Cooking Mama: Cookstar - Switch

Playing Cooking Mama: Cookstar in handheld mode just sees you using the sticks to handle most of the motions, but if you’re playing in docked mode, you’ll be using motion controls instead via a single Joy-Con. Cookstar when it’s anybody’s guess whether even your on-rhythm movements will make a difference. It makes the game feel less about player skill and timing and more about random chance deciding whether you’ll get three stars or not.

Those of you who happen to have a friend on hand who’s up for playing can opt to play in either co-op or challenges in a separate mode made just for multiplayer, but again, there’s not much to see here. A handful of challenges are on offer for either co-op or competitive play, and there isn’t any depth or meaningful incentive to play these more than once. Seeing who can spin their Joy-Con faster, for example, is just sort of a zero-sum game that runs out of gas quick, the kind of thing that you do when you’ve truly exhausted all other options for entertainment. And the issues with motion control are still just as prevalent with two players, removing any possible semblance of competition or comradery from the experience.

To Cooking Mama: Cookstar’s credit, there is a reasonable amount of content on offer. If you can somehow look past the technical problems and lackluster gameplay, there are dozens of dishes to explore. Successfully getting at least a two star ranking on a dish will lead to you unlocking the “Cookstar” version of that dish, in which you can do it again without on-screen prompts telling you what to do. And completing each dish will unlock a new cosmetic change for Mama’s clothes or the tools you use to cook, offering a little bit of visual variety to proceedings. Cooking Mama: Cookstar still isn’t a very replayable title in the end, but at least for a few hours there’s a steady stream of newly unlocked dishes and cosmetics to enjoy.

That’s just about the only positive thing to say here, as on the presentation side of things, Cooking Mama: Cookstar manages to further disappoint. Though there are some interesting physics effects with things like chopped onions sliding off a board and into a bowl, the 3D models for the food and tools look like they were pulled straight out of a game from the sixth generation of consoles. Bland textures and blocky models are the norm here, and considering the already lightweight nature of Cooking Mama: Cookstar, it’s quite disappointing that not even the food looks all that good. Then, of course, there’s the voice acting. Mama regularly encourages and coaches you through each dish, but her voice sounds like a Japanese woman with a loose grasp of English reading lines off a script in a disinterested tone. It’s unintentionally humorous how awful this voice acting is, making it entertaining for all the wrong reasons.

About this Game

• All new vegetarian fashion
• Over 90 recipes between traditional and vegetarian fashion
• Clic recipes and fun new recipes like unicorn food
• Blend of traditional and motion controls
• Multiplayer and CO OP party games