Diner Dash is one of those crazy casual game phenomenons that will have all gamers – casual and hardcore alike – in a frenzy trying to complete each level’s goal by serving the customer’s every whim. The game has been around since about 2003 and has been on virtually every platform imaginable. Diner Dash made its console debut in November 2009 with releases on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and will find it’s way to the Wii via WiiWare by the end of this year.
You play as Flo, a stockbroker who decides to quit her high stress job to open her own diner, like owning and operating your own restaurant isn’t stressful! Her diner is pretty shabby to start but as you level up, you start to earn upgrades like more tables, a beverage station, and a podium for starters. The gameplay is simple – when your customers come in, seat them, take their order, serve them, then bus the table to get your tip. Rinse and repeat. You do this until your diner closes and then you start all over again, hopefully advancing to the next level in the process. It sounds easy and it is, for a little while. As you add more tables and other upgrades, you get busier and have to work harder and faster to keep your customers happy. The game really starts to get tricky with different group sizes, different color types where you get bonuses for seating like colored outfits to like colored seats, and different customer types that you must tend to. It’s almost like working in a busy restaurant all by yourself without the lower back and foot pain afterwards!
You can play through the game by yourself or you can play co-operatively or competitively with a friend locally or online. The single player campaign is quite engaging – you will find yourself sitting down to play a few levels and find that an hour or two has passed by. You can play the regular campaign, where you start with a diner and work up to unlocking new restaurants. All these restaurants are open in the Multiplayer automatically, so you can just jump in with anyone.
Norm and I sat down for a little co-op action and had a lot of unexpected fun. Generally, we tend to play First Person Shooter (FPS) or adventure games together so this was a little different. There are three multiplayer modes – Co-op Endless: play cooperatively (local or online) until your stars are gone; Head to Head Time Wars: competitive mode (local or online) for the one who has the most tips in a set amount of time; Head to Head Tip Wars: competitive (local or online) for the player with the most tips; and Team Dash: an online multiplayer mode for up to 8 players where you can play with up to 4 teams of two against each other. We played all the local multiplayer modes and had a blast.
The controls are pretty easy to learn, Norm played through a few levels and was ready to go. I discovered – very late in the game – that there are button commands that make Flo go. For example, after you take your customer’s order, you can hit the square button (PSN) and Flo will walk to the counter and drop off the order. You can also hit the triangle button to make Flo go to the counter when the food is ready and when you have cleared your table, the circle button takes Flo to the Bus Station to drop off the dirty dishes. Using the automated controls really helped me out. There are three control layouts available, so you can choose what will work the best for your play style.
The graphics were a bit of an issue. While they looked great on our 52″ LCD, the issue was more about how the game was translated from the PC or mobile phones, where you could play the game with the monitor or phone closer to your eyes. With it on the big screen, things surprisingly didn’t translate quite as well. You may have problems seeing the customers raising their hands when they are ready to order or when they are ready for their check. There are some audio clues, but when you are going crazy trying to seat a group, hand in an order, deliver some food, AND bus tables, you hardly have a moment to concentrate on tiny, little raised hands.
If you are looking for a fun game that will suck up a lot of time as well as a game that will provide a lot of co-op fun, Diner Dash is a great buy.
Diner Dash is rated E for Everyone and is available now on the PlayStation Network for $9.99 and for 800 MS Points on Xbox Live Arcade. The game is slated for a WiiWare release.
My review was of the PlayStation Network version.
A review code was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.
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