Cooking Mama

**Cooking Mama** is a cookery simulation-styled minigame compilation video game for the Nintendo DS and the developed by Cooking Mama Limited (formerly known as Office Create) and published by Taito in Japan and for the Majesco in North America and 505 Games in Europe .

## Gameplay

In *Cooking Mama*, the player is tasked with cooking various meals using the device's touch screen. Following the instructions of the titular "Mama", the player uses the stylus or finger to chop vegetables, slice meat, flip food in pans, and arrange the final items on the plate. The version of the game for the also takes advantage of the accelerometer in the device with some similar gameplay to Cooking Mama: Cook Off.

Each of these tasks is performed by completing a mini-game which usually lasts less than 10 seconds. The gameplay structure consists of the player progressing through a series of short minigames. The game features a total of 96 different dishes. Most of them being official dishes while others are dishes made by mixing recipes in the Combine feature.

Each minigame represents a different activity in the meal preparation, such as mixing, frying, or chopping the provided ingredients. The minigame mechanics themselves range from quickly drawing parallel lines in order to chop items, to a rhythm game where ingredients are added to a skillet or the heat is adjusted at precisely the right time. In many cases, players must look at the top screen of the DS for guidance on what to do next and then perform the task on the bottom screen. If the player makes a serious blunder or time expires without sufficient progress being made, that step in the cooking process is considered a failure. When this happens, a graphic of an angry "Mama" with flames erupting from her eyes is displayed, along with the caption "Don't worry, Mama will fix it!".

Completing a dish can require playing one minigame, or as many as a dozen. The player's performance is rated when each dish is finished, based on the average result of each minigame, depending on the user's performance. Depending on the final score, the game may award the player a bronze, silver or gold medal. The highest medal earned for each dish is recorded and displayed next to each item on the selection screen.

## Game Modes

### Let's Cook

The main game mode where players cook dishes. Players initially start with just a few simple recipes to choose from, with additional recipes unlocked as the earlier ones are mastered. Each recipe requires players to play through a short, timed minigame for each ingredient or group of ingredients. For example, to make a sandwich, the player would first be required to chop cucumber into slices before the time limit elapses.

When cooking a recipe which has previously been mastered, the player sometimes has the option to change the dish being made "on the fly" between two minigames. If completed, this new recipe is then unlocked for future play.

A player also has a choice to practice a recipe.

As a player complete tasks, they will receive golden cooking objects but cannot be used. They will be hung up in the background, mainly seen on the title screen.

### Let's Combine

In this mode, players can take the recipes which have been unlocked and combine them to make something new. For example, the "Fried Eggs" recipe can be combined with the "Rice" recipe to make an entree.

### Use Skill

In this mode, players put their minigame skills to the test. This mode consists of time-based challenges focused on specific tasks such as chopping, grating, wrapping, adding ingredients, peeling, stewing, tearing, and more. The player is ranked at the end of each task.

## Recipes

**Salisbury Steak****Japanese Hamburg Steak****Minced Pork Steak****Hamburger Stewed in Tomato Sauce****Hamburger with Egg****Potato Salad****Fried Fish****Pork Curry and Rice****Beef Curry****Beef Stew****Vegetable Curry****Grilled Gyoza****Fried Gyoza****Pork Cutlet****Deep Fried Pork Kebabs****Pork Rice Bowl****Boiled Rice****Chestnut Rice****Bamboo Shoot Rice****Fried Chicken****Beef Steak****Japanese Steak (Grated Radish)****Sweet Fried Egg****Fried Octopus Dumplings****Spaghetti Neapolitan****Spaghetti Bolognese****Seafood Spaghetti****Pan-Fried Vegetables****Miso Soup****Pork and Vegetable Soup****Sandwich****Meatballs****Fried Squid****Squid Tempura****Croquette****Grilled Mackerel****Curried Pilaf****Seafood Curry****Spring Roll****Shrimp Gyoza****Fried Prawn****Shrimp Tempura****Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl****Fried Rice****Crab Fried Rice****Shrimp Fried Rice****Chicken Rice****Rice Cakes****Chicken in Tomato Sauce****Chicken in Cream Sauce****Pork Sauté****Boiled Egg****Pan-Fried Batter Cake****Instant Ramen****Chinese Sautéed Beef and Peppers****Pizza****Stuffed Peppers****Mixed Tempura****Seasoned Beef with Potatoes****Shumai Wonton****Shrimp Wonton****Chili Sauce Shrimp****Rice Balls****Chicken Kebabs****Macaroni Gratin****Rice Gratin****Egg Sunny Side-Up****Soba****Meat Pie****Cabbage Roll****Sweet Tofu Sushi****Omelet****Rice in Omelet****Udon****Hand-Rolled Sushi****Crab and Egg Chinese Style**

## Trivia

* This is the **only** Cooking Mama game on hand-held without any customization available.
	+ This is also the only one where Mama is voiceless.
	+ This was also the only game to present 'alternative' route options in recipes.
* Papa is given a cameo in this game in the form of a mention when choosing how many Gyoza to cook.
* As the Player completes various achievements (which cannot be viewed), the tools on the title screen become golden.

## Help

Help:Cooking Mama and Helper Cooking Mama