Early in its life, the DS saw a glut of cash-in shovelware as developers realized that they could churn out cheap “casual” games and make a killing on them. One of the better casual games for the DS was Cooking Mama, because it actually had good gameplay and fleshed out a fun concept that you didn’t see in games too much. Cooking Mama was not without its flaws, however; a lot of the gameplay was pretty limited, and the whole package felt a little light on content. A Wii version came out later, but it didn’t quite get the motion controls right. Developer Office Create has stepped back into the digital kitchen and whipped up Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends to satisfy gamers with heftier appetites, and I’ll try to get through this review with a minimum of food analogies.

After the slightly awkward controls in Cook Off for the Wii, Office Create went back to the DS to make a proper sequel. The game follows the same basic principle of the first one—quick, rapid-fire minigames in the tradition of Warioware, but with a cooking theme. Each of these minigames is a separate step in a larger recipe, and messing up even a few will lead to inedible food. The minigames are the integral gameplay, and all of the different modes are different takes on the basic formula.

The first game mode, and the biggest mainstay from the first game, is “cooking with Mama,” which is basically free play. You work your way up the recipes, unlocking new ones as you go. You can also practice each step independently from the whole recipe, so if you have a hard time getting that blender minigame right, you can replay it until you master it.

You are constantly under the watchful eye of the Cooking Mama, and she’ll rate your culinary ability. Each individual task within a recipe receives a rating; gold (great job), silver (decent) or bronze (you screwed up, Mama has to fix it). Mama’s corresponding reactions are back from the first game, which means you can still cower under the fury of Mama’s flaming eyes.

In this mode, you can play through (and unlock) every recipe in the game, in addition to a large number of extra goodies. The only way to get everything, however, is to play the “let’s cook” mode. This is where the “dinner with friends” concept comes in. In this mode you can cook for Mama again, or several of her friends, but without the option to practice. This mode is do or die cooking—a single bronze level mistake in any of the tasks, and you fail the recipe completely. Needless to say, it’s a good idea to practice these recipes in free play before doing them live, so to speak. The friends have different tastes, so each one will have a select few recipes that they want you to cook. They all seem to like American style food though, as Cooking Mama 2 has a distinctly American flavor compared to the first game’s predominantly Japanese menu. This might upset fans of Eastern cuisine, but I like the added variety.

Regardless of the mode you choose to play in, the gameplay is pretty similar to the first game. The tasks range from stirring to sifting, chopping to tossing, each accomplished with simple touch screen taps and scribbles. Newcomers will be surprised by the precision this game takes; an errant stylus stroke could mess up a whole task. Each task must be carried out with a balance of speed and accuracy—slow and steady and you’ll run out of time, fast and sloppy and you’ll make a mess of your kitchen. For instance, I accidentally chucked the rolling pin across the room in a bout of frenzied cookie making.

Aside from the friends theme, there isn’t a whole lot that feels new. The graphics are just as excessively bright and cheerful as ever (some might say acid-trip inspired), and the music carries the sa...