 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Puzzle Developer: Razorback Publisher: Eidos Interactive |
Over the past couple of years there have been meaning brain-training “games” released to the Nintendo DS, most of which amount to
nothing more than a few mini-games that are very low on the fun scale. That should mean that “Brain Voyage” is an unnecessary
addition to the Nintendo DS, however, this game may be one of the most fun brain training games to be released to date, although it
really doesn’t take a lot to top that chart.
Like “Brain Age,” “Brain Voyage” was created by an expert in the field of brain training, in this case it is mathematician Dr. Reiner
Knizia. However, unlike the doctor of “Brain Age,” who claims that through the playing of his game players will improve their cognitive
abilities, Dr. Knizia appears in the game only to take credit for designing each of the puzzles. This is a little bit suspect because most of
the games are clones of preexisting games like Solitare, Memory and Minesweeper, and some of the games, including on in which
players slide tiles to unscramble a picture have been around for a very long time. Even though his claims seem a little over the top,
most of the “new” versions of the games are quite fun.
The game features 16 different puzzles that are spread out among different cities across the entire world. Upon completing a puzzle,
players earn medals and coins based off of the performance that is given, the better the performance on a puzzle the better the reward.
Coins are used to unlock new cities around the world and variations of the puzzles that are already unlocked. Each puzzle has five
different variations for a total of 80 different puzzles to play. This may seem like a large number of puzzles, but not all of the games
offered are as enjoyable as the next. Most of the time players will reach a certain game and continue playing that one game to try to
reach a personal best score.
As stated before, most of the mini-games in “Brain Voyage” are simply renditions of already released games, but some are quite
enjoyable and can even get extremely addicting. One such game is a cross between poker and solitaire which has players placing
dealt cards onto a grid to create the best possible poker hands. The game sounds like it is easy, but reaching the fifth level of the game
can be very challenging and sometimes frustrating. Also, the Minesweeper clone, called Ice Cap, is also enjoyable and will challenge
even the savviest player, especially when the game introduces hexagons into the game.
There are many other games that fall into two main categories, uninteresting or frustrating, and sometimes they fall into both. Such
games include a maze which is very difficult, not because of the fact that the mazes are challenging, but the touch-screen controls are
difficult to use. Another game has players counting the number of sea life that appear on the screen. And yet another game, which
plays much like the classic game Simon, has players repeating the order in which musicians play and repeating the sequences.
Some of the games can be quite challenging, so challenging that they become so frustrating that players may never want to play them
again. One such mini-game puts players to the task of zeroing out equations by addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. What
makes this game so difficult is that fact that players are not able to get any hints to help them through this game. The game is also
quite demanding in its requirements for receiving medals, making it difficult to advance to the next city for a new game. Of course, every
once in a while the doctor will take pity on players and offer “perseverance coins” to help them on their way, but they aren’t much help
later in the game when the cities and puzzles are extremely expensive.
Players are able to save their favorite puzzles to play later, or they can play random puzzles that they have already unlocked, however, the
only time that a player may complete all of the levels of a puzzle is if they really enjoy the game, sadly many of the games will never get
finished. Also, most of the games have no point to being revisited after being completed, unless, as stated before, they are a favorite of
the player. The game doesn’t track the progress of the player or evaluate the performance of each game and doesn’t do anything to
encourage players to keep attempting to play on a regular basis. However, players can share any of the puzzles that they have unlocked
with their friends. This is great for them because they can play the good puzzles without having to take the time to unlock them
themselves, but there is no multiplayer head-to-head play. This means that the players reward for sharing the puzzles is to stand there
and watch them play the puzzles.
For those who look for presentation as a reason to keep going back to a game, “Brain Voyage” doesn’t offer much in that department.
Like the other brain training games, Dr. Knizia’s 3-D model is fairly creepy. Also, the puzzles aren’t anything spectacular to look at and
the music can become quite irritating very quickly.
Though “Brain Voyage” isn’t the best game out on the market, for gamers that are looking for a challenging set of games that can help
pass the time for a few hours, this is a great game. Though there are many elements that are low on the scale, the few games that are
fun, are worth the time.
nothing more than a few mini-games that are very low on the fun scale. That should mean that “Brain Voyage” is an unnecessary
addition to the Nintendo DS, however, this game may be one of the most fun brain training games to be released to date, although it
really doesn’t take a lot to top that chart.
Like “Brain Age,” “Brain Voyage” was created by an expert in the field of brain training, in this case it is mathematician Dr. Reiner
Knizia. However, unlike the doctor of “Brain Age,” who claims that through the playing of his game players will improve their cognitive
abilities, Dr. Knizia appears in the game only to take credit for designing each of the puzzles. This is a little bit suspect because most of
the games are clones of preexisting games like Solitare, Memory and Minesweeper, and some of the games, including on in which
players slide tiles to unscramble a picture have been around for a very long time. Even though his claims seem a little over the top,
most of the “new” versions of the games are quite fun.
The game features 16 different puzzles that are spread out among different cities across the entire world. Upon completing a puzzle,
players earn medals and coins based off of the performance that is given, the better the performance on a puzzle the better the reward.
Coins are used to unlock new cities around the world and variations of the puzzles that are already unlocked. Each puzzle has five
different variations for a total of 80 different puzzles to play. This may seem like a large number of puzzles, but not all of the games
offered are as enjoyable as the next. Most of the time players will reach a certain game and continue playing that one game to try to
reach a personal best score.
As stated before, most of the mini-games in “Brain Voyage” are simply renditions of already released games, but some are quite
enjoyable and can even get extremely addicting. One such game is a cross between poker and solitaire which has players placing
dealt cards onto a grid to create the best possible poker hands. The game sounds like it is easy, but reaching the fifth level of the game
can be very challenging and sometimes frustrating. Also, the Minesweeper clone, called Ice Cap, is also enjoyable and will challenge
even the savviest player, especially when the game introduces hexagons into the game.
There are many other games that fall into two main categories, uninteresting or frustrating, and sometimes they fall into both. Such
games include a maze which is very difficult, not because of the fact that the mazes are challenging, but the touch-screen controls are
difficult to use. Another game has players counting the number of sea life that appear on the screen. And yet another game, which
plays much like the classic game Simon, has players repeating the order in which musicians play and repeating the sequences.
Some of the games can be quite challenging, so challenging that they become so frustrating that players may never want to play them
again. One such mini-game puts players to the task of zeroing out equations by addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. What
makes this game so difficult is that fact that players are not able to get any hints to help them through this game. The game is also
quite demanding in its requirements for receiving medals, making it difficult to advance to the next city for a new game. Of course, every
once in a while the doctor will take pity on players and offer “perseverance coins” to help them on their way, but they aren’t much help
later in the game when the cities and puzzles are extremely expensive.
Players are able to save their favorite puzzles to play later, or they can play random puzzles that they have already unlocked, however, the
only time that a player may complete all of the levels of a puzzle is if they really enjoy the game, sadly many of the games will never get
finished. Also, most of the games have no point to being revisited after being completed, unless, as stated before, they are a favorite of
the player. The game doesn’t track the progress of the player or evaluate the performance of each game and doesn’t do anything to
encourage players to keep attempting to play on a regular basis. However, players can share any of the puzzles that they have unlocked
with their friends. This is great for them because they can play the good puzzles without having to take the time to unlock them
themselves, but there is no multiplayer head-to-head play. This means that the players reward for sharing the puzzles is to stand there
and watch them play the puzzles.
For those who look for presentation as a reason to keep going back to a game, “Brain Voyage” doesn’t offer much in that department.
Like the other brain training games, Dr. Knizia’s 3-D model is fairly creepy. Also, the puzzles aren’t anything spectacular to look at and
the music can become quite irritating very quickly.
Though “Brain Voyage” isn’t the best game out on the market, for gamers that are looking for a challenging set of games that can help
pass the time for a few hours, this is a great game. Though there are many elements that are low on the scale, the few games that are
fun, are worth the time.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
