GENRE
	Simulation
	DEVELOPER
	Taito
	PUBLISHER
	Majesco
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	No
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Playing with your food is never just going through the motions in Cooking Mama: Cook Off. Finally, a third-party game for Wii with the polish of any of Nintendo's first party offerings. Motion controls are fully realized in this Wii sequel to Mama's DS debut. Don your chef's hat and prepare to cross spatulas in Cooking Mama: Cook Off!

visuals

Definitely more Julia Childs than Iron Chef, Cooking Mama looks to be designed to appeal to females; however, guys out there who are confident in their masculinity will soon discover that beneath the frills, Mama's kitchen offers as manly a cooking challenge as Emeril's signature, "Bam!" Mama and friends are all flat, chibi-proportioned cartoons, animated with simple applause or flaming-eyed disapproval. When she's not giving feedback, Mama's head lolls happily from side to side as she hums music notes.

Cooking ingredients are rendered in 3D and are slightly stylized versions of their real food counterparts. Realism is attained through motion: the physics engine makes ingredients move realistically. Every diced vegetable and fillet of fish moves as it would in real hands in a real kitchen. Motions needed to prepare ingredients are presented onscreen while cooking.

audio

Voice acting gives Mama life as she encourages and appraises players' cooking. Her English sounds like French and Japanese accents crossed, but is nonetheless endearing. From every "A little bit" to "Wonderful! Better than Mama!" Mama's voice always carries a tone of genuine enthusiasm.

Sound effects add another layer to visual cues as shells crack, knives slice through to cutting boards and ingredients sizzle in frying pans. While the timer ticks menacingly, carefree ragtime keeps the mood light.

gameplay

Variety is the spice of life, and Cooking Mama features fifty-five different recipes spanning ten different countries. Multiply these by five different modes in which to prepare them, plus the three different medal rankings you can earn for each, and that equals a whole lot of cooking just waiting to happen. This, of course, is before taking into account the unique blend of ingredients, preparation methods and Wii remote motions that comprise each recipe.

Cooking Mama brings the kitchen to the living room, requiring players to shake, twist, point and trace to season, heat, slice and arrange their culinary creations from raw ingredient to plate. The motions performed with the Wii remote are intuitive and responsive, ranking right up there with Wii Sports and Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. This is a game that neither could nor would work with any other button-based control style. The fun and realism here come not from fancy graphics, but from moving your body like you're really doing the activity.

The cooking-challenged out there, who may not have ever moved beyond a real-world egg crack or salt shaker, will soon feel confident enough to prepare something exotic or even host a TV cooking show. Via recipes from around the world, budding virtual chefs will learn how to prepare calamari (squid), pound mochi (rice balls) and fill cream puffs with just the right amount of cream. The majority of recipes must must be unlocked upon mastery, filling Mama's cook book one recipe at a time.

The five modes mentioned above are Practice, Make It, Challenge, Friends and Food and Friends and Food of the World. Practice is a great way to do just that, as players play through all, some, or just one step in a recipe. Make It mode requires all steps to be completed in order, but there is still a break and return to recipe in between each step. In both modes players are awarded a bronze, silver or gold medal for each step based on time and accuracy; but only Make It mode tallies each step for a cumulative medal score at the end of the recipe. Make it well enough and players unlock Challenge mode for that recipe. Challenge mode speeds up the clock and takes away the recipe break between steps.

multiplayer

Friends and Food is a true, split-screen cook off in which two human players can compete simultaneously to prepare a recipe in Make It mode style. Friends and Food of the World is like the former, but instead of a real human being, one player competes against an ethnic, computer "friend" to unlock "gift" decorations for the virtual kitchen. Both modes are split-screen with the winner decided on accumulated points.

overall

Another reason to own a Wii arrives as Cooking Mama: Cook Off, a three-course meal to stave off post-launch hunger. Superbly utilizing the unique features of the Wii remote, this game is highly recommended for all ages, sexes and levels of experience. You can almost smell the food cooking, the only regret is you can't taste it. To quote Mama, "Wonderful!"

9.5/10