The latest in the Cooking Mama series, Shop & Chop is basically more of the same game seen in the last two iterations. Developed by Majesco and released on the Nintendo DS in October, 2009, Cooking Mama 3 takes you back into the kitchen once more.

For those not in the know, the Cooking Mama DS games have you cooking and preparing food. Slicing meat, chopping vegetables, adding ingredients, stirring and mixing. I'll say this much, it is fun. Also, it appears that they have made tasks more complicated in this game, not to mention making things harder. Anyone who has played a previous game might be thrown off when doing tasks differently than in Cooking Mama or its sequel. If you're new to the series, this obviously won't matter to you.

But, yes, everything is controlled by the stylus, save for a few annoying segments where you need to blow into the microphone, usually to keep a pot from boiling over, or to cool a spoonful of sauce to see if it's properly spiced. The sensitivity and expectations the game sets for you vary wildly, sometimes being very forgiving with the motions you're making, other times being somewhat unresponsive and leaving you wondering what it is you're doing incorrectly.

The game does bring new things to the table. Just not a lot of them. For one, there is now the shopping mini-game. You're given a list of things to get and then you move through the store awkwardly with the stylus, avoiding other customers and trying not to bump into employees who make you play simplistic, annoying, repetitive mini-games. It's not fun.

In terms of accessibility, the game, well... I'd say it's not too friendly. First of all, you need to be quick and precise with the stylus a lot of the time. That's pretty much 95% of the game. Parts of the game rely on audio clues. You need to listen for shellfish to open, for timers to ding, for water to bubble differently. Usually with a closed lid blocking your view. Sometimes you have to pick identical objects quickly that are different colors. I'm not entirely sure how those colors coordinate with color blindness, but I'm saying it might be a problem.

To wrap up, the game offers nothing incredibly new, and what new that it does offer tends to fall a bit flat. Things are made more challenging, and harder tasks have been added. I feel this game would only really be appreciated by people who have played other games in the series and enjoyed them.