It might not be quite as robust as Cooking Mama 5, but it’s a worthwhile addition to the series, nonetheless. The focus this time might be on baking, but all of the signature gameplay that makes Cooking Mama enjoyable is on display here, sharper and more accessible than ever. That said, despite not blazing a new path, Sweet Shop is still an undeniably serviceable and fun game that is the perfect jumping on point for both new and lapsed fans. I’d like to be able to say that Sweet Shop is the evolutionary leap that the series has been waiting for, but it isn’t.

Cooking Mama served as a proof of concept that the DS touch screen could offer an entirely new type of gaming experience that traditional button presses couldn’t come close to replicating.įlash forward 11 years, and Cooking Mama’s charm has worn off a bit after an abundance of repetitive releases and little in the way of genuine innovation with each subsequent installment.

When the series made its debut, it was met with a response similar to the original Harvest Moon: fans were surprised that a seemingly mundane activity could translate so well into a video game. Complete the activities as directed and the titular Mama will reward you with a medal depending on the quality of your work. These tasks are usually timed and require players to input taps and swipes on the touch screen that mimic simple cooking gestures like chopping, slicing, pouring and spreading. Each recipe has a string of tasks that must be fulfilled by completing a variety of different minigames. Sweet Shop has ditched the series numbering for this installment, but despite not having a “six” on the box, this is very much the Cooking Mama that fans have known for over a decade… for better and worse.įor the uninitiated, Cooking Mama is an arcade-style cooking game. Fortunately, developer Office Creates wasn’t daunted by the loss of its publisher, instead choosing to push forward with Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop and pegging Rising Star Games to handle distribution. The series and its various offshoots had been released by the publisher since the first Cooking Mama dropped in 2006, but when the news arrived late last year that Majesco was defunct, the future of the franchise quickly came into question. It looked like the health inspector had finally come along and closed Mama down for good when word came that publisher Majesco was shuttered.

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