DS Review: Brain Age 2

One of Nintendo’s most inventive and ground-breaking DS titles is Brain Age, a game that aims to train your brain in minutes a day via simple math and word exercises. Many were skeptical at first, but the concept became a great success worldwide. Not only is said title still atop worldwide sales charts, it also paved the way to future brain-training titles, some from Nintendo and other not-so-great attempts by third parties trying to cash in on the concept. Recently released in North America, Brain Age 2 features new exercises to give your brain a workout, but is this sequel worth it? Read on to find out.

The basic brain training premise is intact. Flipping your DS sideways (commonly referred to as book-style play) you perform a variety of simple exercises designed to train your prefrontal cortex and keep your brain in shape. The main feature of the game is Brain Age Check. You play three random exercises, after which the game analyzes your performance and gives you a Brain Age, starting at 20, which indicates how healthy your brain is, the lower the healthier. All of the exercises take less than five minutes to complete, on average, and you can track your daily progress via graphs, to see how well your cerebral skills have improved. Doctor Ryuta Kawashima, the man behind the brain training concept, is in the game in the form of a floating polygonal head, which keeps you updated on everything you need to know to keep your brain healthy.

Other game modes include Quick Play, designed to introduce the game’s style of play to beginners or anyone interested. You can try, or let someone else try, a quick Brain Age check, a training game called Word Scramble (four or more floating letters are given to you to make a word out of them), and an easy Sudoku puzzle. You can also access the game’s Download menu and send these activities to a friend, or better yet, you can engage in multiplayer renditions of some of the game’s training exercises, up to sixteen players with just one copy of the game. Multiplayer is fun, and the more players the better and more frantic matches will be.

But the different training exercises give the game its bulk. You play by performing different calculations. For example, Serial Subtraction asks you to continuously subtract a certain number from another. High Number presents you an array of floating numbers, of different sizes, your task being to tap the highest one number-wise, not size-wise. Sign Finder gives you a series of sign-less equations for you to figure out the sign, and Change Maker has you giving out change to different dollar amounts. These and similar activities can be played and recorded once a day, including your daily Brain Age Check. Most games are played with the stylus, with the one exception being Rock / Paper / Scissors, in which you must say the required object to either win or lose a match, depending on what the game asks you. You can play the exercises more than once, but your results will only be recorded on your first daily try. You can always take a break from brain training and try Germ Buster, a touch screen, simplified version of Dr. Mario that works really well and is just as fun as the original. Not only that, but just like the first Brain Age title the sequel offers a great version of Sudoku, the popular number puzzle game with a great touch screen interface.

The game’s exercises work mostly well, but the present flaws are very frustrating. The game’s handwriting recognition, as its predecessor’s, isn’t perfect; more than likely, you will have to write certain letters, such as K’s and T’s, differently from the way you’re used to. Number recognition works great, but making a mistake while writing numbers or letters can cost you; the game gives you very little time to hit the ‘Erase’ button, and many a time you will be penalized for making a mistake you were trying to fix. Also, many of the game’s introductory rules are highly lacking and simplistic, forcing you to waste a day’s worth of training as you try to figure out what exactly it is you must do. As you play daily you will learn to avoid most of these mistakes, nevertheless they should be nonexistent.

Brain Age 2 features very simplistic graphics and a great lack of coloring. Perhaps Nintendo thought color would distract players while they trained their brains, but black and white get boring, fast. The game’s few animations are well made, but there are no special effects or aesthetically-pleasing backgrounds or illustrations, aside the doctor’s deformed floating head. The game features some remixes of its predecessor’s music, as well as a neat ‘relaxing’ version of the classic Dr. Mario theme. As well as graphics, however, music is absent during brain training, except, of course, on the Piano Player game. Overall the game feels a bit shallow presentation-wise, even for a budget title.

Brain Age 2 is highly recommended for casual players. Offering short, daily bursts of play time and a simple design, this game is perfect for the casual player looking for a bit of gaming fun, especially for those who can share it with multiple friends or family members and compare their results. Hardcore gamers, on the other hand, are advised to try before buying, as the lack of challenge, and replay value will turn off many of them. The game isn’t for everyone, but casual gamers and fans of the first title will dig it, or anyone looking for a great and bulky version of Sudoku for the DS.

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