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Chef is a wide-screen Game & Watch game that was released in 1981. An estimated 1,000,000 units were manufactured by Nintendo. The game's model was FP-24, with the FP standing for Frying Pan. The contents within the game's box included the Game & Watch unit, two LR43 batteries, battery stickers, and the game's instructions.
The original Game & Watch game was released as a title in both Game & Watch Gallery 2 and Game & Watch Gallery 4. Enhanced versions were also included that featured Mario characters instead of the traditional ones that were present in the original. Chef also appears as a move Mr. Game & Watch can perform in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. After the player uses the kitchen timer in Personal Trainer: Cooking, Chef will become an unlockable game.
As in all the Game & Watch games, the game includes a clock that, if desired, will alarm at a set time. The alarm-set icon is appropriately a kettle. When the alarm goes off, the kettle will whistle and subsequently steam will come out. The accuracy of the clock, according to the game's instruction manual, is an average daily differential within +/- 3 secs when under the temperatures of 50°F - 104°F (10°C - 40°C). The average battery lifespan for the Game & Watch unit is 6 months.
Gameplay[]
In the game, three types of food will fly out into the kitchen (in beginning of the game, it actually shows that there were originally three chefs who flipped food into the air, but two of them left leaving only you to flip them all), and as the chef your goal is to cook them all at the same time. To do this, you'll use a frying pan to flip the food back into the air, cooking them bit by bit. Once the food starts to come back down, you have to prepare yourself by going under it as not to let it hit the floor. If a piece of the food hits the floor, then you'll lose one life (the player has three lives in all). The cat at the left of the stage will sometimes use a fork to hold the food, which is meant to catch the player off guard. Following this, he'll drop it rather than tossing it in the air, which will give you little time to go over to flip it. In Game B you will have to cook four meals instead of three.
The maximum score the player can obtain is 999 points. A single point is acquired by flipping one item. After reaching 200 points, the player will receive all of his lives back. The same thing will occur if the player reaches 500 points.
While it serves no purpose to the gameplay, when the chef drops a piece of food on the ground, a mouse that was earnestly waiting in the corner for some food will scurry along the floor, pick the food up and take it away to eat.
Game & Watch Gallery versions[]
Chef appeared in two of the Game & Watch Gallery games including Game & Watch Gallery 2 and Game & Watch Gallery 4 for the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, respectively. They both included the original version of the game and an enhanced remake that included Mario characters. In both games, the enhanced remakes were similar to one another in terms of setting, characters, scoring and overall goals and gameplay. One could say that the only real difference between 2's and 4's games were the graphics, with the fourth one obviously having the upper hand in that regard.
In both games, you control Princess Peach. Luigi is on the left side of the screen while Mario is on the left side. Meanwhile, Yoshi is following Princess Peach the entire time, standing behind her. Mario serves no real purpose in the game, though Luigi does, as he's the one who'll toss the food out in the kitchen for Peach to flip or Yoshi to gobble up. Peach's goal is to flip the food until their well done. This is signified by them turning darker. Once this happens, it's advised that you feed the food to Yoshi. This is done by not sending Peach under the food, but rather situate it so that Yoshi is under it instead. Sending well done food to Yoshi will result in more points. Points are also decided on which type of food you feed Yoshi, with the ones that are the hardest, or take the longest, to cook netting more points. If you feed Yoshi a burnt piece of food, you'll only get 1 point and he'll also be stunned for a short while while he shrinks to a size that resembles a baby Yoshi. The scores include:
- 1 Point: Every time Peach flips food. Every time you feed Yoshi a burnt piece of food. Every time you feed Yoshi an uncooked piece of food.
- 2 Points: Every time you feed Yoshi a well done egg.
- 4 Points: Every time you feed Yoshi a well done sausage or steak.
- 5 Points: Every time Yoshi lays an egg. Every time a baby grows into an adult Yoshi.
- 7 Points: Every time you feed Yoshi a well done fish or drumstick.
- 20 Points: Every time a Yoshi egg hatches.
When the player feeds Yoshi five well done pieces of meat, he'll lay an egg. Doing so will give the player five points. Following this, during any point in the game when you feed Yoshi five more pieces of well done meat, the egg will hatch, will give the player 20 points. The new baby Yoshi will replace the adult one. Feed if five more well done pieces of meet, and he'll grow into an adult, which will result in yet five more points, giving the player a total of 30 points.
After the player accumulates 200, 500 and 700 points. Luigi will give an extra heart to the player. It is here when Peach should try and use her pan to grab the heart, as it'll give you one extra life if you've lost one already. In all, you can get three of these hearts. If you feed a heart to Yoshi, you will receive an extra life, but he'll stand around looking happy for a second, which could cost you valuable time when you want him to move somewhere to eat food. It should also be noted that each time the player obtains 200 points, the environment will change from a kitchen into the princess' castle garden, and back again. The transition from a kitchen to a castle may put players off guard.
In the menu where you choose the games, a small scene will be initiated when the player keeps the selection on one of the games. The scene varies depending on which game the selection is on. For Chef, it'll begin with Mario sitting at a table with fork and knife in hand. Princess Peach is to the right, and will flip all of the eggs that come down onto Mario's plate. At first he gladly eats them, though soon becomes overburdened when Peach starts piling them onto his plate and eventually on him. Being buried under the eggs, Yoshi comes onto the scene, eats all of the eggs, and takes Mario away.
Super Smash Bros. series[]
Chef is also a move Mr. Game & Watch can preform in the Super Smash Bros. games. It is based on the Game & Watch game. Mr. Game & Watch flips sausages at random speeds and distances at his opponents. This move appears in the games Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, respectively. If the player manages to attack another character with the actual pan instead of the sausages, then it'll deliver a lot more damage. It should be noted that in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he'll flip not only sausages, but other food items as well including chicken legs and fish, the latter of which appeared in the Game & Watch Gallery series. In both games, if you tap on the b button rapidly, Mr. Game & Watch will start to fling out food faster than normal. When the character Kirby sucks in Mr. Game & Watch and copies one of his attacks, this will be the attack that he'll copy.