Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Pokemon Winds and Waves
  • New Games for 2026
  • GamesRadar+ Replay
  • Mario Day deals
  1. Games
  2. Puzzle
  3. Big Brain Academy

Big Brain Academy - hands on

Features
By Brett Elston published 12 March 2007

A quick look at the equally-as-quick versus mode

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

A year ago everyone was unscrewing their heads and proclaiming their undying love for Nintendo's handheld hit, Brain Age. A few months later, in June '06, the second wave of mind-muscling software came in the form of Big Brain Academy, a series a quirky minigames that focused more on fun than tracking actual performance as Brain Age did.

In June 2007, one year after the DS game hit, Big Brain Academy will return with another round of logic puzzles, this time on the Wii. If you spent any time with the DS you know that its "which shape is this?" style of games are much better when played with friends - hell, we spent an hour with the versus mode just last week. So when we saw a two-player throwdown up for the playin' at Nintendo's GDC booth, we felt compelled to represent.

Thing is, the versus mode is totally different on Wii. There were 24 minigames loaded in a queue, the same for both players, and whoever made it to the end of the puzzle-gauntlet first was the winner. And these games are fast - like Wario Ware fast. By the time we could process "Which animal is this?" the other guy had already noticed that this featureless shadow was a seal, and he was off to the next test in the queue. Uh oh.

So it went for 20 or so more games. Blue and red balls spew into a can - did more red or blue make it in? There's a train on a broken track - place the leftover pieces of railroad down so the train can make it safely to the end. Whack-a-moles are popping up, each with an item - hit the ones carrying key items you need to continue. A stack of numbers rests before you - knock two numbers away so the sum is five. An almost-completed Tetris puzzle appears - choose which block to blast away so the pieces will all fall in place. And it goes on.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
  • 1
  • 2

Current page: Page 1

Next Page Page 2
CATEGORIES
Nintendo Platforms
Brett Elston
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE. 

Latest in Puzzle
The key art for the Blue Prince showing a doorway on a blue wall, which is open to reveal several more rooms within its frame, a person deep within opening another door several layers deep to a bright white light
Blue Prince creator couldn't "physically" make another game as "ambitious" as his 2025 puzzle hit
 
 
All Living Things
"I've met a beautiful woman": After nearly 1 year, indie dev shares good news about why their puzzle game is delayed
 
 
TR-49 screenshot showcasing the archive machine and some text as well as the dial to the side
I'm in my happy place: a dark basement digging through a computer archive that may or may not be alive
 
 
After Hours character up close
Dev says his puzzle game is suffering on Steam because young people "don't know how to write emails anymore"
 
 
Pikmin
PS5 architect Mark Cerny had a "transformative" experience playing Pikmin on the Nintendo GameCube: "I'm a sucker when it comes to story"
 
 
Super Mario Odyssey
Nintendo sent a crack team of unimaginably talented developers including Shigeru Miyamoto to the Mario's Picross studio to "personally" teach the plumber's aura
 
 
Latest in Features
Underside of Alienware 16 Area-51 gaming laptop with glass viewing window and RGB fans
We could get a shock when 2026 gaming laptop prices are unveiled, here's what you need to know about buying this year
 
 
In Hitman World of Assassination, Agent 47 sits at the departure gate in an airport during the loading screen
After weeks spent locked into Hitman's Freelancer mode, I realize there's one vital thing 007 First Light needs to learn
 
 
Mario gadgets, accessories, and games on a blue background
The ultimate Mario Day starter pack, kit up for the plumber's big day
 
 
Glen Powell as Becket in How to Make a Killing
How to Make a Killing is Glen Powell's latest mid-budget movie, and I hope he never stops making them
 
 
Jensen Huang next to AI robot on stage at GTC 2024
Nvidia's CEO says "we created the modern video game industry," but all its push into AI upscaling has done is destroy good game optimization
 
 
Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby walking in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man ending explained: does Tommy Shelby die and will there be a new season?
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Key art for Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen showing Venasaur against a swirling green background, cropped for a header image
    1
    Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen have been on Switch for over a week, but many players are still stuck in Oak's Lab trying to get shiny starters: "I'm going to cry"
  2. 2
    James Cameron says Avatar 4 is still "very likely", despite Fire and Ash making almost a billion dollars less than The Way of Water
  3. 3
    How to make and move duckweed in Pokemon Pokopia
  4. 4
    "Complicated feelings on our end": Indie devs behind new Peak-like co-op understand you think it's friendslop, but "it's a slight bummer that the other half of the term is the 'slop'"
  5. 5
    "Mark my words. You cannot win without 4 players," Ghost of Yotei multiplayer lead warns of Legends' "hardcore content," all but guaranteeing a flood of players trying to prove Sucker Punch wrong

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...