WEBmikey: Cooking Mama / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5

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Cooking Mama / Nintendo DS : 3 of 5
9.29.2006 7:54 PM \| Link	I love incredibly bizarre games that really push the limits of the typical genre, and Cooking Mama is definitely one of those games! Of course, this is a US translation of a popular Japanese game, and in fact, most of the dishes you can make are Japanese cuisine (but with English names, so takoyaki becomes "octopus dumplings", for example). All you do is choose the dish you want to make, and then you go through a series of steps, each one kind of like a timed mini-game, all using the touchscreen to full advantage. You may have to chop up onions, crack eggs, knead dough, or even follow precise instructions for stewing (stir now, lower the heat to medium, add next ingredient, stir again, raise heat to high, and so on)! Some of the tasks are kind of tough (peeling potatoes takes practice!), and a few do require some thought for non-cookers like me. When you have to cook a bunch of things in a skillet, you need to add things in the right order so they all finish around the same time, so maybe I'm learning something here! Every step is watched over by Mama, who will either praise you, or (when you burn the meat to a crisp) give you a glorious passive-aggressive "Don't worry, Mama will fix it" with flames in her eyes. There's around 70 recipes to make, from super-easy (instant ramen or a sandwich!) to really difficult, with lots of ingredients and steps. The graphics are fantastic (though the music can be annoying at times), and playing this game can definitely make you hungry! I'm not sure how much I will keep playing after I finish all of the dishes, but for now I'm enjoying my virtual kitchen. Labels: games


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