Big Brain Academy is a puzzle video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DShandheld video game console. It was released in Japan on June 30, 2005, and in North America on June 5, 2006, in Australia on July 5, 2006, and in Europe on July 7, 2006. The game was planned to be released in China for the iQue DS system, and appeared in the system's trailer, but this release was cancelled for unknown reasons. It has been compared to '. It is marketed under Nintendo's Touch! Generations brand. A sequel, ', was released on the Wii in April 2007.
Gameplay
In Big Brain Academy, tests are done in order to measure the player's brain's mass. The heavier the brain, the smarter the brain is or the better its reaction time. There is no single game mechanism to Big Brain Academy; as it is an assortment of puzzles with no one puzzle having greater priority than the other. There are three modes of play: Test mode, Practice mode, and Versus mode.
Test mode
Test mode consists of a formal test containing five puzzles, with one puzzle taken at random from each of the five categories to determine the player's brain mass. After the test, the player is given a letter grade. Dr. Lobe also assesses what areas the player needs to improve in and what ranking they would be. Professions include museum curator, librarian, astronaut, investor, fashion stylist, diplomat, cave man, Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, politician, poet, banker, doctor, musician, etc. There are five different categories of tests with three activities per category. The categories are :
Think
Analyze
Compute
Identify
Memorize
Practice mode
Practice mode allows the player to select which specific activity he or she wants to do in order to train their brain. The activities available for play are the same as those available in Test mode. Each activity has three levels of difficulty, and the player can earn either a bronze, silver, gold, or platinum medal for achieving a certain brain mass on each difficulty level. A mass of 50 grams is required for a bronze medal, 150 grams for silver, and 250 for gold. The mass required for a platinum medal differs for each difficulty level of each activity, however the exact mass required for each platinum medal is not specified in the game.
Versus mode
In Versus mode, players can compete to determine who has the heaviest brain. Anywhere from 1 to 7 players can join a hosting player, whether or not they themselves have a copy of the game.
