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Cooking Mama

EMAIL PRINT ds

8.0 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 35 critic reviews
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Based on 10 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Majesco Sales Inc.

Developer: Taito Corporation

Genre(s): Cooking, Action

Players: 4

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: September 12, 2006

Summary

Learn how to cook with your Nintendo DS! As a budding chef you must first prepare foods then combine raw ingredients together as you cook them on the stove. Follow real recipes or experiment with your own combinations to create a culinary masterpiece with your stylus. Create 76 different, real world dishes from fried eggs to cabbage meat rolls. By mastering the first 15 recipes you can unlock 61 increasingly complex bonus recipes to expand your skills in the kitchen. The stylus is your master kitchen tool. Use it in more than 200 mini-games to chop, slice, pan fry, knead, grate, mash, tenderize, mix, peel, carve, roll and more. Once your dish is ready, you can even use the stylus to prepare the final layout of your meal. Cool food down by blowing into the Nintendo DS microphone. Combine recipes to create more advanced dishes. Share recipes with up to 4 other people or transfer a saved game to a friend via the DS wireless link. Earn bronze, silver and gold medals based on the quality of your cooking. Practice mode lets you finetune your cooking skills without being judged. [Majesco]

Cheat Codes & Hints: GameSpot Hints & Cheats

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

AtomicGamer

Overall, Cooking Mama is an oddly entertaining game.

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Worth Playing

It’s a fantastic appetizer or after-dinner mint, however - if you need a game for those five-minute playing sessions in the bathroom or if you’re looking to get a gift for someone who has less time in their life to play, Cooking Mama could just be the Chef’s Special.

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Electric Playground

A lot of fun, with many different kinds of activities, with an immediate sense of accomplishment. It also has copious amount of practise modes.

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GamePro

Its smart design takes full advantage of the DS' strengths and is put together in a delicious, ready-to-eat package that's sure to delight.

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GameBrink

The dishes and ingredients are all very detailed and look just like they should and Mama comes across as the tough extremist she is. She exudes her “Cook or die” mentality in every scene she graces. [JPN Import]

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Official Nintendo Magazine UK

At its best, Cooking Mama is one of the best touch-screen games around, but some unnecessarily fiddly moments mean that it doesn't quite hit the heights of "Trauma Center" or "WarioWare." [Christmas 2006, p.66]

Detroit Free Press

This is a game best played in small bursts. It's perfect for waiting in line or during road trips.

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VGPub

The thing about "Let’s Cook" that seemed bizarre to me is there was no real story to it: you don’t know why you’re cooking, your relation to Mama, who you’re cooking for, etc.

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Nintendo Power

As is, it's a tasty morsel that will appeal especially to conoisseurs of DS oddities like "Phoenix Wright" and "Trauma Center". Bon appetit! [Nov. 2006, p.90]

Yahoo! Games

So while there isn't all that much on the menu, the fast-paced and simple gameplay can't fail to raise a smile, at least for the first few plays. Most will set it aside after that, but it's priced at a decidedly value-conscious $20 -- less than the cost of a good steak.

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Deeko

With seventy six recipes, there is a lot of play value here, but once you're done, you're done.

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GameDaily

It's not cool getting all the way to the end of a dish and losing because of some tech failure. But for the most part, things work quite well, and Cooking Mama is a steal at $19.99.

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IGN

Cooking Mama does what it sets out to do very well, even if its concept will never be a true gaming classic. It's a really good niche-filler that utilizes the DS well.

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Gamezilla!

Just keep in mind that while there are a lot of different things to do, this experience is definitely best enjoyed in short bursts.

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IC-Games

The main factor here is the playability, and bar the aforementioned niggles we came across we can't deny that 'Cooking Mama' uses the Nintendo DS touch screen in every conceivable and more importantly, fun, way.

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GameSpot

Cooking Mama is a cute, charming little cooking-themed minigame collection, but it lacks direction and depth.

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N-Insanity

Cooking Mama saves the data progressively, so it’s incredibly easy to boot up, cook up a couple dishes, and shut down.

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Gaming Age

Whether you are a master in the kitchen or if you burn toast, Cooking Mama lets you enjoy simulating cooking without all the mess.

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My Gamer

While the game does something new and is perfect for a quick game session on the way to work or on a break, it lacks the potential to be anything more.

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NintendoWorldReport

Cooking Mama was fun for a while, but after the novelty wore off, the repetition of the mini-games and the janky stylus controls just became a bigger and more noticeable defect, and while I’d love to praise the game for trying something different, I have to fault it for not having much depth. [JPN Import]

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Game Informer

Along these lines, Cooking Mama could have been a wacky, gameplay-oriented way to have some fun with my food. Because of the dual-screen layout and minigame design, it just plain isn't. [Oct. 2006, p.114]

Nintendojo

Controls are tight and responsive, and offer up an entirely new experience, especially since Cooking Mama is one of the first of its kind, but the experience will not last.

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Game Almighty

If you’re looking for a portable Mario Party fix, minus the Party aspect, be sure to pick up Cooking Mama.

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Sydney Morning Herald

A lot of fun but unlikely to satisfy your gaming appetite.

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G4 TV

It's like one of those pricey meals that foodies order at swank restaurants. Three bites and the plate is clean. It's a good thing that Cooking Mama has an early bird special price tag, because right about now we're ready for the desert menu.

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VideoGamer

The core idea of turning cooking into a series of mini-games works well, and the gameplay is simple enough for almost anyone to enjoy. Sadly, a lack of variety does make it a game that won't be played much once the novelty factor has worn off.

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3DAvenue

The game is so unique and original that DS owners have to play it, but the fact it’s so short makes it not worth coughing up the cash for.

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Games Radar (in-house)

Our only technical beef with the game is the occasionally spotty touch screen control. Some of the minigame commands aren't as responsive as they could be, leading to bad grades on dishes you know you're nailing. Other than that, everything here works great - just take your time and don't expect too much.

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Modojo

The cheery 'bloop-de-bleep' repeated throughout the entire game is enough to make ears bleed.

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Eurogamer

A charming novelty game, well presented and simply and effectively executed. Just don't go expecting anything more than your thirteen pounds' worth.

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GameSpy

Sadly, the only multiplayer mode included is a downloadable demo you can distribute to your friends -- we would have loved a cooking contest a la Iron Chef, where the highest scoring player across a series of mini-games would win the fame and glory. Still, the mini-games can be fun.

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Games Master UK

Cheerful stuff, with questionable challenge, and, sadly, questionable point. [Jan 2007, p.67]

NGamer UK

It's not that it's badly made or anything. It's just a bit dull, and there's only so many polygon peppers we want to chop. [Dec 2006, p.43]

NTSC-uk

Although there are a few clever mini-game ideas worth seeing, overall it will not hold your interest for long, which is disappointing since the whole concept of using the DS touch screen to control your way around the kitchen seems so natural. [JPN Import]

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GameCritics

The potential is clearly here for another out-of-left-field cult hit, but the charm of sautéing, stewing, and sometimes scorching wears off too soon, and there's nothing to fall back on to bolster the experience.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Hannah R. gave it a7:
This game is fun for all ages. Anyone can play it. i think it has affected by psyche in real life though. I find my self chopping, slicing, stewing, saute-ing furiously in my real kitchen to get that mental gold medal. Help!! I have clocked this game over the duration of about 3 days and found that the only way to get a gold is to get 100%. This can be frustrating if you make something with about 7 stages and you get one minor thing wrong. Somethings seem almost impossible but you can do it if you don't mind getting repetitive stress syndrome in your hand. The game utilizes the touch screen very well AND you can blow into the microphone. How cool is that?!

Jenn B. gave it an8:
This goes well with those who enjoy mini games. Being obsessed with simulators, I was instantly addicted. For only $20, its worth picking up.

TJ M. gave it a7:
The replay value of this game lies in achieving gold medals for every last dish. Beyond that, Cooking Mama is best played in bite-sized morsels, and one should not pick it up at $20 expecting a full course meal.

Chris W. gave it a9:
I consider this game to be a must own next to any warioware or brain age game. For only $20, this title gives you hours of minigame psuedo-cooking fun. Some recipes are simple enough that you could make them in the real world if you were so inclined. I really enjoyed this title, one of my best DS purchases yet. Very fun!

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