• DS ››
• Simulation ››
• Gardening Mama

Gardening Mama

• By Emily Balistrieri
• March 31, 2009 09:52 AM PST
• Print
• Email this!
• Share
  • Digg
  • Yahoo Buzz!
  • FaceBook
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us

You'd think Mama would have her hands full with all that kitchen action, but somehow she's found time to branch out (pun intended) into the garden with Gardening Mama. This new DS game takes the mini-game-centric gameplay from the original Cooking Mama and the unlockable customization aspects of the sequel and plants them firmly in the dirt outside.

THE VERDICT by Will Herring Even though it's plagued by a few frustrating mini-games, Mama's first foray outside of the kitchen is definitely worth the attention of fans of the series.

• GamePro Score
• User Score
• Write your review!

Wilt not, dear flowers

The main game takes place in a garden as you maintain a handful of specialized planting areas where you cultivate flowers, fruits and veggies. At first you'll only be able to grow a couple different things, but as you keep gardening, your seed catalog will grow to encompass an entire greenhouse worth of vegetation. Gardening chores are handled much the way they were in Cooking Mama: as a series of discrete steps played out in mini-game form. Some are fairly easy and consist of one or two steps while others can be rather involved and complicated.

For example, to grow a Hyacinth, you use your stylus to take the bulbs out of the bag, add fertilizer to the soil, mix it around, dig holes to plant the bulbs, then water them-and that is just the first step! Every plant is a little different, but common secondary steps include further watering, extra fertilizer, spraying pesticide, or blowing adorable little caterpillar bugs off the leaves using the DS' built-in mic. Some of these tasks are easier than others but others will definitely challenge your patience. You're judged on your performance in each task and on each plant overall, and you get rated on the quality of your blossoms and your harvest.

Mamascaping

You can also earn bonus items by performing well in your gardening tasks. These range from new accessories and costume options for Mama, as well as items like garden gnomes and potted plants that you can use to decorate your garden. There's even a mode where you can trade items with friends. It doesn't affect the gameplay all that much but it is a nice incentive to perform well in your gardening tasks. Gardening Mama doesn't do anything that we haven't seen already in the Cooking Mama games. The visual style, the gameplay, the Mama character and her annoying voice over-it's all been directly ported over. The only difference is that you're out in the garden rather than the kitchen. If you loved cooking with Mama, then you'll probably like being in the garden with her. If you weren't such a fan, Gardening Mama isn't going to change your mind, unless you're way into gardening.

• Print
• Email this!
• Share
  • Digg
  • Yahoo Buzz!
  • FaceBook
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us