‘Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree’ is a lot of casual fun as long as classes are kept short

The Nintendo Wii has brought casual games to the forefront with the system’s easy-to-use controls and games that are easy to get into, yet strangely addictive. Nintendo has already had success with Wii versions of sports like baseball and bowling in “Wii Sports” and crazy/funny games in “WarioWare: Smooth Moves,” but with the most recent release aimed toward the casual gamer market, Nintendo is targeting gamers who want to make their brains bigger.
And by bigger, I mean it literally. In the recent release “Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree,” players are tested by various mini-games, and their results are scored as weight that is added on to their brains. The player with the heaviest brain is the smartest. If this were a true way to measure intelligence, Stephen Hawking’s brain would be heavier than a Boeing 747 filled with elephants.
Ignoring for a moment the strange grading system, “Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree” does have some interesting things to offer, as long as you feel smarter for learning the mechanics of gameplay.
The game is a symbolic sequel to the “Brain Age” games that proved to be a hit on the Nintendo DS. On the Nintendo’s hand-held DS, “Brain Age” is a collection of mini-games that attempt to allow gamers to use their brainpower to solve short puzzles on the go. For the home console, “Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree” doesn’t add much to the formula.
At the beginning of the game, you’ll be tasked with enrolling yourself in the Big Brain Academy. From here you’ll play the games, each separated into groups under a theme. For example, there are the “Calculate” games which task the player with doing various mathematical calculations, like one game where you’re given a total and left with a mix of numbers printed on on-screen logs. You have to use the Wii-mote as a hammer to knock the incorrect numbers off of the screen. There are also “Visualize” puzzles where you’ll have to do things like identify the animal in a photo when you’re only shown a small part of the picture or you’re asked to recall the facial features of a cartoon character after they have floated through the screen in a hot-air balloon. It’s simple games like this that keep the game fun, and the program is smart enough to adapt by slowly upping the difficulty level as you play.
The problem is that the only real “learning” that players will be doing is learning how to play the game. Some games are simple, like “pop the numbered balloons in the correct numerical order.” Okay, no problem, I can figure that out. But some of the games cause the player to wonder just what in the world the game is asking them to do before they can attempt to figure out how to do it. I understand that figuring out the game is part of the game, but it’s frustrating to be rushed by the clock while trying to figure out if the game wants you to pick the two similar shapes or the ones that are different.
Also, there is little more to the game than the mini-games themselves. In the single player mode, there are a few ways to play mix-ups of the different mini-games, but ultimately, these modes are nothing more than training modes for the “test” mode where players are graded on their ability.
Remember that being graded means your brain is weighed. So, the professor (a blob-like thing with glasses and a mustache) will put your “brain” on a scale and smack it with your scores from the various tests, adding to your brain’s girth. Also, you’ll be given a suggested job by the game’s career counselor. You get silly job suggestions like “Museum Curator” or “Improv Actor,” but is a fun addition.
There is also a multi-player mode where players can team up and play with friends. It’s fun, but very similar to the single player modes.
Overall this game is a lot of fun, but the fun lasts about as long as these short mini-games do. Initially, it is great to learn the games and try to improve your performance. After that, however, the game becomes tiring and stale.