Cooking Mama Let 39;s Cook
Engracia Kina
Cooking Mama[a] is a cookery simulation-styled minigame compilation video game for the Nintendo DS, and it was later ported to iOS as Cooking Mama: Lets Cook! in 2015. It was developed by Office Create and published by Taito, Majesco Entertainment, and 505 Games. It was awarded IGN's "Best Of E3" award for 2006. It is the start of the Cooking Mama series, with 4 more main series titles on DS and Nintendo 3DS, two spin offs on Wii, and a spin off on 3DS. It also spins off into the Gardening Mama series. For later titles in the series, the publishers and Office Create joined together to form Cooking Mama Limited, which was made exclusively to develop the Cooking Mama series.
In Cooking Mama, the player is tasked with cooking various meals using the device's touch screen. Following the instructions of the titular "Mama", the player uses the stylus or their finger to perform different kitchen tasks, including chopping vegetables, slicing meat, flipping food in pans, and arranging the final items on the plate. The version of the game for iOS also takes advantage of the accelerometer in its devices with some similar gameplay to Cooking Mama: Cook Off. Each of these tasks is performed by completing a mini-game which usually lasts less than 10 seconds. The gameplay structure consists of the player progressing through a series of short minigames. The game features a total of 96 different dishes.
Each minigame represents a different activity in the meal preparation, such as mixing, frying, or chopping the provided ingredients. The minigame mechanics themselves range from quickly drawing parallel lines in order to chop items, to a rhythm game where ingredients are added to a skillet or the heat is adjusted at precisely the right time. In many cases, players must look at the top screen of the DS for guidance on what to do next and then perform the task on the bottom screen. If the player makes a serious blunder or time expires without sufficient progress being made, that step in the cooking process is considered a failure. When this happens, a graphic of an angry "Mama" with flames erupting from her eyes is displayed, along with the caption "Don't worry, Mama will fix it!".
Completing a dish can require playing one minigame, or as many as a dozen. The player's performance is rated when each dish is finished, based on the average result of each minigame. Depending on the final score, the game may award the player a bronze, silver or gold medal. The highest medal earned for each dish is recorded and displayed next to each item on the selection screen.
The main game mode where players cook dishes. Players initially start with just a few simple recipes to choose from, with additional recipes unlocked as the earlier ones are mastered. Each recipe requires players to play through a short, timed minigame for each ingredient or group of ingredients. For example, to make a sandwich, the player would first be required to chop a cucumber into slices before the time limit elapses.
When cooking a recipe which has previously been mastered, the player sometimes has the option to change the dish being made "on the fly" between two minigames. If completed, this new recipe is then unlocked for future play.
In this mode, players can take the recipes which have been unlocked and combine them to make something new. For example, the "Fried Eggs" recipe can be combined with the "Rice" recipe to make an entree.
411Mania gave it a score of 7.5 out of 10, saying that "At $19.99 this makes yet another quality and affordable title for the Nintendo DS library."[17] Detroit Free Press also gave it a score of three stars out of four, calling it "a game best played in small bursts. It's perfect for waiting in line or during road trips."[12] However, The Sydney Morning Herald gave it a score of three stars out of five and said it was "A lot of fun but unlikely to satisfy your gaming appetite."[13]
The original Cooking Mama sold more than 500,000 copies in the United States as of August 15, 2007,[18] and sold more than 1 million copies in PAL regions.[19] It received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[20] indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[21]
As of January 30, 2008, the Cooking Mama series sold more than 2.6 million copies worldwide.[22] Majesco also credited it, among other games, for an increase in revenue in early 2007.[23] By May 2009, over four million copies of the series were sold in North America. Miley Cyrus was found to be a huge fan of the game, and even gained a large number of fans due to how much she enjoys it.[24]
The animal welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) created a Flash game titled Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals[25] intended to both criticize the video game's use of meat-based recipes and to encourage veganism.[26] The creators of Cooking Mama responded to PETA in a press release stating that "I would never put rat in my ratatouille", and indicated that not all of Mama's recipes are meat-based.[27] PETA stated that they were happy with the release of Gardening Mama, a spin-off of the series.[28]
Last year my fellow game columnist, Laurie Taylor, reviewed the original culinary video game, "Cooking Mama." Now after a successful year, "Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends" is dishing up new treats for the Nintendo DS.
And the game's release couldn't come at a more opportune time since we are smack in the middle of the holiday season, where every occasion revolves around food. But "Cooking Mama" promises not to add any extra pounds around your middle while giving you the opportunity to have fun with your food.
This game is filled with more than 150, fun mini-games that all revolve around, you guessed it: cooking. There are three gameplay modes to choose from: Cook with Mama, Let's Cook, Cooking Contest. You can also select from a diary option in which you can record snapshots of your culinary creations for posterity or you can select change design to update Mama's kitchen or wardrobe look.
Cook with Mama is where first-time players should begin. If you jump right in to the Let's Cook or Cooking Contest, then you probably haven't developed the kitchen skills to do well. In Cook with Mama, you select which delectable morsel you want to make. There are all-American choices like pizza, apple pie, and T-bone steak. Or for a bit of Asian flair, you can fix Sea Bream Carpaccio, Squid Fried Rice or an Eel Rice Bowl.
The Asian influence is seen not only in the food selections, but also in the kitchen tools. When asked to mix ingredients, you select from either long chopsticks or a wire whisk. Plus, the voice-over has a strong accent, adding an international flavor to the game.
Once you have selected the entree you would like to prepare, there are several short activities and steps in which to making your dish. These preparations can be very detailed and surprisingly hard. For example, if you decide to make pizza, there are nine steps, from mixing the ingredients to setting the oven to cooking the pizza.
Each step relies heavily on the touch screen and stylus of the DS to give the cooking a very hands-on feel. For pizza, you select salt and olive oil with the stylus and drag the ingredients to the bowl. You use the stylus to mix them up, but just as in a real kitchen, you have to be careful not to spill any. You pound and kneed the dough and then, in a step I have yet to master, twirl it on your finger to spread the dough into a thin, circular shape. Finally, slather on sauce and select toppings to add before setting your oven and cooking your creation.
You are scored on your overall performance and awarded medals if the food has passed Mama's inspection. Then you can take a picture of your final masterpiece and put it in your picture diary to share with your friends in the diary section.
The Cook with Mama gameplay section provides step by step instructions, as if Mama were right there in the kitchen with you, holding your hand and showing you the way. Once you have mastered the art or want more of a challenge, select Let's Cook or Cooking Contest.
In Let's Cook, it is up to you to create a scrumptious meal for your hard-to-satisfy friends. You select either Mama or Chika to play. This time, if you want to make a pizza, you must know the steps without any guidance. If you fail, your food is deemed inedible and you and your friends cry over the results.
If you want to challenge your real-life friends, select Cooking Contest. With one game card, up to three people can use the DS wireless feature and compete against each other to see who is the better virtual cook. Or, you can complete the solo challenge for a personal victory. These challenges are not full meal preparations, but smaller challenges like pouring the liquid, cutting corn from the cob, breaking an egg, or grilling with charcoal.
Let's Cook uses touchscreen controls and was specifically redesigned for smart phone devices. This means you can literally put dishes together with a tap of you finger. The game also boasts new features, such as being able to combine two dishes to make a new dish and cooking food for Papa to get new items.
This downloadable title is free, but additional recipe packs are available for purchase. Each pack includes six new dishes. Two additional recipe packs can be unlocked simply through playing the game.
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