Game Title: "Brain Assist"
Platform: Nintendo DS
Studio: Sega
Rated: E for Everyone
Rating: Seven out of 10
THE REVIEW
Game play: With a barrage of games that exercise your brain, the latest, "Brain Assist," continues to entice casual gamers. With an array of visual memory puzzles, "Brain Assist" not only tests your recollection, intuition and reflexes, but also evaluates and scores your accomplishments. "Brain Assist" is geared for your right brain and features 10 fun minigames. Furthermore, you are graded for your efforts.
Graphics: The puzzles are easy to see, examine and execute. And with the help of a team of cartoon nurses, each with their own personalities, players get to choose which puzzles they would like to try.
A couple of examples include Count-mania, which tests how fast you can find numbers scattered around the screen, and Character Hunt that has you finding matches in a series of symbols.
The games sound easy, but don't be fooled. They're pretty challenging and only get harder as you progress.
Audio: Music and sound effects sometimes get annoying when you're trying to find subtle differences in a comparison photo during the Spot the Difference minigame. Sometimes it's better to turn down the sound when attacking the puzzles.
THE WRAP-UP:
Parent's take: For parents who want their children to get an early start in identifying differences, or who want to improve their own right-brain skills, "Brain Assist" gives them a fun for the money.
Final word: The game is addicting and is able to lend hours of enjoyment to puzzlers, hard-core and casual gamers alike.
E-mail: scott@desnews.com