Bulby - Diamond Course

I'll be straight with you: I came into Bulby - Diamond Course the same way most people do, chasing a childhood memory of Kirby's Dream Course and hoping someone finally rebuilt it for PC. What I found is closer to a proof-of-concept with multiplayer ambitions than a polished spiritual successor, and how much that bothers you depends entirely on what you're bringing to the table. The core mechanic is essentially minigolf with a creature skin and mild puzzle logic layered on top. Each stage puts you in control of Bulby, a round character you shoot across 3D courses, knocking out enemies with the fewest shots possible. The last enemy alive converts into the hole. You have to factor angle, power, trajectory, and spin on every shot, and certain enemies drop power-ups when you hit them, which adds a thin but legitimate layer of decision-making. On paper that's a solid loop. In practice, the power meter feedback is muddy enough that reading shot strength feels inconsistent, and the trajectory path has a known habit of not rendering reliably, which takes a calculated game and introduces coin-flip energy into it. The bugs are the real conversation here. Crashes wiped progress for multiple players on launch, save behavior between levels was unreliable, and the Linux build had players hitting hard stops before level three. Those are 2017-era reports, and the developer does appear to have patched iteratively, but the Steam review pool sitting at Mixed tells you the wounds didn't fully heal. On the control side, keyboard and mouse is a rough fit for a game built around directional arc shots. A gamepad is basically mandatory for a comfortable session, which is worth knowing before you sit down. Where Bulby genuinely holds up is local multiplayer. Up to four players, two separate Versus modes, and a Workshop-connected Course Editor that lets the community build and share custom stages. The Paint on Black versus mode adds a territorial tile-painting element that works well as a couch game. The campaign also has a co-op path alongside solo Story Mode, so there are real options here for local play nights. The visual style is cheerful and readable, and the music, while divisive in some reviews, keeps the energy up. The built-in level editor is more capable than you might expect from a small indie release, and the Workshop integration gives it a longer tail if the community around it stays even modestly active. For a solo player looking for a tight single-player puzzle-platformer, the rough controls and stability history make this a conditional pick at best. For a group with a controller each and low expectations for polish, there is a genuinely fun local competitive game buried in here. It is not the Dream Course revival the niche has been waiting for, but it is also not nothing.

Fred · Scout Team

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