Review: Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training - How Old Is Your Brain?
July 17th 2006 04:22
Review: Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training - How Old Is Your Brain?
"Exercise is a key to good health, both for body and mind", says the blurb on the rear of the box for Nintendo's newly-released Brain Training. As we are able to witness when playing this game, this phrase more than aptly describes it.
Upon installing the cartridge into the DS and starting the game, the screen switches orientation to a portrait format, imitating the two-page spread of a book or newspaper. A pleasantly quick and catchy drum-and-electronic tune is constantly present in the background. From the main menu of the game four options are available - Quick Play, Daily Training, Sudoku and Download.
Quick Play contains three options within itself, covering a quick brain check to determine any casual player's age, a quick training game or a quick sudoku puzzle. These options are available without creating a profile within the game, and because of this are useful when demonstrating the game to any interested parties (such as friends, families, and the inevitable friends-of-friends and extended family who will undoubtedly become engrossed).
Daily Training is where the majority of the game takes place. Within this option four possible profiles can be created and maintained through application of various training games such as "Low to High", "Syllable Count" and "Calculations x 20". Each of these games provides a different method of stimulating the brain - where "Calculations x 20" requires simple maths skills to complete, "Syllable Count" requires the counting of the syllables within a particular sentence or phrase, making the player visualise or even speak the phrase in order to count its syllables. The Daily Training section of the game provides much enjoyment for those who have created a profile within it. A possible shortcoming of the game can be seen here, with only four profiles available to be created. It's understandable that a larger number of profiles would make the game too complicated - especially when comparing the statistics of all the players - but it's disheartening to have to tell player after prospective player that they can't create a profile as they're all already full! The Graph option available from the Daily Training menu is simplistic (as the title implies), showing the results of the four profiles, ranging from overall "brain age" to specific results and scores in Daily Training games.
The third option in the game's main menu is Sudoku, a popular number-based puzzle game that has become increasingly popular recently. This option relies on the four profiles created within the Daily Training menu to chart their progress through sudoku games - so if any player without a profile wants to play a sudoku game, it must be done through the Quick Play menu, which only offers a beginner-level grid rather than the varying levels of difficulty offered by the profile-based option.
Download is the fourth and final option in the main menu of the Brain Training game, and it is here that players are able to compete against other DS owners in a sudoku or calculations battle. The Download play, though fun, is limited in its scope, as it would have been preferable for Nintendo to include other games than only Calculation in Brain Training's multiplayer capability.
There is no doubt that Brain Training is creating interest within social areas and demographics that a console game would normally not. Its large number of easily accessible and - most importantly - fun games, as well as its wide-ranging appeal, are only slightly held back by the small number of profile spaces and limited capacity of the Download play option.
PROS:
- Wide range of mini-games
- Quick Play option allows anyone to attempt games
- Competition between profiles available via Graph
CONS:
- Limited number of profiles
- Limited range of multiplayer Download games
Stay tuned for more news and reviews!
"Exercise is a key to good health, both for body and mind", says the blurb on the rear of the box for Nintendo's newly-released Brain Training. As we are able to witness when playing this game, this phrase more than aptly describes it.
Upon installing the cartridge into the DS and starting the game, the screen switches orientation to a portrait format, imitating the two-page spread of a book or newspaper. A pleasantly quick and catchy drum-and-electronic tune is constantly present in the background. From the main menu of the game four options are available - Quick Play, Daily Training, Sudoku and Download.
Quick Play contains three options within itself, covering a quick brain check to determine any casual player's age, a quick training game or a quick sudoku puzzle. These options are available without creating a profile within the game, and because of this are useful when demonstrating the game to any interested parties (such as friends, families, and the inevitable friends-of-friends and extended family who will undoubtedly become engrossed).
Daily Training is where the majority of the game takes place. Within this option four possible profiles can be created and maintained through application of various training games such as "Low to High", "Syllable Count" and "Calculations x 20". Each of these games provides a different method of stimulating the brain - where "Calculations x 20" requires simple maths skills to complete, "Syllable Count" requires the counting of the syllables within a particular sentence or phrase, making the player visualise or even speak the phrase in order to count its syllables. The Daily Training section of the game provides much enjoyment for those who have created a profile within it. A possible shortcoming of the game can be seen here, with only four profiles available to be created. It's understandable that a larger number of profiles would make the game too complicated - especially when comparing the statistics of all the players - but it's disheartening to have to tell player after prospective player that they can't create a profile as they're all already full! The Graph option available from the Daily Training menu is simplistic (as the title implies), showing the results of the four profiles, ranging from overall "brain age" to specific results and scores in Daily Training games.
The third option in the game's main menu is Sudoku, a popular number-based puzzle game that has become increasingly popular recently. This option relies on the four profiles created within the Daily Training menu to chart their progress through sudoku games - so if any player without a profile wants to play a sudoku game, it must be done through the Quick Play menu, which only offers a beginner-level grid rather than the varying levels of difficulty offered by the profile-based option.
Download is the fourth and final option in the main menu of the Brain Training game, and it is here that players are able to compete against other DS owners in a sudoku or calculations battle. The Download play, though fun, is limited in its scope, as it would have been preferable for Nintendo to include other games than only Calculation in Brain Training's multiplayer capability.
There is no doubt that Brain Training is creating interest within social areas and demographics that a console game would normally not. Its large number of easily accessible and - most importantly - fun games, as well as its wide-ranging appeal, are only slightly held back by the small number of profile spaces and limited capacity of the Download play option.
PROS:
- Wide range of mini-games
- Quick Play option allows anyone to attempt games
- Competition between profiles available via Graph
CONS:
- Limited number of profiles
- Limited range of multiplayer Download games
Stay tuned for more news and reviews!
| 61 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
