I’ll admit that I was exuberantly excited about the number of “brain-training” titles for the Nintendo DS mainly because these games really challenge you to solve puzzles that do sharpen the mind. Also, I’m one to admit that I’m the type of person that would easily be outwitted by a fifth grader or quickly use up all my Life Lines in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? As a fan of Brain Age and the number of similar games that came after it, I was looking forward to Mega Brain Boost for the DS but was disappointed by its lack of challenges or more educational value.

Mega Brain Boost was designed specifically to improve concentration and memory by way of the Shichida Method - a right brain development theory conceived by Makoto Shichida, the Chairman of the Shichida Educational Institute. Intriguingly enough, this theory has revealed a number of interesting developments and by using a number of memory-based puzzles, improvements to the right hemisphere did show some improvement in younger as well as elderly people. At one point in our lives we’ve played some form of the memory game so the 15 games featured in Mega Brain Boost won’t be much of a surprise.

The major feature of Mega Brain Boost just so happens to be the inclusion of Brain Boost Beta Wave as well as Brain Boost Gamma Wave and this adds to the new games that are introduced in this collection. The 15 games, as I mentioned, are mostly games that will test your memory and concentration. There are, however, a few math games such as the Total Amount of Money game (select the total amount of change that pops up), Addition (adds the number cards to get the total) and Dots (count the moving dots to get the total). These math games are added simply to add diversity and feel out of place among the other games. Finally, there’s Find the Goal, a game where you select the goal where a little UFO will land. It sounds simple but the fact is you have to follow the nearest corner to reach the intended landing goal.

The bulk of Training mode’s games have you attempting to remember a pattern of colored dots, a sequence of numbers or pictures as well as badly drawn faces. Using a number of small pictures you’ll also attempt to find the matching pair and another game has you trying to identify the Kanji character that’s appears on the left side of the screen with a number of other Kanji characters. Just about the only real challenging aspect of these games is the fact that they are timed and games like the Shape Recognition game and the Remember Sequence benefit from the time limit. Depending on how well you do in each game you won’t get much of a progress report but you will get a percentage of right brain development based on the answers you got right.

Sadly, Mega Brain Boost doesn’t have much of a replay value like the other games of similar gameplay style. The puzzles don’t leave much of a reason to want to play the game and there’s nothing that will really push you to try to top your score … unless, of course, you’re playing against a group of friends via wireless multiplayer.

The game’s graphics aren’t exactly stellar either since most of the games are black and white with the exception of just a small few games that use colorful icons and pictures. You won’t even find any flashy effects with the exception of each game’s completion screen. There’s not much of a soundtrack either since the only tune you’ll hear is the same one from the opening screen. Don’t even expect any voice work or much in terms of sound effects.

Mega Brain Boost for the Nintendo DS jumps on the Brain Age bandwagon to bring us a simplistic, unentertaining collection of puzzles that were meant to give our right brain something of a workout. Instead of challenging and measuring, there aren’t enough games to make this a valuable tool or an educational experience worth the money especially when there are better titles already available for the DS. I definitely recommend you skip this one unless you truly believe the Shichida Method is your idea of a perfect cerebral workout.

Gameplay: 5.0
Unlike Left Brain, Right Brain, this one simply tests your right brain developments so expect memory games that aren’t too challenging or that much fun like Brain Age and most of its clones. Whether you’re trying to recall a sequence of colors or locate a similar pair of icons, the outcome doesn’t give you any props for being just as smart as a fifth grader.

Graphics: 4.0
Mega Brain Boost is not a pretty game and there are very little color icons to give you something other than black-and-white icons to look at throughout the game. Still, the images look sharp enough to tell them apart.

Sound: 3.0
There’s only one tune in the game and you’ll hear it over and over again until you turn the volume down all the way.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
The Shichida Method is well represented here and many of the games do test your memory rather well but they’re hardly fun and the finishing them all doesn’t give you an overall measurement of how your right brain has developed.

Concept: 5.0
The games aren’t very original and they’re hardly anything we haven’t already seen in past brain-teasing puzzle games. These games are more memory-based than anything else … although the math portion does feel a bit tacked on. There’s wireless multiplayer for up to four-players but like the Training mode it’s not fun. 

Multiplayer: 5.5
The game’s box indicated that you can only play this game with another friend while the instruction manual points out that you can play the game with up to three players. The truth is that you can play this game with up to four players and that makes a big difference. Now you can see which of your friends has better right brain development than you.

Overall: 5.0
Rarely making you feel like you accomplished very much or gained a deeper insight in how well your right brain potential is measured, Mega Brain Boost lacks all the interesting tools that Brain Age possesses. It’s not even a fun or interesting game so you’re better off sticking to the better brain boosting games.