Review of Brain vs. Brain from Big Brain Academy: Not quite Citizen Brain
Our Verdict
A lovely learning experience that offers satisfying brain-teasing puzzles, but doesn’t quite have enough to keep players coming back for weeks. Fun multiplayer adds some mileage, though some extra options would really sweeten the deal
If you weren't alive throughout the DS and Wii period, it may be difficult to describe. The DS was an incredible powerhouse, loaded with top-notch games and beloved role-playing role-playing games. However, because of its widespread usage, the dual-screened gadget was also overflowing with games that carried out Nintendo's "Blue Ocean" approach.
With software that appealed to everyone and was often designed with touch or motion controls in mind to be accessible to players of all ages and skills, this was an effort to draw in more casual gamers. Nintendogs, Cooking Mama, Brain Training, plus a ton of other stuff. Both casual and serious players at the time achieved great success with all of them.
Among the best games in this category was Big Brain Academy, which distinguished itself from Brain Training by emphasizing minigames over actual examinations and having a somewhat lighter tone. Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain for Switch was released a generation later with the goal of improving brain function via puzzles and games.
This time, it seems Nintendo wants to include even more brains in its game titles rather than simply enlarging them. Nevertheless, the very verbose Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain does allude to the transformational aspect at work here; this is a brain-versus-brain conflict that significantly draws upon multiplayer components. While there are still many minigames and puzzles in this most recent Switch release, all of them are meant to test your noodle, and you may play them all competitively online or with local multiplayer. Later on, however, more on it.
To be honest, these games are very good. There's a decent assortment, divided into sections for identification, memorization, analysis, computation, and visualization, each intended to assess a distinct cognitive function. Sadly, there is a very small move pool of twenty games right away since each of the five categories includes four games; but, replay value is increased by the gradual rise in complexity. Each one is provided with a clear presentation and an adorable hand-drawn graphic style. Although the game won't blow the world apart, everything seems really cozy and beautiful.
In the minigames, you have to put your intellect to the test by determining the heaviest item when faced with a succession of objects on scales, sorting numbers fast from lowest to highest, or counting the number of cubes in a pile. I like playing these games since they're all enjoyable and provide a good mental challenge that becomes harder as you advance in the rankings. There is a sliding scale of difficulty that becomes a little ludicrous later on, even if everything begins off simply. especially if you win a gold medal in practice mode for every game you play!
Though there are just twenty rounds, it sometimes seems more like a memory game than a true test of brains. Still, the twenty games feel like a decent variety of tactical thinking. particularly while playing games like Fast Focus, which progressively displays an animal picture. It becomes much too simple as you begin to recognize the animal pictures. Though there are several methods to play each game, this is a cheap game, therefore I'm more grateful for the substance here.
Touch controls, however, are another feature that greatly simplifies the games. I strongly advise avoiding playing this game in any other manner, particularly when it comes to the multiplayer features where you are competing against other players' timings as well as their points. Even if every game has the ability to accept controllers, virtually all of them can be completed far more quickly by utilizing the available touch controls.
It appears like matches are designed to be established fairly, and when you play online, you can see precisely what controller setup your opponent is using—even the color of the controller and Joy-Con, which is a nice touch. However, the player pool is clearly rather small before release. To be honest, I would want to see Nintendo release this game on mobile as its touch controls and instructional concept work well with smartphones. However, I realize that in this instance, the desire for local multiplayer probably rendered it unfeasible.
Big Brain Academy only lists single-player as practice, indicating that multiplayer is intended to be the main focus of the game. It's unexpected to discover only one online mode, ghost clash, for this reason. In each mini-game, you compete against the players' best time rather than against them in real time. Even so, adding a competitive aspect to these games is entertaining, but I wish there was a little more to do with them. It would be nice to see variants or an infinite mode that switches games.
Nevertheless, seeing both your global ranks and overall score is really gratifying. Take it what you will, but before the game was formally published, I was the largest intellect in the world. I don't want to boast. It provided me with a valid excuse to return to Ghost Conflict mode and attempt to defeat a few more dimwitted fools only to watch my little score increase. It's straightforward yet enjoyable, and I can see how much more enjoyable it would be if different household members were in competition with one another.
Local multiplayer is the alternative, and fortunately it takes place in real time. To monitor the scores of every member of the family, you may create several accounts on your account. Then, using controllers, play locally with up to four people as you compete to finish minigames as fast and precisely as you can. This was far more enjoyable than I had anticipated since the games were always interesting and encouraged a competitive attitude.
The fact that everyone is working on the same tasks and that anybody with an excellent eye may merely glance at the screen to try to finish things faster than someone else can become annoying, however. Though it's still in your best favor to find it out as soon as possible since each game pays points depending on time, a little diversity would be fantastic.
You may get adorably cute small items for your chibi avatar as you go through the modes. I feel like I have only begun to scratch the surface of everything that there seems to be to discover. It seems like a game that should be played often to keep your mind active, and it's good to know that you'll continue to get rewards for a while.
Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is a cute little bundle that, although having less material overall, more than makes up for its lower cost. The games are fun and may really test your brain, but I wish there were more options for gameplay and a larger selection. Yet, chasing scores in multiplayer is exciting, and there are many of customization possibilities to discover, so this can be a great choice for families with young kids who want to spend some quality time together playing games and developing new abilities.