Personal Trainer: Cooking
by Nintendo
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Video Game Reviews of Personal Trainer: Cooking
Customer Review: Not the best
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this to encourage my daughters to cook (ages 9 and 13). My older daughter's opinion was that it doesn't explain the steps explicitly enough. It also picks up noises from the environment, which it interprets as instructions which can be annoying. They thought that it was really just a talking cookbook, and indicated that they would have preferred to get a real cookbook and just use their Nintendo for game playing. So, if you are buying it for someone that is not an adult, or not somewhat experienced in cooking technique, this may not be the way to go.Customer Review: I totally recomend!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is actually a great game! I was a little stumped at the beginning though, because I thought it was supposed to be a game like Cooking Mama. I have made fifty recipes so far, and all of them have become a sucess. My first dish was the macaroni and cheese, and it was so good! I highly recommend the chow mein recipe. My son and I love this game. I totally recomend!Customer Review: Cooking with ease
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my 10 year old granddaughter who wants to be a chef. She absolutely loves it and thinks it is so easy to follow. So I recommend this for anyone wanting to be a chef or improve their cooking techniques no matter what your age.Customer Review: Personal Trainer Cooking DS Game - One of The Best Programs For the DS
Summary: 5 Stars
Personal Trainer: Cooking can hardly be described as a game, yet this program is by far one of the best I have found for the DS. I use my DS mostly for quiz and trivia games, though I do often play more traditional games with my nieces and nephews. This is really in a class by itself. What the game lacks in traditional play, it more than makes up for in usefulness.
As somebody who loves to cook, I was intrigued when I saw that this game was coming out. I was able to buy a couple so that I could give one as a gift and keep a copy for myself. I am very glad that I did. I have played it several times over the past few months and I think it's only going to help me learn more new recipes as I keep using it.
This is a perfect tool for one of two groups, those who are trying to learn more about cooking, and those who want a tool to help them prepare meals. This game will likely get used for longer intervals than most DS games. Most recipes take at least 30 - 45 minutes to prepare. Using this program is a lot easier than reading recipes from a book.
PLAY MODES AND OPTIONS
I really love this game's simple no-nonsense structure. There are no excessive intro segments. If you want additional information you will have to navigate to it yourself.
The structure of the program is very simple. When you first turn it on, you are given 4 choices.
1. Recipes: This is the heart of the game. It includes many recipes sorted either by country, ingredients or other requirements based upon your selection. You can also search for recipes by keyword and it will track how many of them you have cooked. If you choose to "view all," it says there are 245 recipes.
2. Cooking A-Z: This is a "how-to" section that has a few main parts
a. Sections on cooking basics like ingredients, substitutes, utensils, preparation, and cooking techniques.
b. A "helpful tips" section that contains several dozen general hints
c. A "terminology" section for looking up cooking terms
d. An "important points" section, which outlines some basics specific to the software, such as how recipes are written for servings and caloric values
e. A collection of "example videos" which you can use if you want to see a technique you plan to use.
3. Shopping List: This area will collect the list of items you need to buy in order to prepare recipes you have selected from the recipe section. There is even a calculator to approximate the cost.
4. Settings: This section is also packed with a lot. You can:
a. Select which ingredients to exclude (for example, if you are allergic to them or simply don't like certain things)
b. Change the voice used for the chef during your recipes
c. Change the music to always play, not play while cooking or never play
d. Set the Voice input (if you want to disable the default "continue" command that will move the recipe forward to the next step)
e. Test the microphone (if you are having trouble with your "continue" commands, this will give you a visual read-out so you know how loud to speak)
f. Delete the user data in the game
g. Set the Kitchen Timer: this is a useful tool. When the time you set runs down, it will alert you with a beep and a voice prompt, "Time's Up!"
COOKING WITH THE GAME
For each recipe, when you select it from the list you have two options:
1. info, which includes basics such as calories, cooking time and country of origin; and
2. details, which includes background information on the recipe.
When you select a recipe by clicking "OK," a "Tips and Advice" page pops up to explain what preparation or other steps aren't included in the cooking time as well as other tips. If you click the smiley face, you can write notes for each recipe. You can also come back to this screen to indicate if it's a "favorite".
There are three steps for each recipe: view ingredients, view the cooking steps, and cook. The first two steps also include descriptions of which utensils you will need for handling the ingredients required for the recipe.
But when you actually launch a recipe, you will be guided through each step by the chef's voice prompt and written on screen instructions. You need not worry about touching the DS as you're cooking; it will move to the next step just by your voice prompt, "Continue!" You can also order it to "Repeat" the steps or go back to the "Last Step."
As you work through the steps, from preparation to cooking, the game will keep track of your progress until you are finally done. Once you complete a recipe, it will time-stamp the date and keep a record of what you made. In that way, you can work through recipes by country or any other way that you choose.
CONS
The only minor cons to note is that you have to select ingredients individually for them to show up in your shopping list, and the DS microphone requires you to speak loudly to register. While sometimes the microphone can be confused by your prep sounds, you can just disable the voice prompts. I don't consider this a major con, though I had no problem with my microphone. If anything my microphone was less sensitive than I would have liked. I think it may depend on how well cared-for your DS hardware is.
It is true that many of these recipes are exotic, but most ingredients can be had in a specialty market. This is clearly geared towards adults who want to learn a wide variety of recipes. I do not think most people would need a game like this to guide them through common recipes. But if you want a more kid-friendly cooking game or more basic recipes get Cooking Mama or Cooking Mama 2 instead.
CONCLUSION
This is one of those programs that you can enjoy even if you only use it once in a while to prepare new recipes. I can also see this game getting used a lot more by a beginner who wants to read and study all the tips. So this is a great game to give as a gift to an aspiring or an experienced cook alike.
Enjoy.
Customer Review: Awesome trainer
Summary: 5 Stars
This was purchased for my grandchild. She is 11 and enjoys the personal trainer very much. Her opinion was that "it's AWESOME!" She has used the recipes numerous times and just loves it and her family liked most of the food.
A grandmother