Brain Age is a simple but addictive game designed to increase your brain power.
The idea of Brain Age is to increase the power of your mind such as responsiveness, quick reaction times and short-term memory. As you complete a certain amount of tests, you'll unlock other games which will further test the capabilities of your mind. This is mainly done in the daily training mode, which, as the name suggests, is set out to train your mind on a daily basis. Once you complete your exercises, you will receive a stamp, and when you have a certain amount, you'll uncover even more puzzles.
But how do you know if your brain is growing? Brain Age graphs all results to show the improvements made through the course of playing the game. All these go towards your actual Brain Age, the youngest being 20 years of age your mind can achieve.
You'll also notice a cheerful doctor by the name of Dr. Kawashima who is your guide throughout the game. Not only will he advise on how to complete a certain puzzle, he'll give you advice on how to keep your mind sharp using day-to-day activities.
Brain Age also comes with a multiplayer mode. This allows you to challenge others to see which one has the quickest mind. You may not feel the need to test your mind against others, but if you wish to then this game is the way to do it.
There are quite are few problems you might encounter while playing Brain Age. It takes full advantage of the DS touch screen and attempts to be precise. Major problems may occur when writing down numbers or words. A simple number like two can be misinterpreted as five, and the letter K may be recognised as a H. All these types of errors can cause all types of mistakes and can prove costly when attempting to break time records.
Both the visuals and sound effects of the game, although limited, work well. The only visual you might not be impressed with is Dr. Kawashima's head. It's not the best visual you'll see, but then again you won't be paying much attention to it.
Overall, it's a game worth trying; it is very limited with its repetitive puzzles and constant errors. Also there is no way to determine if your results truly reflect the power of your mind, so while it might say you have a Brain Age of 23, there's no guarantee that this your minds true capability. While it does come with Sudoku, it will only interest you for a short period of time as trying to complete all of them in order will soon feel as if you're completing the same puzzle. If you’re into action-packed games which tests the skills of your fingers, then steer well clear of this game, however if you wish to test your mind, then this will suit you perfectly.