Big brain academy was first released to the Nintendo DS. It was quite a hit, selling more than 4.5 million world wide. Due to its huge success, a Wii version was made. The Wii version hasn’t done nearly as well, selling less than half a million, but it is a fun little game none the less.

The idea behind Big Brain Academy is that the many minigames, which focus on intellectual areas, are training your brain. You run through fun tests where speed, accuracy and quick computing and visualizing skills count. Games range from hard math games where your quick computing skills come into play to memory games where you have to identify a face to visualization games where you have to quickly guide a train to the finish.

One of the great perks about Big Brain Academy is that with practice you really do get better at the games. While I don’t really know if this makes you any smarter in any practical way, it sure is a great self-esteem booster. In the end, you might just be becoming more familiar with the format and finding a few shortcuts, but the professor worm keeps telling you that you are smarter, so why argue.  I think many children could really benifit from a confidence boost like that, and even some adults.

There are quite a few games to unlock, and a goodly number of difficulties, some of which can also be unlocked. The games get hard enough at the hardest stages to challenge the mental skills of even the most intellectual adult. At some point, you do start wishing for more games though (and while a few appear, the selection is still limited).

Game come in five categories: identify, memorize, analyze, visualize and compute. Each category has four games, with one to be unlocked. Each game has three difficulty levels, also with one to be unlocked. There is good multiplayer support, which allow teams to compete on the same machine. Two teams either race simultaneously, attempting to finish first, or teams take turns trying to get the most correct. There is also a cooperative mode where everyone tries to get the highest score as a team. Unfortunately, there isn’t really any online support. You can send you profile to someone and then they can “virtually compete”. But that is pretty lame is you ask me.

It is quite interesting to see what you and your friends are good and bad at. While we were playing, my nine year old sister could definitely beat the pants of off me at a shell game with birds. I just couldn’t keep track of them all. Almost every one will be able to find something they are good at, and improving at the stuff you are bad at is fun and rewarding.

All in all, Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree is nothing revolutionary, but if you are looking for something to add to your collection and think the idea sounds interesting, then this will live up to your expectations.

Tags: wii nunchuk, video game console, wii games, super mario brothers, nintendo wii fan club

Super Mario Galaxy is the game many Wii owner were looking forward to. Mario games are thought to be the end all and be all of platform games. So does Super Mario Galaxy live up to its legacy? In short, yes. Critics have given it ridiculously high ratings. Game Rankings give it a composite score of 97.2%, the second highest score ever. Metacritic gives Super Mario Galaxy a 97, making it their 11th best game of all time. So the ratings are good. AAA.

Gameplay is both fun and challenging. Princess Peach is stolen by bowser (again) with a huge array of airships and a UFA and taken into space. Mario has to make his way from planetoid to planetoid using stats to power his observatory to go farther into space. The graphics are great, rendering little mini-planets floating through space with beauty and artistic vision (although some anti-aliasing would be nice at times). Though out the game you play with bizarre concepts of gravity and weird views as you explore oddly shaped objects in space. All the core elements of Mario gameplay are present, but the added controls to take advantage of the Wiimote are great, and well integrated.

You can use the pointing function to point at the screen and gather starbits, useful for a variety of things including getting free lives. Your main method of attack, spinning (Mario’s hopping-on-things-head’s days are over apparently) is activated by shaking the Wiimote lightly. For non-Wii players, pointing while playing is totally new, yet fun. The controls are creative, making you feel like you are experiencing something new, while still keeping a shallow learning curve.

Super Mario Galaxy manages to be quite difficult, but not frustrating. Similar to games like Super Mario 3, or Yoshi’s World most young gamers probably won’t even realize that the game can be beat. But also like those classics, for some reason, this won’t bother them. For those of us playing to win, a heavy challenge lies ahead, in classic Mario format. So stock up on some lives and get ready for a challenge.

The game offers an interesting cooperative mode. Where one player controls Mario while another can collect and fire starbits. This, in my opinion is great for siblings of different ages. The older sibling can control Mario, and the younger who would normally just be watching, can contribute to the game. My younger sisters (14 and 8 years old) greatly enjoyed this cooperation as they played through the game.

All in all, I give Super Mario Galaxy a 10 out of 10. Great gameplay, beautiful graphics and classic Mario fun make this game the must buy game for the Wii. I’m looking forward to developers seeing what Super Mario Galaxy did right, because it really is the proof that the Wii is well suited for AAA games.

Geometry Wars is the little game that could. Starting off as a minigame in Project Gotham Racing 2 for the Xbox. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved was created for the Xbox live arcade on the 360 and had huge success. The latest version, Galaxies, is for the Wii and DS. Geometry Wars is a simple shooter with a lot of punch. Similar to those old school classics like Galaga, but way more intense

The game takes place on a small spiral galaxy. In this galaxy are several star systems that can be unlocked. In each star system are several planets, each representing a game level. Gameplay consists of moving your ship around with the Nunchuk and aiming with the Wiimote to shoot a variety of geometric enemies. Losers can use the classic controller, so that no pointing is necessary, but it is my official opinion that this method is lame.

Overall, the one impression that I’ve come away with: this game is intense. Geometry Wars: Galaxies is action packed and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Gameplay has several significant improvements over previous versions, including the collecting of ‘Geoms’ to up a score multiplier. The score multiplier resets when you die, upping the stakes. Geoms you collect are also tallied up to spend on unlocking stars and planets, or buying a drone with different functions.

I was very impressed with the level design, and the amazing number of different ‘feels’ you can get. I also like how your drone levels up each time you try a level, even if you didn’t break any new records (although, sometimes it would gain experience when I had just given up, which seemed lame). At first, I thought the economy was broken because in the first star system it was easy to get huge amounts of bonus Geoms by easily making the ‘bronze’ score on those levels. Only later did I realize that making any of the achievements, bronze, silver or gold, was going to get harder very fast. I still think the economy is a little loose, but being able to buy levels whenever I want helped stave off the monotony that would have set in doing the same level again and again.

All in all, I would give Geometry Wars: Galaxies 7 out of 10. It is a great little games, but unfortunately, that is all it is, a little game. No story, goal or real objective brings back old school memories of games like Galaga. The coop mode provides for a small bit of multiplayer fun, but it really isn’t a robust multiplayer game. The online scores chart is fun, and it is interesting to see how much you actually suck, but it isn’t revolutionary. If you liked Geometry Wars, you are going to love Galaxies. It really brings make those old acrade game memories.