 |
|
Jan 15th, 2008 at 00:30:58 - Cooking Mama (DS) |
Entry #2
GAMEPLAY:
By now, my time spent with Cooking Mama have left my hands raw and worn. 90% of the minigames included come with a time limit in which the task at hand must be completed. Some games I've been able to complete with a lot of time left over, which I think garners you a score bonus. Other minigames I can only complete with a fraction of a milisecond remaining. As such, each action must be done FAST with a capital "F".
For the most part, the game only requires moving the stylus side-to-side, up and down, circles, and tapping the screen. This makes the gameplay both easy to learn and easy to master, making a satisfying game expersience.
DESIGN:
Cooking Mama isn't the first game that makes the player a master cook, but it's as innovative as it gets. Many of the design choices are great, while others are just plain baffling. A few minigames require you to keep an eye on both of the DS's screens. A few, not all, require this, so you don't get used to playing that way. This makes the game challenging in a wierd and unwelcomed way.
Many of the design choices are similarly unexpected. Some minigames give you all the time in the world to do a task that only takes a second, while other ones give you very little time to complete a very complicated action.
While some of the design choices are frustrating, most everything else is an accomplishment. The look of the game is the greatest achievement because of the friendly and spritely characters. Even if you do fail a minigame, Mama will console you. "Don't worry, Mama will fix this," she'll say, which isn't too harsh, and not too lenient. You're constantly striving to earn Mama's approval, and when you do, the fruit is shaw-weet.
The main innovation that Cooking Mama brings to the video game industry is that the titualr Mama is gaming's very first MILF: Mom I'd Like to Filet with.
read comments (1)  - add a comment  - read this GameLog  |
|
Jan 14th, 2008 at 02:27:13 - Cooking Mama (DS) |
Entry #1
SUMMARY:
Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends is a collection of minigames, each of which mimich cooking. The object of the game is to perform the task for any given minigame successfully to create a meal chosen at the start of the game.
GAMEPLAY:
Cooking Mama for the DS starts you out with a list of foods that you're able to make. My first experience with the game was making a pizza. The entire game is played with the DS's stylus, and no button presses are required. This makes the game much more interactive, to the point where I actually felt like I was learning how to cook.
The thing about the game that catches your attention is the color scheme. Cooking Mama is presented in a very cartoony style, with very bright objects that seem to be made to induce seizures. However, the cartoony look of the game keeps you constantly set in a good mood, so even if you fail one of the mini-games, you're not discouraged from continuing.
Speaking of failure, as a first time player of Cooking Mama, that's something I was introduced to many times during my first attempts at kneading dough or tossing crust. The learning curve is by no means steap, as anyone with the ability to write legibly will have no problems adjusting to the style of play required. Some of the minigames are over too quickly, and the descriptions of how to do it correctly are sometimes too vague to understand. Fortunately, the game features a practice mode for all the main dishes included, and that's where I'm spending the majority of my play time.
So far, I'm hooked. This has been the first game I've ever played that actually made me hungry, and that's saying a lot when all the food looks like they were made at a restaurant for Looney Toons.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 14th, 2008 at 23:35:27.
add a comment - read this GameLog |
|
|
 |
| panda-venom128's GameLogs |
|
panda-venom128 has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 11 days |
view feed xml
|
| Entries written to date: 10 |
|
