Gardening Mama

Gardening Mama doesn't do anything that we haven't seen already in the Cooking Mama games. [Apr 2009, p.79]

Mama's minigames bloom nicely in their new garden thanks to improved game design.

While it’s not as satisfying as the Cooking Mama series, there’s a lot to love about Mama’s garden. Gardening Mama’s mini-games are fun in short bursts but totally cute enough to show you and your Stylus a good time.

While Gardening Mama comes very close to being a leader in the series, glitchy controls and gameplay that can become tedious and boring hold it back from being a truly enjoyable title.

Even with its frustrating controls, if you found yourself hooked on Cooking, you'll feel the same about Mama's adventures in Gardening -- with the same sense of accomplishment when you ace her assignments, and the same swearing and stylus throwing when things go horribly wrong.

Gardening Mama could use more of a Harvest Moon crop economy instead of rewarding players with lawn decorations and new slacks. But if you like Cooking Mama, this is certainly on par.

However, as someone who was pretty lukewarm on the concept to begin with, Gardening Mama hasn't done much to change my mind, and the irritating controls went a long way toward making me dislike the game altogether. If you can get past that, then you might enjoy the sim aspect of Gardening Mama for the DS, but for me, it was pretty much a wash.

A cute enough attempt to perk up the Mama franchise but a mere change of scenery isn't enough to disguise the same old gameplay. [July 2009, p.74]

Read that last bit again. “Dress up Mama to your liking?” Has there ever been a creepier, more Freudian feature in any game, ever? No, we do NOT want to put cute clothes on Mama.

The controls may be to simplistic to be engaging and the absence of instructions can lead this casual game into frustrating territory. Nevertheless, even with the simplistic controls and lack of guidance the player will still feel that same sense of accomplishment and pride when you master Mama’s tasks.

Fun in very short bursts, but this is too frustrating and too flawed to be enjoyed for any longer. [June 2009, p.80]

Gardening Mama and Cooking Mama might as well be the same game. The change of setting is nice but that alone doesn't differentiate it enough from past Mama games to make Gardening Mama feel completely home grown and fresh.

With Gardening Mama, this videogame mother is officially beginning to wear out her welcome. She's still cute as hell, but the controls are too simple to be engaging and the lack of tutorial in many challenges renders them unplayable.

The minigames are too simple and repetitious. The input system doesn't work well.The whole structure is the same as the first two "Cooking" games, with a botanic twist that doesn't renew a childish gameplay.

If you're an eco-friendly person looking for an ideal DS experience, or you just want to see what planting flowers with a stylus is like, Gardening Mama might be for you. Be forewarned, however. It's nowhere near as fun as the cooking games.