Although revolutionary in a way, the first Cooking Mama suffers from repetition of minigames and a lack of variety in the food itself. On top of this, the requirements for some of the minigames are incredibly cryptic, making 100%ing the recipes more of a chore than a satisfying challenge. Cut an onion 4 times in a row, mess a minigame up even though you followed the guidelines, start the recipe over — it's not a fun gameplay loop 20 dishes in. The only thing that kept me going was my own ego. I really do like the idea of having alternate recipe paths though, and I wish they kept them in the subsequent releases, especially since even this game sort of gives up on them halfway through.

Pros:
- The level design is beautiful. Devs were 100% justified adding a camera setting to the game (which iirc was pretty novel at the time)
- Probably my favorite version of Rayman, personality- and design-wise
- 4th wall-breaking humor is dated, but charming
- Combat actually has some thought put into it — not just button mashing (most of the time)
- When the platforming actually works, it's pretty fun to explore and advance through the stages
- Soundtrack goes HARD

Cons:
- Level progression is confusing. Level lengths vary wildly without much reason or indication, and you never know how far away you are from the boss stage until it's already happening
- Said boss stages are some of the worst in the entire franchise
- Devs forgot that bonus levels are supposed to be fun
- Jumping physics are super weird. You seem to lose a little too much momentum, causing the arc to be much more shallow than expected. Lots of grabbing onto platforms rather than landing on them
- ...And even then, the grabbing doesn't work half of the time
- The powerups feel forced, and their limited time frame only adds frustration and repetition when it should've added more incentive to explore. (Personally, I would have given the powerups a limited amount of uses before having to recharge, instead.)

I am liking/appreciating this game a little more on my second playthrough, but I would be lying if I said that I finally understand the hype. For every step forward in the Rayman formula this game takes, there's another step back, or at least a mild inconvenience.

Because it's limited by 80s game standards (limited lives, no continues, insane difficulty curve, etc.) this game is very clunky and frustrating without save states/rewind. However, when using those tools, its nuances in both controls and mechanics really shine. Throughout the first playthrough and especially any playthroughs after, there's tons of room for the player to develop strategy and skill in a very satisfying way. It's become addicting enough for me that I actually want to go back and find the hidden treasure chests and secret endings, which is something I rarely do with multiple-path games.

...Fuck those jellyfish things though. All my homies hate the jellyfish things.

Extremely solid Animal Crossing expy that's really only held back by its smaller budget and hardware. I recommend this especially for those disappointed with New Horizon's treatment of villagers and looking for something new in the same vein as Wild World or even OG Animal Crossing. Even a couple days in you really start to feel like your school is a community of very different people. The pacing of unlocking abilities and areas is also very slow, but for me it's been a nice practice in avoiding instant gratification. It's unique from its inspiration, it's cute, simple, and there's a lot to explore. Play it!!! AND TRANSLATE THE 3DS GAME!!!!