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Cooking Mama
Text Review
In May of 2009, Majesco Entertainment announced that unit sales of its Cooking Mama franchise had exceeded four million in the United States alone. Perhaps the U.S. is a nation of budding Rachael Ray wannabees or obsessive Food Network viewers. Or maybe it’s just too hard to resist the cheerful anime culinary arts expert that is “Mama”.
The original Cooking Mama that kicked off the successful series is available on Nintendo DS. Mama promises to teach you how to cook using your DS stylus as a master kitchen tool with lessons on everything from ingredient preparation to final dish presentation. Budding chefs can choose from 15 available recipes as the game starts, but unlock 61 additional recipes as they cook successfully.
As someone who isn’t at their best in the kitchen, I looked forward to playing this game and maybe learning something. Alas, Cooking Mama doesn’t really teach anything that can be used in an actual real-world environment. That’s not to say it isn’t fun – at least for a little while.
Every dish can be created within a few hours, and while chopping with your stylus is amusing at first, it gets repetitive after advancing through just a few recipes. The visuals are simple, but you can usually figure out what you are working with – and my favorite visual is when Mama’s eyes turn into flames when your culinary masterpiece flops. Now that’s like imitating my real-life kitchen experiences!
This game should primarily appeal to casual gamers who just have a little time to kill and to younger kids who may be subjected to long car trips and outings with boring grown-ups. The visuals are cute, the music is nondescript (and can always be turned off) and it’s rated E for Everyone. While I might prefer to see a Gaming Mama or Shooting Mama in the franchise, there is clearly a market for this game – but I’d recommend renting or buying a pre-owned version. If you like Cooking Mama, you may also enjoy Gardening Mama - check out the Classic Game Room’s review of Gardening Mama at http://www.classicgameroom.net/gardening-mama-nintendo-ds-review.html.
- Krista Myers
The original Cooking Mama that kicked off the successful series is available on Nintendo DS. Mama promises to teach you how to cook using your DS stylus as a master kitchen tool with lessons on everything from ingredient preparation to final dish presentation. Budding chefs can choose from 15 available recipes as the game starts, but unlock 61 additional recipes as they cook successfully.
As someone who isn’t at their best in the kitchen, I looked forward to playing this game and maybe learning something. Alas, Cooking Mama doesn’t really teach anything that can be used in an actual real-world environment. That’s not to say it isn’t fun – at least for a little while.
Every dish can be created within a few hours, and while chopping with your stylus is amusing at first, it gets repetitive after advancing through just a few recipes. The visuals are simple, but you can usually figure out what you are working with – and my favorite visual is when Mama’s eyes turn into flames when your culinary masterpiece flops. Now that’s like imitating my real-life kitchen experiences!
This game should primarily appeal to casual gamers who just have a little time to kill and to younger kids who may be subjected to long car trips and outings with boring grown-ups. The visuals are cute, the music is nondescript (and can always be turned off) and it’s rated E for Everyone. While I might prefer to see a Gaming Mama or Shooting Mama in the franchise, there is clearly a market for this game – but I’d recommend renting or buying a pre-owned version. If you like Cooking Mama, you may also enjoy Gardening Mama - check out the Classic Game Room’s review of Gardening Mama at http://www.classicgameroom.net/gardening-mama-nintendo-ds-review.html.
- Krista Myers
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