Brunch Panic review

A serving of addictive gameplay and frustration

Review written by
Matt Clewley

June 22nd, 2014

There always comes one of those games that sounds adorable and, to add to your curiosity, you want to give it a quick look. Cooking Mama was a game like that, it's not the most manly game ever, but the earlier games were decent and addictive. This is the kind of feeling I originally got with Brunch Panic.

The look of the games are sort of similar as well, with 2D cute pictures and slideshows and also the items on the bottom touch screen looking real compared to the happy animation.

I started Brunch Panic and I was thrown into a story. A young girl called Bonnie was having an average day when she talks to herself about going to Paris. Then, her Grandfather overhears her and is an absolute beast. He buys her a freaking brunch truck so she can accomplish her dream, I hope her father is taking note on the generosity of her grandfather. And that's the start of a journey.

The audio in the cut-scenes is in Japanese, but offer them like an English comic, so it's nice to hear a different language in the game. The stylus is your best friend in this game, and the menu even advises you to use it.

It's the case of drag and drop, and this is pretty much the gameplay covered. This is a walk in the park at first sight, and if you have played Cooking Mama then you will be familiar with dragging ingredients around. The controls aren't difficult, they are just drag and drop, simple. That shouldn't go to your head as the difficulty of the levels can still get quite challenging, especially when more stuff is introduced to the van cafe.

Different sauces and foods will be further ammunition to fire at all your wonderful and loyal customers. This can get stressful the more stuff you have, some of the foods are similar so it's easy to make mistakes whilst you are rushing around the touch screen. The gameplay is excellent, but sadly it does get tedious after you play it for a long stint.

This game does need a break once in a while, even though there are 'break time' segments included, I suggest you do have a bit of a break from it so it doesn't get boring, but the simple gameplay is the key to what makes Brunch Panic addictive.

It is very stressful after a while, which is another reason why a break is in order, if you kept playing day in day out then your 3DS would be snapped in half and flushed down the toilet because of the growing frustration. I do advise to do this - save your money. However, if you're a fan of challenging gameplay, then do continue to conquer through the world of the brunch van business.

The coordinate part of the main menu lets you decorate the van to your taste. It's not like Pimp My Ride exactly, you can't have subwoofers or hydraulics to lift your bay body van up. There are a few colors and patterns to choose from to use to your preference, it's not important to the game unless you like to be casual with the gameplay then don't bother with this bit.

The graphics are nice, they are cartoons and are slightly influenced by anime when it comes to emotions in the cut-scenes. There is no use of 3D for this game, but it wouldn't make any difference with it as it's all based on 2D imagery. The animation isn't glistening, but it's tolerable. The music to the game is nice and happy, and works to make the experience just a little less stressful.

The Japanese language doesn't make much of a difference as you're only looking for the food in the speech bubbles. An English dub could have been done perhaps, but in my opinion it's not really needed for this game.

Brunch Panic is a great game, it looks childish and chirpy, but don't let looks deceive you. It's a fun, yet busy experience, with the level and difficulty progressions you will be occupied with this game for ages.

The coordinate section is practically pointless, but essentially this isn't a multiplayer game. I recommend Brunch Panic for anyone who enjoys games like Cooking Mama that require the same controls consistently, and those who deal with pressure quite well too. It's addictive and challenging, though sadly can eventually get tedious.