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Best of Tests DS Review for the Nintendo DS (NDS)

Best of Tests DS Review for the Nintendo DS (NDS)

A Failed Attempt To Cash In On A Successful Genre

The alternative genre of video games is one that was pretty much brought about by Nintendo, and particularly by their handheld video game system: the DS. Sure, before that there have been plenty of games that challenge traditional thinking regarding what exactly a video game is, but none to the extent that several DS titles have done.

Best of Tests DS screenshot

Before the DS came along, anybody would have thought you crazy if you talked about a “brain game,” as they’ve affectionately come to be known. But they’ve become quite popular, a trend brought on by Brain Age and quickly exploited for a quick buck by several developers churning out less-than-stellar games. And sadly, Best of Tests DS falls into the same category.

Naturally, such brain games, as I’ll continue to call them, have a major drawback, and this is the one that really hurts Best of Tests DS. The thing is these games can get pretty boring if the developers aren’t careful. I mean, you already went to school, right? So do you really want to spend your free time playing a game that’s not even all that fun, even if it will supposedly make you smarter? Titles like Brain Age and Brain Age 2 succeeded for two real reasons: you could — you were encouraged, in fact — to play in short, daily bursts. Naturally, this keeps the game from getting boring. And secondly, you really feel as if you’re making some sort of progress, and the fact that the game keeps detailed records of your improvements (or, in some unlucky folks’ cases, lack thereof) allowed you to really visualize your improvements. Sadly, Best of Tests DS pretty much fails in both respects.

Best of Tests DS screenshot

Before I get too far ahead of myself, however, I’d best take a moment to explain the basic premise of Best of Tests (and yes, it truly is basic). Like in Brain Age, you’re given a series of varying questions that are supposed to test your Intelligence Quotient (IQ). The game spews out a number, and to be honest I’m not even all that sure how accurate it really is — that’s certainly a bit of a disappointment to have an IQ game that may not even be entirely correct in giving you your IQ.

Regardless, you’ll start out your experience with this game by taking a preliminary IQ test, in which you’re simply given a rather lengthy set of questions that honestly aren’t all that interesting. At the end of this test, the game spews out a number, and this is supposedly your starting IQ. From there, every time you power on the game, the biggest “attraction,” so to speak, is simply the mode which serves as an IQ test. Your starting IQ pretty much determines the difficulty level of the questions that you’re asked, and as you progress and your IQ increases, the questions you’ll be faced with will increase in difficulty.

Best of Tests DS screenshot

Unfortunately, however, there’s not a whole lot of satisfaction in playing through this game, even in short, regular spurts as the title is clearly meant to be played. Aside from seeing your IQ increase, there’s no real expression of your success. And seeing as this game is supposed to make you smarter, Best of Tests DS really doesn’t do a very good job of motivating you (after all, sticking with a plan is half the difficulty of reaching a goal).

Best of Tests DS screenshot

The second huge problem with this game, and the one that ultimately ends up being Best of Tests’ downfall, is the fact that it just isn’t all that fun. I know that games like Brain Age, which are certainly not your typical video game, have still succeeded. But it still manages to be fun in its own little way; sadly, the same just cannot be said for Best of Tests DS. It’s honestly a bit of a bore to play and just fails to captivate you or engage you or even be remotely interesting. The questions, while there are a few hundred, are really just pretty boring, and I feel that you could get a similar result simply by taking some of those cheesy online IQ tests. The game praises itself for being ideal for someone preparing for an IQ test (wait — I don’t think you’re supposed to do that, actually…), but it never occurred to them that preparing for an IQ test just is not fun or interesting or really successful material for a video game.

On the presentation side of things, Best of Tests DS is no better. The graphics are poor, as is the music, and it’s clear that not a whole lot of effort was put into making this title look nice. Of course, neither of these aspects matter all that much compared to the gameplay, so their deficiency is made less severe just by the fact that the gameplay mechanic is busted and boring. All told, Best of Tests DS is a game that you should certainly pass by. It has few, if any, redeeming qualities, and I’m hard-pressed to imagine the sort of person who could actually have fun with this title. There are fun brain games out there that are enjoyable and worth playing, but Best of Tests DS is not one of them.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 2.0 Graphics
Sparse and fairly bad-looking, but it’s less of a problem because they’re clearly not the focus of the game. 3.5 Control
Complete touch screen control, but it’s used rather simply: selecting answers, navigation menus, and the like. 2.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Same quality as the graphics, and not a huge problem for the same reason. Unforgettable sound effects, unfortunately. 2.7

Play Value
Questions similar to Brain Age, but this game lacks the charm of its competitors. Playing everyday is certainly feasible, though not much fun.

2.2 Overall Rating – Poor
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • The best way to prepare for professional I.Q. tests.
  • An incremental difficulty level with tests that are increasingly more difficult.
  • Serious results presented in a humorous manner.
  • All the classic challenges of I.Q. tests on your Nintendo DS.
  • Several hundred different questions.

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