System: DS
Dev: Nintendo
Pub: Nintendo
Release: Aug. 20, 2007
Players: 1-6
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Review by Cole Smith

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Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

You'll not only have to contend with the typically frustrating math puzzles, but you'll have the added inconvenience of numbers that vanish in the equation. Yes, numbers in the equations become obscured so you can't read them. You have to commit them to memory when you see them and continue to work on the puzzle with them in mind. In another bizarre puzzle, multiple words are spoken all at the same time. You have to differentiate as many of the words as you can, and then you have to spell them.

Although it sounds weird, literally, it really opens up a place in your head that you may never know existed. This is a skill that women need to develop if they ever watch The View, where all the hosts talk over each other. A piano keyboard tests your musical skills as you attempt to activate the proper keys at the appropriate time in an effort to produce musical results.

Employing a speech recognition system, which is vastly improved over the original version's premise of yelling out a color, this new version requires you to yell out rock, paper, or scissors. I guess it's easier for the CPU to differentiate among these words. You will have to yell out the appropriate answer into the DS's built in microphone. Remember, scissors beats paper, rock beats scissors, and paper covers rock. But there's a twist. Sometimes you'll have to shout out the wrong answer. It's like putting your mind into reverse at high speed. After a few crashes, however, things do become easier as you get more familiar with these puzzles.

Taking on other players adds a new dimension to the gameplay. Only one copy of the game is required. Playing against yourself is one thing, but going up against your friends is an adrenaline rush. Answers have to be pushed, pointed, prodded, poked, yelled, and drawn. In one of the games you have to give the correct amount of change back to a purchaser. Another has you draw pictures while your friends vote on the results. There are word games, memory games, rhythm games, and games in which you must write down the correct answer with the stylus. The writing recognition program isn't as developed as the speech recognition system. That's something we'll assume will be perfected in Brain Age 3.

Brain Age 2 is a no-brainer. If you liked the original, you should be smart enough to figure out that this is an excellent sequel.

By Cole Smith
CCC Senior Writer

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