Video Games Item ID: #418Cooking Mama: Cook OffProduct Information:Cooking Mama: Cook Off The Wii Remote is your ultimate cooking utensil, putting you in total control of the cooking action as you chop, grate, slice, stir, roll and much more Item DescriptionCooking Mama: Cook Off
Making special use of the Wii Remote, Cooking Mama: Cook Off is an entertaining blend of mashing, slicing, chopping and stirring as players create more than 300 real-world recipes from 10 different nations. New realistic graphics and real-time cooking effects lend authenticity to player creations and help budding chefs determine when food is overcooked. Best of all, Cooking Mama: Cook Off offers 2-player kitchen competitions to determine who can cook the best meal the fastestAfter her initial DS
Rating:  List Price: $ 19.99 Price: $ 12.85 Deca Sports
The ultimate sports package! So easy to play and fun to master for casual and hardcore gamers alike! Experience fun filled sports competition across 10 different sporting events. With easy-to-pick up and play controls, DECA SPORTS will make a multi-sport athlete out of everyone in your entire family. Smash, spike and smoke the competition in events. Play in sports never before seen on a video game console system including Badminton, Curling, and Figure Skating. Or unleash the speed demon in you
Rating: List Price: $ 19.99 Price: $ 14.48 Soul Calibur Legends Game (Nintendo Wii) SoulCalibur
Item Reviews10 Responses to “Cooking Mama: Cook Off”Leave a Reply |
$75.00 
New Red & Black Nintendo DS Lite Console +Super 67Gifts $108.06 
Pre-Order Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood PS3! US Version $56.99 
Medal of Honor Limited Edition LE PS 3 w/Pre-Order Code $29.99 
Pre-Order Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit PS3! US Version! $54.99 
Pre-Order Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit PS3! US Version! $54.99 
Call of Duty: Black Ops PS3 Pre- Order $49.99 
*** NEW & SEALED *** Vanquish XBOX 360!!! $37.65 |
English 
French 
Bulgarian 
German 
Spanish 
Russian 
Persian 
Portuguese 
Norwegian 
Bookmark This Page 
Email A Friend 
Print This Page 
Help With This Item 
(out of 111 reviews)
(out of 46 reviews)
Review by ShockYourMind99 for Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Rating:
Sizzling off the Nintendo DS burner, Mama is back for second helpings with Cooking Mama: Cook-Off for the Wii. What can easily be called an import-with-modification, this kitchen simulation emulates the DS version almost identically and although several key distinctions can be made between the two titles, it’s a safe wager that if you enjoyed the portable Mama, you’ll love her just the same when grounded to Nintendo’s new console.
The premise of the game is ridiculously simple which no doubt enhances the title’s adorable flair as well as minimizes its already insignificant learning curve. Mama (a ridiculously excitable Japanese woman) has once again decided to open her cheery country-style kitchen to gamers who, under her unblinking supervision, will cook, slice, and dice their way through fifty-five international entrees and desserts.
Each of the missions is further deconstructed into several objectives, all of which can be successfully completed through simple motion-driven minigames. Say, for instance, a gamer chooses to melt and mold chocolate truffles. After confirming his or her selection, a screen will appear detailing the numerous step-by-step activities one must perform in order to properly prepare the cocoa-crunchies. Once briefed, the first minigame will begin with a simple 3-2-1 on-screen countdown. An unwrapped chocolate bar appears on a digital cutting board and the gamer is instructed to flick the Wiimote up and down rapidly to “dice” the dessert. Once chopped, the chocolate must then be boiled, an activity which requires the gamer to monitor oven settings and be vigilant against charring the mixture. After each minigame, a results screen appears, chronicling one’s numerous successes or failures. From this evidence Mama renders her verdict which is relayed through a series of annoying, mispronounced “Engrish” phrases (`Better than Mama!,’ `No Good!,’ `That’s Okay. Keep Going!’). Upon accepting her analysis, the instructions screen reappears and another minigame launches.
The title features three primary `game modes’ – `Let’s Cook,’ `Friends and Food of the World,’ and `Friends and Food.’ In highlighting the first option, Mama’s recipe book bursts open, thereby enabling the gamer to access a myriad of single-player entrée-selections, all of which can be independently prepared. `Friends and Food of the World’ offers a competitive user-versus-computer challenge during which an exotic e-pal races you to prepare a specialty entrée from his or her own unique nation. The human contestant must not only cook quickly but accurately as both time and precision determine your final score. Lastly, “Friends and Food” allows two human chefs-in-training to compete against one another in a food preparation dual; utilizing a split-screen configuration, both players are given the same tasks to complete but, as expected, their performances can vary greatly.
As for its performance and execution, Cooking Mama: Cook Off provides gamers with a light-hearted, atypical experience, no more, no less. This isn’t a game which enthralls its user at the onset and demands his or her undivided attention. You won’t have to cancel your social obligations with the excuse that you’ve “just gotta create those virtual creampuffs.” In the same breath, don’t underestimate this title to be a useless throw-away deserving of dust collection; Cooking Mama can be a delight, in so long as one keeps his or her expectations in check. This game won’t significantly impact your worldviews and mindsets nor will it violently augment your real-life culinary abilities; what it will provide is casual amusement and entertaining escapism from the harsh realities of life. When shoot’em ups get you down and puzzling mysteries confound you, Mama’s always there with a gentle smile, sparkling kitchen, and exotic entrée to be prepared. Bon appetite!
PROS -
+ Effervescent environments, entrees, and activities.
+ Excellent and innovative use of the Wiimote as an all-in-one kitchen utensil.
+ Guaranteed to charm even the most cynical of gamers.
+ Easy to play but truly difficult to master.
+ Lovely soundtrack and realistic audio effects; battles between global e-pals feature music tracks unique to the given region.
+ Overall, an addictive oddity; how many cooking simulations have this much depth and diligence?
CONS -
– Entrees and edible ingredients are beautifully rendered; environments and cell-shaded utensils however lack detail and definition. Too many jagged edges and not enough vectors are integrated.
– Mama’s vocalizations are annoying, repetitive, and sometimes incomprehensible.
– Literally no “options” exist within the game’s options menu; customization is oddly absent.
– A few Wiimote movements are difficult to perform; mixing becomes exhausting whilst peeling virtual vegetables is actually more challenging than the real thing!
– Niche-marketed; some gamers will adore this title but many will unfairly treat it with disdain.
Review by for Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Rating:
First of all, when I heard of this game, I thought it would be fun. And I was right. Partially. The thing i didn’t like was the actual length of the game. Cooking the dishes was fun, however. We spent a lot of time playing it at home, and also with friends. It was more fun as a multiplayer game. My sister liked it a lot so she played it often. But after about a week, we BEAT THE GAME!!!! BELIEVE THAT! I was cautious from the start, so I rented it first. We beat the game before we returned it! My sister was pretty bummed out. I was also kind of upset at how they could make such a fun game so short. 55 recipes seems like a lot, but it isn’t. Each recipes is about a couple of minutes. After an hour of plying, you probably have ended up with 25% complete. And the graphics are okay, same with sound. BUT, for some dumb reason they decided to make “mama” speak some made up language, a cross between English and Japenese. Japanenglish! Half the time you dont understand a word she says. Like when you mess up on something, she says something along the lines of “good, not mine”. The other half when you can understand it, she ends up saying something very repetitive. The actual idea of a cooking game for Wii is excellent, but this just doesn’t cut it.
Pros:
-Fun and addicting
-Nice graphics
-Nice sound
-Fun multiplayer
Cons:
-Mama is not understandable
-Incredibly short
-Repetitive
Overall, this is not a very good game. Way too short and repetitive. However, very good idea to rent. DO NOT make the mistake to buy it. It will be lying at the bottom of your video game drawer after a week of gameplay. [...]
Lets hope the can make a Cooking Mama 2 woth much longer gameplay and way more understandable language.
Review by Maria S. for Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Rating:
Ok… what is that woman SAYING?!?!?
As many have said, Mama is very difficult to understand. This doesn’t seem critical for gameplay… just…. weird.
Somewhere in the gaming world of Tokyo is a highly-caffeinated Japanese woman who thinks she has performed an Italian accent.
Anyway.
Moving on.
The game itself is very simple. Childlike. Yet I keep playing it. Why? I would love to know.
Maybe because it is so mindless that I really don’t give a [beep] if Mama likes my cooking or not. It is just kinda fun to peel virtual carrots and wonder what the hell that red stuff is they want me to add to scrambled eggs.
And I can tell kids will love it. I haven’t shown it to my 10 year old yet (off visiting friends) — but I just know she’ll be thrilled.
As some have also said, some of the controls are frustrating.
Something like “stir” shouldn’t be difficult… yet for some reason – no matter which way I move the remote, it never works the right way.
Ditto with some kind of timing thing where I am supposed to add ingredients, change stove heats, etc. They don’t really tell you what you are supposed to do, and the controls don’t seem to work the way you think they should. I even think it once said “use B button” and “A” is what worked.
Nevertheless, for some silly reason I find it fun to swirl pretend butter around in a cartoon pan and here Mama say something that may or may not resemble the word “awesome.”
Review by Turtle502 for Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Rating:
This game is sometimes very difficult to play, and the controls are extremely difficult for younger children to understand. The Wii remote does not seem responsive enough (“fast” enough) to work with this game sometimes, and sometimes I feel like the game does not understand what motion I am using. As a result, you end up frustrated. One of the hardest things for me to master is adding ingredients to a pan in the right order so that the fastest cooking ingredients (like onions) don’t burn first. The game doesn’t really help you understand this, and it doesn’t help you through it. I’m an adult and can’t master it — imagine how it would be for children.
There is a wide variety of games within this game, so you won’t be bored. However, the sound is not clear. Usually you can’t understand what Mama is saying. The graphics are OK.
Honestly, I think they should have “cooked” the game a little more before releasing it. The concept works well with the Wii controller, but it is far from perfect and not nearly as smooth as the control in Wii Sports. This is not the game that makes me want to turn on my Wii.
Review by Don for Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Rating:
Cooking Mama is a charming collection of cooking themed minigames. The main objective of the game is to chop, cut, boil, stir, mix and cook a variety of different meals from around the world. The game can be played alone or 2 players can face off against each other. Nintendo has talked a lot about opening the Wii and DS to new audiences, Cooking Mama is undoubtedly an excellent example of the type game it takes to achieve this goal. The game is suitable for young chefs ages 6. And the game may even change or shape your kids attitude towards cooking. Contrary to popular believe Cooking Mama does NOT teach your kids, or husband, or wife how to cook, but it does introduce some of the ingredients and steps required for many different types of meals. Cooking Mama sells for $49 MSRB, which is a lot of dough for a small game that feels more like a XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) Game in regards of size and presentation. If you don’t mind the bitter price tag, you’ll find Cooking Mama refreshing and enjoyable.
Review by AlexJouJou for Deca Sports
Rating:
I was very excited for this game. Unfortunately it is not even close to what I had hoped it to be. I wanted more of Wii Sports. This game isn’t even in the same category.
The controls are NOT intuitive. For some of the games the controls don’t respond well. In particular the archery game was one where I had to shake the wiimote to get the target to be on (you are not supposed to have to shake it). Soccer was confusing. Skiing was o.k. It was VERY short. Beach Volleyball was so-so. Kart racing (of course) is not Mario Kart.
You cannot play with your Mii (which is REALLY a let down!)
My daughter did play a little when I finished. She remarked that most of the games were very boring. In fact that’s a good way to put it. BORING! There is also NO real exercise value to this like you get with Wii Sports–this is one that is absolutely not designed to get you up and moving even a little bit. The only exercise you might get is a little bit of thumb workout. Disappointing.
Hopefully it will have some trade in value since its brand new. Otherwise I’m out $30 (I wrote this review so you won’t be too!)
Review by Matthew Smith for Deca Sports
Rating:
I didn’t come to Deca Sports with extremely high expectations. I was just hoping for a fun little experience that could be shared with a few friends in multiplayer mode. What I got was a very frustrating game with a input response delay that makes the whole thing unbearable.
While the event selection, game mode variety, and graphical presentation meet my expectations for a budget price, multiplayer casual game, the gameplay leaves something to be desired. In almost every one of the 10 sports on offer, there is a major control problem that makes the experience completely unsatisfying. Two examples:
Badminton: When executing a swing the on-screen character does not initiate movement until the player has reached the end of their wiimote motion. This delay feels unnatural and ruins the experience for me. Volleyball and basketball have a similar delay.
Curling: The velocity at which the stone is released is dictated by stopping the power bar at the appropriate level. This task is nearly impossible due to a significant (and inconsistent) delay between the wiimote command and the game’s response to that input. It is very difficult to enjoy the best part of curling (strategy) when a basic element of the gameplay mechanics introduces an uncontrollable random element.
I cannot recommend this game due to the high level of control related frustration I experienced.
Review by J.J. for Deca Sports
Rating:
This game failed miserably. My expectations were high, and this game crashed and burned. Horrible graphics, horrible control response… just plain horrible. If you are expecting Wii Sports 2, look else where.
Also incredibly boring. If I could give it zero stars I would.
Review by Anthony Barban for Deca Sports
Rating:
I have been waiting for this game to come out on the store shelves for so long, as I am a huge fan of Wii Sports and thought it would be similar but with more games. I was really let down. The controls are so hard and don’t seem natural in anyway. Save your money.
Review by J.C. for Deca Sports
Rating:
I have owned this game since it came out. I was bored at work and thought that I would look up other peoples reviews and I am completely shocked at all of the bad reviews. I have had so much fun with this game. Beach Volleyball and Badminton are my fav’s. Mostly I have played this game as a single player but when my friends have come over they love it as well. I think the part that is better than Wii Sports is that the competition is harder. In tennis on Wii sports I have reached a point where I am a pro with over 2000points. I can beat the best team every time. So now I only play against friends and never against the computer. However with Volleyball and badminton you can increase the strength of your competition and I have been unable to beat any of them. It’s great that they have made it more challenging. I totally 100% recommend this game and at $30 it’s a steal!