Personal Trainer: Cooking

Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: Nov. 24, 2008
System: Nintendo DS
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: It will personally train you to cook.

0:00 I am definitely not a natural in the kitchen, so I'm hoping this game will help make me less reluctant to hover over a range.

0:01 The game starts with an all-purpose warning about raw meat, seafood, eggs, food allergies, letting kids cook and using oven mitts. OK then!

0:02 "Welcome to Personal Trainer: Cooking," says the black-and-white, hand-drawn chef on-screen. "Before we go any further, please adjust my voice to the speed you like." There's a slider on the touch-screen. The slowest and fastest speeds are pretty awful-sounding. The default seems all right to my wife and me...

0:03 "Getting ready. Don't touch the power button." This chef's voice is nice and soothing. On the top screen, the unnamed chef (let's call him Mr. Chef) dances back and forth. "You're ready to start cooking tasty dishes from all over the world!" Damn right I am!

0:05 The game points us to the "Important Points" section of "Cooking A-Z." This includes important tips like "Amounts of cheese are estimates." and "How to hold a kitchen knife." Nice photos to accompany, but I don't think we're THAT hopeless.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer