Cooking Mama 4: Cooking Magic for 3DS is a quirky collection of recipes and food-related mini-games.

With a distinctly Japanese flair, the Cooking Mama franchise has been a popular DS and Wii franchise for many years now, as evidenced by the fact that this is the fourth iteration of the game.  Making her first appearance on the 3DS, Cooking Mama will seem familiar to anyone who’s played a previous version of the game, although a few things like the main menu have been streamlined to make playing the way you want to even easier.

At the core of the game, players will be presented with each step of a recipe, and must use the 3DS and stylus or microphone to help complete the action.  For example, to make shrimp teriyaki, players will need to skewer the shrimp, then dip it in sauce and then fan the grill flames to cook out.  Timing and precision are important, but each step doesn’t require you to be completely perfect in order to achieve the highest rating.

After completing basic recipes, more and more different dishes are unlocked.  In other game modes, these can then be combined to make other creations, such as pancakes and Salisbury steak, each involving slightly different mini-games involving food.

While young kids such as preschoolers may be drawn to the audio and visual stylings of Cooking Mama, the game does require a good deal of coordination.  Just as the 3DS is recommended for kids ages 7 and up, Cooking Mama 4, like previous games in the series, is aimed at kids older than that as well.

There’s so many fun mini-games in Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic that it’s definitely one of the 3DS games we most highly recommend.  Boys and girls alike will like the feeling that they are learning recipes as they are playing along, and there are so many ways to practice and combine recipes that there’s dozens and dozens of hours of gameplay that will keep kids engaged.

If you love Cooking Mama, make sure to check out the other games featuring Mama, such as Crafting Mama, Camping Mama and more.

INFORMATION FROM COMPANY FACT SHEET:

Join the original digital chef as she makes her debut on Nintendo 3DS with Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic.

From new recipes and ways to play to fresh kitchen activities and dish combinations, the iconic kitchen cutie has some tricks up her sleeve that will magically transform kitchen newbies into master culinary artists!

Slice, dice, knead, toss and flip your way through more than 200 unique Touch Screen mini-games as you cook in brand new ways with the Nintendo 3DS gyroscope: crack eggs, flip pans, balance plates and much more. Earn bronze, silver and gold medals while mixing up over 60 recipes that range from side dishes to full meals. Organize, decorate and clean your kitchen while watching surprising 3D events unfold as you prepare each meal.