Developer: SuperVillain Studios
Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Website: http://www.svsgames.com/

NA Release: June 21, 2012
EU Release: December 9, 2011 (as retail)

# of Players: 1 (2 save files)
Nintendo eShop price: $9.99
Genre: Time Management-Cooking



Clint Eastwood and Dracula walk into a Chinese restaurant….

You might think I’m starting this review off with a joke. Actually, I’m describing what you can expect when playing Order Up!! A cooking sim that is well-suited as a download title with portability. Unlike the unconvincing ad commercials, all you need is a stylus to efficiently get the job done in the kitchen. In this game, you’re not just cooking, you’ll need to please your customers and your employees, making this a pleasantly rewarding full experience.

Gameplay

After selecting your chef, you start out with a tutorial and spend a day as a Burger Face employee. For those who already downloaded the free demo, you can skip Burger Face by pressing Start after finishing the tutorial, tap End Day and you’re off to your first purchased restaurant that includes a free waitress. In the kitchen, you’re assign to complete the orders, one table at a time, as quickly and well executed as possible. The first few days are simple with one or two orders per table, getting you familiar with stylus gestures, managing multiple stations and simultaneously completing more than one ticket order. Eventually you can use spices from the Farmers Market and hire a maximum of two assistant chefs from a Newspaper. Spices are used to satisfy patrons with the correct preference and to serve Specials that can be unlock by purchasing the recipe or by experimenting with the ingredients thanks to your real life culinary expertise. With the extra set of hands, the assistants can complete an ingredient that you drag to them with the stylus, even to perfection if you give them the right task.

Tips are your reward currency for completing tables. You get substantial payment based on the execution on each ingredient from a ticket order, the warmness of the meal, pleasing a lovable (albeit little amount of) patron stereotypes, serving Specials to the patron’s companions when asked, and using exotic ingredients from a Delivery Guy. As you progress further investing in new themed restaurants, the tips’ value will increase as well as the cost for new spices and Specials recipes. To gain a new restaurant, you must first transform your current restaurant into a five-star restaurant by completing requirements, with the final step of pleasing a food critic. If you need more money but find little challenge in once again taking your newly purchased, slow business, restaurant to five-star status, you can go back to previous restaurants. Since they're now popular, tables fill up, including challenges with up to four ticket orders per table to make you scramble about. There’s even an extended menu selection with more Specials to unlock.

The controls are very effective. Using the D-pad, (or face buttons for left-handed chefs), switch to different occupied stations and with the stylus at ready you can slice, flip, and sauté ingredients all at the same time (Remember to press up on the D-pad or X button when zoom out to finish the orders). Strategize which ingredients to start with and to end with at your station and your staff's, this is the type of managing you'll have to face. Minigames will pop up during the service based on your lacking in a specific managing task.

There’s even a humorous story involving the spice merchant which concludes during a mock reality cooking competition, the game’s finale.



Presentation

The touch screen set up works nicely to immerse you in the atmosphere of running a restaurant. Reminding you of the task and taking advantage with your equipment and staff. The upper screen presents timely progression details such as shaking when boiling is finish and aroma when flipping is ready. Stereoscopic 3D produces occasional graphical hiccups and slowdowns - mostly during Quick Play. There are a few surprises later on when dealing with certain ingredients that uses perspective well. However, the effect while a welcome and satisfying extra dimension on finished orders and tip rankings, mostly just hinders the experience.

The visuals are delightful, in the style of old school cartoons. The graphic design of replicating plastic foods from non-working toy ovens that actually looks delicious and the straightforwardness on each restaurant’s design blends really well with occasionally overwhelming gameplay, should be pleasing every type of gamer.

The audio is the best part about Order Up!! The music blends well with each regional cuisine and the dialogue is both charmingly fun and very helpful in gameplay. In the default settings, the dialogue is too quiet, fortunately, lowering the music down to half blends the audio perfectly. Unless your playing in a quiet environment, it is best to use headphones.

One major downside, unlike the Wii and PS3 version, Order Up!! doesn’t include Hard Mode. Fortunately, Order Up!! offers a lot of incentive to replay, such as improving on the best Tips from one table for each restaurant. One improvement from the Wii version is the extra restaurant, Kung Fusion, a Chinese restaurant, which includes the best waiter character in the game.



Conclusion

Order Up!! is currently the highest rated title on the Nintendo eShop and for good reason. Technically one of the first retail experiences on the service while the length is acceptable for a portable eShop price. This version of Order Up! has a perfect blend of ingredients such as tremendous use in stylus controls and audio, feverish gameplay of strategic order management, and delivering a rewarding experience with a pinch of addictiveness.

8.9 / 10 eShop points

9- Awesome This game has little in the way of flaws, and is a highly enjoyable experience.