Published: Wednesday, 6th May, 2009 1:30pm

Gardening Mama

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Nintendo DS

If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen, the saying goes. If you're Mama, of the hugely successful Cooking Mama games, a break from the kitchen every once in a while is probably rather a pleasant change from all that dumpling making and stirring.

Gardening Mama takes the minigame style of the food-based fun and plants (sorry) it firmly in an outdoor environment. The end result isn't as pleasing as you'd expect though.

Gardening Mama solves the mystery of where Mama gets her ingredients when you're introduced to her gardens (yes, plural) filled with exotic fruits, vegetables and beautiful flowers. You have to prepare the soil, find the right seeds or buds, plant them and ensure that everything is looked after so it will flourish rather than wilt. You'll have to complete various timed minigames depending on what it is you're growing, until eventually your gardens begin to grow and develop as a result of your toils.

With everything from fruit and vegetables to flowers to keep an eye on, hanging baskets and the like there's lots to do and a fair amount of variety, which makes up for a few duff and repetitive games. However, a need to multitask which you didn't really get in the Cooking series means things wither irritatingly fast if you don't keep an eye on them.

Mama is the same as ever in character, accent and cutesy animation, which - depending on whether you approve of the style - is either fun, quirky and engaging or a reason to throw your DS across the room.

A fun diversion for a few hours, this doesn't have the replay value of the earlier games in the series. This is one Mama who arguably should stay in the kitchen.

Three stars.