For A Gold Mind

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday July 16, 2007

Jason Hill

A popular brain twister returns to put you through a fresh round of mental drills. Jason Hill concentrates.

GAME OF THE WEEK

MORE BRAIN TRAINING

PC Xbox

PS2 X360

Wii PS3

NDS PSP

$49.95

G

Rating: 4/5

Think you're a smarty pants? Nintendo's Dr Kawashima might beg to differ. Fortunately, he's got new brain training exercises to help get your mind in ship-shape condition if it has gone flabby.

More than 10 million people played the original Brain Training, which presented a series of fast-paced mathematic and language challenges created by neurologist and author Ryuta Kawashima. Brain Training helped change perceptions of what video games can offer, as well as selling countless DS consoles, many to gaming virgins.

Users are encouraged to play the game briefly once a day, with current "brain age" calculated from the speed and accuracy of your answers to three quick tests. Players can also practise a dozen training exercises, designed to stimulate parts of your brain.

The DS touch panel and microphone are used to input written and spoken answers. Voice and handwriting recognition is impressive, but having your answer deemed incorrect because the game didn't correctly guess your scribbles is still a regular annoyance.

All the drills (and bonus Sudoku puzzles) are new, but some are similar to challenges found in the game's predecessor. Tasks include making words from scrambled letters, drawing missing maths symbols to complete simple equations, calculating the change due when presented with different denominations of coins and notes, recognising spoken words and performing calculations while simultaneously recalling hidden numbers.

One of the new standouts is "Masterpiece Recital", which asks players to follow sheet music and play notes on a virtual keyboard. A "rock-papers-scissors" contest that challenges players to lose as well as win is also surprisingly tricky.

The challenges are fun and stimulating, but the appeal will quickly fade if playing alone. Start passing the console between friends and family and the competition will be furious as you strive to beat your best scores.

ENDGAME Brain Training might not make you smarter but you will have plenty of fun competing against other players.

HOSPITAL TYCOON

PC Xbox

PS2 X360

Wii PS3

NDS PSP

$69.95

PG

Rating: 1/5

The prognosis was promising: take a hit hospital simulation from 1997, update it to modern standards, add some soap-opera-style melodrama and a healthy dose of The Sims.

After extensive tests in the Icon lab, however, the diagnosis for Hospital Tycoon is not good: the game is terminally ill.

Tycoon should have spent a lot longer under the knife, as nearly every feature fails to reach its potential. The worst offender is the Sandbox mode, which is desperately lacking challenge and lasting appeal because of limited patient numbers and only 10 ailments to treat.

Your priority is to deal with "comedic" complaints such as explosive sneezing, mobile phone addiction and golf rage. Unfortunately, each affliction requires the same response after being automatically identified in the research lab. Players simply buy any required treatment machines and appropriate staff, then plonk them down in a new room. Job done.

Once you have established your hospital to deal with any incoming disease (a straightforward task of simply never overstretching finances), your hospital runs itself, except for the lazy janitors who remain idle while your hospital turns intoa cesspool.

Most players will tackle the Story mode first, which introduces a few already established hospitals with the usual behind-the-scenes drama of nurses fighting over eligible doctors, and doctors comparing egos.

Like The Sims, players can direct characters to interact, encouraging relationships to bloom or rivalries to develop. However, there is absolutely no point to playing Svengali, as it does not affect the success of your hospital and the characters have no depth (and dreadful artificial intelligence).

The two biggest drawcards in most other simulation games, user creativity and juggling competing demands on time and resources, are noticeably absent. Even beautifying your hospital is unsatisfying because there are so few options for making it unique.

ENDGAME Dead on arrival. Hospital Tycoon is flawed, repetitive and lacking long-term appeal.

JH

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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