Kirby’s Dream Buffetonly recently launched, and it felt like almost no time beforeKirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxewas announced. A massive number ofKirbyreleases are coming out all the time, so the puffball has built up a huge franchise full of friends, enemies, and Copy Abilities. WhileKirby and the Forgotten Landmarks a soft reset as the series transitions into more 3D games,Kirby Star Alliesbefore it was built on bringing back as much of the franchise as possible for a celebration.
Kirby’s Dream Buffetalso feels like a party, but a more casual one. This title is a four-player competitive game where a handful of Kirbys roll and bounce through obstacle courses and challenges. With a variety ofCopy Abilities converted into special dessertsalong the path, each Kirby has the chance to spring into action to become the ultimate gourmet. As players continue to increase their gourmet rank throughKirby’s Dream Buffet’s content, they will unlock various mini-games, color palettes, and simple costumes that often reference other characters. There’s quite a lot of these, but costumes with other characters included feel like a bigger love letter than the rest.
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Cosplay Is a Core Part of Kirby’s Identity
Anyone with a passing familiarity of Kirby knows his propensity for hats. Kirby is constantly putting on hats referencing other characters and abilities. Fighter and Sword taking cues from Ryu ofStreet Fighterand Link ofThe Legend of Zeldaare obvious references, while other hats are based on commonKirbyenemies. It’s rare to see Kirby dress up as a named character from his own series, but more recent spin-offs withunlockable costumes likeKirby Fighters 2andSuper Kirby Clashleaned into this.Kirby and the Forgotten Landeven rewards Kirby with Copy Ability upgrades based on major foes he has battled.
Because of Kirby’s spherical form in Kirby’s Dream Buffet, the normal approach to hats doesn’t work. Instead, Copy Abilities are brief transformations, whether it’sturning Kirby into jellyor covering him in spikes. This leaves room for the two visual components that players can choose outside normal gameplay: their color and costume. Kirby’s colors are filled with references, and costume pieces complete the look one rank after. There’s even special palettes at high ranks that are practically costumes themselves, so players are encouraged to keep pushing forward. It’s a good system, but four outfits go above and beyond.
Costumes Adding Characters Are a Great Addition to Kirby’s Dream Buffet
The Gooey, Chuchu, Adeleine and Ribbon, and Elfilin costumes come with an animated character riding on Kirby’s head. For example, Kirby can wear Adeleine the painter’s hat with thefairy companion Ribbon fromKirby 64following along. It seems HAL Laboratory was conscious of how unique these skins were, and had three of them unlocked within 10 ranks around the middle of the progression system. Elfilin is placed much earlier, but presumably that is to provide a character new fans and Switch owners will recognize fromForgotten Land.
While the animations applied to these characters are simple, they show more effort than most costumes. Ones that involve dressing up as other characters simply apply static masks and sometimes a hat or back accessory. The Waddle Doo costume is especially blatant, applying a giant eye mask that never blinks. Even though they don’t react to anything going on and quickly become lost inDream Buffet’s manic action, having other characters present feels special. IfKirby’s Dream Buffetgets any post-launch support, or other spin-offs use similar unlockables, they should consider including Kirby’s friends as costumes instead of making costumes out of them.
Kirby’s Dream Buffetis available now on Nintendo Switch.
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