Personal Trainer: Cooking
by Nintendo
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Video Game Reviews of Personal Trainer: Cooking
Customer Review: One of the best software titles ever for the DS
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a pretty big library of DS games, but I also like exploring the non-game titles for the DS. And Personal Trainer: Cooking is definitely the best non-game title I've seen for the DS or for any game console.
I'm a reasonable home kitchen chef; I've mastered basic kitchen techniques and can make most recipes without destroying them. So I wasn't so much looking for cooking instruction as much as I was a nice collection of recipes and the novelty of cooking to a videogame chef. But I was nevertheless really impressed by this title.
First of all, the selection of recipes is really good. The game has nearly 250 recipes, covering the gamut from main dishes, to side dishes, to desserts. The selection is very international in nature; in fact, the game has a giant map of the world that you can drag about, point at countries, and see the dishes from each country. The recipe selection is in some ways a "greatest hits" list of world cuisine. The biggest concentration of recipes rests with China, France, and Italy, all with around 30 recipes each.
Second of all, the recipes are very tasty. The very first recipe I made, a Greek beef stew, was totally delicious. Now, about 20 recipes later, I can say that none of them have been failures, and many have been downright stellar. I've made a Spanish chicken dish, and an Italian stuffed peppers recipe that were absolutely fantastic.
Third, the quality of the instruction is excellent. The onscreen "Chef" walks you through each recipe, one step at a time. You can view all the steps in advance if you'd like, so that you know where the dish is heading. But each recipe follows a general format of doing the prep work (cutting, slicing) up front, followed by the actual cooking phase where you cook over the stove or in the oven. You can check off which ingredients you need, and the game will build up a shopping list, so you can take the DS to the store with you.
I find the best use of the game is to answer the question "What's for dinner?" Even though I can prepare a decent meal, I'm always bereft of ideas and I'm terrible at meal planning. Personal Trainer: Cooking is surprisingly good at addressing this problem. I can leave work, with my DS in my commuter bag, drop in at the grocery store, choose a recipe from the DS, buy the necessary ingredients, then go home and make it.
Some observations about the game. Since the game is a localization of a Japanese title, a few of the recipes, and sometimes the names of some of the ingredients, are a little different than what we're used to in the USA. Try making the Chili Con Carne recipe and you'll see what I mean. Even though it's a tasty recipe, it's produced more like a stew than a thick, simmered soup. And the Jambalaya recipe calls for squid rather than ham/pork, which form the basis for most versions of Jambalaya I've seen. And some recipes call for whole chicken legs. A whole chicken leg is equivalent to a thigh and a drumstick, typically sold as separate pieces in grocery stores. But I take that in stride.
Secondly, the recipes are a little skewed towards stovetop preparations. There's not a a lot of baking going on here. Again, this might be reflecting the tastes and preferences of the Japanese audience the title was originally produced for.
Finally, though the game allows you to check off recipes as "favorites", I'd like a way to build a list of "recipes I want to try next". Because there's so many of them!
Customer Review: Great concept and great addition to my library
Summary: 5 Stars
I just purchased this product last week and started using it immediately. When I received the "game" I browsed through it looking at all the different recipes and quickly chose those I thought looked tasty, selected which ingredients I did not have on hand and headed off to the store. So far I have made five different recipes from it and all have been tasty and very easy to make (with direction from the "chef" of course). I would highly recommend this title.
The only thing I think would be cool to add for a future release would be to make a DSi version that would allow new recipes to be added. However this is a minor item (wishlist) and does not detract from the game at all. At only $19 it's great value.
Customer Review: Recipes are too international and complex.
Summary: 3 Stars
The recipes work fine I'm sure, but they are mostly international and seem to be "off the beaten path." There are no basic recipes. Customer Review: X-mas present my wife doesn't use
Summary: 1 Stars
Tried to buy a gift for one who has everything - this ain't it. Never used.Customer Review: Well worth it if you want to learn how to cook.
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a college student who grew up on boxed meals with little cooking experience. I've used this game almost everyday since I've bought it. My boyfriend and I plan our meals weekly. It feels wonderful knowing that you've learned and can still learn further as well as knowing you're eating more complete meals/healthier. (meat, fruits, vegetables, etc).
The Personal Trainer: Cooking teaches how to cook meals in a step-by-step manner. There are realistic pictures, exact measurements, a timer, and videos that can help.
If your questioning how age appropriate it is. I believe any age can learn how to cook using this game. The question is if you want to include adult supervision or not. (Considering cooking involves knifes and hot things) It is very educational. I wish I was taught how to cook when I was younger.
Someone who is a very picky eater may not enjoy this as much, but this is ideal for someone who wants to try new things. There are many options from meals from many countries all over the world, any kind of coarse, to any kind of ingredient. You can even find meals by requirements as in: cooking time, difficulty, main ingredient, cooking method, calories, and notes. For people who are allergic to certain kinds of foods within the Settings menu there is an Exclude Ingredients function. Some people may find this very helpful.
I believe the difficulty level is not as important considering that this takes everything in a step-by-step manner exactly. I haven't ruined a meal yet. The feature is still nice (for other people to be user friendly) even if I don't use it.
After picking a meal that you would like to cook you can access an ingredient list where you can check off ingredients that you don't have as well as be able to view the utensils the meal requires. This is convenient in the way where it can be used as a shopping list within the grocery store. Some people complain that the recipes are to exotic and you can't find the ingredients within a regular grocery store. This is not the full case. There is an "Cooking A-Z" tab and within there is a section called "Substitute Ingredients". The ingredients that your individual grocery store does not have can be replaced with other ingredients.
A feature that many people complain about is the mic feature. It picks up sound and misinterprets it sometimes as your voice telling it to continue. I don't see this as a problem considering I turn it off within the Settings menu. It's easier to click when I would like to go to the next step.
I hope Nintendo comes out with another game. The 247 recipes it has is a lot. I just hope to see more in the future. That would be wonderful.
I also wish there was a rating feature within this game after you have made a meal. We usually write down the # out of 10 scoring our meals within the notes. It still would be nice if that was added though.
Other Notes:
I believe this game can alter a persons life style. It is an active choice if they want to use it or not. Each person will have a different experience considering their family to individual preferences. My boyfriend and I found that we spend about the same amount of money buying ingredients for these recipes as we spend buying boxed meals to other things at the grocery store. Many of the meals within this game require many of the same ingredients. Once you've started cooking with it you find that you can make many more of the meals and buy very little to make them. If you plan on using this game once in a blue moon you might find yourself wasting ingredients and money. That isn't a bad thing. This just explains our experience.
If your wondering what I mean by the meals using the same ingredients. Many will use rice wine, potatoes, produce in general, chicken stock, parsley, garlic, onions, and more. Sometimes you have to buy more of an item than you need, but that isn't bad. Chances are you will use it.