Review: Cooking Mama (Wii)

So many Wii games always seem to fall at the last hurdle. They seem like a good enough concept and some have already proved themselves as fun time-wasters on the DS (much like this game's little bother). Yet, sometimes a game concept can go horribly wrong when it comes to fruition. Using Ubi-Soft's launch title Red Steel as an example, the idea of using the Wii remote as a sword was genius, but it fails simply because the controls are terribly implemented. The reason we use this example is because the same thing has happened with cook-em-up Cooking Mama.

We strangely enjoyed the original game on DS, and with it now being ported to the Wii with additional recipes and modes, we thought we'd love it even more. However, just because something works with the stylus, it doesn't mean it'll work with the Wii remote. The main mode is called "Let's Cook" and here you can choose from a variety of recipes, with more becoming available as you progress (55 in total). The main difference from the DS game is that now each recipe is categorised by country, so if you like your classic British food then you can make some nice treacle pudding; or, if you like American cuisine, you can cook a cheeseburger (we're not making that last one up).

To cook each dish, you're given instructions (by the annoyingly voiced Mama) which range from simple waves of the Wii remote up and down to chop up vegetables, or more complex steps where you need to stir the food before adding ingredients and turning up the heat. They're explained quite clearly at the start of each step as well as how exactly to perform the action. It sounds good in theory, but when playing, you'll soon get frustrated when you find out that what you're doing with your remote doesn't automatically translate onto the screen. The simple stuff like chopping vegetables works well, but when you're asked to do something that requires more wrist action, like stirring and cracking eggs, it all begins to fall apart. When one mistake will cost you a gold medal, it becomes a really frustrating experience.

That's really all there is to say about Cooking Mama. It's a set of mini-games all disguised as a game where you can pretend to cook amazing recipes, but the truth is you won't exactly be able to learn how to cook by playing this. It would've been nice if they included how to make the recipe in real life, making this a sort of virtual cookbook, which would no doubt improve its longevity. As it stands, it's a game you'll play for half an hour and then never pick it up again.

Aside from the main Let's Cook mode, there's "friends and food of the world" where you can do battle with the CPU and hope to get the best score. Or, if you have a real life friend who would be willing to play this rather than a real game, there's a multiplayer mode too. Something which Cooking Mama can be praised for is the nicely drawn and animated graphics; they look nice, yet garishly colourful, and do make it easy to tell if something you're cooking is going slightly wrong.

If you think this is a short review, you clearly haven't played Cooking Mama (and that's the way it should stay). There's an alarming lack of variety in how you cook each recipe and the whole game feels like it was knocked up in a five minute lunch break. With half-baked ideas like this getting released, it's no wonder the Wii gets a bad reputation.

Rating: 3 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver