Review Date: July 30, 2010
Developer: Boolat Games
Publisher: Alawar Entertainment
Platform: PC
Genre: Time Management
After reviving her grandfather's restaurant in the big city, Amelie is back. But this time she's decided to take on a new challenge by opening up a brand new establishment on a tropical island. Amelie's Cafe: Summer Time plays almost identically to its predecessor, which means it's a solid time management experience that's unfortunately lacking any real new ideas.
A Day At The Beach
You'll take control of Amelie as she serves customers, and the gameplay will be very familiar to both veterans of the first game, as well as those who have played other time management series', such as the Diner Dash games. The restaurant serves numerous dishes, including salads, ice cream, and wraps, and it's up to you to find out what the customers want and that the meals are prepared as quickly as possible. You'll also have to juggle this with several other tasks, such as making sure the various prep stations stay clean.
From the very beginning Summer Time throws a lot at you, but it's pretty lenient with the goals and time limits. That doesn't mean that things won't get hectic, though. As you progress through the game new dishes are added to your menu and you'll be serving more and more customers. Keeping everyone happy and fed requires a combination of quick clicking and clever planning. There's also a simple block matching puzzle game built right in, which provides several helpful in-game bonuses, though you can completely ignore it if you want.
Not Much New
The career mode consists of three different chapters, each of which takes place in a newly renovated restaurant, and can be completed in a surprisingly short three hours. There is some incentive to replay the various levels -- each stage has both a standard and advanced goal to complete and there are several awards that can be earned -- but it's still disappointing that it's all over so quick. Thankfully there is an additional mode, survival, which plays out just like in the first game and offers up a surprisingly addictive and challenging diversion.
Technically there isn't much wrong with the game. While it's a bit short and lacking anything resembling an interesting story, it's definitely challenging and features frantic, fast paced gameplay. The real problem is just how closely it sticks to the formula laid down by the first game. The new tropical setting is nice, but other than that it's really hard to find much that's different. It's essentially the same game with a new skin and some different challenges.
The Bottom Line
That being said, for fans of time management games, Amelie's Cafe: Summer Time is still one of the better options out there. What it lacks in new ideas it makes up for with solid and challenging gameplay and bright, colorful production values. And the survival mode is sure to keep you playing well after the main game is done and over. For the brief while it lasts, Summer Time shows off some of the best the genre has to offer. Let's just hope Amelie's next adventure feels a little less familiar.