Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Wii) Review
Posted by Morakoth Tang on 08.14.2007
I had a great time when Big Brain Academy for the Nintendo DS came out. I enjoyed Brain Age very much, but I’m the type of person that loves to do puzzles for days on end. And what’s great about Big Brain is that it’s a nice treat for the brain and a good break from all the traditional games out there. Join me in this 411 review and see if the Wii version is as fun as it’s DS’s predecessor and if it’s worth shelling out your hard earned money for.
*Yes the Screen shots are from the Japanese version, but hey it's the thought that counts...whatever that means.
Graphics:
Yes, I know I’ve been a stickler for graphics on the Wii, but you got to understand when a technology and style is being pushed to look like reality, I’ll judge it as it’s advertised. It’s like in Basketball when you calling “nothing-but-net” and then banking it off the backboard to make a shot. Yes it’s a valid such that it creates points, but the fact of the matter is that you’ve called “nothing but net” and I’ll scorn your shot for it! Wii Degree on the other hand is not visually appealing and it’s quite simple in presentation. It’s not trying to push the technical barrier or even trying to look down that route. It wants to make a shot and succeeds. To put it plainly, Big Brain Academy: Wii Degrees looks like a clean flash game. The colors from the UI to in-game are all very high key, but the palette is limited. It makes for a joyful presentation. The shading is flat and limited to make it cartoon like. Over all it’s a clean looking UI and In-game graphics. Even though they tried to be very minimal in their style, I still wish for a little more detail, not in the style but in the on screen appearance of geometry. Keep the style all I ask is to add a bit more of clutter in there and make It a bit more busy. Just to throw in an example, the Miis that hop around the hallways could add to the presentational graphics by including the Mii’s whole body instead of their upper half. Why wasn’t it done? I don’t know but if the Mii plaza can make it happened this game should too.
Game Play:
Wii Degree is definitely fun and taxes my brain just enough to keep me from the blasted zombie--state-of-mind I usually get stuck in while playing video games. I truly believe this is the magic of the game. Offer a challenge but not too challenging so that any player (well majority of players) can overcome it. The player is equipped automatically with common knowledge, so transition into a fun game is instant. For instance the puzzles in the game are simple but calls for your attention. The bird cage for example requires no prior knowledge of any games out there, all the player has to do is pay attention to the cages with birds in them when they’re being revealed and then pick out the correct cages when they are done being shuffled around. The games/puzzles are simple but provide an ever so slight challenge to keep the player’s mind moving. Moving on to the single player experience, the Wii single player is pretty limited and has fewer games than the DS version. There are some missing ones that I miss such as the pipe puzzle. The single player game can get boring after while, and soon you’ll want to venture into another game. If only there was something to give it a longer replay value…Yes, you know where I’m getting at…I love multiplayer games and Wii Degree is a great one for parties and will definitely make you bust it out ever time you have people over. Mind Sprint is a great one to play. In Mind Sprint you and seven players break up into two teams of four and race through 12-24 puzzles while handing off the Wii Remote to a specific teammate that is indicated on screen. While this game is fun, I saw some design flaws that I wish were addressed. When setting up the Mind Sprint challenge there are a few options such as what sort of puzzles and difficulty do you want to race through. The specific puzzles that are in the game are not a problem it’s the degrees of difficulty that gets in the way. When I attempted to play with the whole family, the problem of handicapping is clearly identified. In my family there are different age groups that are playing, ranging from 8 to 28 in my household. When the game gives an 8 year old a complex puzzle/problem that could stump even the older players, it’s definitely an oversight in design that could have been easily addressed with some focus testing. It’s pretty simple to tag each Mii profile with a setting; It‘ll be slower in the set-up of the game, but it’s truly more enjoyable when the kids figure it out on their own without us yelling at them with the answers.
Sound:
When it comes to the sound, I can’t say that I’m blown away from its Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround Sound, it just wouldn’t be right. The soundtrack and sound effects are as basic as it comes. The music accompany the game is mellow the sounds are beeps and boops, but hey it never advertised that the sound is going to be awesome nor did I expect to hear something outstanding. It’s easy to forgive when there’s no expectation. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t sound bad its just there. I’d compare the type of music you hear is comparable to what Wii menu has to offer.
Lasting Appeal:
Its single player experience is pretty shallow. I became bored quickly of the type of puzzles that were offered. The game is not like its DS sibling where there are a lot of different puzzles that keeps you going. The variety wasn’t there, so I’ve actually stop playing after the first couple of days I got the game. In the DS version the appeal was to keep your brain mass growing by continuing to do it every day, but since I’ve went through the whole ordeal with the DS, I just couldn’t do it again on the Wii. Perhaps new comers to the franchise will have a different experience. Where this game shines is in its multiplayer portion. There are countless hours of multiplayer gaming available. I know Nintendo never meant for it to turn it into a drinking game, but I’m sorry I made it into a drinking game. Subtracting numbers to make 5 when you’re sober is not nearly as fun as doing it when you’re drunk. So I’d suggest get with some buddies that are old enough to drink (because we here at 411 do not endorse underage drinking) and play until some one passes out. And if you’re not a drinker it really doesn’t matter, the multiplayer game is fun regardless. As I explained earlier I played it with my whole family and just having the competitive element and involvement from a group of 8 is interesting and happy fun family time.
Fun Factor:
Single player experience can be fun to those new to the series since the attraction is not only the well balanced puzzles, but the building of brain mass. The fun factor for this game is very much attached to its lasting appeal, so I’ll have to repeat and say single player will get shallow pretty fast to those familiar with the series. The real fun is in multiplayer, interacting with your friends and family is always fun and this game is a great vehicle for just that.
The 411:
Here’s the 411 peoples…get the game! The graphics is simple; the game play is straightforward and not hard to learn. The sound is kind of weak and could use a little more attention, but at least its not annoying. The single player experience may not be the greatest thing in the world, but if you have Wii parties or usually have friends over, this is definitely one of the games to bust out. The puzzles are simple enough to go through and don’t require Einstein’s intelligence; however, if you want to up the difficulty and play with your whole family there are some problems since there are no handicaps for the younger ones in the household.
Graphics
6.0
Flash still art, simple and clean but needs more of it.
Gameplay
6.0
Its simple and very intuitive, all can play but the puzzle can be very repetitive since there are only a few variety
Sound
5.0
This is probably the weakest of the elements in the game. We could use something more interesting.
