"Until multiplayer hits, it looks like I'll be cooking my Salisbury Steak solo..."

Modern Nintendo game consoles have really split developers into two distinct categories now that the consoles they are developing have so many innovative modes of control at their disposal. Whilst the Wii has motion sensing capabilities for developers to use when designing games for the system, the Nintendo DS shines with its touchscreen control.

The two categories I'm talking about are fairly straightforward. Those games which were ported ideas from other consoles and given Wii remote controls at the last minute, and those games which are built from the ground up on the DS or Wii. Cooking Mama fits into the second category, and it's quite easy to see why.

To put it simply, Cooking Mama is a game which puts you through several cooking preparation minigames in a row in order to cook a lovely looking dish. That is, it will look lovely if you cook it right. Cooking Mama sits on the top screen and watches as you perform certain tasks such as chopping up, grating and boiling using the stylus on the bottom screen. Follow the instructions perfectly and you'll earn points, as well as an amusing, happy anime-style face from Mama. However, muck up and Mama will be angry (giving an even more amusing look with balls of fire in her eyes) and will fix the cooking for you.

The minigames are quite simple, however you'll have to complete them quickly – if the timer on the top screen runs out before you finish, you'll fail. Minigames are performed using the DS's features; you'll chop up tasty morsels by slicing or tapping across a line drawn on screen. Mixing is done by swirling the stylus around inside a bowl, and cooking is done by adding ingredients and following instructions as the top screen tells you, with the occasional use of the microphone to cool-down your dish. It's all very fun, but there isn't a large variety of different minigames. There's only a few different types of games with each of the minigames falling into a specific category with different difficulties.

Cooking Mama's visuals are very nice on the eyes for a DS title. Whilst the food may have been drawn in a Japanese anime sort of style, it's still very tasty to look at. The backgrounds and menus are also designed quite well, and the animations aren't too bad, either. And whilst the music audio consists of the same tunes played out on a piano over and over again, it won't get annoying or in the way of your cooking, instead, it adds to the overall experience. The sound effects are also nice and simulate real-life sounds made from the kitchen.

That isn't to say Cooking Mama is a cooking simulator, though. None of the dishes actually tell you how to cook them in real life at all, they only serve as a string of minigames put together in order for a dish. Dishes will only take you a few minutes to complete as well, as each individual minigame can last as short as a few seconds in some cases. Cooking Mama isn't a game you're likely to spend hours and hours in a row on; instead, it's more of a pickup and play title. You'll pick it up, try a new dish and see what ranking you get for it, then turn it off. It isn't as full of a gaming experience as other titles on the DS, however it's still a great portable title if you feel like picking the DS up on the train or the bus and playing for a minute or two. The gameplay isn't just limited to the mothers or girlfriends of hardcore Nintendo gamers, either; even fans of big Nintendo titles like Zelda and Mario will find the pick-up-and-play style of the minigames great fun.

The real gripe I have with the game is how long it lasts. Even after you've beaten the 76 dishes, there isn't a whole lot to do at all. You can combine some of the old dishes to make new ones, but this doesn't add a bite-size of value to the already short game. The Practice mode is a nice addition, allowing you to try out the minigames you've already experienced in your cooking on varying levels of difficulty. Some of them can get rather frustrating at the higher levels, and can lead to a bit of hair loss. That said, there's no need to don the hairnet, as there aren't nearly enough of these minigames to keep you hooked on the mode for too long.

Download play is also a disappointment. Cooking Mama allows you can send a playable demo of the game to a friend, but that's it. No multiplayer battle mode just yet. I'll be looking forward to the sequel where this is implemented, but until then it looks like I'll be cooking my Salisbury Steak solo.

Final Scores:
Presentation: 7
Visuals: 8
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 8
Replay Value: 5

Overall (not an average): 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/19/07

Game Release: Cooking Mama (AU, 12/07/06)