Cooking Mama: Cook Off
A Wii cooking simulation with motion-controlled minigames.
Cooking Mama: Cook Off is a cooking simulation video game for the Wii, developed by Office Create and published by Taito in Japan. It is a spin-off of the Nintendo DS game Cooking Mama and was released in Japan in February 2007, with North American, European, and Australian releases following in March, May, and May 2007 respectively.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Office Create
- Publisher
- Taito (JP)
- Majesco (NA)
- 505 Games (PAL)
- Composer
- Masayoshi Ishi
- Series
- Cooking Mama
- Released
- February 8, 2007 (JP)
- March 20, 2007 (NA)
- May 11, 2007 (EU)
- May 18, 2007 (AUS)
- Genre
- Simulation, minigames
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- Wii
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
In Cook Off, players prepare meals by moving through a sequence of short minigames, each one representing a specific cooking task. A full dish can involve anywhere from two to over a dozen of these steps. The Wii Remote is used to copy real kitchen actions like rolling, slicing, chopping, and stirring. For instance, when grinding raw beef, the player might rotate the remote in a circle as if turning a meat grinder. Depending on the minigame, the remote’s motion sensing or its pointing and positional features come into play. The game includes 55 recipes that draw from more than 300 ingredients. Only a few recipes are available at first; finishing one unlocks the next. Recipes are shown in a cookbook, each marked with a small flag indicating its country of origin. Those countries are France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, Italy, China, Germany, India, and Russia. While Cook Off has fewer total recipes than the original Cooking Mama, its dishes tend to require more steps or ingredients on average. The player’s performance is judged by speed and accuracy. After each minigame, a score is given based on how well the task was completed and how much time remains. Once the whole dish is done, a medal is awarded based on the average performance across all minigames. Unlike the first Cooking Mama, the best total score is saved as a high score, so players can keep trying to beat their own record even after earning a gold medal. A small bonus is added for finishing a minigame without any mistakes or for performing a sub-task perfectly.
Reception
The game received mixed reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Early press generated excitement, with Wired calling it the Best Game of CES 2007. However, after release, several reviews noted that the game was not as responsive or intuitive as its predecessor; simple actions with the Wii Remote could be difficult to perform successfully, leading to frustration. While still considered fun, the lack of tactile feedback and control issues detracted from overall enjoyment. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 29 out of 40. Electronic Gaming Monthly's three editors gave it marks of 7/10, 7.5/10, and 8/10 in the May 2007 issue, for an overall 7.5 out of 10. In 2009, Games Magazine gave a favorable review, concluding the game should appeal to anyone.
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