KMGR of "Crazy Hotdog Tailgate Party"

Image via WikipediaDespite the name, this has very little to do with tailgate parties. This can be renamed "Hotdog Mania" or "Hotdog Dash" and it'd still be appropriate. Basically, it's a game about cooking up hotdogs, and serving them to the customers, some of whom have particular wants.

There's a backstory about you got a surprise check for $100000 and a great recipe for a hotdog, and a note that essentially says "please double the money, you have one year." Well, it's cute start, but doesn't add much to the game.

Your first assignment is a hotdog stand at a local stadium. The idea is, of course, to make lots of money selling perfectly cooked hotdogs. You'll have to master the art of grilling on this stove, flip the dogs at the right time, learn how to cook "super dog" (which are hotdogs cooked perfectly so they "burst" extra-sized), AND still serve customers with the dogs. Some customers want normal dogs, some want super dogs, some may even want a free dog with their order. You'll have to figure out what each customer wants and give it to them, thus make max amount of money and tips.

I've made it through Cake Mania and Diner Dash and similar games with few problems, nor did I have any problems with cooking games. However, this game gave me a LOT of problems. The timing on the hotdogs are razor-thin... And there are no "do-overs". You end up with raw hotdogs in the "done" tray if you remove them too early, and burnt if too late. It's way too difficult to cook more than one or two hotdogs at a time, because only the center of the grill is "hot", and you need to pump air to maintain the high temp. The surrounding areas are colder, and this constant fight to maintain the temperature for optimum dog cooking is way too "action-y". By the time you burned the middle, the outer hot dogs aren't done yet. Argh!

All in all, this game is a has-been clone that tries to add some uniqueness by adding some "cooking" elements to the gameplay. However, the timing is a bit too thin and the player is simply overwhelmed with play details. Can't really recommend this game.

Overall score: 5.5 out of 10
Pros: that's one food haven't done before, cooking aspects
Cons: too much to remember, grilling too hard