Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 292
 The game that plays you. May 2, 2006
skooly (Christmas Islands)
27 out of 29 found this review helpful
From the moment you begin playing Brain Age you'll realise that it's unlike any other experience. It's probably the only game ever made that begins with a doctor addressing you - a prominent Japanese neuroscientist to be exact. He asks a few quick questions to get the ball rolling as he scopes out your "brain age". It's kind of unnerving actually. After displaying a couple of brain scans in various states of activity (or inactivity), the doctor explains that your brain is like any muscle and will shrivel without exercise. Old brains are bad, young brains are good.
Once you pass the opening formalities the doctor runs you through a more rigourous series of tests (math problems, memorization drills, concentration sets...). The good doctor then assigns you your first daily brain age rank. If it's good (low) he'll congratulate you and encourage you to keep working hard. If it's bad (high) he'll chide you and issue a warning about the dangers of aging brains. As the game progresses he'll ask you random questions which contribute to your overall profile. This is where the genius of this game truly shines. Anyone could assemble a collection of mini math games and assorted brain teasers. Nintendo however has wrapped this all up in a diagnostic package. It feels like the game is studying you. Each day you log in the goal is clear and the feedback perfect. The interface is quick and simple, the touch screen works remarkably well and the voice recognition is a nice touch too.
I must lower my brain age!
 Flawed implementation, problematic June 12, 2006
T. Tom (SF Bay Area, CA United States)
27 out of 43 found this review helpful
Firstly, the interface is a bit flawed. On many many occaisions I would say the correct answer (the Nintendo DS/DS Lite has a mic that this game uses), and it wouldn't register my answer being correct even though I was speaking the correct term. So, actually I was correct but the game thought I was wrong and gave me a poor rating. This can be very frustrating and seems unfair when it displays the color Blue for example, and you clearly say "blue" and it doesn't even register.
Secondly, it relies on how fast you can write with the stylus. A lot of people may be very quick to think the correct answer, but may not be that good writing on the screen with the stylus, which can be awkward since to play this game, you have to hold the DS or DS Lite turned on it's side like an open book. It will give you a bad score just based on this, even though you knew the answer.
Thirdly, the sayings that are on the screen during game play are strange and condescending. I think they are supposed to make the doctor virtual character seem powerful and superior, but really a lot of what he says doesn't make much sense. There is no way to turn this off, which can be a bit annoying because you have to sit through or click throw his sayings each time you play.
This game should not rely so much on stylus and voice input and it should be redesigned to use the buttons more. As it is designed, the buttons are virtually never even pressed!
The game is more frustrating than fun not because I can't answer the exercises quickly and correctly most of the time, but because the game doesn't recongize my correct input as correct the majority of the time. What good is that?
The premis of the game is empty-it's supposed to exercise your brain but in reality, playing Super Mario Brothers (or any other game) probably exercises your brain just as much and is a whole lot more fun.
I give it a thumbs down.
 Get ready for frustration June 20, 2006
DashRiprock (Los Angeles, CA USA)
26 out of 31 found this review helpful
I don't play video games, but "Brain Age" seemed like a great idea and who among us doesn't need a little brain stimulation? So, I bought the Nintendo DS Lite exclusively for this game. I'm beginning to regret it.
$130 for the system + $20 for the game = $150 of irritation.
The DS Lite is great, so I'll probably end up buying more games simply to justify its purchase, because I don't know how long I can keep from smashing "Brain Age" into a thousand pieces.
The concept is great and the puzzles would be too, except for a less than impressive number and letter recognition. Prepare to change the way you write to accommodate the game, because this is crucial to your ranking scores and charting your progress as your acuity increases.
If this wasn't frustrating enough, one major "Brain Age" test relies on your ability to recognize and say the color the word is written in instead of what the word says. Example: The word "Black" pops up, but it is written in the color "Blue" so the user responds with "Blue". The only problem is the voice recognition on this game is TERRIBLE! It will only recognize the word "Blue" on occasion and sometimes not at all at which point the game gives you tips on how to talk to the game, but they never work.
So, in short you will spend most of your time on some puzzles and games simply trying to make the game understand what you're trying to input. I've been playing it for two weeks and it hasn't gotten any better, and I'm loosing my patience. According to Nintendo Support, I should just keep trying or skip the games/puzzles with which I'm having trouble (all the ones with known issues). Wow, thanks.
I would not recommend purchasing "Brain Age" until they come out with a version that can learn the speech and writing patterns of the user.
Fundamentally flawed September 22, 2006
GoonMoon (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada)
19 out of 25 found this review helpful
After five minutes on the initial test having my speaking "blue" misrecognised constantly, and my written "4" interpreted as either a 9 or a 0, I looked through the manual for the instructions on how to train it to recognise YOUR speech and handwriting.
It didn't have one. Because it doesn't have those features. Which renders the game next to useless. Am I prepared to alter the way I speak and write to play this, and keep that in mind constantly while I try to solve puzzles? No.
The REALLY stupid thing is that it prints the number 4 (in questions etc) the way that character is usually printed on books, on your keyboard etc, i.e. with three contiguous strokes forming a figure with a pointy top, but it seems trained to recognise only an "open" four, i.e. one with no join at the top.
Play "Big Brain Academy" instead - less famous but FAR more playable.
 Do not buy this game from GameStop May 1, 2006
Barry Whall (Cupertino, CA)
18 out of 28 found this review helpful
I have not gotten the game, so no review on the game. I did just purchase the game as a part of a bunch of number items from Amazon. Got the confirmation eMail and realized that GameStop was charging $5.99 shipping on a $19.99 game. Ouch. Also got nailed with sales tax. Because the order was passed to an Amazon partner, I could not cancel. I hope the game is worth $30, because that is what i paid thanks to GameStop. The system forced me to enter a rating, so gave it a $30 rating. Learn from my mistake.
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