Kirby’s Dream Buffet reveals Nintendo’s multiplayer shortcomings with multiple consoles and game copies required for any meaningful online play.
Kirby's Dream Buffet, a multiplayer action game that was released on August 17, is another game that has highlighted some of Nintendo's biggest shortcomings when it comes to multiplayer games. Kirby's Dream Buffet is a spin-off of the main Kirby series where players race, play mini-games, or engage in a battle royale to eat as many strawberries as possible and become the biggest Kirby they can. The game is available in single-player, and both online and offline multiplayer modes.
Nintendo frequently delves into the multiplayer game world, with recent titles receiving mixed reviews. Some of their most popular games have a strong online presence, including the Splatoon series' multiplayer and many of the Mario games. While these, online games are quite popular, players have their complaints about certain aspects, like the amount of players able to play on a single console and how many players can join.
Even after releasing multiple games with online platforms, Nintendo still has issues pertaining to online multiplayer games and these are highlighted with its latest release of Kirby's Dream Buffet. While the game has a lower price point than most mainstream Nintendo games, comparing it to a similar game, Fall Guys, which is free, makes its shortcomings even more evident. Some of these flaws are related to the game itself, while others relate to Nintendo's online gaming as a whole.
Some of Nintendo's biggest shortcomings when it comes to online play is related to the number of players per console that can play online and Nintendo's lack of online multiplayer games. Games like Splatoon 2 allow only one player to play online per console and per game copy, so if a household has two people who want to play together, they need two consoles and two copies of the game, as well as a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Kirby's Dream Buffet is the same way. While the game allows for two players in the offline mode, online mode only allows one player per console and game copy. Similar to Mario Party Superstars, only four players can join an online match. So if players in the same house want to play Kirby's Dream Buffet online together, each player will need their own console and copy of the game. When playing offline, players are limited to two and the second player cannot customize their character; it is a random combination of the unlocked items.
Kirby's Dream Buffet and the extra-round Kirby is cute and lighthearted, but unfortunately could be better in terms of multiplayer play. Given the lessons that should have been learned in previous multiplayer games, Nintendo could easily have remedied these issues and allowed more compatibility for households with multiple players. Whether these aspects will be improved in their next multiplayer release won't be known until the release of Splatoon 3.
Lindsay is a mom who is raising a tiny human to be just as nerdy as she is. She loves all things Nintendo and video games in general. Her love of Pokemon started at the same time that her son’s did. When she isn’t writing for Screen Rant she is playing games, reading, or spending time with her family and two crazy dogs.