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Puzzles, tests, math, and english

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: June 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Here is a game that is a lot of fun. But take that with a grain of salt. I really enjoy math and tests and puzzles which this game seems to include. The controls are easy however, sometimes the games doesn't recognize the numbers you write and the microphone really has trouble with the word blue. But with 100 games of sudoku and tons of tests and quizes this will bring many months of challenges and fun, and maybe a little brain exercises too.

Revision: May not really be months of challenges and fun. I am not at one week of play, and am still enjoying it, but I can definitely see that driving appeal that I first had start to curb.

Pretty good and educational

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: July 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Fun and educational, as other reviewers wrote the "blue" on the speaking task doesn't work well, it's best to practice and see what works before you take a real "test". Regarding accuracy I'm not sure about the "brain age" but it's still a good daily exervise. Overall it's pretty good and I enjoy doing my daily tasks.
- I wish there were more tasks though

A new concept...but just gimmick?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Many DS gamers (including me) were anticipating one of the bestselling Japanese title to release in United States and see what all the hypes are about; Nintendo Power wrote a long article about how clever Brain Age is and how addicting it can be. When I see the price of the game, I know something is wrong. I agree that this game is very clever and a brilliant concept, but it doesn't offer much gameplay. Brain Age revolves around numbers, words, and colors; you have to complete the puzzles as quickly as possible to "train your brain" and get the exceptional brain age of 20.
You cannot unlock every puzzles in one day, because you need to collect stamps everyday to unlock more puzzles for you to solve. This game can be quite repetitive, especially during the first few days since not everything is unlocked. I think the "train your brain" concept is just a gimmick, since there is no scientific research to back it up (but I know doing puzzles are better than just being a couch potato). The puzzles are fun at time, but quite annoying when it comes to puzzles that require you to speak to the microphone; as mentioned from previous reviewers, there is a definite problem for the game to recongnize the word "blue", I thought I was not saying the word right, but it turns out that many gamers are experiencing the same problem. Other than that, this game is quite fun, but you will probably lose interest in "training your brain" after several weeks. As a bonus, Brain Age includes 100+ sudoku puzzles for you to solve! These puzzles can get hard!
So in conclusion, this game is worth $20 for some reasons:
1. Repetitive gameplay.
2. There aren't much things you can do in one day.
3. This game is cheap to make...not much graphics, not much sounds, and no music.
4. Some problems with voice recognition.
But there are also some great factors:
1. Clever concept.
2. Nice stylus control.
3. Don't have to spend too much time to "train your brain".
4. Multiplayers can be quite fun...let's see who's better in math!
This game is actually worth the money if you are looking for new things to play, but if you are a hardcore gamer, you may want to skip this game.

It's Not a Brain Pain

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The Premise of Brain Age is pretty unique. What this does is allow you to solve puzzles and exercise your brain everyday. It is supposed to help improve the aspect of which you apply knowledge. The game will even measure for you. This is fine, and an interesting idea, but there are some parts of it that don't work out well enough. The game overall isn't really bad, it's just not what you'd expect from a puzzle game.

It's fairly simple. The game presents puzzles for you to solve everyday. Everything you do is kept in a file for you, and the game will also track your progress so you'll be able to see if you're getting better or worse. The game will also tell you your brain age.

The good thing about the game is if you're a DS owner looking for a game that uses the touch screen, this truly is the game for you. Everything you do with this game will involve the touch screen. You also hold the DS sideways. It's a little strange at first, but overall, it's not so bad. In fact, it's fairly easy to get adapted to.

There are a unique set of puzzles to do. You start off nice and easy and then it begins to get harder. You'll have puzzles that'll ask you to remember the place of certain numbers on a grid, test how fast you can read and a few other things. There aren't a whole lot of puzzles, really, and you can't tackelt them all at once. The game will make sure you can't do so. So while there aren't a lot of puzzles, the game doesn't present them all to you out front.

There are two things Brian Age has that might really get one's attention. For starters, the game comes with Sudoku puzzles. Second, the game can be played with up to fifteen people on a single card. To be honest, the game is fairly addictive. You'll find yourself doing puzzles and such again just to see if you can beat your high score. This makes the game addicting, but I can't help but admit that it gets repetative fast. There really could've been more puzzles to pursue.

The game is entirely reliable on the touch screen. This is part of where one of the problems with the game comes into play. The game will ask you to write out a few solutions. If you're like me, your handwriting isn't good. Put simple, the game might not recognize some of your answers. You might have the right answer, but the game can't "read" your handwriting and so you're penalized for it. The voice recognition isn't perfect either. Your pronounciation is of the utmost importance. Even if you say a word correctly, the game might not "hear" you correctly.

It's a great game for puzzle fans, at least. It isn't the best puzzle game out there, but it's a unique game. One that doesn't come around very often. Fans of puzzle games ought to love this. Who knows for sure whether it's really aging your brain or not though?

The Good
+Innovative
+Those who love the touch screen will be in love with this game
+To some extent, it's addictive
+Being able to play with others is pretty cool

The Bad
-There aren't a whole lot of puzzles
-The game can't always "read" your handwriting
-The game can't always "hear" you very well

Bench Pressing for your Brain

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Brain Age is a game that defies its reviews. The game has been getting pretty good numbers but not spectacular. On the other hand, as of May 2nd, Brain Age was the number one selling video game on Amazon across all platforms. My suspicion is that Brain Age will be remembered long into the future for ushering in a new genre of video game in the U.S. This may well be to brain exercise games what Street Fighter was to fighting games, Goldeneye was to first person shooters and Tetris was to puzzle games. It also may elevate neurologists to pop star status. Or maybe not.

The point of Brain Age is to exercise your brain just as you might exercise your body. Instead of reducing your heart rate or blood pressure the player (is that the correct word) will aim for a brain age of 20. Each day Brain Age puts the player through a series of exercises that take only a few minutes. The Brain Age is then tracked on a graph to show improvement or regression. You can also compare graphs of multiple players.

Brain Age is the only game I have ever seen that is played sideways. In other words you hold it open like you might hold open a book. For left handed players the system can be rotated 180 degrees. All the work is done with the stylus and mic. It took me a little practice to get the writing down. For instance I generally draw a 4 with two motions but the DS seems to require one continuous motion without lifting the stylus. Other people who have played on my system have had problems with 1's coming out as 2's. Letters are even spottier. The word recognition seems to work very well but occasionally misunderstands me.

I must admit that I have a handful of issues with the game. First of all the Brain Age scoring seems inconsistent. I've seen some record breaking testing runs get mediocre scores and some average runs get great scores. I swear that I did far better when I earned a 27 than a run where I earned a 22. Some of the tests can be rather annoying, in particular counting from 1 to 120 as fast as you can. My last issue is with the dialog from the game version of Dr. Ryuta Kawashima. After a few weeks of listening to the same phrases over and over again you will want to test the structural integrity of Dr. Kawashima's cranium... with your fists.

In the end the worthwhile ness of Brain Age hinges on whether it actually does what it claims to do which is increase memory and improve the functioning of the prefrontal cortex. I must confess that I have my doubts. It reminds me of people who practice IQ tests and believe their IQ's are going up. The first time I tried `Head Count' I managed a perfect score. My score on `Low to High' has remained fairly steady while I've seen a slow improvement in `Calculations'. However I would attribute most of my success in `Calculations' to improving my ability to draw legible numbers and refreshing my speed at the times tables.

If brain testing isn't your thing Brain Age also comes with over 100 Sukoku puzzles that practically make the game worth the twenty dollar cost all by themselves. I look forward to trying some of the other brain games that are scheduled to come out this year because I must admit that the 10 or brain tests on Brain Age are starting to test my patience more than my cerebral cortex.

Fun at first, lost interest quickly.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: October 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was excited about this game and purchased a DS Lite primarily for its purpose. The game is certainly fun for a week or so, but I pretty quickly lost interest. Parts can certainly be challenging for a while, but others are simply aggravating. Text recognition is spotty and as a result scores and progress often suffer unnecessarily. I will say the game is much more fun when several people are playing it daily and progress is compared. Even so, the novelty quickly wears off. Fun game, but more of a quick fad than anything.

Brain Age- The Cure For Being Dumb

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 19
Date: July 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Brain Age- The Cure For Being Dumb

By: Brandon J. Mendelson of The Brandon Show

I decided not to rush with my review of "Brain Age: Train your brain in minutes a day!" A lot of media outlets did a cursory look at the game, threw up a review, and moved on to a new one. We did something a little different here at U-Wire, we took a test subject, me, and put the game to work. Do the tests really improve your "Brain Age?" Do you have noticeable improvements in mental functions from using the game? How many syllables are in the phrase, "Thank you Mario, but the Princess is in another castle?"

In 1994, Rykta Kawashima wrote a book entitled, "Train Your Brain: 60 Days to a better brain." The book met with some success in Japan, and garnered the attention of Nintendo, who reportedly was looking for an educational title to release with the DS. In the game, a polygon version of Kawashima guides you as you do your daily training or play Sudoku. The doctor is an interesting MC of sorts that livens up the game with Yoda like advice after each exercise. You can also get him to glare at you or laugh out loud by talking into the DS's microphone. And if you missed some of Kawashima's saint like advice, each tidbit is saved in the options menu for later viewing.

At first I thought "Brain Age" would be a burden to add to my day-to-day activities. The thought of having to play a game every day for a possible pay-off was not appealing. But now I can't go a day without picking it up and doing some training. And that is the beauty of "Brain Age." It doesn't require a time commitment, and you can pick how much time you want to spend playing it. This game also has you covered both ways, if you like instant gratification, you can try to top the best record in an exercise, or if you stick with it for the long haul, you can chart your progress on graphs and open up new features such as Triangle Math, Voice Calculations, and Time Lapse.

I do have some complaints about "Brain Age" that would normally prevent me from purchasing a game like this. During the Stroop Test and Voice Calculation, despite you saying the correct word, the system's microphone does not always hear you. This is frustrating if you're highly competitive and don't like to get wrong answers for something you did right. If you have poor handwriting, sometimes the game will record something you entered as wrong, or not record it at all, which is very damaging when all of your activities are timed. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to toss my DS during Word Memory, when I tried to enter words but the system wouldn't understand my handwriting.

These annoyances can be over come. You can skip word memory by holding select at the "Brain Age" test menu, and if you limit the noise around you and speak clearly, the system is more likely to record the correct answer when you speak. I would suggest sticking with "Brain Age." I've noticed an improvement in my handwriting since using "Brain Age," and I've observed my brain age drop from seventy to a twenty-three over one month of training. While some scientists have issued reports attempting to disprove Kawashima's studies, I believe that regular use of Brain Age has kept me sharp over what has been a lazy summer vacation. For example, I've always been horrible with telling people how many syllabus were in a phrase, but now I nail that specific exercise every time after a month of training. While geared for non-gaming adults, Brain Age is great fun and engaging for everyone despite some of its flaws. If you're looking for a gift for your family, or a going back to school present, "Brain Age" comes highly recommended.

the best game ever!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 15
Date: November 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Brain age is the best game ever! It's a fun and addicting. My brain is in its 40's! Im smart! Are you? There are many games you can play.
One game is there will be a word like blue written in black and you have to say black into your mic. There is one game that is full of math problems. Another game is you have to memorize words then spell them.And many more. I have three more words to say.

BUY IT!

Software problems make the game unfair and frustrating

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 23
Date: June 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Like others who have reviewed this, I have to agree that the voice recognition and the handwriting recognition in this game are so poor that they become major obstacles in enjoying the game. I am a professional voiceover artist for a living and I assure you my diction is quite good, and yet it cannot understand the word "blue" when spoken by myself or anyone else my family. It takes many repeat trials of saying the word over and over again before it accepts it. Because one of the tests used over and over is a color recognition test, the player needs to say the word "blue" into the game countless times during play, which is an exercise in futility.

In addition, the handwriting recognition is also a major problem. In my case, my handwriting is admittedly not the best anyway, so it just makes any test that involves handwriting impossible for me to pass. The questions are presented and I know the answers, but I cannot enter them because it cannot understand my handwriting, and it takes countless multiple trials of attempting to style my handwriting to what the game wants in order to enter it. It's absolutely nothing but a huge waste of time.

Since your "Brain Age" is determined by timed tests where you must answer questions correctly where the answer is "Blue" and/or require handwriting recognition, it is really quite pointless to continue since you cannot ever get even a reasonably accurate score. Competition between other members of your family is equally pointless, since the voice recognition and handwriting acceptance by the game seem to be essentially random. There is simply no way to win this game by being the "smartest", which of course ought to be the point of the game.

If this were a shareware PC game downloaded from the Internet, I might expect such problems, but this is a professionally released game from a major game manufacturer. Even at a $20.00 price tag, it's still a waste of money. Shame on Nintendo for releasing such a shoddy product.

Could use some improvements

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: June 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Yes I too think the recognition of your voice and writing needs to be improved upon. The game is very addicting for me. Once you get used to how it works it is very fun. I always tell it I'm in a place where I can't speak out loud just so I don't have to deal with the "blue" problem. I am anxious to see the next (hopefully improved) version of this game.

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