Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!
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| Brain Age: Train Your Mind in Minutes a Day! | |
| Developer | Nintendo |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| System | Nintendo DS, Wii U Virtual Console |
| Release Date | Nintendo DS JP May 19, 2005 US April 17, 2006 EU June 9, 2006 AU June 16, 2006 KO January 18, 2007 Wii U Virtual Console PAL June 25, 2015 JP August 4, 2015 US April 14, 2016 |
| Rating | ESRB: E |
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (known in PAL regions as Dr. Kawashina's Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain? and in South Korea as Daily DS Brain Training) is a handheld that game that features a variety of intuitive puzzles designed to help players sharpen their minds.
Development[edit]
The idea original came Nintendo's Chief Financial Officer suggested reading Train Your Brain: 60 Days to a Better Brain. Satoru Iwata arranged to meet Professor Ryuta Kawashima, the author of the books. They talked for three hours at the launch of the Nintendo DS. After that, a team of nine developers were assigned to make the game.
Gameplay[edit]
Like many other games in the Touch! Generations series, Brain Age is designed to be played for a few minutes each day. The games consists of various puzzles and is totally controlled the the touch pad and the microphone. At the end of each puzzle, the player is shown how quickly they completed each puzzle. If the speed is low, they will provide a tip on how to complete the puzzle quicker.
The game has four different modes to play in. Brain Age Check gives the player three puzzles to solve in order to evaluate their Brain Age; the ideal Brain Age is 20. Training Mode has a variety of puzzles that can be beaten for new puzzles, new difficulty levels, and new options. Quick Play lets a player with no Save File play an easy puzzle and he'll evaluate their Brain Age. Sudoku Mode lets players play Sudoku Puzzles.
In addition to the above modes, sometimes Kawashima will ask you to do a Memory Quiz based on information you gave him earlier or a Picture-Drawing Quiz.
Legacy[edit]
Ports/Remakes[edit]
- It has been released for download on the Wii U as part of the Wii U Virtual Console. It was initially made available in 2014 in all regions except for North America as a free promotion reward for players who upgraded their Wiis to 5.0.0. It later received a standard Virtual Console release in 2015 and 2016. It remains notable as the first DS title to have been made available for the Wii U Virtual Console.
Sequels[edit]
A sequel called Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! was later released. Additionally, a series of games for DSiWare was released called Brain Age Express. They pulled a couple activities from this entry in addition to having their own exclusive games.
References/Homages[edit]
- One of 9-Volt's microgames in WarioWare: Smooth Moves is based on Brain Age.
- The main music from the game can be heard in the PictoChat stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Additionally, Dr. Kawashima appears as an Assist Trophy starting in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U.