Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!
Brain Age: Train Your Mind in Minutes a Day! | |
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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 JP June 3, 2014 EU June 12, 2014 AU June 13, 2014 |
Rating | ESRB: E |
Brain Age is a handheld that game that features a variety of intuitive puzzles designed to help players sharpen their minds.
Development
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
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
=Homages in Other Games
- One of 9-Volt's microgames in WarioWare: Smooth Moves is based on Brain Age.
- The main music heard in the game can be heard in the PictoChat stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Additionally, Dr. Kawashima appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U]].
=Ports/Remakes
- In 2014, it was released for download on the Wii U as part of the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan, Europe and Australia. It was made available exclusively to players who upgraded their Wii U to 5.0.0, and it was available for free for a limited time. It is notable as the first and so far only DS game to receive a Virtual Console release.
Sequels
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.