"A Quirky Way To Pass The Time"

Judging by the title, Cooking Mama, you can probably already guess what this game is about. Cooking! *shock* ...In this quirky DS game, you become a chef, using your stylus to chop, stir, saute, mix, and many other food-related actions. The game is unlike any other DS title, which is why it appeals to me so much. I love awkward games, and so when I heard there was a cooking game, I had to get it.

I was slightly disappointed to say the least, but I was not entirely let down. The game has its good points and its awesome points, but it also is full of flaws that drag it down. Nevertheless, Cooking Mama is full of all the magic that makes DS as cool as it is, so if you're ready, step into the kitchen.

Game Story:
The whole synopsis is that there is no story. Really. You just cook. You can think of a story in your head while you're playing... Like maybe you're aspiring to become the greatest chef in the world or something like that. There are goals to reach and achieve in the game, but no story that develops or any plot to be found. Even so, some games don't need a story, and I think this might be a case like that. No story is better than a corny story that is ridiculously far fetched.

Game play:
In Cooking Mama, you select a dish you'd like to cook. There are over 70 dishes to choose from (although most of them must be unlocked by successfully cooking the first set of dishes). After you pick your dish, you are taken to a screen where you are given Step #1 of cooking your meal! For example, the first step might say "Chop the onion", along with a short description of how to perform the duty. Tap the screen to appear in the kitchen, and get ready to perform your first step! Assuming that step #1 is still "Chop the onion", and onion would appear in front of you and a knife would appear in some guy's hand - your hand, I guess. Then... 3, 2, 1... GO! Tap the knife with your stylus over and over to chop! You must be quick, because if you take to long and the time runs out, Mama will have to finish the step herself, and you will essential "Fail" that portion of the dish.

Each dish has several steps, some more than others, and you must go through them all until you get to the end where you will be rated based on how good you did, 100 being the best. Then you get a medal, gold, silver, or bronze. Gold is obviously the best. So if you're still following your made up story of becoming the Iron Chef, your goal would be to get all golds on all the dishes. When you successfully cook a main dish, another one may unlock, giving you lots of dishes to choose from in the end! Some dishes may also be altered and changed WHILE you're cooking (the game will give you the option of picking white route you wanna take while you are cooking).

As you probably already know, the stylus is your means for everything. You'll be doing everything with it. You may need to rub up and down to slice meat, twist it around to mix, or flick it up and down to flip a frying pan. It may sound simple and easy... and after a few tries, it is, but some of the cooking techniques are harder than others to accomplish. For example, chopping garlic requires about 6 or 7 taps on a knife to finish. Woo. But sauteing will have you tossing multiple items into a pan at one and try to cook them all to perfection without burning or under-cooking anything. This requires you to know which items need to cook the longest, etc.

Graphics:
Girly. The graphics are pretty feminine-esque, making most men ashamed to even think about buying this game. Yeah, I'm a guy, but for $20 I couldn't pass this up. And so what if it looks chick-like. Besides that, the graphics are very comedic, which works well for this title. So, in the end, no gripes here.

Controls:
Like I said before, the stylus will be used for everything, except the occasional blow in the mic, which means that the controls are pretty good... but sometimes it seems that the game doesn't register certain movements, which can be irritating and may cost you a perfect score. I guess you'll have to learn to get over it. It doesn't happen often, though, so it's not a huge deal.

Gripe, :-[
Cooking Mama has no point. You're just cooking dishes of food... for no apparent reason. Except to unlock more dishes... to once again cook for no reason. With no story to back it up, and no real goals to work towards, you begin to wonder, "why the hell am I even playing this game?" It's still a pretty fun game to pass a few seconds with. "Hey I'm bored, why not make some pizza on my DS?" Some of the dishes are actually pretty fun to cook, but this game will get old fast, and I wouldn't suggest this game for those with long attention spans.

Overall:
Cooking Mama is a good game for the quirky-at-heart, and those with minor to major cases of ADD. It can be a good way to pass the time, and it's really awesome for people who don't like following a story, simple because it's not there! Nevertheless, it's not a bad deal for $20, and you may even learn a thing or two after cooking with Mama for a long time.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/12/07, Updated 03/15/07