Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends

Cooking Mama is a fun little game on the DS that is mostly a collection of mini-games played with the stylus. Each mini-game requires players to complete parts of various recipes. Players use the stylus to cut, chop, move ingredients and match the rhythm of different cooking actions. If successful, the recipe is complete and players can make another recipe. If not, then the whole process begins again. This premise is very simple, but surprisingly fun for short game sessions.

Now, Cooking Mama is back in Cooking Mama 2 Dinner with Friends. The game is essentially the same as before, but now there are also new recipes, additional characters besides Mama, and winnable accessories for Mama. It’s still a cute game, but the new material isn’t really enough to warrant purchasing if players already have the first one, as this new version is $30. But if not, then this game is the one to get over the first one, as the additions do enhance the gameplay a bit.

Players have 2 main modes to choose from. In one, players will cook for Mama while she gives out advice on what to do. In the second mode, players can cook for either Mama, or one of her many friends. There are no instructions, so this mode is more challenging. If just one part of the recipe is incorrect, players will have to redo the entire recipe. Success, however, will earn medals from Mama and her friends, which can be used to doll up Mama.

All of the mini-games are easy enough in concept, but not having instructions makes everything much harder. For instance, often players will have to move items around in a refrigerator to make room for the bowl of food. Well, it took me awhile to figure out what to do, as the touch-screen controls for this particular game aren’t designed well. These control issues make it hard to move the food around, so I couldn’t figure out if moving food was the goal. After I practiced with Mama in the other mode, I then knew that moving the items around to make room was the goal, and figured out how to do that so the game would recognize the stylus movements.

The graphics are fun and cute, and there is a picture of the finished recipe after each one is completed. If successful, then the resulting picture displays a pleasing meal. However, if it’s not rated highly, it’s a mess. My waffles were just bowls of dripping batter for a long time.

It’s fun when a recipe is completed correctly and is rated high enough for a medal. This means that players can accessorize Mama or her kitchen. This adds an incentive to play, but even without this “store," the mini-games themselves are fun enough for short periods of time. The style of the game is cute, and Mama has a pretty funny accent. While I have to admit that I like Cake Mania and Diner Dash better, Cooking Mama 2 is good fun for short gaming sessions. A good casual game for the DS, best for players who don’t already have the first one.

Gameplay: 7.0
Playing these types of casual games is always fun. Each mini-game is well-crafted for the most part, although there are a few stylus control issues in some of the games. Some are more fun than others, as in trying to guess an ingredient from an initially blurred out picture is more fun than drawing endless circles to grind beef. Completing a recipe is satisfying, though!

Graphics: 7.0
The graphics are good, but not spectacular.

Sound: 6.0
The music is average.

Difficulty: Medium
The game isn’t hard to play, but trying to figure out the mini-games without instructions in the friends mode is challenging.

Concept: 6.0
It’s the same game as before, but with a few new additions. The execution is mostly good.

Multiplayer: 6.0
The multiplayer mode allows for competition, but only per mini-game. Players won’t be making the entire recipe.

Overall: 7.0
This is a cute game with a certain odd charm and players will have fun. However, there’s not a whole lot of meat to the game, and is really only good for short gaming periods.