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I was hoping for something better than this

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 18 / 21
Date: March 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I'm 61 (female & very competitive against a standard - - one of the reasons I like Brain Age) and bought this game for mental acuity training. I have Brain Age 1 & 2, plus Big Brain Academy. I do all of these, start to finish, daily. (I'm committed!) I thot Brain Challenge might be a good addition, but I must say I don't particularly care for it. (1) The writing recognition is *very, very* sketchy. I find I have to press very hard with the stylus to make a mark, and often my answer is correct and read incorrectly. Sometimes the marks don't register at all! (2) There is no how-to-play info other than what's given on the screen (there should be directions on the liner notes in the case). Several games I have yet to figure out. (3) The "countdown" screens with the "rolling and flashing block" are very irritating, especially since I have epilepsy & need to avoid "flashing" things whenever possible. I have to turn the unit over. (BA & BBA have countdowns, too, but far, far less intrusive.) The opening BC screen is a "flasher," too; it's worse than the rolling block! (4) The "helper" says non-helpful things such as "What's wrong with you today?" and "That's worse than before" and other insults. Who wants to pursue something without any instructions and then get insulted for not doing well? I know it's a game, but really! (5) There are a lot of "question screens" that one must tap through to get to the next game. ("Do you know the brain.....?") Maybe there's a way to skip through those entirely and return to the main menu, but I've not found it yet.

On the plus side, the music isn't too terrible. All the games are stylus-activated, as is the case with BA and BBA.

If you want a follow-on to BA1&2 and BBA, Brain Challenge is not it, IMO. mb

Great brain challenges!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: May 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I own Brain Age 2 which is okay, it has a nice variety of exercises, but this one is much better graphically, its more fun and the user interface in tracking progress is much better designed.

It covers a variety of cognitive skills such as memory, focus, logic, math skills, and visual processing. I only gave it 3 stars for overall rating because the memory exercise does not differentiate between the two major styles of memory, visuo-spatial memory and auditory memory. So far there doesn't seem to be any exercises directed towards auditory memory.

Why do I care? I have a son who has a serious auditory memory deficit...and an amazing visuo-spatial memory. He'd whip our butts at a memory card game, puzzles etc. But he can't remember anything verbally or orally presented. We confirmed this with a neuropsychological test b/c he can't follow instructions, misinterprets things he hears, has poor language skills which transfers to social skills, not interacting in class, basically it affects him on many levels. We are actually using a computer program that is specifically designed for kids with learning disabilities and weaknesess to develop cognitive skills that will transfer to stonger academics. The company has had alot of success with kids with weak learning skills. We are thrilled with the program and I saw better performance in my child's homework within a few weeks. So we have a little experience with brain fitness type programs.

Well.....except for the auditory component (which is non-existent in ds games and from my research ---Brain Fitness from Posit Science is the only program that focuses specifically on auditory development and I plan to get this in a few weeks for myself), this program has exercises that stimulate the brain in a similar fashion, but its actually MUCH MUCH more fun. I mean this isn't going to be as fun as a pure game....but this is a program that is suppose to exercise your brain.

The exercises are not as meaty as programs costing hundreds to a couple grand more ----it is varied, and it can make a difference if you use it consistently with enough intensity! This is much more fun than Brain Age and if you are interested in this genre I recommend Brian Challenge.

One caveat, the coach is annoying and so are the put downs when you don't do better than the last time. I feel it should be encouraging or sympathetic and upbeat...not "you did bad!"

A sleeker, fresher brain game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 64 / 64
Date: January 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is my most recent brain game purchase. I have also purchased Big Brain Academy and Brain Age 1&2. Brain Challenge is like a good combination of both those titles. You may feel familiar with the games but not so familiar as to be bored. Where this game SHINES is in the overall feel of the games. The presentation and graphics are more crisp, updated,and modern ...Far removed from the cartoon feel of Big Brain Academy. The colors are so bright... I dare say this is a beautiful game! The sounds and music that are featured in the game are excellent too.

Some of the math questions use hand writing recognition like BA 1&2. Expect in Brain Challenge the handwriting recognition is greatly improved and much faster. One feature that I like is that you are able to take the daily brain percentage test over and over and have your new score count each time. You are not locked into only one test per day counting. Though in the stress section only your first test of the day counts. (see below)There is a nice section of graphs to track your improvements.
The game also has a stress tests and stress training section too. Some of theses games are similar to the brain training section but feature distractions to up your stress level! Some of the distractions include noise, screen blinking, bugs blocking your view. There also some stress games that are only in the stress section...Like the one that features a boss yelling at you.

As added bonus there is a section of relaxation mini "games" to unlock. So far I have unlocked a paint set,a really cool piano,a card guessing game,a interactive fish pool,a neat little game where you have to estimate how many seconds have passed. This section of "stuff" is just for "fun" a nice little bonus...Nothing to go crazy over.
Also you can choose between a woman or man to put you through the tests!

Overall I think if you enjoy brain games this one is lots of fun. A huge improvement over the cartoon look brain games of the past.

Not a bad buy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: February 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is a good game, and fun to play, but not one you can really sit an play for an extended period like some others. It has more variety than the Brain Age games, and has some fun little bonus games as well. If you want to practice logic, memory, etc., I would suggest getting this game.

Decent Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Overall it's a fun game. It is a lot of repetition and when you first play, you only have a few games to chose from. The first time you play a few of the games you have to guess at what you are doing because the directions aren't always clear.

Good for all ages!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Enjoyable like the rest of the line up of brain games, good to make you think and a change from the fun of shooter games or mario or other fun stuff they offer.

More fun than Brain Age

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is good game for challenging your brain. I like it much more than Brain Age.

The best Nintendo DS brain game yet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 90 / 91
Date: January 10, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game has the best graphics and instructions, and all the games are challenging and fun. The stress games are especially challenging. I own Brain Age 1 and 2, Big Brain Academy, and Flash Focus. This game combines all of these games and more. I highly recommend this game to all who enjoy expanding,educating, and challenging their minds. The only con is that they did not include Sudoku which would have made Brain Challenge the ultimate superior brain game.

Great compilation of games!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 20
Date: January 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I think this is one of the best compilation of "Brain games" out there for the Nintendo DS. I had briefly played Brain age-II on my friend's DS and I think this game has more variety than Brain age. I was impressed with the graphics and the variety of games in this collection (especially in the logic section). Whether you are thinking about your first game in this genre or thinking about expanding to your brain games library, this is a great pick.

Great Entertainment Value

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is so much better than Brain Age, which I got tired of within the first couple of weeks. This game continues to keep me entertained with a great number and variety of games, as well as the ability to keep unlocking new ones to add to the mix. I also like the different categories of Stress Testing vs. Brain Testing, it just doubles the amount of games that there are to play. This game is really fun, I have a hard time putting it down!

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