G4TV

The amount of restraint Nintendo displays in not cranking out three dozen sequels to their smash hit Brain Age: Train Your Age in Minutes a Day is equaled only by the cargo ships full of cash they're raking in by selling the simple but satisfying educational game. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! doesn't do anything to rock Nintendo's money-laden boat. With a modicum of class it schools touch-screen gamers in math, language and logic aiming to turn back the clock on elderly gray matter. Like the title says: the game is meant to be experienced in bursts. Played daily and briefly the game is a great diversion with potential cerebral benefits.

I Was Told There Wouldn't Be Math

Arithmetic, again, plays a huge part in Dr. Ryuta Kawashima's prescription for increasing prefrontal blood flow and making the player's thinky bits better at thinking. Kawashima oversees player progress as a floating Max Headroom-style head. He administers a daily test to see just how decrepit your noggin has gotten and lets you practice those quizzes to help you improve future scores. One lays out a piano keyboard and asks players to tickle a bar or two of classical ditties. On top of teaching you the musical scale, the game also manages to throw a little culture in there. Voice recognition returns with a Rock, Paper, Scissors game that asks players to win or lose against the symbol they see on screen. Slurred speech and sloppy penmanship will still drag players down, so sit up straight and focus if you're gunning for that sexy, 20-year-old brain.

The Numbers Game

All this educational fun really does take only a handful of minutes to experience. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! really doesn't encourage sessions. Those who swing a little towards hardcore can while away the hours with Sudoku puzzles or a mellow version of Dr. Mario that's meant to relax, rather than agitate the player. Otherwise, players are meant to check in, beef up, and go about their business. Nintendo makes this all look easy. But take a look at hideous and unimaginative mini-game collections like Touchmaster, and it becomes obvious that a ton of style, design smarts and restraint go into making a game as elegant and (gasp!) as easy to put down as this. And that's where the beauty of Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! lies. This isn't one of those mystical non-games that are supposedly ruining the video game universe. If anything, it's the kind of game that'll get censors off our case about Manhunt 2. If a game can make you smarter, or at the very least make you feel like you're getting smarter, maybe our detractors will get with Dr. Kawashima's program and opt for making change and sketching mathematical symbols over tallying curse words and counting sexual acts.

Review by Gus Mastrapa
Video Produced by Guy Branum