HAL Laboratory’s first true 3D kirby play, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, is fresh in the minds of those who played it after its release in March. Translating the pink puffball’s unique brand of platforming out of the 2D plane, including its hover jumps, inhalation, and copy abilities, offered opportunities to experiment with tried-and-true powers. It also introduced two new copy abilities on Drill and Ranger, as well as evolved abilities with their own attributes. That experimentation continued with Jelly Kirby in the latest HAL spin-off. Kirby’s Dream Buffet.
it is more difficult to put Kirby’s Dream Buffet in a box than the previous titles. The main attraction of the game is a Mario Kart-Racing style mode with abstract culinary environments that have drawn comparisons with Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, but there are also battle royale matches and mini-games interspersed between races during each Gourmet Grand Prix. There are eight food-themed variations on the typical copy abilities available in certain modes, but Jelly is the only one invented for dream buffet. His focus on intangibility could still make Jelly a decent candidate to appear in future main titles..
Jelly brings a defensive edge to Kirby’s Dream Buffet
The seven copy abilities that return in Kirby’s Dream Buffet They are Burning, Drill, Hi-Jump, Needle, Stone, Tornado and Wheel. Its functions are largely the same as in the mainline platformers, with Burning and Wheel shooting players faster around the race track, but others have seen tweaks to this spin-off’s unique mechanics. Tornado now sucks up nearby strawberries, for example, and Stone turns Kirby into a candy bar with a shockwave impact that knocks out Battle Royale opponents.
Jelly is the only food copy ability with exclusively defensive properties, perhaps speaking to the lack of existing options that fit dream buffetThe frenetic nature. After getting the power-up, players can turn Kirby into a jelly-like green blob for a limited time. The character is invulnerable for the duration, able to pass through enemy attacks and obstacles such as destructible cookie walls. By pressing the ability’s activation button again, Kirby can leave behind drops of jelly that slow opponents; though this blows through the faster active time of him.
How Jelly Can Adapt Beyond Kirby’s Dream Buffet
Kirby’s Dream Buffet marks the third time a copy ability has been introduced in a spin-off. The first was Balloon, which appeared in the 2005 DS title. Kirby: Curse of the Canvas; followed by Wrestler, who appeared in the most recent Switch title kirby fighters 2. Neither ability has appeared in a mainline game since its introduction, which perhaps doesn’t bode well for Jelly as another power that represents the format of her debut spinoff. Having said that, kirby fighters 2 released in 2020 so there’s a chance Wrestler will still appear in any games that follow Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
If Jelly makes the jump to a traditional platformer, her status should be kept as a passive ability. His gastronomic theme could remain as a tribute to dream buffet, or HAL Laboratory could create a more typical variant based on slime or ectoplasm to ensure that Jelly is specifically a food copy ability. Regardless, having Jelly could give Kirby an inherent speed boost and the ability to go through certain enemies and walls for both 2D and 3D platformers.
One place one main line kirby The game could be expanded Jelly is giving it more combat utility. If players have the active form, they could theoretically absorb an enemy and slowly deal damage similar to the Dungeons and Dragons‘ Gelatinous cube. Throwing chunks of jelly to slow down opponents seems less useful outside of a race track, but this could translate into a volcanic attack that launches particles into the air above and around Kirby. There are plenty of options if HAL decides to bring the spin-off ability, though you should also consider revisiting Balloon and Wrestler.
Kirby’s Dream Buffet is now available on Nintendo Switch.
