Fans of Nintendo's pink puffball mascot started 2022 with the release of Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Mainline Kirby games in the 3DS era were often followed by spin-offs expanding different sub-games, such as Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe or Kirby's Blowout Blast. Most of the side activities in Forgotten Land were diegetic - Kirby plays Tilt-and-Roll or goes fishing in Waddle Dee Town - so it appeared less likely HAL Laboratory would follow up with a related spin-off. Kirby's Dream Buffet shows the studio is more than willing to experiment.
While Dream Buffet is consistent with older Kirby fare such as Dream Course or Air Ride in that it drops the character into an unprecedented situation, it retains the spirit of HAL's 3DS releases. Shortly after Kirby's Return to Dream Land in 2011, the series celebrated its 20th anniversary with Kirby's Dream Collection on Wii, and following titles like Triple Deluxe, Planet Robobot, and Star Allies included more nostalgic elements. Forgotten Land set Kirby on a wholly original adventure, but Dream Buffet capitalizes on many of the same nostalgic, archival strengths of its predecessors.
Kirby's Steady Self-Reflection
Outside a celebration concert featuring Kirby's voice actress Makiko Ohmoto, there hasn't been a ton of fanfare for the series' 30th anniversary - which is a shame considering how robust Kirby's Dream Collection was a decade prior. It featured six games updated for then-modern hardware, but also a soundtrack encompassing the whole series up to that point, a museum with art and videos, as well as episodes of the anime Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
Future releases clearly carried elements of that celebration. Though just about every Kirby game has a version of Whispy Woods, more unique bosses began to appear in remixed forms. Triple Deluxe's Paintra appear similar to Canvas Curse's Drawcia, for example, and Star Allies' final boss Void Termina references items like the Master Crown from Return to Dream Land. Secret endgame content offered even more, such as Dark Meta Knight from Amazing Mirror appearing in Planet Robobot's Dededetour! mode.
However, collectibles from these titles carried a lot of weight. Triple Deluxe has 256 keychains based on pixel sprites from previous games (including a few unique sprites for characters like Yin-Yarn from Epic Yarn), and Planet Robobot's stickers served a similar purpose with official artwork. Kirby Star Allies on Switch went a step further thanks to its "Dream Friends" post-launch support adding playable allies and antagonists from past games.
How Kirby's Dream Buffet Embodies This Spirit
Kirby's Dream Buffet is a straightforward spin-off. A brief cinematic intro shows Kirby shrunk down by the Dream Fork, but there's no dark mystery behind this item as one would expect from mainline entries such as Forgotten Land. It merely serves as an excuse to plop a set of customizable Kirby avatars into massive culinary obstacle courses within abstract spaces - an aesthetic many have compared to Mediatonic's Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.
Players can take part in local or online matches to collect the most strawberries across three modes in a grand prix format: races, mini-games (such as defeating the most enemies), and a "battle royale" that involves defeating opponents with one of the game's eight "Copy Food" abilities. Performance in each round contributes to a growing Gourmet Rank, with 135 levels of rewards to unlock.
The game is arguably sparse even for its $15 price tag, but Kirby's Dream Buffet makes up for this with references lovingly sprinkled throughout. Those aforementioned rewards include new music tracks featuring remixes from across the series, and costumes based on characters like Meta Knight, Adaleine, or Taranza. There are also 256 Character Treats that serve a similar purpose to keychains and stickers, but can be set as the starting platform or placed around the main menu and Free Rolling practice mode - where players find further references to Kirby's Switch catalog as well as series staples like a candy Whispy Woods.
Though Dream Buffet's frantic gameplay should appeal to any friend group interested in Mario Kart and Mario Party-esque shenanigans, it's clear HAL hopes the spin-off will appeal to longtime fans. There are even unlockable bonus music tracks if Switch save data appears for games like Star Allies, Forgotten Land, and Super Kirby Clash. In an industry often averse to preservation efforts, it's good to see Kirby keeping its long history in mind with so many releases.
Kirby's Dream Buffet is available now on Nintendo Switch.
