Big Brain Academy - Second Play

I am doing slightly better at the academy. I have a C+ now, with the brain type of a copywriter. My brain weight is 1148g, which is quite a lot better than my previous score, but there is a lot room for improvement.

I actually had a rather frustrating series of sessions in the Practice and Test classes. After improving my scores in the Practice class and earning silver and gold medals for many categories in Practice mode, I decided to see whether this improvement would transfer to my test results. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen like I planned. I have so far been unable to beat my score in Test mode, however I could also attribute this to extreme tiredness at the time during which I engaged in this prolonged attempt to beat my Test scores. Perhaps I should have taken the advice of Dr. Kawashima from my Brain Age game, where he said that having a tired brain can make one’s performance suffer.

According to my current best Test results I am strong in every category except Compute. I am particularly strong in the Analyze category, where I outperformed in the other three categories (Identify, Think, Memorize). I have a little graphical representation of my score, which unfortunately looks like a trapezoid rather than a nice pentagon, due to my low scores in the Compute category.

For each of the three activities in every category, a total of 15 activities, you can earn medals for three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, and Hard. Attaining a gold medal in an activity denotes mastery of that activity. To attain a medal, you must reach a certain score, for example, to earn a silver medal you need a score of 250g. These activities are available in Practice mode, and they are selected at random for each category in Test mode. Each activity is timed, so you will get a higher score if you correctly complete as many tasks as you can in the allotted time.

The “Think” category features activities based upon logic. The Heavyweight activity displays pictures of various items, and asks you to touch the heaviest object. The objects are placed on scales, so the player judges how heavy one object is in relation to another. The Pathfinder activity displays a series of lines or paths. An animal is located at the top of the path and at the bottom. The player must complete the path by drawing a line in order for the animal at the top to reach its partner at the bottom. The Boneyard activity displays a picture of a dog and an arrow under it. The dog will move one square for each arrow. In the lower half of the screen is a grid. The player must “drop” a bone in the correct square. To complicate matters slightly, there are blocks that will push the dog around. The top screen will display a block with a directional arrow. The blocks move independently of the dog, so the player has to track the movements of both.

Naturally, the activities I enjoy most are the ones I do well at. In the Think category, I do very well in Heavyweight and not so well in the other two activities. Boneyard is my weakest activity in this category.

The “Memorize” category challenges the player to use their memorization skills to get the highest score. Sound Bites will display pictures of objects that make sounds. Each object will emit a sound, and the player must tap the object in the same order in which they were played. The Flash Memory activity has the player memorize numbers and symbols, and then they must be tapped in the correct order. The minigame starts out simple, but gradually the player is asked to memorize long strings of characters and this gets quite challenging. The Memo-random flashes images, which the player must memorize. One or more of the images will then be hidden, and the player must tap the missing images.

This set of activities as a group is pretty enjoyable, however Sound Bites is by far one of the more frustrating and thus disliked minigames for me. I think this is due to the fact that I more easily remember visual cues than audio, especially when asked to do so in a span of a few seconds.

The “Analyze” category has the player use their reasoning in these activities. Missing Link is a minigame in which a line drawing is shown on the top screen. The player must draw lines to connect the dots in the same picture on the bottom screen. The challenge here comes where the picture in the bottom screen is rotated around to confuse the player. CubeGame displays blocks drawn in 3D on the top screen. The player must count the blocks and tap the correct number on the bottom screen. Dr. Lobe warns the player to count the hidden blocks. Animal Lines has the player take a look at a pattern on the top screen; a picture of animals. In the bottom screen, the player must trace through the same pattern of animals, which are jumbled about in a grid of other animals. Drawing a line through the animals isn’t always straightforward, though, because the pattern can go diagonally or right-to-left.

My favourite activity in this category is Missing Link. I am equally good at Animal Lines, and not as good at CubeGame. Overall, my performance in the Analyze category is pretty good.

The “Compute” category is where the player performs mathematical calculations as quickly and accurately as possible. Coin-parison shows a bunch of coins (in US Dollars) in two different groups. The player must tap the side that has the larger amount. The Add Agency activity displays objects on the top screen. On the bottom screen, there are groups of objects displayed on different “cards”. The cards that match the number of objects in the top screen must be tapped with the stylus. Written Math displays equations written out in sentences. The equation must be solved and the correct answer tapped into the calculator by the player.

Overall, Compute is clearly the category that I am weakest in, and therefore it is the bane of my Big Brain Academy experience. I expected to be really weak at Written Math, but it turns out that Coin-parison is my weakest activity. Add Agency is the most fun activity in this category for me.

The last category, “Identify,” contains visually themed minigames. Shadow Shift shows a silhouette of one or more objects. Several objects are displayed in full colour on the bottom screen. The correct images that match the shadows must be tapped. At the harder difficulty levels, the shadowed objects in the top screen are often rotating or moving around, which makes quick identification more of a challenge. In Get in Shape, a picture is shown in black on the top screen. On the bottom screen are pieces strewn randomly about. Each piece that create the larger shape must be tapped. The Matchmaker activity challenges the player to find sets of matching cards in a grid of random letters or numbers. The activity starts out simply, and has the player match one or two pairs, but then the difficulty ramps up as the player must find more matches scatted amongst more characters in the grid.

The Identify category is my strongest category of all. It is also my favourite category because I do well in these minigames. Matchmaker is my absolute strongest activity, however Shadow Shift is my favourite activity.

I was unable to corner people, friends or otherwise, who owned Nintendo DSs in time to write this play rating. From what I gather, the aims and objectives in Versus are similar to the solo modes: quickly and accurately answer the questions for the highest score (heaviest brain weight).

To improve in my weak categories, all that is needed is practice. However, I am not super motivated to simply beat my score. The game is diverting and entertaining for a small amount of time, and for that time it’s good. However, I could play other games as I’m not finding it that addictive.

In my final play rating, I will give some last impressions.

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