It's fast food gameplay, lacking any real nutrition but still being pretty dang tasty. Played in quick bursts, the shallowness of the title turns into a plus: you can easily jump into a recipe and satiate the gaming itch within minutes. The lack of diversity in game modes hurts, but the sting quickly goes away when you remember that this is an impulse buy. Cooking Mama 2, like its predecessor, is a budget title. This is a faster, less forgiving version of the same gameplay: you complete the same types of recipe steps, only without instructions. Once you've gotten a basic understanding of the game mechanics and recipes, it's on to 'Let's Cook', where you're left to figure out for yourself how to make a dish and Mama (or one of her friends) judges the finished product. You'll start off in the 'Cooking with Mama' mode, in which the titular domestic goddess helps you through all of the steps in making the various dishes.

It's a simple formula that lends itself to quick bursts of play, making the DS a perfect home for the franchise. Through successful creations, you earn medals and unlock more recipes and extras. But thanks to the unique interface of the DS, simulated food preparation turns into some surprisingly compelling gameplay. If you were pushing buttons to accomplish these actions, the game would fall flat. Sautéing vegetables involves stirring the pan while keeping an eye on the temperature knob. You must pound out burger patties by tapping the screen a certain way. Through a series of mini-games played with the stylus, you prepare both familiar and exotic dishes. Majesco stumbled onto a fun little recipe with the first Cooking Mama game, and this sequel doesn't stray far from it. Well, maybe not riveted, but at least interested enough to keep coming back to Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends.

But this is how much I love videogames: take something I could care less about, make it a game, and suddenly I'm riveted. I leave the creation of the food I eat to the experts (and by experts, I mean my microwave, my freezer, and a certain local burrito shrine).

I don't care what makes my car engine work, I'm not interested in how to fix a leaky sink, and I don't mind if a beautiful actress's body was assisted in its attempt at perfection by surgery. I've recently learned something interesting about myself: I don't really care how most things are created.

Nintendo ds games cooking mama 2