Mobile Game Review of "Sushi Samurai"

Sushi Samurai hs you running a restaurant, cooking 30 different Asian dishes, from simple sushi to complicated Chinese and Asian dishes. You need to remember the ingredient list (in the proper sequence), then perform each of the minigames properly in order to create the perfect dish. There are five dishes per level. You start as a zero-dragon level chef. The objective is to be the best cook ever... the only one that go beyond 5-dragon chef... for the title of... Sushi Samurai!

The actual ingredient list is mostly based on reality, but also includes some oddities like "dragon oil" and "glacier water". At least the dishes are real sushi and Asian dishes, from tuna roll to cho-cho beef. The minigames are cutting (slice something in 2 equal portions), boiling (high / low / medium heat, or stir), stir-frying (up , down , left, or right) , barbequing / grilling (down, but not too far down to the fire), sprinkling (spicing), scooping (rice), and rolling (sushi or spring rolls).

So basically, you play a series of minigames with the ingredients, one at a time, until you assemble the whole dish. You are graded for each step. As long as you score above a certain threshold, you'll get the medal... jade (70-79), ivory (80-89), or gold (90-99). If you get 5 out of 5 dishes right, you'll get that dragon rating.

The minigames are well organized, appropriate for the ingredients and recipe, but it's all on reflex. The action is simple. Most are simple timing games... push OK when the knife appears to be over the cutting line, and things of that ilk. There is also a bit of memorization as you get to look at the ingredient and recipe ONCE before the start. You can peek once or twice later if you really need a reminder, but it'll cost you a penalty in the rating.

The animations are nice and clear, and cute. The music is okay, sounds vaguely oriental. The judges are all dressed in Japanese ceremonial robes, but they look like caricatures... appropriate for the genre, I guess.

All in all, Sushi Samurai is a non-violent game that is a combination of short memorization and combination of several reflex-based minigames, and a cooking theme. It is a bit of fun as you memorize ingredients and recipe, and play the various minigames in order to construct the dish. However, once you made it to the top, there's little reason to continue playing. And being all reflex-based game, it's not that interesting in the long run.

The game rates a 7.0. While the game itself is fun, with varied challenges, the challenges are all reflex based and very little memorization or strategy.