TapCritic – Honest iPhone and iPod Touch App Reviews

Really? My DS is Obsolete?

Ok, so I carry a backpack full of shit to work. Laptops, cameras, portable hard-drives, thumb-drives, cables, chargers, a mini-tripod and a Nintendo DS. I LOVED playing Brain Age on the DS, but that was the ONLY game. Well, now my backpack is a little lighter.

You stay here, where you belong.

Gaming on the iPhone has reached to such an incredible level with racing games, card games and simulation games, that the DS was starting to feel obsolete. After playing Brain Challenge on the iPhone, my DS is now on the basement shelf next to my original GameBoy Advance, Atari 2600 and ColecoVision.

[Video Review by Mr. Pence]

The Game.

Stress Training is my personal favorite.

Brain Challenge takes what was cool about Brain Age and takes it to a new level. The puzzles are not only more challenging, there is a greater variety. You start off with doing your daily test, which is a collection of random puzzles and mini-games. You’re graded on speed and providing the correct answer. After you have completed your daily test, you get a result of the percentage of brain power you are using.

To improve on your daily test scores, you head to the training room. Here you have two options to choose from, Brain Training and Stress Training. This is where things get really fun. The Brain Training consists of different game types consisting of Logic, Math, Memory, Visual and Focus. These mini-games are fun and are pretty straight forward.

The Stress Training option, in my opinion, is one of the coolest parts of this title. Here you have three options to choose from which include Authority, Multitask and Physical. My favorite is Multitask’s Greedy Mice. In this game, you have to solve a puzzle while flicking mice off the screen before they get to your cheese. This whole title is solid, but the Stress Training option kicks ass.

A free piano unclock? Incredible.

The Bonus section is also very imaginative and cool. This is where you get unlockables if you improve on your Daily Test. My one unlockable was a piano. That’s right a piano, like what you would pay $1.99 to download on the app store. Incredible.

Conclusion.

So is the $4.99 price worth it? Yes. Gameloft continues to publish awesome titles, that are not only well thought out, but always have that level of detail that shows they care about the end user experience. If you have never played Brain Age and enjoy playing mini-games, you’ll love this app. If you have a DS and liked Brain Age, you’re gonna LOVE Brain Challenge. You’ll probably also leave your obsolete DS on a shelf.

You can buy Brain Challenge HERE.

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2. Brain Beats: An open call to prove me wrong.
3. TouchMaster Vol. 1 – I tried to like you. Really.