Post by Gilvan Blight on Mar 22, 2007 13:31:50 GMT -5
When I first saw this announced for the Wii I was all hyped as it just seemed like such a cool application of the technology. It is a cool application of the technology, too bad it's for little kids.
Summary: this is a sequel to a DS game called Cooking Mama. You get a recipe book filled with recipes from around the world, you pick one and then Mama walks you through how to make the dish. Making the dish is broken into a bunch of steps that really boil down to mini-games. For example to make Pasta, you first break eggs. This is done by moving the Wiimote in an egg cracking motion. If you do it too soft the egg won't break, to hard and egg gets everywhere. Just right and you get to put the egg in the bowl. Next you add ingredients into the bowl. This consists of selecting ingredients in the right order with the B button and then either tipping them in by twisting your wrist or shaking the wiimote. Next you hold the wiimote horizontal with two hands to simulate a rolling pin and flatten out the dough. And so on. After each step you get scored on that step. Even when you do poorly it says to keep trying. After finishing the full dish you get scored on that. After completing a dish for the first time you unlock a new recipe. I'm really not sure how many there are but I am up to like 9 pages in my book. There is also a multi player mode where two players compete to make the best version of a dish, and a campaign story style mode. This is interesting as you travel the world and compete against AI chefs making their favorite dishes. Again when you finish a 'battle' you unlock something, this time a decoration for your kitchen. There are also timed and challenge modes you can try out with each dish, just for that added replay value.
The Good: it's kinda fun. The use of the Wiimote is excellent, as you very closely mimic actual actions. Very quickly you will pick up intuitively what needs to be done for each dish. This would be a good drinking game I think, you mess up a dish take a drink. Mama definitely makes you feel like you are doing great when you are winning.
The Bad: too easy. Now making the dishes isn't' that easy, some are definitely hard, but the fact the game rewards you even when you fail definitely makes this a kids game. If you even attempt a dish it unlocks a new recipe, if you even challenge an international chef you get a new kitchen prop. Also the fact that it never says you did a bad job can actually get a bit annoying. The graphics as well are overly colourful and simplistic. The food dishes on the other hand appear to be actually pictures of the food items added to the game, it's an odd mix. Overall it's just too simple. There's just not enough too it. I'm sure there would be more then enough to keep a kid busy, especially one that would have no place using real kitchen tools, but it won't keep an adult busy for too long. I have it rented for a week, I assume that over half of that week I will be playing some other game. Lastly, you don't actually learn and recipes. Now the recipes in the game are obviously based on actual dishes, but there is no way you could actually cook anything based on what you learn in the game.
The Ugly: some wonky controls. Now I don't know if this is hardware or software but any use of the B button can be touchy at best. This button is used to grab and pull things, so you use it often. This can get extremely frustrating when you know you are doing the proper motions but on screen you just keep dropping things.
Overall: fun for a short time. Great use of the Wiimote and motion sensors. This would be excellent for a small child with no place using real kitchen tools. For adults though it's kinda fun and intuitive but you won't actually learn to cook anything new, and you will probably loose interest quickly. If you've got little ones and they always want to 'help out' and learn in the kitchen this is probably a good buy, otherwise I suggest a rent at best, and wait until it's not a 'favorites'
Summary: this is a sequel to a DS game called Cooking Mama. You get a recipe book filled with recipes from around the world, you pick one and then Mama walks you through how to make the dish. Making the dish is broken into a bunch of steps that really boil down to mini-games. For example to make Pasta, you first break eggs. This is done by moving the Wiimote in an egg cracking motion. If you do it too soft the egg won't break, to hard and egg gets everywhere. Just right and you get to put the egg in the bowl. Next you add ingredients into the bowl. This consists of selecting ingredients in the right order with the B button and then either tipping them in by twisting your wrist or shaking the wiimote. Next you hold the wiimote horizontal with two hands to simulate a rolling pin and flatten out the dough. And so on. After each step you get scored on that step. Even when you do poorly it says to keep trying. After finishing the full dish you get scored on that. After completing a dish for the first time you unlock a new recipe. I'm really not sure how many there are but I am up to like 9 pages in my book. There is also a multi player mode where two players compete to make the best version of a dish, and a campaign story style mode. This is interesting as you travel the world and compete against AI chefs making their favorite dishes. Again when you finish a 'battle' you unlock something, this time a decoration for your kitchen. There are also timed and challenge modes you can try out with each dish, just for that added replay value.
The Good: it's kinda fun. The use of the Wiimote is excellent, as you very closely mimic actual actions. Very quickly you will pick up intuitively what needs to be done for each dish. This would be a good drinking game I think, you mess up a dish take a drink. Mama definitely makes you feel like you are doing great when you are winning.
The Bad: too easy. Now making the dishes isn't' that easy, some are definitely hard, but the fact the game rewards you even when you fail definitely makes this a kids game. If you even attempt a dish it unlocks a new recipe, if you even challenge an international chef you get a new kitchen prop. Also the fact that it never says you did a bad job can actually get a bit annoying. The graphics as well are overly colourful and simplistic. The food dishes on the other hand appear to be actually pictures of the food items added to the game, it's an odd mix. Overall it's just too simple. There's just not enough too it. I'm sure there would be more then enough to keep a kid busy, especially one that would have no place using real kitchen tools, but it won't keep an adult busy for too long. I have it rented for a week, I assume that over half of that week I will be playing some other game. Lastly, you don't actually learn and recipes. Now the recipes in the game are obviously based on actual dishes, but there is no way you could actually cook anything based on what you learn in the game.
The Ugly: some wonky controls. Now I don't know if this is hardware or software but any use of the B button can be touchy at best. This button is used to grab and pull things, so you use it often. This can get extremely frustrating when you know you are doing the proper motions but on screen you just keep dropping things.
Overall: fun for a short time. Great use of the Wiimote and motion sensors. This would be excellent for a small child with no place using real kitchen tools. For adults though it's kinda fun and intuitive but you won't actually learn to cook anything new, and you will probably loose interest quickly. If you've got little ones and they always want to 'help out' and learn in the kitchen this is probably a good buy, otherwise I suggest a rent at best, and wait until it's not a 'favorites'