Although you no longer play as Mama, she’s still an integral part of the game and your culinary education. If you make a mistake, you activate a minigame involving Mama saving the day. For example, if you’re frying a hamburger patty and flip it too high, start wiggling the Wiimote from side to side and Mama will come out of nowhere to catch the errant patty with her own frying pan. But watch out for Pepper the dog though! If Pepper beats Mama to the patty and eats it, you lose that round.

Cooking Mama: World Kitchen also offers local two-player mode. Ever wanted to pretend to be an Iron Chef? Now’s your chance. Finally, the graphics have been updated. While the game retains the adorable pastel-rich, anime look, World Kitchen is now in 3D. Now you can see just how big and round Mama’s head truly is.

I’m glad to see that World Kitchen retains so much of what made the first game successful and rightfully fixed the issues from it. Fans of the original will enjoy this one. However, I’m rather iffy with the odd camera angle. The idea is that you’re doing the preparing and cooking, not watching someone else do it.

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