Diner Dash review

Everyone knows Diner Dash; the hit Flash game from 2003 which has seemingly been ported to every gaming system under the sun. Well apart from the Nintendo Wii that is, until now. Diner Dash has already ventured its way onto Xbox 360 and PS3 this year but Wii owners now finally have their chance to control the cute redhead Flo as she decides to run a restaurant business.

You take control of Flo who pretty much has to do everything in her restaurant minus the cooking. You’ll be seeing customers to their seats, taking their order, giving them the bill and then clearing up their plates when they leave. That’s the basic gameplay out of the way but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Once your restaurant starts getting busy with many customers arriving in quick succession you’ll find keeping up with the orders a real task. Flo is the only waitress and if you don’t keep the customers happy and seen to quickly then their happiness hearts will quickly decrease.

If all their hearts disappear then that means trouble for your chances of passing the level as well as dampening your high score. Your woes can easily continue with one simple mistake such as putting a party of two on a six seater table, thus not having enough seats for a party of five or six. Guess what happens if you’re carrying a dirty plate and a freshly made meal to the washing bin at the same time? Yes that’s right; the fresh food goes in the washing bin along with the dirty plate. Now the chef has to remake that order which can add a significant delay to the customer. All of this and more will drive you insane with fury but Diner Dash is so addictive that you’ll want to keep playing.

Finishing every level (unless you are playing endless time mode) requires you to reach a set number of points before closing time. Almost every task you complete gives you points but sadly you’ll need to put in extra effort to achieve an expert rating. This means matching the colour of a customer’s clothes to a particular chair to get bonus points as well as performing multiple chains. Chains require you to perform the same task multiple times in a row for an increasing multiplier score but as soon as you switch chores the multiplier resets to zero. Things are getting a bit tough and so you are given a little bit of help in the form of additions to your restaurant. Such additions include a drinks machine which can help satisfy customers waiting to receive their food and a podium which will let you recharge the heart meter of people waiting for a seat in your restaurant. The downside is that serving drinks and standing at the podium saps time you could be spending serving the customers already seated.

If you get stuck trying to make a success of Flo’s restaurant career then maybe you’ll want to attempt to play Diner Dash with friends. You can head online play hard head to head match with others via the Nintendo WiFi connection.

Diner Dash for Wii is a basic yet addictive casual title. Costing just 1000 points on the WiiWare shop channel means it’s not too expensive compared to a disc based game. The visuals are bright and colourful but don’t look as sharp as the HD console versions, perhaps even a little blurry in comparison. The music and sound effects are basic too, bippy boppy tunes that will get you by but not make you interested in owning the soundtrack. The simple and intuitive one button control scheme means almost everyone will be able to pick up play and enjoy Diner Dash. With no motion controls it also means that for a change you won’t need to wave your arms about like a madman.

Diner Dash for Wii brings nothing new to the table but is a nice little game you can load up at any time for a spot of time management fun. 6 out of 10.

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Related: Diner Dash for the Xbox 360