Tesco in-store price: £17.73

Browsing around a local Tesco the other night I picked up Big Brain Academy for the Nintendo Wii. The game has been out on the DS Lite for a while now, so I was intrigued to see how the Wii version would fare.

The whole game uses the format of an academy for presentation, so you visit the Hall as your main menu, enter the Office for enrolment and wotnot, and the exam rooms for your daily test. Your Miis can be seen walking up and down the corridor (Including visiting Miis from other players) as you browse the menu options, and you can enrol several Miis in your save file so that visiting friends and family can have a play as well.

The games are of the short-but-fun type with an emphasis on mental agility. There are simple things like popping numbered balloons in order or a removing blocks to leave a particular sum. Other games include a version of Tetris and Whack-a-mole, there’s even a cute little train set where you need to tell the engine which direction to take to reach the exit. All of the games are straightforward but require quick, accurrate mental input to complete quicky and correctly.

There are 15 games in all and yhey are split into five types: Identify; Memorise; Analyse; Compute and Visualise:

Identify
Solve as quick as you can.

• Whack Match
  Use the Wiimote to whack the highlighted items.
• Fast Focus
  Identify the picture as quickly as possible.
• Species Spotlight
  Use the torch to find the animals.

Memorise

• Covered Cages
  Keep track of the birds as they are switched around.
• Face Case
  Identify the face that was shown earlier.
• Reverse Retention
  Remember the pictures in reverse order.

Analyse

• Match Blast
  Remove blocks to make up a given shape.
• Speed Sorting
  Pick the correct picture according to the criteria.
• Block Spot
  Which of the four block buildings matches the main one?

Compute

• Balloon Burst
  Pop the numbered balloons lowest to highest.
• Mallet Math
  Remove numbered blocks to leave the target figure.
• Colour Count
  Keep track of the number of Red/Blue balls in the cup.

Visualise

• Art Parts
  Place the picture parts in the correct locations.
• Train Turn
  Guide the train engine to its destination.
• Odd One Out
  Which picture is not like the others?

In addition to the usual single-player games of the DS version, there are a few multiplayer games that can be played one-on-one or as a team. Team games are potentially more entertaining, since the game will highlight who did best, and worst, after each round. The one-to-one games like Mind Sprint are particularly frantic, since you not only have to complete the game in a good time to score good points, but beat the other player as well.

The Multiplayer games are:

• Mind Sprint
  Race to complete a set number of questions. Each team can have up to 4 players who share a Wii Remote.
• Mental Marathon
  Maintain a perfect winning streak as long as possible in a limited amount of time. 1-8 Players with 1 Wiimote
• Brain Quiz
  Take turns selecting mental-activity panels on a party board to win points. Up to 8 players, divided into 4 teams.

The multiplayer games are made up of the 15 main games as well, so there’s nothing new to learn. Once you’ve played a single player game, you’re ready for multiplayer.

All in all, Nintendo Wii Big Brain Academy is a fun set of games that actually sharpens your brain’s reactions and helps with mental agility. At a touch under £18 it’s more than worth it, even if you don’t take the results too seriously.