Being not very far removed from life as a broke college student, I half expected the gameplay of Me So Ramen to involve putting hot water in a cup and calling it a day.
Luckily, the ramen of this game is slightly more sophisticated — players add various foods to their bowls of ramen in an attempt to please the rolling line of customers. Still, the pace of Me So Ramen holds it back from being a great game.
The core gameplay I’ve described above is introduced one new element at a time. In the first few levels, your only concern is weather to put shrimp or greens in the bowl with the soup. As each level continues and the game gets slightly more complex, it still takes several more levels before all food, bowl and soup options are unlocked.
While that’s not such a bad thing the very first time you play Me So Ramen, it makes any future playthrough an exercise in patience. There’s no way to start on a later difficulty level, so every time you play, you have to begin with the extremely boring early levels, which feels like a huge slog.
That’s too bad because once the game gets going it feels like a less-frantic take on the old classic Burger Time. The food-creation element of Burger Time certainly exists here, but it doesn’t quite have the puzzle aspect that made Burger Time so difficult in its day. What you’re left with isn’t bad though — a frantic take on pouring specialty soups for digital customers.
If Me So Ramen were a little more frenzied and less slow in the early going it might make sense to keep coming back to play more, but it simply isn’t exciting enough to warrant repeated plays. Still, if you’re looking for a unique concept with some fun ideas, Me So Ramen might fill the bill for a while.
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