Brainiversity 2

DLC Review from Cav - Tuesday, 08 September 2009 @ 1:33pm

Let’s pretend for a minute, that you and I lived in some sort of alternate reality, a Bizarro World, if you will.

In this world, the Nintendo Company never got off the ground.

I actually have glorious, flowing locks of hair.

There is no Mario or Luigi.

Brett is not funny.

There is no Wii or Nintendo DS.

Phil actually gets laid on a regular basis.

And most importantly (well with regard to this review... shut up and just go with it) there is no Brain Training or Big Brain Academy.

What would man-kind do? How could we measure or intellect without leaving the house?

Well that’s where Aussie developer 3Blokes Studios would step up and say “Hey, you guys are gonna love this!”

Can I buy a Vowel John?

Brainiversity 2 is the sequel to, you guessed it Brainiversity. It’s a good alternative to Brain Training or Big Brain Academy for those of you who aren’t Console (stationary or portable) friendly, or those who are on a computer quite a bit and can spare a couple of minutes a day to keep the old grey matter tuned. For those of who have played Big Brain Academy (or picked it up because it came with a free WiiMote), I find B2 to resemble it quite a bit. Actually, I feel it’s almost a little too much like Big Brain Academy, as its Mascot/Teacher character, a light bulb known as Edision, almost speaks in the exact same ‘squeak-honk’ language as the white, Jelly-baby looking thing from BBA. If you can get over the sound of the floating light globe dude’s voice, which can be muted in the options menu, be set to strain your noggin with a variety of questions. On the upside, Edison will throw you random info like famous birthdays occuring on the day you play.

The questions are broken down into four main categories: Math, Language, Memory and Analysis and within each of those categories you have six different games. Well the word “have” is a little forgiving as you only get a few to start with. Every time you complete a daily challenge you are awarded ‘BrainyBucks’, with which you buy more games to play. If I have done the equation correctly, you have to play the Daily Test at least twenty times to earn enough ‘BrainyBucks’ to unlock all of the available games. A little too much effort required there if you ask me.

Err.... Go Fish?

When you first play through your daily test, I feel that there isn’t enough explanation before each game and you find yourself stumbling around trying to work out exactly what to do. Of course this doesn’t do your final scores any favours. It takes a bit, but eventually you begin to recognise the games and your objectives.

Is there much I can tell you about the games? Well if you have ever played Brain Training, or even taken an aptitude test, you’d already have a fair idea of what to expect: sequences, mathematical equations, visual recognition, spelling, memory tasks. It’s all pretty much the same.

Trophies once again seem to be the gaming flavour of the month… or maybe the year, as these are awarded for achieving milestones within the game. I seem to feel that every game I play of late feels the need to reward you in some way. Is this just a cover up to detract from the fact that games themselves these days just aren’t giving enough back to the consumer for their hard earned dollars?

The interface is very easy to navigate and can store several players’ progress and details, including age which actually doesn’t seem to change the level of questions that you get, which is extremely disappointing. I tried logging in as a 34 year old, a 5 year old and a 15 year old – with no real difference to the difficulty. Results are graphed out for easy recognition of your progress.

Meet Edison!

Pros

Always on my desktop.
Cheaper alternative to similar games in the console range.
Aussie made. Very important during this apparent economic crisis.
Will take commitment to obtain all of the achievements.

Cons

Very little explanation before you go into an exercise for the first timev Unlocking everything takes quite some time
Clicks don’t always click when you want/need them to (may be my mouse, but I did try two for the same result)
Some American spelling...C’mon Blokes! And Big Tipper? Here’s a Tip: Ring your Mum, she misses you.
Stroop? What the hell is Stroop and why should I have to go and look up it's meaning?