With the continued mainstream success of the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS, both systems have seen plenty of ports of casual games that originated on the PC. Cake Mania, one of the most popular PC casual titles, received a DS version last year, and it sold well enough to justify bringing the sequel, Cake Mania 2, to the system as well.

Just like the first one, Cake Mania 2 stars Jill, baker extraordinaire. After saving her grandparents’ failing cake shop in the first game, Jill begins receiving requests from her friends to help them with their own cake bakeries (cakeries?). There are six different bakeries Jill has to run, each with their own look, custom cakes, and clientele.

 
Each bakery has its own unique theme and customers, like the waterpark seen here.

Anyone who’s played the first Cake Mania (or any of the similar “spinning plate” casual games, like Diner Dash) will have a good idea of what to expect. The player controls Jill with the stylus, tapping to make her walk to different locations or interact with the bakery equipment or customers. Essentially, each customer must be given a menu, then, once they’ve made their order, Jill must bake, frost, and decorate the cake to the customer’s specifications before delivering it to them and receiving payment. It’s simple enough at first, but as customers begin to line up with requests, the difficulty ramps up significantly. As you get a little cash built up, you can spend it to buy upgrades to your equipment, including faster ovens, more decorations, and a TV set to keep your customers happy while they wait. The gameplay is remarkably fun and addicting, and it’ll keep you glued to your DS all night if you let it.

But that’s not to say that it’s without problems. Some of the game’s problems stem from the small screen size of the DS — when the different cake and frosting types separated by only a few pixels, it’s altogether too easy to tap the wrong one. Since one wrong tap can ruin an entire cake and it doesn’t take much to anger the customers, a few mistakes like this can easily lead to you failing that stage. On a related note, some of the frosting options are too similar looking, which can lead to mistakes; for instance, the brown and red frostings can be hard to distinguish between, especially for players using the dimmer-screened original DS. It’s also not an especially deep game; by the time you’ve finished the first level, you’ve pretty much seen everything the game has to offer. Of course, for some players, this could be a good thing, not a flaw — it is a casual game, after all.

Aside from upping the difficulty, the gameplay doesn’t significantly change from the first stage to the last.

Presentation-wise, Cake Mania 2 isn’t overly ambitious. The graphics are functional but unimpressive, and are virtually unchanged from the first game. The cartoony art style isn’t bad, but characters repeat far too often, and there’s not much in the way of animation. The audio end of things is even worse than the visuals—the songs are irritating, and the customers’ voice clips are even worse. This is a game best played with the volume off.

Don’t get me wrong, Cake Mania 2 isn’t a bad game by any means. A little simple, perhaps, but that’s to be expected (even desired) in a casual title like this. Overall it’s a fun, addictive little time waster. If you played the first and can’t wait to get back to the cake-baking fun, or if you’re new to the series and are looking for a simple, fun diversion, you’ll love Cake Mania 2. Just don’t expect a lot of depth or any significant improvements over the first.

Gameplay: 7.5
While it’s not especially deep, the multi-tasking mayhem gameplay is fun and satisfying. Some touch-screen control issues can be aggravating, but it’s not anything that ruins the game.

Graphics: 6.7
The cartoony art style is cute and all, and nothing looks out-and-out bad, but nothing really impresses, either. Animations are virtually nonexistent, and the few customer types in the game repeat very often. There’s also not much variation in the different bakeries, leading to a sameness that encompasses the entire game.

Sound: 4.8
Each stage’s song is short and obnoxious. The sound effects are repetitive and distracting. Each customer has a vocal clip that plays whenever they enter the shop, and these get on your nerves very quickly (if I ever hear the little kid say “It’s my turn!” again, it’ll be too soon).

Difficulty: Medium
The gameplay is simple to understand, but just like in a real shop, the game can get pretty tough when the customers are coming fast and furious.

Concept: 7.5
It’s been done before, but the “plate spinning” multi-tasking gameplay is still fun and addictive. The “cake shops in trouble” storyline isn’t going to win a Pulitzer, but it’s as good a backstory as you could expect from a casual game like this.

Overall: 7.2
Some pretty significant flaws don’t change the fact that this is a fun, addicting little game. It’s nothing mind-blowing, and it’s almost identical to the original, but Cake Mania 2 is still a fun way to kill some time with your DS.