Memory Card: Cooking Mama on Nintendo DS

Growing up in the 2010s in Sheffield it is fair to say that my pink Nintendo DS Lite was one of my most prized possessions. For a large number of my childhood years, the device came with us on any family roadtrip or summer holiday. Whilst most of my friends were glued to the Mario and Luigi sagas, I was determined to build my imagined restaurant franchise with Mama at my side through it all. When I got my hands back on my DS not so long ago, the sound effects of the game instantly transported me to a time past where we would run home from school to play on our DSs if a new series of Horrible Histories or Tracy Beaker Returns wasn’t being aired on CBBC.

My sister and I spent countless hours imagining up menus and scenarios that we catered for all on the world of DS. There was a seemingly never-ending array of dishes for us to chef up, many of which I had never heard of, but did anything but falter my determination in my virtual kitchen. Meatloaf, sea bream carpaccio and a variety of different Japanese classics had me hammering my stylus tirelessly against the screen in the hope of gaining Mama’s highly esteemed gold medal and avoid the fire of her eyes when I couldn’t quite chop quick enough or let the pan boil over causing a sinking guilty feeling for all of our imaginary customers.

I have to admit that over the years I was a proud owner of all of the games in the series including Cooking Mama Outdoor Adventure which took us outside into the wilderness, foraging for Mama’s ingredients, setting up camp and taking part in wild minigames. There was no dispute that Cooking Mama 2 with its multiplayer feature was the best in the series, opening up a whole new world of competition and culinary experimentation for us to immerse in. What more could a girl ask for? 

My sister and I would regularly exchange games, we would often get into trouble for hiding our DS's under our pillows to continue playing when lights went out for bed only to get caught whipping up a banquet when we should’ve been sleeping. The game is heavily nostalgic of a time past of shared bedrooms and sisterly competition. It will definitely hold a space in my heart for many years to come, but I can’t say my cooking ever improved because of it.