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Good game but could have been better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: July 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game was a great and new approach to added cooking genre of games. Although fun, I feel it was somehow rushed as well.

Story in a nutshell:
You start the game working at a basic restaurant,and as you get more stars you get to upgrade to the next level restaurant to become the ultimate cook in the end.

Pros:
Different variety of restaurants to own

Many different recipes that pertain to the restaurant (Italian,
Mexican,etc.)

Cook with spices

Ability to buy items (Spices, Upgrade you equipment, etc)

Hire help each with different abilities

Great and wonderful design style

Little mini-games (Health Inspector,flicking rats, etc.)

A little shopping place to buy your spices or special recipes

Meet the needs of certain customers by putting in spices they like

Has a humor aspect

Cons:
WAY TOO SHORT! Took me only 7 hours to beat, but I played the game on easy and still did not unlock the other special recipes so you could possibly be looking at 10-12 hours of game play. Still it would have been nice to have two more restaurants to at least fill the void possibly a Japanese, Chinese or Indian restaurant.

Repetitive at times, although there were many recipes it seemed you always did the same things with the Wii remote, nothing new or inventive many times when preparing the food.

The market only had two places to explore. It would have been nice to have a variety of markets each with it's own type of spices (Italian, Asian, etc.). It also would have been nice to walk around the market square or explore the island

Not able to improve your hired help or have them level up to become better chefs. It was a pain liking the characters personality, but having to fire them due to just getting "good" many times and not "perfect"

I don't appreciate having to see that little boy ride his bike every time and throw the paper, it would be nice to skip over that scene, the same with the customers walking in.

It would have been nice to see many more characters in the game, and they change their spice recommendations or the ingredient they like.

Better mini-games, I would have like to see different games to do. Like with the Health Inspector and the rats.

NO TWO-PLAYER MODE! That really would have added to the potential of the game. It would make it's replay value double. It's no fun having a friend just watch me play this game and not be able to play as well, or have them come in a help me when I'm in the main game.

The characters seem to be repetitive in what they say. Also, it kind of erks me that the waiters seem to be as well. Like in the Mexican restaurant we have the waiter referring to only one customer as, "Senors and Senoritas".

Overall:
I based my review towards other cooking games, and since there's only a few I know of I believe this one to be the better of them. It was fun, different ( about time we get games other then just the usual) and I did enjoy it in the little time it lasted, still you can not help to see that this game was rushed. There's many things in the game play that prove just that. This game could have had so much more potential if released a little later and those things worked out.

ZOO your in the right direction, this game has a lot of potential, just keep at it! I'm hoping to see a 2nd one sooner or later.

The Most Addictive Wii Game to Date

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: August 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

As I've mentioned in other reviews, the Wii is not my console of choice. I bought it for my wife to keep her busy while I logged hours in front of the Xbox 360.

I bought Order Up for my wife as a birthday gift. I feel bad that three days later, she's logged about 45 minutes at the controls, and I've beaten the game at 5 hours, 59 minutes in.

The game is simply that addictive. From the first burger you make until the last visit from the food critic at "Chez Haute" restaurant, you will not want to put this game down.

Your first reaction might be to think that at 6 hours, this game is very short. This isn't untrue, but this is a game that better rewards the casual player. In my course through the game, I served less than 10 "non-perfect" dishes. I refused to serve "good" food, and instead would throw food away multiple times until earning a "perfect" score. Also, by mastering the art of spicing (which is clearly defined within the game) I was able to generate upwards of $200 per table served, and would end a "work day" with over $800 in the bank. Because of this I was easily able to keep my spices stocked, hire the best employees, and upgrade my kitchen very quickly. As a result I made money very fast, and progressed through the game with lightning speed. My wife on the other hand is not nearly as perfectionist, and is satisfied with serving Good or OK dishes. This can end up making for a longer play through the game. I say this as a good thing though - this game will entertain her much longer than it did myself.

Many reviews from gaming sites gave less than satisfactory remarks on the controls, saying that everything except folding burritos or omelettes worked well. This is simply not true. Every motion with the Wii control can be easily learned and skillfully mastered. From flipping steaks to cutting swordfish to tearing lettuce to folding crepes - I could earn perfect every time. Speed is the key, and some careful precision "aiming" with the remote helps. Also, note that in the instruction manual it states that the "nunchuk" attachment is not needed, but adds some redundant controls to easy in play. THIS IS VERY TRUE!! The control stick on the nunchuck offers quicker ability to scroll through your cooking stations instead of having to leave the 'A' button on the remote and reaching the D-pad. With the nunchuk connected, I drastically reduced my meal prep times. I could serve a four-guest table in less than 2 minutes.

What makes this game so much more fun is that you are responsible for running a business. At the start of every day it's up to you on how to spend the wares of the previous day. You may want to unlock some new dishes, hire a new assistant cook (you have a limit of two,) purchase the recipe for exclusive "chef's specials," or - and this was always important - stock up on spices. You could also upgrade various aspects of your kitchen, making appliances work quicker, making grills and stoves cook faster, or even make you knives sharper. In some regards this made the game more challenging because it's harder to juggle three cooking stations when they all cook faster! In the end, you spent nearly as much time outside of the restaurant as you did inside, and both areas were equally entertaining.

I will agree with others that the game could have used more depth and length. Another restaurant or two would have been nice. A two-player mode would have been fantastic. I personally would have liked to see more "mature" patrons at the nicer resturants - I got tired of the guy wearing a soup-can hat and farting on my surf-and-turf dinner... The only real dissapointing part I felt was the "delivery guy" who could bring you super fresh meat or seafood, or fresh, "organic" vegetables. The downside was you had to pay $1 to call the delivery guy, then when he showed up, had to pay upwards of $10 to pull a slot-machine handle built into his delivery truck, only to not win anything at all for your troubles!! After this happened 5 times in a row, I never called the guy again. There should have been a better reward system implemented to make this work. But obviously it wasn't needed to enjoy or complete the game. Lastly, I could not earn a perfect score on my pizza because the game wanted you to place pepperoni in some perfect pattern without any clear explanation. That, as a perfectionist, simply drove me crazy. Luckily I cooked all of 4 or 5 pizzas through the entire game.

Order Up was a very enjoyable experience that I look forward to continue playing even after I have beaten the game. I think that in itself says all that needs to be said. Serve me up another!

More than just cooking, a lot of fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I am fairly new to wii, and I am a casual gamer. I enjoyed this game quite a bit. I did try Cooking Mama, and I liked this game more. You had more things to do than just to cook. You could control your chefs, earn new upgrades, and you had some control in the restaurant itself, and I liked these challenges.

For me the learning curve on this game hasn't been too much, I can see that if you are a more serious gamer or if you are looking for a lot of game play out of this game, it may be lacking, as the story line doesn't last too long. The graphics are decent, but the limited vocals can get a little annoying, but many are very clever.

All in all I think this is a good game. I liked that it wasn't too hard, I don't play everday. If you are a serious gamer this may not be your best option or you may want to wait until the price on this game goes down. I am definately hopeful they will make a 2nd edition, because I will definately be picking it up.

Great Cooking Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: July 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is tons of fun! It is a great cooking title, and will keep you busy and entertained for hours. You will have so much fun creating and cooking a huge variety of dishes, and also ordering your staff to do certain cooking tasks! It will excite you to earn money and buy new ingredients, spices, cooking tools, and restaurants. Great game all-around. With loads of fun minigames, you'll never get bored. I compare this (favorably) to Cooking Mama, because you don't just cook, you get to manage an entire restaurant!

Now We're Cookin'!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

We just got this game this morning and we weren't expecting much because the other cooking games were kinda lame. My wife is highly critical and there aren't too many games she likes but she's liking this one. (playing it as I write this.) The cartoony characters, set design and music really create the perfect atmosphere for working in a greasy spoon joint. (You have to start somewhere!) The use of the Wiimote is well done complete with chopping, stirring, flipping and ringing the bell to get the orders out. This is a nice game for the Wii. We're glad we bought it! It's better than we expected with a few surprises that will have you grinning.

Fun! Funny! And a paper hat!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First and foremost...the game comes with a free paper hat! I'm a complete sucker for extra flair (37 pieces...anyone? Anyone?), so kudos on that one.

When we can wrestle it away from the kids (even my 14 year old boy completed it!), my wife and I have a lot of fun with the game. It's almost a rule in the house that you have to wear the hat while you're playing.

The game itself is really well done and full of humor for all ages. The assitant chefs are funny (albeit a little repetetive), and the cooking and restaurant theme is really accesible to anyone. Climb your way to a TV show appearance (hilarious spoof ending!) by working your way through a burger joint, a diner, a Mexican place, an Italian place, and a fancy restaurant. There are TONS of menu items to be had throughout the game, and you'll even work through some fun little sidetracks like rats, dishes and kitchen fires.

Overall, a very nice surprise and much more depth than the Cooking Mama games (which have you strictly stepping through ingredients for a score). My only real complaint would be that the story is a bit short...but you can always pick up and play over and over, so even that is only a minor ding. Highly recommended!

Not Quite

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The art style and the dialog is great for kids, the idea is pretty simple, work up the restaurant ladder, get paid, buy more recipes, and propel to being a top restaurateur/chef. Since the idea of a cooking game was originally tried by Cooking Mama, this game borrows a lot of the initial ideas of tasks to complete a dish. The nice part is the ability to re-do portions if the results are Poor and being able to hire sous chefs to help prepping dishes. The game gets repetitive quickly and is single-player game. There's very little replay value since there is no two player challenge mode or online play.

Fun, Variety, Colorful Design and Characters

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Tons of variety is packed in this very family-friendly game. Open restaurants and create all sorts of dishes. The game is colorful, chock full of colorful characters and nice mini-games as well.

5 out of 5

Too Much Fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game last night and I am addicted! It's what I thought Cooking Mama would have been. I love it!

Great Cooking Game!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game was so much fun. I had seen other cooking games and they seemed very boring compared to this one. Instead of just cooking, you own your restaurant, are resposible for keeping your patrons happy and the ability to hire assitant chefs. Plus the market place is a fun addition; allowing you to buy different spices and new recipes. This was absolutely worth the money.

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