Release: September 8, 1981
Sales: >1, 000, 000
Model Number: FP-24
Chef is a Game & Watch game released as a part of the Wide Screen series on September 8, 1981. It is a single-screen single-player Game & Watch.
The player controls a chef who flips various pieces of food, including sausage and fish, into the air with a pan. Failure to keep the food airborne causes a mouse to steal the food off the floor and the player to use up one ‘miss’. The game ends with the player’s third miss. A cat often pokes the left piece of food, which holds it in place for a small amount of time and makes it harder for the player to guess when the piece will be flippable. The game speeds up as it progresses. In Game A, the player must flip three items of food. In Game B, the player must flip four food items.
Chef was recreated in Game & Watch Gallery 2 for Game Boy Color and Game & Watch Gallery 4 for Game Boy Advance. Chef is unlockable in Personal Trainer: Cooking for the Nintendo DS after the player has cooked a certain number of meals. It was recreated as a DSiWare game that was released on July 29, 2009 in Japan, on March 22, 2010 in the United States, and March 26, 2010 in Europe; and for Nintendo 3DS on July 7, 2011 in Europe.
In the Super Smash Bros. series, Mr. Game & Watch has a move called “Chef”, which has him flip food out of pan, referencing Chef. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, the stage Flat Zone 2 shifts between several layouts, one of which is based on Chef. In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the stage Flat Zone X shifts between several layouts, one of which is based on Chef.
In March 2010, Takara Tomy released officially licensed Game & Watch-styled keychains based on three different Wide Screen Game & Watch models, one of which was Chef. It does not actually run the game, instead just displaying a demo screen. While the game cannot be played, the speed at which the demo runs can be adjusted. The batteries are recharged with solar panels on the unit.