E3 impressions - Cooking Mama: World Kitchen

I definitely consider myself a fan of the Cooking Mama series. These titles may not be for most core gamers, but for some reason, Mama and her friends have found their way into my heart. The simple idea behind the games paired with the inventive uses of touch screen and Wiimote controls was enough to spark my interest. Yes, I am excited for the next Wii sequel, World Kitchen. I may not be counting down the days until release, but I know the game will find a very happy home with Cooking Mama: Cook Off on my game shelf. The good news is, World Kitchen is shaping up to be the better of the two games.

First thing’s first…the developers behind World Kitchen have heard all the complaints about the controls from Cook Off. The first Cooking Mama title on Wii was a step in the right direction, but it had some rather confusing and needlessly complicated controls. The setup was so involved that each and every step in your recipe would be prefaced with how to control that specific game portion. It was that experience that had me nervous to pick up and play World Kitchen on the show floor. I had no experience with the new controls, and I thought for sure that I was going to embarrass myself.

Well, the pre-objective instruction screens have been completely removed. There is no explanation of game controls before you jump into your task. All you do is make your way down the list of recipe steps, and dive right into them. The control situation has been extremely streamlined. Now, the recipe steps are very easy to understand, thanks to the little window in the corner. That window is all you need to figure out how to play the game. Motion control now makes much more sense, and it’s actually hard to confuse what to do. Cook Off had you fighting with the controller just to recognize input. World Kitchen is a much, much better experience. For people that were put off by the controls on the first Wii outing, World Kitchen does things the right way.

The games graphics have also gotten an overhaul, although they are nothing to go nuts about. Now Mama and her friends are polygonal instead of drawn. It seems like the characters have made the transition just fine. I probably wouldn’t have even noticed the difference, but the Majesco rep pointed it out to me. I don’t play Cooking Mama games for the graphics…I don’t think anyone does!

Also worth mentioning are some of the “special moves” that Mama has. There are certain recipes portions that feature some over-the-top cut-scenes just to add into the action, and make you giggle a bit. For instance, there was one section where I had to tenderize meat for a hamburger. I was going through the normal Wiimote motions, and then a meter popped up on the left-hand side of the screen. An arrow was running up and down the meter, and when you slammed the Wiimote down, the arrow would stop on a specific place on the meter. This would correspond to a cut-scene where Mama would leap into the air, and dive down towards the meat, both hands slamming into the bowl. These moves help fill the accomplishment meter faster than your regular moves. They pop up once or twice in specific portions of the game, and serve no purpose other than to break up the monotony of some of the more tedious recipe steps.

Cooking Mama: World Kitchen feels like a giant step forward, as far as the series is concerned on Wii. Motion control improvements and a much more user-friendly experience have made this game much more enjoyable than the first. This is the way that Cook Off should have been. Hopefully, the full game will exemplify these strengths even more.