Cook, Serve, Delicious!

Genre: Arcade / Simulation

Players: 1-4 Co-Op / Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: Included in Cook, Serve, Delicious! 1/2 Bundle!! along with Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!, and also included in Cook, Serve, Delicious, Trilogy!, along with Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! and Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!.)

One of the earliest reviews I wrote on eShopperReviews was for Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!, which released on Nintendo Switch in 2019. At the time, I never expected that 4 years later in 2023, the first game in the series would release on Nintendo Switch. I should note that this Nintendo Switch release of Cook, Serve, Delicious! comes a whole 10 years after the game’s original release on PC, and yet other platforms would get the game even later, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game releasing in 2024.

As with the sequel, Cook, Serve, Delicious! is an Arcade-style and Simulation elements where players manage and operate a restaurant, trying to please customers and improve your reputation while bringing in money to upgrade, expand your appliances, as well as expanding your menu.

The presentation here uses decent but slightly cartoony 2D visuals backed by an upbeat whimsical soundtrack befitting this game’s overall tone. There’s nothing special here but it all works well enough.

For the gameplay… well, because I only played this game after its successor, from my perspective there are multiple gameplay elements that are removed from this one (which were in fact added in the second game). In addition to fewer food options to select from and a smaller variety of customizations you can make to your restaurant, drinks are treated as separate menu items, and this game lacks the sequel’s side dishes. However, the biggest omission from this game are the lack of holding stations, which in the second game allowed you to use downtime to prep food that could be handed out to customers when things got busier again.

The result of all of this is that I feel that Cook, Serve, Delicious! is far more hectic and fast-paced than its sequel, and you’re less concerned with getting all of your orders done correctly on-time and more about trying to do what you can and having the correct orders outweigh the wrong orders and missed orders. And while Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! could be nerve-wracking at times, I feel like that’s a constant state of things here.

Also, I should be sure to mention that this is the only game in the series as of this writing that supports up to four players, so if you’re looking for a game in this series to support a group, this may be your best bet.

I do think I enjoyed Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! better than its predecessor, and I think the more limited options does make this first entry in the series a lesser game. I can also see some players preferring Cook, Serve, Delicious! over its sequel specifically because of the things it does differently. However, in either case I still think this is an entertaining game worth trying out if you enjoyed either of the game’s sequels.

tl;dr – Cook, Serve, Delicious! is an Arcade-style game with some Simulation elements that has players managing a restaurant and serving orders to customers. I think this is a more frantic game than its sequel, and it has a lot less in the way of variety, but it’s still an enjoyable game that’s worth a look.

Grade: B-

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