Computer Times
Editor's Choice DS Game
Brain Age 2
Reviewed by Angie Kibiloski
Brain Age 2 (Retail $19.99), from Nintendo, for the Nintendo DS, proves that console games are for adults as well as kids. In fact, Brain Age 2 is MORE for adults than kids. It springs from research stating that to keep your mind young and working at its peek performance, you need to exercise it regularly, just like you exercise your body to keep it young and healthy. According to this research, one way to do this is by participating in activities that stimulate your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that allows you to apply your knowledge to practical situations. Brain Age 2 uses word and number puzzles to help you do this. The controls for this game are entirely on the touch screen, and you are constantly needing to write letters and numbers accurately for the game to recognize what you intend to write. So, not only are you practicing math and word games, you are required to be consistent and neat with your writing as well.
The first time you play, after a brief introduction by your game host, Doctor Kawashima, you will enter your personal information, including your true age. Then you will do your first Brain Age Check. This is a simple test to determine what age your brain is functioning at before you begin your exercises. Don't worry if you get a high number, it is normal to begin the software with your brain at about 80 years old. It will change quickly as you learn the games and become quicker at completing them. Each day, after you have done your brain exercises, you will perform a Brain Age Check again, to see how you are coming along.
Research shows that your brain is more active when doing simply problems quickly, basic addition and subtraction for instance, than it is if you are taking a long time to concentrate on a more difficult problem, like pondering that maddening word problem about the two trains leaving from different places. So, the activities in this game are simple, but the difficulty comes in trying to do them as quickly and as accurately as possible.
As well as tracking your progress with the Brain Age Check each day, you can view graphs of your progress (or decline if the case my be) in each activity. You get a stamp each day for completing your exercises, and as you acquire more stamps, you unlock new activities. Also, after each activity, Dr. Kawashima will give you a hint either about using the software or keeping your brain young.
Brain Age 2 will let you discover many of the unlockable activities for yourself, but here are a few of the games you will encounter first. Sign Finder shows you a series of simple math problems, with the signs for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division left out. By looking at the problem and the solution, you must enter in the correct sign. Do it quickly for a record score, but be careful to be accurate as well as fast, because you will be penalized with added time if you get an answer wrong. Piano Player is one of my favorite activities. You must follow along with the song of the day, touching the correct notes as the tune plays. You score extra points for hitting them at the precise moment and keeping time to the rhythm of the song. Word Scramble presents you with a circle of rotating letters that you must unscramble to create a word. This is harder than it sounds, since the letters are constantly on the move. Math Recall tests your math skills as well as your memory. You solve a series of easy addition problems, but as you solve them, one of the numbers is scratched out. You have to remember this number, because it is used in the next addition problem, still crossed out.
Math Recall is also one of the games that are used frequently in the Brain Age Check. The Check also uses Number Memory, where you have to memorize a grid of 25 numbers in two minutes and then write them in after they have disappeared. I haven't yet figured out the trick to this one, I find it.....challenging. Rock, Paper, Scissors is a fun one, where you shout out which of those items you would use to win or lose the game based on the item the game shows you. There are other Brain Age Check games, but I will let you discover those are on your own.
You wouldn't think that you could have so much fun doing math and word problems, but Brain Age 2 is very addicting. You really get a sense of accomplishment when you beat your best time in an activity, or get the highest amount of points that are possible to reach. And when you see your brain age getting younger and younger, it makes you feel healthy and proactive. One person who I showed this game to is planning to buy a Nintendo DS Lite system for her mother, just so she can have this game and keep her brain active. It is so important to keep your mind young and healthy as you get older, to continue to have the most fulfilling life you can as long as possible. By exercising your brain in a fun way, Brain Age 2 is a great way to help you do just that.