Man, I have always liked cooking, but somehow, ‘Let’s Cook Together 2’ by Yellow Dot Games makes the relaxing experience a full-on panic-fest. Bringing together the preparation of dishes and cooking them under a time limit, kitchen life here is not relaxing.

You play as an Ohmie working with General Ohm, fighting against the evil Nutri Inc., a megacorporation sucking all the joy and health out of food. In your kitchen-inspired spaceship, it is your job to invade enemy territories, taking over areas by cooking delicious meals and adding new dishes to your recipe book.

It is nice to see a narrative with text and dialogue attached to this sort of gameplay, and the extra dedication can be commended. The story itself is bloated, dull and bizarre. I found it difficult to follow along as it was told so far apart that I forgot what was happening.

The game can be played singularly or co-op with up to four players, something I highly recommend as a lot of the chaos is designed with sharing the experience. You must select from a range of characters at the beginning, each with certain skills, such as running faster or serving through walls, to aid in their cooking adventure.

There are six modes: Adventure, Party, Battle, Experimental Levels, Arenas, and Community Levels. Adventure plops you in a country to invade restaurants, cooking to capture the zone. Party lets you be free for all with friends, and Battle similarly puts you up against these friends in side-by-side kitchens.

Arenas pit you at a leaderboard from across the world to try and beat records, while Community levels enable you to play levels created by other players. This title has some incredible replay value and has something for everyone.

This game is multitasking incarnate. It requires you to time cooking, slicing, boiling, and plating over 65 recipes worldwide while mopping, throwing dishes across the room, or avoiding obstacles. Completing orders at the window will net you coin tips. These can be used to upgrade appliances and items to assist in your endeavour to be the best chef and buy characters and other maps to play. At the end of each level, you get a rating and are graded on completed orders and how little downtime you had.

The gameplay is not as simple as you would think, but it is very accessible as you use a sequence of many techniques and buttons to get everything down, especially if you are playing with friends. Contrary to most, some levels are only available for multiplayer, which is a great motivator to pull more people into the experience. It is very addictive and fun for all ages, as someone can pick up the load when another falters.

The visuals are very basic. They are cartoonish with bold line work, basic shapes and vibrant colours. They aren’t particularly show-stopping, but the food is the standout feature. Each meal is cute and endearing; seeing them come together is great.

The music isn’t anything particularly memorable, but I did enjoy the jazzy music from the outset in the menu. The sound effects are the basics you would expect: the sizzling of cooking meat, splashing of boiling water, or alarms as things begin to go south and burn. These help bring the whole experience together as you manically prepare dishes.

Let’s Cook Together 2 brings an experience where even the most unseasoned cooks can feel like flipping Gordon Ramsey with all the stress and swearing to boot. It’s a great little that relies more on co-op play but doesn’t completely lock you out as a single player. This game has some sizzle in its gameplay despite its scrambled story.

Written by: Stacey