Game Details
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  • $20
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Genre
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Cooking Mama (Wii, Nintendo DS)

common sense media says

200 crazy DS Mini games with cooking theme.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this video game is simply a series of Mini games that have a cooking theme. Kids don't have to know anything about cooking to play. This game is best played in small bursts – like on the way to soccer practice or while waiting for an appointment.

Educational value: Teaches some culinary skills.
Positive messages: Not applicable.
Violence & scariness: Not applicable.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: Not applicable.

More on Cooking Mama

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about how quirky gameplay in a video game frequently makes the game a hit. Is that because people are looking for originality in video games and are getting tired of games that mimic others? Which of the Mini games was your favorite? Would you want to learn to cook any of the foods you made in the game? Did you miss having a storyline?

What's the story?

What's the story?
In COOKING MAMA, you "cook" recipes by playing Mini games -- to chop ingredients, for example, use your DS stylus as a knife and tap the screen to chop objects. The fun comes in perfecting them in a timed environment that requires execution at very specific times. Mentoring you through this cooking marathon of 76 recipes is the doe-eyed, anime-looking Cooking Mama. But don't be fooled by her sweet appearance; she turns into a flaming-eyed taskmaster when you fail -- and fail you will, unless you take the time to "practice" a recipe before you attempt to "cook" it for a score.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Original, fast-paced Nintendo DS game Cooking Mama makes excellent use of the DS' touch-sensitive screen capabilities in its 200-plus timed, cooking-themed Mini games. While things like chopping are easy, peeling a carrot using the DS stylus is a challenge, and probably more so because the controls aren't responsive enough. Some of the Mini games can get quite demanding, as you are required to add ingredients, stir, and adjust the heat either up or down at just the right time as indicated on a scrolling timeline. And some of the Mini games don't come with enough instructions, which forces you to experiment.

The newness of this gameplay will sustain players through preparing many feasts -- but eventually the novelty wears off. This game is best played in small bursts -- a recipe or two at a time. This game succeeds because it's wacky -- too bad cooking a real dinner isn't this entertaining.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS
Not available online
Genre: Time management
Developer: Majesco
Released on: September 13, 2006
Price: 20
ESRB Rating: E

This review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen
 
 

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What parents & educators say

5

Most useful reviews by all members

 
fun
It is one of my favorite games but I wish that it had more recipes.

enise111
teen, 17 years old
 
Great!
This is a great game in which you can experiment with dishes and mix meals.It gets a little boring and then the fun boost right up!

 
This game is fun if you like cooking. It's great at first but tends to get old and boring after a while.

 
Fun!
This game is mindless enough to play for a short break where you don't want to have to "think" too much, but it's not so mindless that it's boring. The mini-tasks within each recipe help break up any monotony, and it's easy to play for both shorter and longer periods of time. Above all else, it's really fun to be able to use the touch screen to its full capacity!

96grlpowrCE
teen, 16 years old
 
You don't need walkthroughs or tutorials, or cheats or codes. Super fun!
Cooking Mama is really fun. It's not very violent-- although if you're vegetarian, you may object to the fact that meat is prepared in the game (obviously you don't do any slaughtering, you just chop up meat). But for the rest of us, it's a fun game that doesn't take much time to play and is challenging but not frustrating. :)

spidermonkey
teen, 16 years old
 
i like this game
this game is pretty cool can get a bit boring after a while though ummm.....you dont need to know a thing about cooking to play it. recomend for ages 6+

spongebobprincess1
teen, 14 years old
 
Cool!
I have the game and I personally think it is a really fun game!

karyuka
teen, 14 years old
 
h*
wow this game is so an iffy!

lee050898
teen, 13 years old
 
Good Game
i've played the game before it is fun!

missytaterhead
teen, 14 years old
 
Great game!
I really love this game because you don't need to be a cook to play this! I am 11 and love this game. Take it on the road or anywhere with you! I give it *****!

 
You're cra-sy...
K random headline but anyway about this game. The minigames can get really repetetive as you use the same ones for different recepies. I wouldn't have had any idea there were 200! They must be counting stirring soup and stirring batter as two different games even though they're identical. You can learn a thing or two about cooking here, though.


kid, 12 years old
 
It's a slightly educational game where you prepare and cook various foods
Cooking Mama is a slightly educational game where you prepare and cook various foods by following a recipe. By educational I refer to the fact that you learn the different ingredients that make up each meal and the general process to cook those meals. There were many different types of preparations skills, some include chopping, folding dumplings, baking, cutting tendon, frying, stewing, tearing, cutting, cracking and peeling an, peel an egg, tenderising meat, peeling, grating, shaping, etc. The recipes ranged from easy to hard which include making grilled gyoza, beef steak, fried chicken, sandwich, boiled egg, pork cutlet, potato salad, spring roll, pizza, meat pie, etc. In the main menu you have three game play modes: Let’s Cook: make food according to a recipe Let’s Combine: combine two recipes Use skill: use your skills in preparation When playing Let’s Cook you are able to select the food you wish to make and can either practice making the food which allows you to try out the individual parts or make the food in which case you won’t be able to retry a certain part if you fail it. You are trying to prepare and cook the food correctly and as fast as possible. You are required to follow instructions and in most cases need to beat a timer. For each part in the preparation or cooking of the food you receive a rating - very good, good or failed. Once the meal is cooked you are shown your final score out of 100 and are awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal depending on your score. You sometimes unlock a new recipe when completing a meal. On some meals you are able to place the toppings you desire on your meal, for example, pizza. The Use Skill game play allows you to practice the skills you have learnt when making meals. There are several rounds of practicing the skill and after each round the timer or the ingredients to add increases. One issue I have with this game is that when preparing a meal sometimes you didn’t quite understand the instructions you were given. Maybe when practicing to make a meal you should have been given exact instructions on what to do. Another issue that comes to mind is when some parts of making the meal didn’t make sense. For example, when removing the pasta from the pot, if you caught all the pasta but not the water then you would not receive the “Very Good” rating. Another example is when tossing the spaghetti; you need to constantly toss the spaghetti up and down to receive the “Very Good” rating. A point to add is when failing a part of the cooking process it’s sort of over exaggerated. You’ll see from the picture that if you fail, cooking mama’s eyes are burning, kind of like your effort was such a failure that it hurts to look at it. The game is intended to those whom are interested in cooking and learning different meals but it may also be suitable for those whom enjoy simple activities. It seems to have a “WarioWare: Touched” kind of game play to it as in each part to making the meal is short and like an activity.


teen, 14 years old
 
It's a slightly educational game where you prepare and cook various foods
Cooking Mama is a slightly educational game where you prepare and cook various foods by following a recipe. By educational I refer to the fact that you learn the different ingredients that make up each meal and the general process to cook those meals. There were many different types of preparations skills, some include chopping, folding dumplings, baking, cutting tendon, frying, stewing, tearing, cutting, cracking and peeling an, peel an egg, tenderising meat, peeling, grating, shaping, etc. The recipes ranged from easy to hard which include making grilled gyoza, beef steak, fried chicken, sandwich, boiled egg, pork cutlet, potato salad, spring roll, pizza, meat pie, etc. In the main menu you have three game play modes: Let’s Cook: make food according to a recipe Let’s Combine: combine two recipes Use skill: use your skills in preparation When playing Let’s Cook you are able to select the food you wish to make and can either practice making the food which allows you to try out the individual parts or make the food in which case you won’t be able to retry a certain part if you fail it. You are trying to prepare and cook the food correctly and as fast as possible. You are required to follow instructions and in most cases need to beat a timer. For each part in the preparation or cooking of the food you receive a rating - very good, good or failed. Once the meal is cooked you are shown your final score out of 100 and are awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal depending on your score. You sometimes unlock a new recipe when completing a meal. On some meals you are able to place the toppings you desire on your meal, for example, pizza. The Use Skill game play allows you to practice the skills you have learnt when making meals. There are several rounds of practicing the skill and after each round the timer or the ingredients to add increases. One issue I have with this game is that when preparing a meal sometimes you didn’t quite understand the instructions you were given. Maybe when practicing to make a meal you should have been given exact instructions on what to do. Another issue that comes to mind is when some parts of making the meal didn’t make sense. For example, when removing the pasta from the pot, if you caught all the pasta but not the water then you would not receive the “Very Good” rating. Another example is when tossing the spaghetti; you need to constantly toss the spaghetti up and down to receive the “Very Good” rating. A point to add is when failing a part of the cooking process it’s sort of over exaggerated. You’ll see from the picture that if you fail, cooking mama’s eyes are burning, kind of like your effort was such a failure that it hurts to look at it. The game is intended to those whom are interested in cooking and learning different meals but it may also be suitable for those whom enjoy simple activities. It seems to have a “WarioWare: Touched” kind of game play to it as in each part to making the meal is short and like an activity.


kid, 11 years old
 
It's a slightly educational game where you prepare and cook various foods
Cooking Mama is a slightly educational game where you prepare and cook various foods by following a recipe. By educational I refer to the fact that you learn the different ingredients that make up each meal and the general process to cook those meals. There were many different types of preparations skills, some include chopping, folding dumplings, baking, cutting tendon, frying, stewing, tearing, cutting, cracking and peeling an, peel an egg, tenderising meat, peeling, grating, shaping, etc. The recipes ranged from easy to hard which include making grilled gyoza, beef steak, fried chicken, sandwich, boiled egg, pork cutlet, potato salad, spring roll, pizza, meat pie, etc. In the main menu you have three game play modes: Let’s Cook: make food according to a recipe Let’s Combine: combine two recipes Use skill: use your skills in preparation When playing Let’s Cook you are able to select the food you wish to make and can either practice making the food which allows you to try out the individual parts or make the food in which case you won’t be able to retry a certain part if you fail it. You are trying to prepare and cook the food correctly and as fast as possible. You are required to follow instructions and in most cases need to beat a timer. For each part in the preparation or cooking of the food you receive a rating - very good, good or failed. Once the meal is cooked you are shown your final score out of 100 and are awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal depending on your score. You sometimes unlock a new recipe when completing a meal. On some meals you are able to place the toppings you desire on your meal, for example, pizza. The Use Skill game play allows you to practice the skills you have learnt when making meals. There are several rounds of practicing the skill and after each round the timer or the ingredients to add increases. One issue I have with this game is that when preparing a meal sometimes you didn’t quite understand the instructions you were given. Maybe when practicing to make a meal you should have been given exact instructions on what to do. Another issue that comes to mind is when some parts of making the meal didn’t make sense. For example, when removing the pasta from the pot, if you caught all the pasta but not the water then you would not receive the “Very Good” rating. Another example is when tossing the spaghetti; you need to constantly toss the spaghetti up and down to receive the “Very Good” rating. A point to add is when failing a part of the cooking process it’s sort of over exaggerated. You’ll see from the picture that if you fail, cooking mama’s eyes are burning, kind of like your effort was such a failure that it hurts to look at it. The game is intended to those whom are interested in cooking and learning different meals but it may also be suitable for those whom enjoy simple activities. It seems to have a “WarioWare: Touched” kind of game play to it as in each part to making the meal is short and like an activity.

diva625
teen, 16 years old
 
the greatest game!
it was very neat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

makeupmissy123
kid, 13 years old
 
All Ages over 4
Not that easy to play. But it teaches you cooking skills and recipes. When you fail something,flames come out of Mama's eyes. But it just looks silly, that's all.

taffy310
kid, 11 years old
 
Fun game!

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