Brain Assist (DS) Review - Video Games Reloaded

N-Galaxy

Rated O

Brain Assist (DS) By: Adam Waddilove

Does your brain need assisting?

Re-energise your brain with Brain Assist's 10 colourful mind-teasing mini-games that stimulate your concentration, memory, analysis, instincts and reflexes. In Brain Assist, six nurses with widely varying personalities will guide you through the games and keep track of your best results. A unique new Brain Assist test even allows you and a friend to test the compatibility of your right brains. Get more friends in on the Brain Assist action with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and race through a variety of fast-paced four-player Brain Assist mini-games to see who the true brainiac is!

Brain Assist Features:

Multiplayer Brain Assist battles for up to four gamers: The action ramps up quickly in Brain Assist for a fun challenge using the Nintendo Wireless Connection.

Ability Tracker: A report is generated at the end of each Brain Assist test and high scores and Compatibility Reports can be saved and overridden as Brain Assist players improve.

Touch Screen and stylus technology: With the clock running, get the competitive edge with Brain Assist's use of stylus and Touch Screen technology.

Unlockable Brain Assist Icons: As you clear rounds, unlock 14 icons to personalize your Brain Assist game.

Brain Training games have come and gone for the DS. There have been a few imitators, trying to take Dr Kawashima’s classic for its money, but most have failed. Big Brain Academy was the only real contender for the crown. But now Sega has entered the Brain Arena..will they get a migraine from trying? Well, to be fair it’s not a true age-guessing brain-age game. Instead it’s a series of mini-games to test things like memory, quick response and so on.

The screenshots I have included in this review will give you a fair example of what to expect. There isn’t a whole load of variety between the mini-games, most focus on the things I have mentioned. Sure you can play against friends on Wi-Fi, but there’s no online leaderboards or anything, despite the misleading mention of Nintendo WFC. The truth with Brain Assist is that there’s not a whole lot to do, the mini-games are over in no time and then you are essentially done. Yes, you can try and beat your scores or try to get better grades, but that’s about all you can do.

It’s hard to really compare this to other titles since there are so few. But I personally found Brain Assist to be a little on the dull side. Sure you are racing against the clock for high scores, but the mini-games themselves just didn’t seem all that fun to me. Potentially the best one is Spot the Difference, which you can find in magazines or online for free. It’s also hard to give it merit since the gameplay is so simple, but compared to the other games like it..there’s really no contest, Brain Training still reigns supreme.

The Verdict

Believe it or not, but I have covered pretty much everything this game has to offer. It would have helped if there was more variety between the mini-games and if there were online leaderboards or something, but it’s over far too quickly for my tastes and I can’t see many of you going back just to improve your score. If you have played Brain Training and Big Brain Academy to death and need a new Brain Challenge, then consider giving this a try but just don’t expect anything as great as them.