Over the years I‘ve carjacked cops, atomized aliens and punched out Mike Tyson. But one thing I hadn’t ever done in a videogame was make sushi. Well, time to cross that one off the list thanks to the latest weird Wii title Cooking Mama: Cook Off.

Though probably of little interest to the gastro-porn addicts out there--the stylized, pastel-flavored graphics are far more likely to make you smile than salivate--it should become a fast favourite of less-salacious food fans. Now Majesco’s Cooking Mama isn’t the first game to feature food--there's Pacman’s points-boosting fruit, Mario’s super-sizing mushrooms and the entire premise of arcade classic Burgertime. It’s not even the first Cooking Mama game.

That would be the cult DS title- I bought it for my wife last Valentine’s Day and though she loved the original's oddball cute, a lot of the Wii-make’s novelty had worn off for her. But for newbies, the application of the motion-sensitive controls adds an irresistible virtual realism to the culinary simulator (though some reviewers slammed the lack of tactile response compared to the old DS controls). The other major new ingredient is multiplayer (against both virtual cooks and real-live friends) which transforms a quirky time-killer into the latest in the console’s already lengthy menu of party games.

But making it into an Iron Chef-style competition considerably enhances what could have just been an afternoon’s rental. Cook Off’s Engrish-spewing Mama judges you a series of minigames ranging from shredding daikon, rinsing rice and grilling pork to cracking eggs, stirring batter and placing ginger just so on your plate. But while your faux kitchen offers over 250 ingredients to create 55 dishes from 10 countries, I far preferred concocting foreign fare from, say, Japan, China and India to the more mundane offerings from America, Italy and England (honestly, including the Brits in a cooking game is like inserting the Bahamas into a hockey title).

And yes, I do realize this is a Japanese game which would make the non-Asian recipes the exotic ones. Though it’s certainly not the most complex game out there, for those who complain there’s no originality on offer, the Cooking Mama series certainly breaks the mold. But much like dining out, it’s a lot better with company.