This one could have stayed in the oven a little longer
My one biggest gripe with Cake Mania for the DS is simply the fact that there's nothing much that's all that impressive. Many games, at least within the first hour or so, show some sort of potential. Perhaps the graphics are astounding, or the game play is particularly interesting, or the plot is excellently set up. Well, the thing about Cake Mania is that there's really none of that.
You, the player, take on the role of Jill. Her grandparents, the owners of a successful bakery, have earned enough to send their granddaughter off to culinary school. Upon her return home, though, Jill is met with a nasty surprise: her grandparents' bakery has been bought out by a large chain of stores! Determined to put her grandparents back in business, Jill sets up her own bakery and works out of home.
In order to buy back the bakery, Jill has to work hard over quite a long period of time -- five years, in fact. Each gaming session takes place over the course of one month, during which you'll have to make a certain, quoted amount of money. This quota ranges from just a few hundred, in the earlier levels, to a few thousand, once the game gets more difficult.
Making money, at least at first, is a rather simple affair. Customers will queue up in your bakery, and you merely have to fill their orders and get them their cake before they get so fed up that they leave. A simple word bubble will appear over each customer's head once they decide upon their order; each order will be expressed in terms of a picture. You must look at the small picture to determine the shape of the cake your customer wants, the number of layers, the color frosting, and any decorations.
Cake Mania is played exclusively via the Nintendo DS stylus. Every action you perform in the game, from baking to frosting to decorating cakes, is performed via very standard use of the touch screen. Clearly, the aim here is to emulate the point-and-click style of PC game play. You tap around the bakery to direct Jill, and make all your baking selections by touching small icons. Once the cake is complete, a few quick taps of the stylus will have Jill give the customer their desired pastry and pick up the cash that they leave.
I mentioned just now that the DS version of Cake Mania obviously attempts to recreate the gaming experience provided by the PC version of the game, and in one rather critical way, they have failed. No matter what anyone tells you, the DS stylus is just not as precise as a computer mouse. The stylus tip is slightly bulky, and the touch screen is relatively small. As a result, it can often be difficult to select the right icons to select, especially since they are so small. Easily the most annoying part of the entire game are the times when the stylus, acting in a slightly imprecise manner, is not accurate enough to register with the icon that you actually tapped, and then accidentally churns out the wrong cake, icing color, decoration, etc. You're then forced to toss the cake, which eats into your profit, all because of imprecise handling.
In terms of graphics and music, Cake Mania is also rather lacking. Graphically, it's not at all impressive. Sprites are blockily animated, roughly colored, and too small to allow any real detail. The game's music, sadly, works along the same lines. It's simple and boring, all too forgettable, and really doesn't at all contribute to the overall quality of the game.
All its flaws overlooked for a second, there is a valid reason to consider purchasing Cake Mania. If you can overlook the sloppy design, sometimes-annoying controls, and all-too-noticeable dearth of a story arc, there is something underneath all the crap that can only be described as fun.
You see, like most simple games, Cake Mania does not stay simple for long. As you progress further and further into the game, Cake Mania's difficulty shoots up, sometimes to almost unbelievable points. This, at least for hardcore gamers, is going to be the sole reason to pick it up. Game play, thanks to the racked up difficulty level, suddenly becomes more compelling and engaging. You can't make mistakes, because one single misstep will quickly result in a game over. I know it seems weird that I'm recommending a game about a girl making cakes to hardcore gamers, but…trust me, it's true.
So, in the end, there's really two audiences that Cake Mania may appeal to. If you're buying for a younger girl who just wants a cheap little game that she may be able to relate to, then Cake Mania may be for her. My sister plays the game, and she does enjoy it. Be warned, however, that the difficulty level later in the game will likely turn off causal players, at least once they reach this point.
And, as I've already mentioned, Cake Mania may appeal to lifelong gamers looking for a real challenge on their Nintendo DS. Cake Mania may have crappy graphics, no story, horrendous music, and frustrating (occasionally) controls, but it's one redeeming factor is that it's difficult. So, if you're in the market for a game that isn't a cinch to beat, or one that you can't breeze through in four or five hours, then poke around for a copy of Cake Mania. You might be happy that you did.