Professor Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS) Preview

By Cubed3 Team 24.02.2006

A grab bag of logic puzzles; a strict daily time limit; a few sarcastic insults; a few cheery compliments; one worrying number; an electronic self help guide; an electronic personal mentor; an eclectic and surprising mix of users; a Japanese phenomenon; front page news in the UK; a low-polygon professor; 1,500,000 software units in Japan alone and the very first fruit of a very important Nintendo strategy. It can only be Brain Age

Okay, an apology: the intro to this article may have made Brain Age sound like a complex, confusing game. In fact, the basic premise of play is very simple. Brain Age is an edutainment game

The 3D model of Prof Kawashima, who asks you what you ate yesterday and what shape Africa is when he's not giving you brain advice, is actually the most complex graphical element in the game. The clean, simple interface touched with a little pink and set out with basic computer fonts and large, clear buttons is clearly designed to be usable by everyone, and may suggest a low-tech approach to such an intelligence-based game. However, the power of Brain Age is very much concealed under the hood, as it were, as the developers use the power of the DS in a rather more subtle manner than most games. First, there is the handwriting recognition used throughout the tests as the main input. Handwriting recognition is nothing new, but it's nice to see such a flexible system working on the DS

Screenshot for Professor Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? on Nintendo DS

Brain Age's combination of self-help, short bursts of play and ease of use is something of a magic formula in Japan. This title alone has sold something in the region of one and a half million copies

Screenshot for Professor Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? on Nintendo DS

Final Thoughts

The potential of this title to perform outside of Japan is clearly massive, and we hope Nintendo pulls it off. Brain Age is due to be released on March 24th in Europe and April 21st in the states. Look out for the C3 review then.

Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS / Wii U Virtual Console)

Information page for Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS)

Also known as

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!

Developer

Nintendo

Publisher

Nintendo

Genre

Educational

Players

C3 Score

8/10

Reader Score

9/10 (6 Votes)

Out now

Out now

Out now

Out now

Comments

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tonkei 24.02.2006#1

GAME have this listed as

James2t3 24.02.2006#2

I'm pretty sure it's still

XBL Gamertag: James2t3

jesusraz 24.02.2006#3

If GAME is listing it for that price then something is ridiculously wrong. This and Electroplankton are $20 in the US and should be

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

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Mason 25.02.2006#4

Great preview Rob. :-D

Guest 25.02.2006#5

As far as I know, it will eventually get priced lower than "normal" games once it hits stores in Europe. And even if it doesn't, you can order the US version from lik-sang.com for 29.90$ (including worldwide shipping), which is even less than 20

jonacell 25.02.2006#6

Cool beans! i just read sudoku is also included in this game. I just started getting into sudoku. It's a nice little bonus. : Smilie When my ten minutes is up in Brain Training now I can work out my brain with sudoku.

tonkei 25.02.2006#7

My problem with importing titles like this, is the fewer sales Nintendo UK get (for unusual titles), the lower the likelyhood of them releasing unusual titles in the future.
I really hope the current prices are wrong :(

HazukiSan 25.02.2006#8

So yeah, I actually got a play of the Japanese version. I cannot underestimate how easy this game is. It is impossible to die.

Mr. T 25.02.2006#9

Not looking too Peachy for Mario's biatch...

Nice preview John, shame the game looks like it is going to suck. The lack of innovation is really infuriating for a game that really should be looking to achieve something a bit more interesting than the mundane.

Trying to think of a witty signature after 'Hacker-gate'...

HazukiSan 25.02.2006#10

I would be stunned if this wasn't originally pegged as a gba game, such is the lack of innovation. Don't get me wrong, it plays well but it simply does nothing to separate it from the crowd.

Mason 26.02.2006#11

Great preview.

I think the game looks brilliant, but it's supposed be stupidly, stupidly easy as you say. I should be getting a play of an import copy sometime next week.

Spydarlee 26.02.2006#12

That's the problems with girls, all looks no content.

*WINK*

Cubed3 Staff [ Retro Editor :: Previews Editor ]

alksdjhfoawhencjdf 26.02.2006#13

Cool beans! i just read sudoku is also included in this game. I just started getting into sudoku. It's a nice little bonus. When my ten minutes is up in Brain Training now I can work out my brain with sudoku.

Indeed, this is probably going to be one of the major factors pushing Brain Age's sales in the UK, despite missing the wave somewhat.

ShinyRainbow 26.02.2006#14

good preview Hazuki.

Dunno about anyone else, but I'm looking forward to getting this. It's insulting yes but I'm gonna give it a go anyways.

And hahaha 'vibe spectre'... sorry Smilie

and spydarlee said:

That's the problems with girls, all looks no content.

whats wrong with that? Smilie

:lol:

Co-founder of the PDSLB - Pink DS Lite Buddies Fraz: Cheerios are made from fairy orgasms.

ShinyRainbow 26.02.2006#15

oops... it was 'vibe sceptre'

spelt it wrong :P

Co-founder of the PDSLB - Pink DS Lite Buddies Fraz: Cheerios are made from fairy orgasms.

Martin_ 27.02.2006#16

This is gonna be wank.

Guest 27.02.2006#17

GAME have this listed as

Guest 27.02.2006#18

Well written preview and definately one to read if you're interested in the game.

The downfall to this entire review is the jargon used i.e. 'edutainment'. I've never heard of this word before but can easily guess it is a form of educational entertainment.

alksdjhfoawhencjdf 27.02.2006#19

I would have thought that edutainment would be a fairly widely recognised word. Point taken, though. I'll try and and keep an eye on jargon spewing in the future, as it is something I love to do.

Guest 28.02.2006#20

You know I like you really, Smilie . Balls to bones - I am usually harsh when it comes to reviews and previews whether it be typo's etc. Nothing really as big as I make out.