Review – Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic

Publisher: Majesco
Players: single player, with up to 4 player multiplayer
Genre: Simulation
Release Date: November 15, 2011

Rent

I’ve played the Cooking Mama games off and on casually since they’ve come out. They’re fun games to play, and I was interested to see what they were going to bring to the table with Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic for the Nintendo 3DS.

Cooking Mama 4 is very much like the previous games in which you are cooking recipes that start off in varying difficulties, from something easy like a grilled cheese to more complex recipies. Some can for sure be tricky and I know I had to repeat a couple just to get the gold rating.

Game mechanic wise, not much has changed. If you’ve played any of the previous games before, you will be able to grasp the controls quite easily. Not to mention since the controls are pretty easy in general, newcomers to the game will be able to get the hang of it after the first few dishes. I also really enjoyed the interface of the game. It felt smoother than from what I remembered, and it flowed quite well.

The other thing that I enjoyed was having the extra mini games. Those were fun diversions from playing the main cooking challenges, and I enjoyed unlocking more things that would update the look of mama and even your kitchen that you cook in! The game itself is extensive for a casual game, and it’s definitely something I’ve enjoyed on my morning commutes to work.

One gripe I do have is that I don’t feel that there’s much need for the 3D aspect of the game. It’s not used when cooking as that requires the use of the touch screen, and for what is used for, it’s nothing that you really need to have on in order to fully appreciate the game. In the end this is good as playing with the 3D on for too long does give me a headache, but it also makes me wish that I could play it on my DSi XL (because grandma over here likes her big screens).

All in all while I did have fun, I wasn’t blown away by the game. Now, to be fair I haven’t been able to play the multiplayer where you can have a cook off with your friends. But I don’t think that feature really would necessairly have added much to the general feel of the game. The game is fun, it’s great for casual gamers, and it’s not a bad addition to the 3DS library. I think that this game is definitely something that would be good for a younger generation than it is for someone like myself.