Sunday 08 Jul 2007

Being the avid gamer that I am, and focusing so much attention on the games that I’m playing, I often find that other skills in my life are somewhat lacking. In essence I’m just trying to find a way to say that my cooking has been compared to “like eating rubber” and/or very, very crispy (a nicer, more acceptable way of telling me that the food is burnt beyond recognition).

All this has changed recently! Yip, along came Cooking Mama DS, and at first everyone at the EL33T offices scattered as soon as it came in. Why did no one want to play this game you might ask? I’ll tell you why, because is looks very “girly” and “childish.” A game in which you have to cook meals whilst being guided by Mama, a pink doeked, middle aged, Japanese woman just couldn’t match the anticipation levels games such as Twilight Princess or God of War 2 created when they came in.

It’s a matter of taste

But therein lies the beauty of the game, because all you need to do is look past the bright exterior and you’ll find an intriguing little puzzle game akin to the Warioware world, a flurry of mini games that connect together to form the preparations and cooking of about 120 different recipes.

Most of the recipes have a VERY Japanese influence, so you’ll be preparing a lot of meals with squid heads, rice and wasabi paste. Nevertheless, a meal is just a meal, but the mini-games are what give this game spice.

You might be grating cheese by moving a block of cheese backwards and forwards over a grater, or pouring hot water into a pot making sure not to spill any. The quality of each of the mini-games is not fantastic, and between each one there is a pause where Mama speaks and then it loads the next step in your recipe. I don’t like waiting in between such short spurts of game play, personally I feel it makes the game laborious. I would much rather be challenged with a flurry of games being hurled my way with not much time to think or blink in between. Even though the mini-games lack the pace of Warioware, there is still something there that makes you want to come back and 100% each and every single one of the recipes just so that when you’re done you can pack this game away for a very, very long time.

Like Mama used to make it

The music in the game is very amusing, catchy but hard to forget (I spent endless nights trying to get the theme tune out of my head). The character of Mama, strange looking as she is, is a lovable character and I think one that will be remembered for a very long time.

This game will entertain the casual gamer for a while, the hardcore gamer will 100% it in about 4 hours. You can learn a lot of interesting recipes which, once I tried in the realspace, worked pretty well. So now I can game and cook at the same time.

Rating:
Contributor:	Justin

Purchase: