Not much of a headache, promise
If you’ve played Brain Age on the DS, then you’re certainly going to recognize what Brain Exercise is trying to accomplish here. You get a day-to-day brain training session with a virtual doctor named Dr. Kawashima. Once you put in all your delicate information, you’re given a brain age test where you determine how well you think and at what age. For the new comers of the series, you’ll find this part extremely depressing, as you’ll be forced to take a small test that puts your noggin to the test. Things like putting two numbers together and adding three to them is a bit challenging and jarring at first. Once you get beyond the first ‘Brain age’ test, you’ll be accustomed to it, which means you’ll begin to feel good about yourself.
The Brain Age is just one part of the game, though. The Brain training is suppose to get you in the groove about how you can improve your Brain Age. The training goes through a series of tests that are all based on how well you did the last time. So, in a since, as you get better with the game it gets tougher with the questions. You start off with the addition and then you move on to harder things like trying to add up the opposite side of dice without actually seeing the number. It requires you to see one side of the dice, figure out what the number on the other side is (if you have the number one visible than the other side would be six — the total for two sides must always equal seven (I know, mind blowing)). As you progress, you also have tougher games like estimating the number of lines a pencil hits before it stops. Another game is also features guessing what shapes, when put together, equal out to be one single shape. You get the picture (no pun intended). The game increased the difficulty and pulls back on it when it sees that you’re struggling. The game is fairly simple in concept and more difficulty in execution at times. The third mode you play in the game is called ‘Quick Play’ which allows you to play unlocked games/puzzles to help you when you start training.
At the end of the day, you can load your brain scores up to the series of tubes called the Internet. I personally did this once, I have stopped doing it since.
Now, I always liked the concept behind Brain Age on the DS. I felt like there was enough beef to warrant a purchase and a lengthy play. I do realize that this game is merely $5.99 and meant to pass time on your phone, but here’s my problem with the game. It gets hard way too quickly. I think that once a user jumps in and begins to understand the concept there isn’t much time for a ladder climb. The game goes from easy to difficult in a matter of two days (I’m on day seven right now with it). Unlike the DS game, this game will bring a quicker level of frustration and turn-off to its training. I like that it keeps up with your days and shows you days you missed, and even gives you charts showing your progress. I just don’t like how fast it gets difficult. There’s no gradual build to it and I fear this might be a huge turn-off to it. With that said, the game (like mentioned before) does pull back a bit when it sees that you are struggling, which helps it. I still like playing the game, but I’m very cautious there will be a point that I can’t get passed or beyond. That’s in the back of my head and I would love for it to relax a bit.
As for presentation, I feel like it was made for the iPhone. The touch screen responsiveness is as accurate as it can be. You will find little room for mistake as the screen (vertical) was made spacious for your fat finger’s approval. I had zero issues with how the screen reacted to my touch and I think I only made one mistake during a game with a touch selection I made, mainly due to me trying to find my son his bottle while playing with one hand on the iPhone. That’s impressive, considering I’ve been playing this thing for seven straight days.