Kirby's Dream Buffet (Nintendo Switch) Review

From the outset everything about Kirby's Dream Buffet has the typical Kirby cuteness; bright pastel colours and delicious looking scenery that does cause sweet cravings to a degree. The short opening cutscene gives an idea of the myriad of colours and designs Kirby can become, won through accumulating enough points to gain new outfits in the rewards menu. A few of the future rewards can be previewed which provides good incentive to get racing. The main menu itself sees the need to roll Kirby around a giant table, accessing the different areas by going onto the plate before each section whose title appears on screen when close by. The credits and information about other Kirby games can be found on the exclamation mark plate.

The Character Treats Collection allows a giant cake to be decorated with items earned so far, and said items can be viewed separately. There are dozens to collect, and it looks like up to sixteen of the treats can be put on the cake. The Free Rolling area is a place to practice manoeuvring Kirby without time limit or other players. Sometimes it is fun just to come here to soak up the Kirby vibes without the minor stress of a race. The Costume and Colours section enables Kirby's fashion sense to be changed, subject to designs unlocked during the course of the game, as well as change the colour of Kirby; pink may be his signature colour but he can be green or blue, orange with yellow feet and cheeks and many other options, all waiting to be unlocked.

The final options on the starting screen are the three main racing selections. Battle Mode uses CPU characters to race against, but an extra player can be chosen using a Joy-Con. In Online Mode players can race against either random players or, by using a password, players can race with friends. There is also a local play mode too, but more consoles and controllers are needed for that. Whichever option is chosen, great fun is guaranteed! Races have four difficulty levels designated with food related terms. There are then five main options which include more free rolling space. The Gourmet Grand Prix is the full course buffet with racing around the track eating up the treats while trying to get ahead of the other players. The type of track changes each time, too. There are obstacles that slow down progression, but grabbing special items can give a speed boost or provide skills that make it easier to collect the designated fruit which are used as points to compete with the other players (CPU or actual players). After the crazy race which ends with trying to get one of the massive plates of cake to get more berries, there is a short interim where the current score ranking between the four players is shown.

During the race it is possible to fall off the track, but floating can get Kirby back to it, although this is affected by how many berries have been eaten. There are obstacles such as sticky syrups that can slow down movement, and in addition to the other three players there are enemies that can get in the way but running into them does not result in a game over. There are also both items and spots on the track to pass over that speed up movement. Next, in the Gourmet Grand Prix, there is a mini game whose style varies (different ones are unlocked as specific ranks are reached). Collecting fruit is always the goal but how they are collected differs; for example, it can be bouncing into cups filled with raspberries that periodically appear or cracking open crates and gathering the strawberries released from within them. There is then another race, in which it is amusing to watch Kirby get bigger from all the strawberry eating and being covered in cream. After this is the battle royale, where all four players try to get more berries, avoid obstacles, and also try not to get pushed off the stage. It gets quite frantic, but it is fun watching Kirby get even bigger in size. This excitement is magnified when playing against friends online, as it can be easy to lose points as well as gain them.

The final end of the Gourmet Grand Prix and any other race involves getting weighed. Extra berries are awarded to whoever collected most fruit, the one who defeated the most enemies, and the one who hovered the most. The final calculation of the race's winner happens in the cutest animation with the heaviest Kirby breaking the scales and being delighted. The resulting points can lead to a rank up and more items being unlocked. The style of racecourse, if the Gourmet Grand Prix is repeatedly played, changes which makes it more fun. Different music tracks can be unlocked, too. The ability to play the individual elements of the Gourmet Grand Prix - the race, mini-games and battle royal - make it possible to improve before teaming up with friends or random players either online or in the solo mode. These individual games all help add to the overall points rank too.