I'll always be thankful to my mother for teaching me to cook. Since both my wife and I know our way around the kitchen, we tend to eat pretty well. But for those who would just like to play "Air Spatula," take a look at Cooking Mama.

Gameplay

This game began on the DS, using the stylus to cut meat and shake seasonings in a collection of minigames that comprise a recipe from scratch. This worked very well. The Wii game follows the same, using the Wiimote to the best of its ability to manipulate cooking utensils. The control isn't nearly as precise, but it does allow for more realistic movements, including shaking seasonings, chopping meat and vegetables, and cracking eggs. Because the Wiimote control is not always precise, certain actions can be difficult to master, but the clock tends to be forgiving enough to account for this, and this is the fault of the Wii, not the game.

The fault in the game lies in the editing. The instructions for each event are often ridiculously vague, feeling more like WarioWare's figure-it-out-yourself system. In fact, the instructions before beginning a minigame sometimes say, "Follow onscreen instructions," but no onscreen instructions ever appear! I still haven't figured out how to do some of the minigames. It's not that I'm just not good at them--they offer confusing instructions or lack them altogether. In fact, some of the instructions are just plain wrong, or at least I've found other ways to use the Wiimote that give a much more responsive experience; it's not that I've found a cheat--these were found through desperation. A training mode with a visual representation of the Wiimote would go a long way here. Also, a practice option similar to the practice mode in the Mario Party minigames would help immensely. Even warnings like, "Don't hit the egg too hard" would help a little. Note that the single player mode offers practice, but if you bought it just for the multiplayer, you'll have to go back and take turns practicing.

On the positive side, many recipes repeat minigames from other recipes. For example, cracking eggs work exactly the same no matter which recipe you prepare. While some might complain that this reduces the variety, I'll contend that this allows familiarity and the chance to master skill, not to mention that there's no reason to have 10 ways to slice vegetables.

Modes

The game includes both single player and splitscreen multiplayer modes for up to 2 players, but no online modes.

Single player includes 2 modes. "Let's Cook" is the basic 1-player mode. Complete recipes to unlock more. "Friends and food of the world" has you competing against the computer to complete recipes, and winning unlocks more as well.

Multiplayer mode uses a splitscreen competition based on time and skill. Each player attempts to prepare the same recipe faster and more completely than the other. I don't understand why foods we've already prepared say "New" next to them, but this doesn't really detract from gameplay. You do have to play the single player "Let's Cook" mode to unlock additional recipes, but the initial list offers a nice variety to start with.

Dinner Bell: How does the kitchen smell?

This game could potentially be a great family game were it not for the instructions. Fix those, and add in online play, and they'd really have something special. My wife and daughters really enjoy this game and are willing to overlook the instructions failure, but I'm more easily frustrated. I recommend you rent this title before buying to determine your own personal patience level. If you can get past that or find a guide online, you'll really enjoy this one.