Diner Dash: Hometown Heroes
April 2008 Issue
Features
- From the Editors
- Craft Check: Friendship Bracelets for Gamers
- Gaming in the Media: Worried About Miss Bimbo? Don't Be.
Interviews
- Interview: Tracy Whitelaw of Lesbian Gamers
Articles
- Romancing the LARP
Author: Stephanie Pegg
- Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition: A Paradigm Shift or a Step Back?
Author: Ben Larsen
Stephanie discusses how romance plots played out in the Sanctuary LARP.
Ben analyzes the upcoming 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons and discusses how the changes made to the D&D formula will impact gamers.
Gamer Stories
Reviews
- Diner Dash: Hometown Heroes
- Dynasty Warrior 6
- Retro Review: Mario is Missing
Odds 'n Ends
Diner Dash 4: Hometown Heroes, Mac OS, PlayFirst, 2008
The latest addition to the popular Diner Dash game series is an ambitious effort that combines traditional gameplay with online and interactive components.
In Hometown Heroes, restaurateur Flo returns to her hometown to visit her grandmother Florence. However, she finds that the city’s cultural landmarks are in danger of going extinct because of low attendance and no funding. Flo doesn’t want to see that happen, so she uses her waitressing know-how (and her grandmother’s kitchen skills) to revive the Ballpark, the Museum, The Zoo, The Carnival, and, in the past, a Disco.
The premise is a little shaky, yes, but the game is still a lot of fun. If you’ve played the other Diner Dash versions the gameplay will be very familiar. The player uses her mouse to control Flo as she seats customers, brings them food or drinks, picks up their orders and checks, and cleans the tables. The more of each action Flo does in a row, the more points you get. Each level has a minimum number of points needed to pass on to the next and an “Expert” score. Get all Expert scores for a restaurant and you unlock hidden Expert Levels (which provide players with considerable challenges).
With each new Diner Dash the players got more different types of customers to deal with. This game is no exception. My favorite new customers are the teenagers–groups of young boys and girls who talk on their cell phones constantly, disturbing other guests. That is unless you seat a group of girls next to some boys. Then they stop talking on the phones and start to flirt! (Unfortunately, this game breaks no heteronormative bounds. Girls don’t flirt with girls.) The animation for this is quite adorable, with both genders flipping their hair coquettishly and making puppy eyes at the kids at the next table. Flirting also raises the heart meters (measures of how happy the customers are) of the teens, which gives the player a bit of a break having to deal with them.
Other customer types include celebrities that make the folks at tables near them star-struck (raising their hearts as well) and extremely large Hungry Men who look like truckers, make the strangest grunting sounds, and always ask for seconds. I’m not sure how I feel about the message being sent by these particular customers, but I suspect it’s just as well thought out as the chubby, picture-taking tourists introduced in Diner Dash: Flo on the Go. One thing I do approve of is that PlayFirst changed the senior citizen type from old white guys to old black women in church hats (or disco clothes in the final level… bizarre!).
Each type of customer presents their own challenges. As you progress through the game, you have to puzzle out how to seat everyone so they won’t get on each other’s nerves and, in some cases, increase the happiness of those around them.
There are new non-customer related challenges, from levels that shake (with more consistency and more damage than in Diner Dash: Flo on the Go) to reserved tables. The best addition is that on one level per restaurant Flo has to work with another waitress run by the computer. The challenge is to get more points than the computer by seating and serving customers before the other waitress can.
Even when you’ve beat all 50 levels, there’s still more to do.
In the Gourmet version of the game (available for PC only), players connect to PlayFirst.com to build and save their own waiter/waitress and play Endless Shift (where the customers keep coming, and coming, and coming…) in a diner of their own design. Players can buy new restaurants or clothes for their avatar for very little. To top it off, you can also play Diner Dash with other players connected through the game–something I’ve always wanted to do. You can either hook up with friends or challenge people in one of the various chat rooms to work cooperatively or compete to see who can get the most points.
The players in the rooms tend to be young and sometimes leave a game if they’re losing, so I stick to playing with friends who I maliciously addict to the game first chance I get.
With all these new additions and challenges PlayFirst has made a pinnacle Diner Dash game. Everything that was fun about the previous versions is there, plus features that Dash lovers have always wanted. Whether you’re addicted to the series or a newbie, it’s easy to learn, challenging to master, and always a lot of fun.
