If you had suggested a few years ago that the Nintendo DS would be the fastest selling console in history and its most successful game was a self-help puzzle game more popular with the elderly than traditional gamers many would?ve wondered whether your brain didn?t need rather more training that it was currently getting. Nevertheless, the original Brain Training game has sold over 6 million copies worldwide and remains in the UK charts more than a year after a its initial release.

This follow-up is meant to complement the original game, not necessarily replace it, and contains seventeen new mini-games, each designed to stimulate your brain in a different way ? enhancing memory, improving concentration and generally giving your ?noggin? a tune up. As before the game is meant to be played in short, five to ten minute sessions each day, the mental equivalent of a quick jog round the block. The game tracks your progress from day-to-day and you can also play any of the mini-games against other people, whether they have a copy or not.

As before the mini-games are all played either by writing or drawing with the stylus (the DS is held vertically, like a book, while playing) or by voice recognition via the built-in microphone. The actual mini-games are a more varied and imaginative bunch than before, with such exercises as playing a short piano piece, completing maths equations and unscrambling words. There?s also a fully featured version of Sudoku as well, making this the perfect video game for people that don?t play video games.
Harrison Dent

More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain? features fun new training exercises including Correct Change which challenges you on an everyday day task- to work out the right amount of money to hand back after a transaction as quickly as possible, Missing Symbols, a twist on the classic '20 calculations' test, and Masterpiece Recital which invites you to follow a music sheet shown on one screen and touch the corresponding piano keys on the touch screen. As your daily training continues, additional new exercises are unlocked.