If you're a fan of brain training games, then you will recognize the formula operating behind Brain Challenge for the Xbox 360. This Xbox Live Arcade game is a port of the DS game released in January. Masochists and start-them-early parents could find room for this title in their library, but it's of little value to anyone else.
The Good
* Variety of minigames
* Interesting multiplayer premise makes it more of a game than a chore
* Compensation for color-blind players.
The Bad
* Cold trainers could provide more constructive criticism
* Clarity of directions and options are sometimes suspect
* Clunky online matchmaking only adds disappointment
* More of a self-hurt application than a game.
If you've ever tried one of the many popular brain-training games on the Ds, you might understand my frustration. There are quite a few titles out there that claim to "train your brain" in just "minutes a day." Brain Age, Brain Boost, Brain Assist, Brain Challenge-the only requirement seems to be inserting the word "brain" into the title in order to instantly boost intelligence. Amy Nelson at Goozer Nation recently picked up Big Brain Academy from my kids' bottomless stash of Ds games (thanks Gramma)and thought, "Oh, I'll give this a try. Show the kids how it's done."
IGN writes: "If there was an abundance of DSiWare games on the market, then sure, I'd be all for porting older titles onto the service. But the fact is that this is one of the only games to come out this month in a catalog that is pretty weak so far. Granted, that's more of a complaint about the service, and doesn't affect the quality of the product. Still, why couldn't this have been Brain Challenge 2? If you've never ever played the game, then it's actually a pretty decent brain game, though when compared to the recently released DSiWare Brain Age, it's hard to recommend this over that".
This week, Cyril looks at a few retro titles for the Wii and DS. Some that he checks out this week are Pulseman, Secret Command, and Brain Challenge in Haiku style.
