Lowcountry Anime and Gaming

Developed by: Office Create (now Cooking Mama Limited)

North American publisher: Majesco Entertainment

This game presents a unique concept to players: essentially cook with a Wii remote, mimicking the motions required and keeping a careful eye on details. Cook Off is easy enough for children to play (perhaps for those aged nine to twelve), while bringing some interesting variety to the table for adults. The music is cute, with different tunes representing the different countries of the world from where your Friends (the CPU challengers) hail. The game include a one-player mode (Let's Cook), a vs. CPU mode (Friends and Food of the World), and a two-player mode (Friends and Food), along with access to an Options screen, where players can view the prizes they have collected in their kitchen (i.e. decorative dishes or golden utensils).  While I personally love playing this game (my favorite recipes are the grilled bonito, sushi, and cream puffs), I will admit that it has its flaws. The voice clips of Mama after each step of the cooking process ("Wonderful! Better than Mama!") may eventually begin to annoy some players. Once you have attempted every one of the fifty five recipes and beaten all ten of the Friends, you will probably lose a little bit of interest in the game. While it is fun to cook your favorite recipes over and over again, there is no real incentive to perfect those at which you may have shown lower proficiency. I would say the replay value of this game is moderate, perhaps good for gatherings or the like. I would also like to note that the player may experience some difficulty with the motion control with the Wii remote alone. Though not required to enjoy the game, I might recommend the Wii Motion Plus accesory; this will clear up any problems with stirring or kneading. The one addition I would have liked for this game would be some type of story mode, maybe a little more interaction with the Friends of the World. All around, Cooking Mama: Cook Off is a fun, unique game that, while some gamers would care to pass up, other gamers would enjoy to a good extent.