Metareview: Big Brain Academy

by David Hinkle { Jun 13th 2007 at 4:00PM }

With the release of Big Brain Academy Wii Degree, many have found something fresh to play on their Wii. With the prospect of new titles on the regular becoming smaller and smaller as the months wear on (until August 20th, that is), many were hoping that Big Brain Academy could fill that empty void in their life. According to critics, that just isn't happening as the game has a variety of different issues.

IGN (76/100) thinks the game has a long way to go to perfection: "You're going to have fun here, but in three or four years we'll look back at this game and it will pale by comparison to its inevitable sequels."

GameSpot (73/100) says it's still just a collection of minigames: "Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree is a simple collection of brain teasers that are different enough from the other minigame collections on the Wii to make it worth playing."

Yahoo! Games (70/100) says the game costs too much: "Big brains are certainly desirable, but big price tags are a different matter, and Wii Degree's standard $49.99 asking price is a little hard to stomach. While the game is tons of fun, there's just a handful of minigames and not much else, which puts it in a different class to other full-priced options."

GameDaily (70/100) is of the mind that the game needed more minigames: "It needed more minigames and a livelier presentation, but gamers will enjoy the multiplayer options and gameplay innovations."

Any of you out there pick the game up and want to offer your opinions?

Tags: bigbrainacademy, nintendo, nintendowii, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Duffman @ Jun 13th 2007 4:12PM

I bought it and the Wife and I had a blast playing it last night. Great family game and game/party game/Non-Traditional Gamer game. I got it for sale at Circuit City for $39.99 so that made it a little easier to buy as well.

AbbadonTD @ Jun 14th 2007 1:43PM

This is actually pretty fun, but as usual with Wii games, its only as fun as your friends are willing to be. If you are the ADHD gamer in your group, you can kick butt, much like in the original DS game. But get some friends on your level, and a couple Wii-motes and your set!

Nushio @ Jun 13th 2007 4:43PM

The price tag is definitely hard to swallow. At least on the DS it was labeled as a 'budget game'...

Cyantre @ Jun 13th 2007 5:28PM

I got it at Circuit City for $40.00, though I think it would do better overall if the price dropped down to $30.00, especially since it's a Touch Generations series game. I haven't had a chance to try the multi-player yet, but I'm enjoying the game. The only thing I haven't enjoyed was the price tag.

TVGenius @ Jun 13th 2007 6:09PM

Was going to look and see if Circuit City still had the same price, but it's showing out of stock and not available in any stores, but still at $39.99. Wonder why?

Hame @ Jun 13th 2007 6:57PM

Please.....no.......more........minigames.....

Can't....take.......another............minigame.....

Alvin @ Jun 13th 2007 7:31PM

you know what, this game will drop its price by next month, atleast to $29.99, since its a Touch Generations game and a short one. im going to wait until the price drops, im saving my money for RE4:Wii Edition and Mario Strikers: Charged!, or Manhunt 2, or maybe Mario Party 8, idk...
and i totally agree with Hame, NO MORE MINIGAMES!!!! WE'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!! SEND IN SUPER MARIO GALAXY, SUPER SMASH BROS., METROID PRIME 3, MANHUNT 2, MARIO STRIKERS, DAY OF CRISIS, NO MORE HEROS, PROJECT H.A.M.M.E.R!!!!
we dont need to know the diffrent uses of the wiimote, we've had about 8 months for that!!!

John H. @ Jun 13th 2007 8:06PM

If it's anything like the DS version in length, then there's not nearly enough minigames.

tiamat1990 @ Jun 14th 2007 12:00AM

There's just not enough replay value. There's only 15 different modes.

vidGuy @ Jun 14th 2007 8:27AM

I would have bought it no questions at $30, but I decided to rent it instead because of the price. Now, I don't know if it was even worth the $5 rental price.

Brain games worked well on the DS. I actually loved them, but I don't think there is enough extra content to make this Wii version worth any more than MAYBE $20.

And I disagree about the minigame claims. I've only found a few worth playing - mostly Wario Ware. Mario Party 8 was horrible, IMO, the minigames in Super Monkey Ball weren't worth much, and there were only a few enjoyable ones in Raving Rabbids. We don't necessarily need MORE minigame titles; obviously we need more real titles but I'm not concerned because of the lineup for the rest of 07. So, I'm not going to so NO MORE MINIGAMES, but I will say NO MORE CRAPPY MINIGAME COMPILATIONS.

Metareview: Big Brain Academy