Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends (Nintendo DS)

I brought Cooking Mama 2 for £14.99 after really enjoying the first one and wasn't quite sure what to expect as I've always found that sequels never seem to live up to my expectations however I was pleasantly surprised that this sequel managed to live up to my expectations and more.

When the game first opens up you are greeted with the tart button. Once you click this it loads into the game where you will see six sections; cook with mama, let's cook, cooking contest, change design, write in diary and of course options.

If you choose cook with mama you will be shown some recipes where you must decide what you would like to cook. Cooking with mama will earn you medals next to the picture of the recipe to show you how good you have cooked that particular meal. You will also earn golden stars, five golden stars will earn you a present from one of three coloured boxes the present can be anything from new clothes for mama to different coloured kitchen utensils. There is also at the bottom of the screen a back button to go back to the top menu with the six different sections, a practice button to let you practice the recipe before trying to cook it and an ok button to select a recipe. Once you cook an item and have received the points you have the option to place a picture of the food inside one of the eight diary slots (these can be viewed in the write in diary section)

On the let's cook menu you will see a page of five people including mama & papa if you click on one of the ten faces (there is another page of five people if you go to the next page) you will see a selection of recipes suited to the person you have chosen. You can then cook one of the meals for that person. Once that meal has been made the person will try the food and tell you what they think for example "taste's good" if they enjoy the food that you have cooked you will be awarded with more recipes in the cook with mama section and with more golden stars to unlock presents.

In the cooking contest section there is a series of challenges where you have to try and get the best score you can these challenges can be anything from breaking as many eggs as you can or cutting as much corn as you can from a cob. There is also the option of challenging friends (up to 4 people) using the wireless download play. This is the same as doing the solo challenges but the person who does the best wins.

The change design section is exactly as it says unlike the first cooking mama game where you have a set design and set utensils this gives you the option to choose what outfit mama wears, what clock design to have, the colour of the kitchen and also what colour utensils you would like to use. The more you play the game and collect golden stars the more colours, clock designs and outfits for mama you will collect.

On the whole I must say this is the best sequel to any game I have ever played as it has been improved so much from the first one. This is a great game which can be played by anyone by people of all ages.