Developer - Nintendo Publisher - Nintendo Features Wireless DS Single-Card Download Play Touch Screen compatible Microphone compatible As I walk around the neighborhood where my wife and I reside I can tell that spring has sprung and the road to summer is upon us. This is clearly evident as many people are outside walking, jogging, rollerblading or riding their bicycles. I find it interesting that as people are outside getting their bodies back in shape that Nintendo has recently released a game to workout your brain on a daily basis. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is the newest game for the Nintendo DS. A cheap title that will give any intellectual a workout, mentally speaking, this game was quite a surprise for me. Graphics This is a hard section for me to assess. Brain Age is not about flashy explosions, 3D landscapes or steady framerates. The game is about puzzles for the player to solve in a timely manner. It does not push the hardware of the DS as everything on screen is simple and plain. Should one desire a description, then clean and precise would be the best words. The use of special effects and overly bright colors is kept to a minimum as the goal is to present a legible and pleasing look to the puzzles that are presented. It is clear that this game’s look was kept straightforward and it serves the game’s purpose well. Sound Like the graphics sound in Brain Age is another tough area to assess as it is kept to a bare minimum. The games content and style is such that there is really no need to include a masterful soundtrack or splashy sound effects when one is simply trying to solve puzzles. To tell you the truth the more I played the game the less I realized that there was any sound coming out of the DS’s speakers at all as my mind was focused on the task at hand. For those looking for anything to describe what kind of sound came out of the DS’s stereo speakers, I can say that there are some neat effects (e.g. the scribbling sound when writing) that may catch your ear now and then. Overall, like the graphics, sound was kept straightforward and it too serves the game’s purpose well. Gameplay The premise for Brain Age is that by working out with your brain on a daily basis will keep it in fine mental shape. This belief has been dictated in Japan by Dr. Ryuta Kawashima. After finding out who came up with this crazy notion I did a little research on exactly what thoughts inspired this game. Dr. Kawashima believes that through daily mental exercise you can help keep the brain fit and fight the onset of future mental problems (e.g. Alzheimer’s, Dementia, etc.). So Brain Age is like a gym for the brain and each puzzle is an exercise machine that helps work your brain for you. Although I tend to wonder about this type of philosophy I guess some brain strain can’t be that bad for you. It is tough to consider this a game in the traditional sense as you are not leveling up, you are not finding coins and you are not trying to get to that final boss to end the game. Here you are just solving mental puzzles. Many people know that Nintendo is worried about the state of videogaming as a whole and the need to attract new gamers to the market in order to sustain it. With this thought it seems that Brain Age is another step in Nintendo’s effort to market to people who don’t know they are gamers yet and it really seems aimed at these people who may have seen the DS but there has really never been anything to peak their interest. With Brain Age there is a purpose, “to train the brain”, and it this tagline that Nintendo really pushes. This game is fun for everyone though and even diehard videogamers will get hooked on the tasks at hand. As Brain Age is classified as a puzzle game, there are various puzzle orientated tasks to solve (editors note: DUH!!!). These range from math problems, memorization to counting word syllables. There are even a large amount of Sudoku puzzles and this alone is a feature for many people to consider this game. And for those who think that for this game it is just a matter of going through the puzzles once and memorizing them, well you got something else coming. As you progress through your daily workouts the puzzles eventually open up different types of puzzles to your add to your workout regime. Opening up new puzzles for your mind is just like being a real gym for your body as you have work out a certain way for long enough time you change up your routine to make it a more beneficial workout. What makes it fun to solve the puzzles in Brain Age is that you use the features that are exclusive to the DS such as the touch screen or the microphone. Utilizing the DS’s touch screen Brain Age has some pretty funky software to recognize handwriting as it even recognized my messy scribbles. This is used for such simple tasks as drawing shapes to filling out Sudoku puzzles. Brain Age also allows for limited voice recognition but it is used sparingly. During my voice challenges I did find myself getting a little frustrated though as it didn’t always recognize what I was saying. For those who have played Nintendogs it was appreciated that you could put your voice into the game for it to recognize, but Brain Age does not allow for such and it is something I think the developers should consider for later versions of this type of game. Brain Age also keeps track of your mental fitness and how well your mental workouts are progressing. It takes the available data from past puzzle completions and charts it out for you. It is neat to have a visual representation of how well (or bad) you are progressing and it is just another great feature of this game. Finally for those looking for a fix of multiplayer fun, well the DS’s Wi-Fi has been used here too. Although I have explained that this is not a traditional game you are still able to have some traditional multiplayer fun. Here you get can get into a mental battle with up to 15 other people using the DS’s single cartridge download feature. This was kind of fun and the limited time I spent with the multiplayer feature showed me that I still need to work out my brain. Conclusion I can honestly say that I did not really know what to expect when this game landed on my desk for review. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day is based on the belief that a daily mental workout will keep one’s brain in shape. Regardless if there is any truth to the belief Brain Age is a great game of puzzles and logic that will keep fans of these exercises playing for quite sometime. I know that Brain Age definitely provided this writer’s brain with a definite workout or two. Do I feel any smarter? Well, I really don’t know but I am sure my co-workers or wife have a response for that. Now excuse me, I have to pick up my DS for my daily workout.