I've wanted a good cooking simulator for a long time. When the DS was released, I had high hopes that someone would make a game that would utilize all it's features and make a fun yet realistic cooking game. I saw Cooking Mama, and I was amazingly excited. "This is going to be great!" I told myself.
As the release date came closer, the concept began to seem much more like a gimmick than anything else. A mini-game for each step in the recipe, menus and gameplay completely controlled by the stylus. I was a bit more skeptical than when it was first released, but I was still excited.
I shouldn't have been.
When you first start off, the easy recipes are kinda fun. As you start progressing, though, you notice how many flaws the game actually has. The learning curve is extremely steep because, even between the in game instructions and the instruction manual, you still don't learn everything you should without A LOT of trial and error. Some activities, like sauteing mushrooms, have little guidance. You are forced to practice the exercises many times in order to fully understand the concept. Other activities are just downright difficult and frustrating.
The game does have it's good qualities, but not many. Almost right off the bat you have to cook difficult meals, and lots of difficult tasks. When you finally manage to get the hang of it, you feel an extreme sense of accomplishment - unfortunately, this accomplishment doesn't override the extreme sense of frustration you feel after trying to beat these freaking levels over and over and over... The game play is innovative and the recipes are unique, but these good qualities are, unfortunately, overshadowed by the bad qualities.
Overall: This is a very frustrating game. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't buy it a second time. It may be worth giving it a try if you REALLY enjoy this type of game, but don't buy it; just give it a rent.
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