Game Review: Brain Age for DS

Game Name: Brain Age
Game Type: Strategy
System: DS
Rated: Everyone
Released: April 2006

Gives your brain a workout. Inspired by Japanese neurscientist Ryuta Kawashima, it provides a series of mental tests to determine your brain’s age. The better you do, the more you get.

Likes:

• Lots of fun – so much variety and so many challenges
• Many different levels of difficulty with games like Soduku
• Trials and feats like reading and word games
• Stamp a Date lets you save your place

Dislikes:

• Age of my brain – I know I can do better!
• Speaking at the DS – sometimes I have to yell to get it to work
• Searching for different levels – it isn’t intuitive
• “Try again” can be frustrating

Overall Score: 5.0 (5 positives out of 10 possible comments)

Recommendation: This was a gift, so I had to try it and it was fun. But not recommended right after school gets out. Good for mid-summer, when things get boring.

Game Review: Bust-a-Move for DS

Game Name: Bust-a-Move
Game Type: Puzzle
System: Nintendo DS
Rated: Everyone
Released: December 2005

Solve up to 250 puzzles by launching bubbles from the bottom of the screen toward the top, trying to match bubbles that will then burst. When bubbles don’t burst, they add up until you can burst them. Link with up to five friends for group fun.

Likes

• Variety of patterns from stage to stage
• Able to choose which stage you play without having to win first
• Choose your character: Bob, Bub, or the new guy, Dev
• Music has great rhythm
• Challenging like Tetris but not so hard

Dislikes

• Characters you unlock by winning various stages
• Too easy to lose a stage

Overall score: 7.2 (5 positives out of 7 possible comments)

Recommendation: So much fun, I couldn’t put it down!

Game Review: Neopets Petpet Adventures for PSP

Game Name: Neopets Petpet Adventures the Wand of Wishing
Game Type: Adventure
System: PSP (PlayStation Portable)
Rated: Everyone
Released: March 2006



Can you save Petaria? Unmask the secrets behind the Wand of Wishing and become a Neopets hero. Over a hundred characters and hundreds of items to seek and find.

Likes
• You can be any petpet – create your own character from any of four species
• Lots of missions – may fav was keeping other petpets out of the garden!
• Interesting “bad guys” – such as Slorg, a slimy little guy who spits at you
• Petpets are cute – just like the little tykes on the website
• Engaging storyline – makes you want to keep going

Dislikes
• Loading – takes a while to load the next level or area
• The quest – finding ingredients can be hard and frustrating

Overall score: 7.2 (5 positives out of 7 possible comments)

Recommendation: If you like Neopets like I do, you’ll find this game a lot of fun!

Game Review: Kingdom Hearts II for PS2

Game Name: Kingdom Hearts II
Game Type: RPG
System: PS2
Rated: Everyone 10+
Released: March 2006

Picks up on the storyline of Kingdom Hearts and takes you on a journey into a fantasy world featuring all your favorite Disney chracters. As Goofy would say, “Garsh! That sounds like fun!”

Likes

• Levels are easier to win than first version
• Cut scenes are easier to read, with subtitles
• Has most recent Disney characters like Chicken Little and Stitch
• There’s a new main character, but Sora rejoins the story after the 6th day

Dislikes

• Took six days to get to Disney characters!
• In hot rod race, getting rammed keeps you from playing

Overall score: 6.7 (4 positives out of 6 possible comments)

Recommendation: I rented it first and found it so fun I bought it. A great game for RPG fans.

Game Review: PoPoLoCrois for PSP

Game Name: PoPoLoCrois
Game Type: RPG
System: PSP
Rated: E for everyone
Released: November 2005


You role play as a 10 year old boy named Pietro whose mother, the queen of PoPoLoCrois, has fallen into a deep sleep. You bring together a band of friends, moving from world to world, battling multiple bosses, to solve clues and, ultimately, awaken her.

Likes

• music -- has a great beat!
• monsters -- cute like Digimon and Pokemon characters
• worlds -- very creative alternative places, fun to visit
• cut scenes -- provide a great break from heavy playing
• great game maximized for the PSP

Disklikes

• bosses -- they get harder with each one; the second one is especially difficult
• levels -- they can get hard so you have to keep at it
• being defeated -- who doesn't!

Overall Score: 6.25 (5 positives out of 8 possible comments)

Recommendation: A definite buy or rent. I couldn't put it down once I started playing.