Cooking Mama evokes Iron Chef, virtual style

Last year, a quirky Nintendo DS game by the name of Cooking Mama caught the eyes of many at various video game press events and trade shows. Certainly the DS already had a number of strange games, but the gimmick of food preparation simulation proved to be strangely addicting. Publisher Majesco decided to bring it to the US and release it at a budget price.

Now, they have served up the next game in the series, Cooking Mama Cook-Off by developer Office Create for the Nintendo Wii.

Cooking Mama Cook-Off is essentially the same game that it was on the DS, but adapted to play with the Wii Remote and given better graphics and sounds.

The player selects a dish to prepare and Mama guides them through the many steps to make them.

All the dishes are made from scratch, so every little detail is taken into account to make it seem as close as possible to making the dish in real life.

The Remote is used to do things like cut, slice, stir, pour, grate, grind, flip, squirt and turn just to name a few. After each step, Mama judges you on your performance and awards points in accordance.

The game introduces a few new elements to keep players familiar with the old game interested.

Several recipes have been added, which include desserts and each dish is marked by a flag representing its country of origin. Cuisine from Italy, Japan, Russia, France, China and more is available.

The initial cookbook starts out thin, but as dishes are completed, more are added. The second new addition is the two-player mode.

Chefs can go head-to-head to see who is superior at making virtual food, or they can play against a host of computer-controlled "friends". Each one hails from a different country and they all have the home-plate advantage.

The music is very good. It is mostly enhanced versions from the original, but it fits the light nature of the game and is pretty catchy. When playing against the computer, the music also changes to match the style of the corresponding country.

However, the voice of Mama has an accent thicker than sour cream. It is entertainingly endearing at first, but it starts to grate after long sessions.

The graphics are not too exciting, but at least everything looks like whatever it is supposed to resemble. It is a little worrisome when Mama says that "I will help you~" and her eyes are flaming mad.

This is a very good game and certainly is aimed at the right demographic, people who do not usually play video games.

However, there are some activities where getting the game to react is more difficult than it should be.

It's also a little difficult to play for long periods of time, but it was likely designed with the intent to be something to play in short sets.

The price tag on the game is a little discouraging though, since it's released at full price whereas the DS original was a budget title.

Still, anyone with an insatiable appetite for quirky games will leave the table disappointed.