Video Game Review: ‘Gardening Mama’ Provides Pleasant Diversion

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CHICAGO – Majesco’s Nintendo DS game “Gardening Mama” is a pleasant series of mini-games targeted at younger audiences and fans of the original “Cooking Mama” release. There’s nothing revolutionary or overly remarkable about the title but not all mini-game collections are created equal and “GM” stands slightly above the average. You could do a lot worse than a trip to this garden.

Gardening Mama Photo credit: Majesco

How do you “go green” with a video game? Playing a handheld title about gardening may not be quite what Al Gore has in mind, but you could honestly do a lot worse for your kids then teaching them about planting, tending to, and harvesting with a video game.

Majesco pleased handheld, mini-game fans with the popular “Cooking Mama” and if you’ve played that title than you’ll understand the basic gameplay and premise of “Gardening Mama”. Players can plant, water, fertilize, prune, and harvest what they’ve grown from multiple gardens.

The “levels” of “Gardening Mama” do have a link to nature. For example, when you start a new crop, you might have to do a mini-game where you cut open a bag of seeds and count out the right amount. Later, after a few more mini-games, you’ll have to trim weeds and plant fertilizer.

I know there are readers out there rolling their eyes but they’re also not going to end up anywhere near a title called “Gardening Mama”. And I have to stress to anyone on the fence about a title like this one that they may be surprised by “Gardening Mama”. Like a lot of gamers, I’m far more drawn to first-person shooters or sports titles (with an addiction to the “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” franchises that we need not mention). But I found “Gardening Mama” nearly relaxing in its easy-of-play and simple design.

Gardening Mama Photo credit: Majesco

What works about “Gardening Mama”? It’s an easy title to pick up and play for just a few minutes, which I think a lot of players place a priority on when it comes to handheld games. Not everyone has the time for something like “Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars” or “Resistance: Retribution”. Players looking for a quick mini-game fix would like the “Mama” titles.

As you proceed through the levels, you’ll get prizes like new kinds of fertilizer and accessories for your outfits. The prize structure is a little weak. I wanted a more concrete point total or reward system than the occassional prize.

Even the design of “Gardening Mama” isn’t perfect. Some of the mini-games are too repetitive and some of them are downright annoying in their design. There were some of them that I just couldn’t figure out and generally gave up on. They seemed awkwardly designed. Conversely, there were some that even a 6-year-old will get 100% on the first time. But these are natural flaws of mini-game collections - some will be shockingly easy and some will have design flaws that make them nearly impossible.

It’s the mini-game collection with the most levels in between those extremes - nearly impossible and shockingly easy - that become the most addictive and the most successful. “Gardening Mama” has enough to make it definitely worth a look for fans of “Cooking Mama” and maybe even gamers who would never step foot in an actual kitchen or garden.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com