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When the DS first hit retail gamers once wondered if this system would be a legitimate replacement for the famed GBA, or would it be just a gimmick device that would fade away after all could be done with the touch screen capabilities. Thanks to strong 3rd party support and great titles such as Castlevania, Phoenix Wright, Trauma Center, Meteos, and others, it looks as if the DS is here to stay for some time. Cooking Mama from Taito/Majesco isn’t a game that will provide gamers with unlimited replayablitly, but the simplicity of the touch screen use and effectiveness of the DS’s capability really lays the groundwork for innovators and creators of future titles for the portable system. The premise is simple; create a meal from 76 different real world dishes, each increasing in difficulty from ingredients to preparation and getting as close to perfect on each level within a limited amount of time. Your goal is to reach gold medal standards and continue with each dish, procedure, and step without the help of your kitchen aid, Cooking Mama.
Using the stylus, you will use many kitchen tools throughout over 200 mini-games that will allow you to chop, slice, fry, grate, mash, kneed, mix, carve, roll, peel, and much more which will set up your meal step by step. Using the microphone you can cool down food when necessary which adds to the authentic feel of each meal preparation. Once you have the basics down, you can combine recipes to make even more exotic and creative dishes that you can share over download and play with up to four other players. If you are a novice in the kitchen or find yourself struggling with certain recipes, you may enter a welcomed practice mode that will help you with each task to improve your time and accuracy to make Mama proud. Once you have completed your meal, you will be judged on a points system that will let you know which medal, from bronze to gold, you have received. Complete all meals with gold medals to unlock the whole kit and caboodle. I was upset to see a high score sheet was oddly absent from this game as it would have help increase the competitive spirit on a wider scale than just bronze, silver, and gold. Sure you are ranked in points, but those points aren’t saved anywhere in the game so you must remember your best score if you are to improve on it. Cooking Mama isn’t a ‘rush out and buy’ title for all DS owners, but those who want to showcase what the system is capable of, Cooking Mama uses the touch screen and microphone as often and effectively as any game on the system. So 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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