Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends

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Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends

Developer(s) Office Create
Publisher(s) Taito (JP)
Majesco (US)
505 Games (EU)
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Release date Flag of the United States November 13, 2007
Flag of Japan November 15, 2007
Flag of Europe February 15, 2008
Genre(s) Simulation, Mini-Games
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: E
A screencapture of Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends, where a player is cutting corn and Mama is dressed up.
A screencapture of Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends, where a player is cutting corn and Mama is dressed up.

Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends is the sequel to the Nintendo DS video game Cooking Mama and its Wii successor, Cooking Mama: Cook Off. The game has twice as many minigames as the original, all new recipes, and a new multiplayer "Cook Off" mode.


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[edit] Gameplay

As in the original Cooking Mama, players in Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends, prepare various culinary dishes using the Nintendo DS's touch screen. Following the on-screen instructions of the titular "Mama", the player uses the stylus to perform various activities such as chopping vegetables or mixing ingredients. Each of these tasks is performed by completing a short minigame, with a number of minigames strung together to form an entire dish from a catalog of 80 different recipes.

After completing a dish, the player's cooking performance is evaluated and given a numerical score (out of 100) along with a corresponding medal. Unlike in previous Cooking Mama titles, bonuses earned during minigames do not influence the overall score, but instead accumulate as "bonus stars". For every 5 such bonuses which are earned, the player earns an unlockable item upon completion of the recipe.

[edit] Other modes

In the (marginally) more advanced Let's Cook! mode, the player is tasked with preparing a recipe without instructions between steps and without making a major mistake. This is done ostensibly at the request of Mama or one of 9 different "friends", who "taste" the dish and provide feedback such as "It's Delicious!" if the recipe is completed without failing any individual step. Assuming the dish is edible, the player may then be rewarded with an unlockable item or introduced to a new friend who was not previously available.

Lastly, in the Cooking Contest mode, Cooking Mama 2 supports wireless multiplayer, with up to 4 players able to play using a single copy of the game (leveraging the DS "Download Play" feature). During such a contest, players compete in individual minigames without actually working towards completion of dishes.

[edit] Reception

Continuing in the same vein as previous titles in the series, reviews appear to indicate that Cooking Mama 2 is still entertaining but does relatively little to move beyond existing gameplay elements. Awarding the title a 7.0 out of 10, the IGN review noted that the title was extremely similar to the previous offering, stating that "Cooking Mama 2 is just as fun as the previous game. In fact, it pretty much is the previous game."[1] The GameSpot review echoed this, noting that the graphics were re-used and that "It's more Cooking Mama for people who just want more Cooking Mama". As a result, GameSpot rated the title a 6.0 out of 10 ("Fair").[2]

As of March 2008, Cooking Mama 2 has a review average of 70% at Game Rankings.[3]

In their "Best of 2007" Awards, 1up.com awarded Cooking Mama 2 Best Console Casual Game.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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