Diner Dash 5 Boom Review

Just when you thought the Diner Dash couldn't get any better, along comes Diner Dash 5: Boom! to blow your mind.

Flo is Fighting the Big Corp. Again

When Flo's Diner is destroyed by a hungry breakfast mob, her good friend Hal offers to help her rebuild before Mr Big can take over their lot. Full of great improvements over the previous games in the series and with its own unique features, this installment will keep you hooked beyond just one play-through. Sporting much cleaner, sharper graphics and the ability to connect your gameplay with your social life, Diner Dash 5 is more in-depth, fun and addicting than ever before.

Basic Game Idea

This Diner Dash follows the same style and mode of gameplay as many other task-management games. Using the mouse, you must seat and serve customers as quickly as possible, honoring their seating preferences and generally trying to please everyone. Different customer types have different personalities and tipping habits, so the game requires your utmost attention to get the best scores.

Interesting New Customers

Because of the diversity of locations there are unique new customer types that are both challenging and hilarious. For example, the big burly construction workers will order food twice, making seating other customers an adventure, while the clowns at the circus juggle at the tables, mesmerizing other diners. There is a wide range of new equipment, including a salad bar (at which the customers serve themselves) and a trampoline to reach the creative seating arrangements Flo must use. These new additions give Diner Dash 5 a great amount of variety and make it a truly unique experience.

Another new feature is the “Townie”. This customer shows up at the restaurant to be united with a group of their friends. Some groups are missing a person, and you can grab a townie of the same customer type and put them in the group in order to create a color-matching seating arrangement for the bonus. Townies are not like regular customers. They wait on the other side of the restaurant and don't get angry if they aren't placed in a group, so you don't have to use them if you don't want to. This adds another challenging element to the game without making it frustrating or difficult. For those people obsessed with social networking, Diner Dash 5 offers a “Connect with Facebook” option throughout the game, in which you can send updates of your progress to your friends or gift them certain upgrades you have unlocked.

Upgraded Upgrades

The upgrade system has been upgraded in this version of the game as well. As Hal rebuilds the diner you get to select which improvements to make and what color they should be, with an astounding number of choices as far as color goes. Every few levels offers another set of choices, so you get to customize Flo's Diner down to the last detail.

You also make neighborhood improvements which are reflected by changing the surroundings in-game. Additionally, there is a reward system that allows you to spend the money you earn at the diner on upgrades for your equipment, like faster shoes for Flo or an assistant to keep customers in line happy. This gives you a great deal of customization, and is a real reward for doing well on the levels, because the money you earn is the same amount you can spend. You can also collect medals for completing certain achievements like maxing out Flo's speed upgrades or getting expert score on all levels at a venue. This is very rewarding and it becomes very entertaining to try to get all of the medals.

Graphics Are Better Than Past Versions

The 2D graphics in Diner Dash 5 are much improved from earlier models. They are sharp and clear, with the best color rendering of characters thus far. The customers have unique clothing and styles, still sporting their color, without just being a completely green or yellow or red stick figure. Everything is bright and colorful and works well visually as a whole. This is also integrated into the storyline, which plays through as a cartoon from a comic book with speech bubbles, much like many other games. However, this Diner Dash has added voice-overs, which are funny and go with the cartoon theme. The voice-overs can get cheesy, but you have the option to skip the story or turn off the voice-overs in the main menu, so it's really not very distracting.

Endless Shift Mode Got Canned

The only major drawback to this game is the lack of an Endless Shift mode, which was a staple of previous games. This means that the only mode of play is the story mode, limiting the game's variety and long-term playability. The story mode does offer a a great amount of levels and goals to work towards, like medals, so the lack of an Endless Shift is disappointing but not crippling to the game.

Conclusion - The Best Task Management Game Available

Instead, because of all the other great elements to it, Diner Dash 5: Boom! is a fantastic addition to the Diner Dash family, and is one of the best task-management games out there today. It boasts great graphics, an in-depth, rewarding upgrade system, and unique customers and challenges. This game has a little something for everyone and will keep you hooked even after you beat it the first time.