against these other Kirbys to eat the most fruit, primarily strawberries. The main racing mode is very enjoyable and quite addicting. You race on different stages that are filled with strawberries and sometimes other fruits, like blueberries and cherries. The more Kirby eats, the bigger he gets. When I started playing, I played online. I didn’t realize that you compete in 4 games before the round ends. The first and third are races while the second and fourth are each a minigame. The point of each game is to kick the players out of the way and eating the most fruit. Once you finish, the 4 Kirbys sit on giant scales that measure the strawberries eaten. Some Kirbys might also get more strawberries for meeting certain goals such as eating the most rasberries or crumbling the most cookie walls. After all this, the winner is revealed. I don’t know what it is, but seeing huge Kirbys covered in cake on giant scales is just so adorable. It’s impossible not to go “awe” when playing throughout the game.

The Race to the Strawberry Mountains race is the main game in a grand prix. The Kirbys race through stages eating strawberries along the way. At the end of the stage are 3 Strawberry Mountains: one with 50 strawberries, one with 20, and one with 10. Races are quite competitive. Stages are long, have narrow pathways, moving items, and tons of strawberries. Strawberries are everywhere, but you need to make sure you hit the strawberry since the fast rolling system is a bit hard to get used to. Thankfully you don’t use motion controls to direct Kirby, as you instead use the control strick. I really like this, as it makes it easier to navigate.

Now let’s talk about copy abilities, called Copy Food Abilities in Kirby’s Dream Buffet. These abilities are mostly abilities we’ve seen before, only a little different. For example, the Tornado ability is a cupcake and the Drill ability is a carrot. My favorites are the Wheel and Burning since they let you zoom forward and even blast into opponents. What I like about the abilities is that each one is most useful in one main mode, such as how the chocolate bar called Stone is good for the battle minigame since you can cause a ring to hit other players. Each copy ability is unique and are used pretty well in the game. It almost felt like Mario Kart when you run into a few boxes of abilities when racing.

Kirby’s Dream Buffet is beautiful. My mouth has never watered playing a video game. Now I want eggs and bacon with a side of strawberry shortcake. The bright atmosphere, happy sound effects, and breathtaking worlds are what Kirby games are made of, and Dream Buffet is no different. The attention to detail in every is amazing. Just look at this picture above. The perfectly toasted bread, shining mystery boxes, bacon paths, glimmering strawberries. Even stuff I don’t like looks good, like the onion slice behind the cookie arrow signs. I’ve never used so many adjectives in my entire life. Kirby’s Dream Buffet is just a dazzling game. I’d give it a 10/10 just for the graphics.

As you play Kirby’s Dream Buffet more and more and collect more strawberries, you unlock rewards. Rewards come in the form of music tracks, costumes, colors, and decorations. You can decorate the cake in the hub, change your Kirby’s color or decorate him with a costume, and listen to different music as you race. Some of these rewards are themed to past Kirby games. Character treats include characters from other Kirby games in the past from Kirby’s Dream Land on the Game Boy to Kirby and the Forgotten Land, along with costumes. This is all probably because of Kirby’s 30th anniversary celebration, so that makes sense. But the fact that they’re in here in the first place is very cool and a nice way to celebrate 3 decades of the pink puffball.

Overall, Kirby’s Dream Buffet is great. It’s fun to play, enjoyable, beautiful, and addicting, especially with a group of friends or family. My only complaints are the online as it can be very laggy sometimes, and playing local play requires multiple systems is a bit strange. However, these are little prices to pay for a fun little Kirby game to celebrate his anniversary. I do think fifteen bucks is a bit high, the game is still a great time.

Ryan’s Reviews: 87%
Named a RYAN’S RECCOMENDATION for Families

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