Review: Ultra Foodmess 2 (Nintendo Switch)
Ultra Foodmess 2 is a party game where you travel the world to play fun and quick little mini games with AI or friends. In these competitive mini games, you will run, dash, shoot, and push in order to be the last food standing. This game was a nice change of pace for me, and since summer has rolled around, what better way to kick it off than with some party games with friends!
Off the bat, after pressing play, you (and your friends) select your character. There are thirty-two different characters you can play as, each being a different food item. You start the game with eight available, but you’ll unlock more characters as you play.
After the characters are chosen, the game asks you to select how many points you’ll need to win. This number ranges from one to ten. Once that’s done, you then choose what games you’ll be playing. There are ten different mini games, each from a different country with its own ruleset.
You’re able to turn off the ones you don’t want to play, which really helps if there are any don’t particularly like. Still, there aren’t many, which is really the only problem I’ve found with it. I feel like if they added in the games from the original Ultra Foodmess, it would be a great way to bump up the content.
When the game finally starts, you’ll be randomly placed into one of the mini games you’ve selected. From there, you get a quick explanation of each game and how to play. Once all players are ready, you hop right into the game. Some games are more tedious than others, but I wouldn’t really consider any of them difficult. And with names such as Foodball, Mashed Pit, Lunch-A Libre, and Flower Collection, you pretty much know what you’re getting.
The controls are very easy to learn and use, as it only requires the control-stick and the A button. This makes Ultra Foodmess 2 great for playing with a single Joy-Con. This is good, as the game is definitely easier to enjoy when playing with up to three others in single-system multiplayer (no online play).
The AI players aren’t very difficult to play against, either. There are two modes for the AI: regular and hard. Regular mode is generally really easy, though sometimes your opponents will suddenly play really well. Hard mode also isn’t really hard. The AI sometimes knows what it’s doing, but the majority of the time it’s no trouble to deal with.
The game’s visuals are very cartoonish, which suits the fun and quickly paced mini games. The animation is smooth, and all of the different models are very well made. The maps are unique to their country; each has different stuff happening in the background as well as on the actual playing field.
For sound, this game also does pretty well. The background music for both the menus and the games is unique and isn’t repetitive. Every game has its own music to go with the country in which it takes place. The sound effects are also very on-point and really add to the game. The only sound effects that confuse me are the character voices. For some reason, all of the characters just make odd noises whenever something happens and they just kind of sound…well, odd.
I was unable to really find any bugs or problems within Ultra Foodmess 2. Sometimes the AI just kind of walks around and doesn’t participate, but that’s it. The game is very well made, and if you’re playing with real people you won’t even come across the issue with the AI.
For the price, Ultra Foodmess 2 is a wonderful game. The gameplay is simple and fun to learn and play, making it easily enjoyable by anyone who plays it (especially younger gamers). The visuals and sound are all very well done, and there are no real problems in the game that could ruin the experience.
If you’re looking for a cheap party game you can play with your friends, this is definitely one you should get.
