Big Brain Academy

Big Brain Academy's biggest problem is its limited quantity of activities. Yes, we get that it's part of Nintendo's new "Touch Generations" line, and that it's only $20, and it's meant to be a quick diversion...but even the casual audience that's being targeted is going to get bored after a few days.

Big Brain Academy's certainly fun in an innocent kind of way, but it's probably a better bet for your offspring than for you - although you won't regret joining in for a bit of multiplayer.

It's colourful and more fun (especially in multiplayer) than the similar Brain Training, but Big Brain Academy doesn't have much longevity.

Academy’s exercises are more varied and faster paced, following the arcade tradition of becoming harder with each passing second, and this makes it easy to play over and over, trying desperately to prove you’re getting smarter.

It doesn't have as much as its esteemed cousin, Brain Age, but what it does offer is fun. You will quickly find a favorite game, and spend some exasperating moments trying to best your top score.

It lacks replay value, but forms a good matched set with Brain Age.

Big Brain scores points for its friendly and colorful art style and variety of activities, and there a lot of reasons prospective students will want to enroll. The problem is there's not much to keep you from dropping out after a few days.

But one can't help but find a slight disappointment in comparison to Brain Age, as it doesn't really allow us to expand our smarts like we want it to.

Whereas Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training managed to defy the odds and prove us wrong with its compulsive drive, Big Brain Academy completely misses the point and is hard to recommend as a result.

If I've come off as very sarcastic in this review, it's simply because, compared to Brain Training, the game is mostly boring and I was amusing myself at its expense to keep myself sane.

Entertaining and competitive brain-teasers, but the compilation would be easier to recommend at a lower price.

Big Brain Academy is a lot of fun, but its ability to improve brain power is probably a little more contrived than with Brain Training.

For $19.99 it’s a pretty good value and I think those that enjoyed Brain Age will surely like Academy. If I had to give a nod to one or the other I’d still go with Brain Age since it was the original brain game and it has built-in incentives for daily play.

Despite its collegiate overtone, Big Brain Academy sticks to its grade-school roots by keeping the activities light and colorful, the multiplayer engaging and the price tag low ($20.) But no matter how you dissect it, this is still little more than a series of fairly innocuous tests released just in time for summer vacation. It doesn’t take a heavy brain to know how stupid that is.

Let’s face it. Minigame extravaganzas like ‘Brain Academy’ are not made for the hardcore gamer. They are for the casual market whose hardcore gaming experience consists of playing solitaire on their computer.