For some reason, the Wii development team decided to pare this number down and instead increase the number of steps in creating each dish, almost like some kind of unholy trade-off. In fact, when stacking the original DS game against the Wii edition, the DS version had more dishes to prepare - 76, compared with the Wii's 55. There isn't a whole lot going on in Cooking Mama when you lift the lid. Factor in a quick up-down to dislodge accumulated ginger-bits (or, Cam-nads) on the underside of the grater, and you'll understand why we're frustrated. Even grating a piece of ginger - a left-right motion - is a precarious task. Why hasn't the developer (or Nintendo, even) stepped up and fine-tuned the controls? Surely adding more than two or three degrees of motion detection shouldn't be an issue. The motion mechanic for the simple act of pouring is one of the few that works well. Perhaps by an Iron Chef or Jamie Oliver, but not by us. The line between an obliterated egg and an intact shell is so fine as to be indiscernible in any practical sense by the common man. Other mini-games, such as sifting a bag of flour or cracking an egg require a stupidly fine control of swing-speed. Even something as simple as making several vertical or horizontal slices is an exercise in undue frustration. With the exception of sliding a square of butter around a hot skillet or squirting mustard on a hotdog, all other mini-game food preparation steps are simulated incredibly poorly. The reason for this is that, like many Wii motion-recognition movements, the on-screen action is not in synch, one-to-one, with how you're manipulating the remote. At worst, they're seemingly random and can completely undermine your dish.

There are a good dozen or more different kitchen tools and techniques that the Wii remote emulates, but almost all are imprecise at best.

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