When a buddy showed up with this game, I wasn’t really interested. Cooking is not my thing – and virtual food isn’t even edible. But I thought I’d give it a try anyway, and the results were surprisingly not bad. It’s not game of the year by any means, but does provide for some entertaining game-play in the faux restauranteer world.

The scenario: you’re an unproven new chef in the small town of “Port Abello” (yuk, yuk), with high hopes of rising up the culinary ranks to become a real somebody. You purchase a local diner, and ready to unleash your blossoming talent onto the palettes of the local town-folk.

As you may have gathered, the main game-play component of Order Up! involves food preparation – you’ll need to slice, dice, fry, grill, and more all with accuracy to receive a good score. It’s not overly difficult, but does take some getting used to, and is satisfying to conquer. You’ll also need to keep your patrons happy, and can use the points earned doing so to upgrade your restaurant, hire new help, buy additional recipes and purchase spices.

As you do this successfully, you’ll earn a higher rating and have the opportunity to purchase a more advanced eatery. Rising all the way from a little greasy spoon to a fine dining establishment.

I found myself getting into a comfortable and enjoyable rhythm. And in true form you’ll notice, as with most Nintendo Wii Games, that their amusing characters and fun cartoonish visuals make the game-play all the more appealing. However, take note that Order Up! is a rather short offering, as we sat down in the late afternoon and had it finished before midnight. Besides that point, even if you’re not the cook in the family, you might be as surprised by this one as I was.

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