Review: SPB Brain Evolution

Score:
80%

Author: SPB

Version Reviewed: 1.3

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Many years ago, you could find a lot of 'small puzzle' games kicking around the software catalogues (look far enough back and you'll find some authored by myself as well). But the latest craze is to take a lot of these small games, bundle them together, and create a 'Brain Training' game.

This is where you play a few of the games each day and your score is then analysed. Add them all up and you get a daily total, which you need to improve each day. You then have yourself a “brain trainer” game, where the sum of the parts is hopefully greater than the individual games.

 

Brain Evolution is SPB's entry into the category, and very polished it looks as well. With ten games built in, although not all are available when you first start, there is plenty to get your teeth into. My first few games, as for many users, felt akin to groping around not just for the rules but the mental tools and techniques that will be needed for each game. Once those are sorted out, you can start to work on improving how well you do in each game; and the package will keep track of your stats and scores so you can see where you need to work to improve.

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As you improve, you'll open up more games, rather like unlocking levels in a role-playing game. The games available in SPB's Brain Evolution are as follows:

• Arithmetic
  The basic arithmetic operations done against the clock, using the number pad to key in your guess. I like the fact that the answer forms the first part of the next sum, like a large chain.

• Numbers
  Easily my favourite game on first playing, you are presented with a grid of numbers, and asked to select nine in a square that add up to the required total, but the block of nine can be anywhere in the grid.

• Quadronica
  Asks you to find the four corners of a rectangle in a multi-coloured grid, which will remove all the squares inside the space, and replace them with more. A delightful twist to the Same Game style of gaming.

• Sudoku
  Speaking of grids and numbers, here's the by now expected puzzle where you fill in the blanks so the digits 1-9 do not repeat themselves.

• Memorics
  You are shown a grid of coloured shapes for a few moments, and then asked to replicate part of the layout on a blank grid.

• Minesweeper
  The classic hunting game that was bundled on pretty much every Windows machine out there, now in pocketable form.

• Balltracker
  Can you steer a ball into a target square, knowing which way it will bounce when it hits an obstacle? A mix of planning and memory here, and quite challenging.

• Guess Who
  Unfortunately not the kids game where you ask about 'orange hair' and if you are Maria, but still involving pattern matching. To be honest, it looks more like recognising viruses from clues to their shapes. This is the game I have most trouble with.

• Encyclopedia
  A short, fast hit to try and improve both your memory and your chances of winning the next pub quiz you enter.

• Matches
  Finally we have the classic game of moving matches around to try and make certain shapes and numbers of boxes.

To be honest, very few of these games could stand alone in the application market. I think Quadronica might have a chance, but only a slim one, and there's already a glut of Sudoku games out there, and the others don't have the ability to be played for long periods of time. The key is that, individually, they are geared towards short bursts of playing time, so when you add all these short bursts together, you get a strong and addictive package which is well suited for a mobile phone game.

It is not without faults though – the game itself appears to be a port from the Windows Mobile version, which means all the on-screen buttons are navigated by moving a cursor around, or by pressing a numerical short-key. Which is the Windows Mobile UI way of doing things. Not S60.

This, along with using the two soft keys in a non-standard S60 way, is far from being a deal-breaker, but it does impact on the immediate usability of Brain Evolution – you could argue you're getting 11 games for the price of 10, with the last game being trying to bring up the right combination of menus and option screens to find the Exit command on Brain Evolution.

So while there are headaches and while I suspect many people will be going “why aren't the menus and commands like everything else on my phone?”,  I'm going to overlook it this time, because Brain Evolution is a really good package. Yes there is part of me that wants to roar ahead and grind out the initial four games so the other games will be unlocked as soon as possible, but forcing myself to take time means the replay value and longevity of Brain Evolution is as good as possible.

Everything looks clean, the graphics are sharp, and there is a certain zippiness to the interface. Definitely recommended for those looking for some daily diversions in their life.

-- Ewan Spence, March 2009.

Reviewed by Ewan Spence at 12:26 UTC, March 3rd 2009