For whatever reason, Nintendo seems to think insulting the intelligence of their fans is fun - and profitable. Though, given the recent success of the brain puzzle genre, and that stupid Sudoku puzzle that seems to be on the rise, I was beginning to think I could be wrong. Then I picked up Best Of Test DS.
The game begins with a preliminary IQ test, or so they say. I’ve been playing it for a couple weeks now, and I’m not too sure how smart or stupid I may be. Maybe the intelligence in itself is not playing the game.
You’re asked a series of insulting questions, for example ‘What’s the opposite of Day?’ Getting the question wrong results in a mad scientist guy nodding his head in disapproval, and that’s it. No right answer given, just some guy making sure you know you failed. Gee Wizz!
The music is nothing special, it might fit in the genre of cheesy elevator music. Then again it could be described as a dying animals last cries. Morbid.
While the graphics are nothing to write home about, they are at least clean, and the colors stay pretty vibrant.
You have to prove to the game your smart enough for normal mode. You start on easy and must progress to “harder questions.” I use the word harder very loosely. The questions still remain very simple. The gameplay is pretty simple, following its predecessors like Big Brain Academy and Brain Age. Solve the puzzles and answer the questions.
The game shows no real progression, your never really given an exact number of your IQ, just more questions for you to answer. So if even you think you might be stupid, the game never really confirms it.
Worth buying? No, there are plenty of games who do exactly what Best Of Test does, only better. Much better. Hell, you might be better off taking a preschool entrance exam. You might learn something that way.
"Best of Tests (DS)" is on sale March 5, 2008 and is rated E. Puzzle.
