Amazing Brain Train Review

by AlkalineProdigy

                           

                       When the Wii and DS were released, we started to see a rise in games that test your brain with number and memory challenges; games such as Brain Age that would put you up against math problems, memory games, and planning. These types of games were already available on the PC via web games but were more educational games for kids. The Amazing Brain Train was one of these PC games and is just now ported to the Wii. If you’ve played the PC version, you’ll already be familiar with this version for the wii as it is a direct port with minor interface changes. I’ll assume most of you have not.

                As the story goes, Professor Fizzwizzle has invented a train that runs on brain power. It is up to you to play mini games and complete as many puzzles as you can before the time expires. Along the way you will come across animals that will ask you to complete various tasks for them; all of which require you to travel around the map playing a lot of mini games to gain brain power.

                      The overall gameplay varies. In Quest Mode, each animal will ask you to do a different task, but in reality, the goal is always the same – go to another animal and give them a message or deliver something. Along the way you encounter random mini games. In total, there are 15 mini games to play divided into 5 sections – planning, spatial, numbers, memory, and search. Within each mini game you are given a time limit between 60-90 seconds to complete as many puzzles as you can before the time expires. Doing so will provide brain power, and if you are lucky, you will be awarded a trophy/achievement. The distance you travel depends on how well you played the mini game, how many points you received, and if you get a trophy you receive an added boost. Either way, it’s going to be a long ride. Although each mini game is different, they get repetitive very fast. You’ll end up playing way more games than needed just to reach your objective. In most cases you must go back to the original animal to complete the quest where you’ll be playing the same mini games again. After completing a quest, you receive a new piece of the track. This allows you to travel into the center of the map where you have access to more animals, and yes, you guessed it, more quests. With the time limits of 60-90 seconds per challenge, some of the puzzles require you to be precise with the wii-mote. This costs you time as you must either delete or remove pieces. You also have the option of restarting the puzzle, but the time still continues on. After a few seconds, there is also and option of skipping the puzzle for a new one which you can later play in Practice Mode.

                      I must admit, after the first few quests, I got quite bored of the mini games. Some of them are fun, but you don’t have much time to play them. For example, you might be remembering where an animal was behind a door, remember how many monkeys hid in a bush, figuring out an equation to hit a home run, or help heat koala bears that are freezing on an ice pond – that’s where Practice mode comes in. In this mode, you have access to all of the mini games and the option of a time limit or unlimited time. This is nice because some of the puzzles are challenging and I had no idea how to do them. I would waste a lot of time trying to figure out what to do, and not get as many points, which of course resulted in a short distance traveled. If you haven’t played a whole lot of the Quest Mode, you’ll notice some of the mini games are locked. The only way to unlock these mini games is by progressing through Quest Mode. 

                        Also available is Test Mode. In Test Mode, you are given 1 random mini game from each of the 5 sections. This mode is similar to traveling between animals, without the unnecessary quests. When you complete all 5 mini games, you are given a grade based on your overall performance, as well as how far you traveled in the world with the brain power you gained. No matter how hard I try, I always seem to get a B-, B, or B+ rating. I guess if I practice each game in Practice mode, and knew exactly how to do each puzzle I could get an A rating. If you are the collecting type, there are 32 trophies to collect. Trophies are awarded for reaching a certain overall score, completing a mini game with a certain score, completing a mini game a certain way, and so on.

               In the audio department there isn’t much to say. There are no voice overs of any kind, but of course, there is music. The music isn’t all that bad. It does what it should – provides background music. It’s catchy, but it does get annoying after playing Quest Mode for a long time.

               In the end, although it is oriented towards kids, I had some fun with The Amazing Brain Train. With that said, the puzzles seem difficult for them to understand and will quickly lead to frustration. The best thing would be for a parent to unlock all the challenges through Quest Mode – even though that is the most kid friendly area with the animals – and let them play in the Test and Practice modes; that is, if you can sit through the Quest Mode and unlock all the mini games. If you do, I can see this game being played occasionally to test your brain in the 5 categories. Although, you could still play Test and Practice Mode, but without all the mini games. So, with that said, the decision is really up to the player. If you like casual games that test your brain in various categories and mini games, and like Brain Age this is for you. Otherwise, it’s a pass. I haven’t played the brain Age games, but even if I did like that genre, I’m sorry to say, I would probably pass on this game.

Final Score 6-10

Written by WarGamer

“This Review is based upon the Wii version of the game provided to us from ninjabee games”

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