 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Big Brain Academy
- Nintendo DS
- Price: $19.99
- Genre: Educational
Common Sense Media says
Families compete for "weightiest" brain.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this game requires that players be able to read, understand money, and do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; this is not a good fit for kids younger than 8. With younger children, you may need to explain how to play the games under the "Think" category. Because this is played using a stylus on the DS touch-sensitive screen, it's an easy game for parents or other video game newbies to learn how to play. Overall, it's a terrific game for families to play together.
What's it about?
The premise behind BIG BRAIN ACADEMY, Nintendo's second title that promotes "exercising" your brain, is that you are competing for the "Biggest Brain," a designation determined by how well you perform on the provided tests. Tests are made up of five one-minute Mini games drawn from a pool of 15 games and divided into five categories: Memorize, Identify, Compute, Analyze, and Think. Your test score is given in terms of grams -- the more grams your brain weighs, the smarter you are.
In the Memorize category, one of the games flashes numbers on the screen and you punch those numbers into an on-screen calculator using the stylus. In one of the Identify games, you examine a grid of objects to find matching pairs. Under the Compute category, you will answer math problems that are written ("thirteen plus eight is"); and under the Analyze category you will have to determine the number of cubes in a picture. At the end of a one-minute game, you receive a score and if you missed any, you can review those questions and retry them.
Is it any good?
To compete against family members or friends, you only need one software cartridge, but as many Nintendo DS units as you have players. Parents and kids can go head-to-head answering the same questions to see whose brain is bigger. Since this game is easy to learn and tests skills adults are comfortable with, this is a good way for parents who have not played video games with their kids to jump in.
The brain scoring seems a little wacky but most of our testers were able to add weight to their brains the more they played. These games require players to know how to read, understand money, and do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; so this is not a good fit for those under 8 years of age. It is good for friends and family looking for a video game to play together.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about which of the 15 games they like best and why. Do you think you are getting smarter by playing these games? Can you think of real-life jobs where math computations are a part of the job? Does the educational aspect of the games make you feel good about playing or does it feel more like homework?
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- Teens & kids
AGE
Not much to do...
This game has WAY too little minigames! I got through everything in less than 30 minutes and then got bored and put it away! i was NOT satisfied with this product. right when i thought i was doing well that guy gave me a bronze medal. it would've been more fun if there were more minigames and more things to do.
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April 9, 2008
AGE
My 6 Year old loves it
Highly addictive game, me and hubby and in contest to beat each others score, and our 6 year old thinks its great, needs a bit of help with the reading but the puzzles adapt to all levels, would not besuitable for anyone under the age of 6.
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AGE
I did not enjoy this game. Dr. Lobe is very annoying when he grades your brain and says "Hm... I've seen bigger, much bigger" The game is fast, in fact a little to fast. The reason I gave this game a 10+ is not that it is bad it is just that it may annoy younger players. Also it has A LOT of FAST math like : coin adding, +,-,x,dividing number words, adding cubes,and pictures.
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AGE
a classic
for both the wii and DS, this game rocks! very fun to play. i cant really say which ones better... it should definatly b in everyones home
comment about review: come AWNN! its not the sequel to brain age...maybe you start playing these games more often...just saying! ;)
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AGE
A good game for kids, but can be evil at times
Okay, I don't understand the grade system at all. It almost seems impossible to get higher than C+. Also, some of these games can be unfair, for example, the dog biscuit one. It's fine until they introduce the moving blue blocks. You can easily go to the exact position it tells you to and the blocks move in a way that ensures you're not gonna get that bone. That's pure evil. Also, after a while, yeah, it does get repetative as you'll find yourself playing the same games constantly. It's good for kids, but it's almost insulting to one's intellect, especially with the grade system.
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| Platforms: | Nintendo DS |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Educational |
| Developer: | Nintendo |
| Release date: | June 15, 2006 |
| Price: | $19.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E |
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