If you’re ready for a mental workout, grab your thinking cap and flex your noodle with “Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree.” In Nintendo’s console version of its popular Brain Age series, players immerse themselves in the cheerful, cell-shaded world of puzzles and games. Prepare to test the capacities of your mind in a fun and friendly atmosphere designed to entertain players of all ages and skill levels.

After a brief greeting from your mentor, you’re ready to dive in almost immediately: step into the office, enroll your Mii, and begin training. As you explore the Academy you can select training exercises, take a comprehensive test, interact with other Miis wandering the halls, explore the office of records, or join up to seven other players for multiplayer competition.

Solo play provides the best view of the game’s basics. Enter the practice room and you’ll discover 15 games categorized into five different genres: Visualize, Identify, Memorize, Compute and Analyze.

Each of these categories houses three types of puzzles that test a specific mental skill. Face recognition, mental math and a variation of the ball-in-a-cup memory game are just a few of the challenges you’ll find; within a few tries, you’re sure to find what difficulty suits you best in each category. Work hard and you may find yourself the owner of a coveted platinum medal!

With enough practice, take it to the next level by testing all areas of your brain. The conclusion provides you with the weight of your brain along with a detailed map outlining your strengths, weaknesses and a projected career derived from the results.

After picking up the know-how from solo play, grab a buddy and compete against each other in all 15 games, as well as a few others only available in multiplayer mode. Race to the finish in sprint mode, take turns accumulating points in quiz mode or work together in marathon mode to see how far your combined mental powers can take you.

Although the puzzles remain everchanging, the repetition can get monotonous for avid gamers who may only find delight in the unlockable Expert modes. On the other hand, I would highly suggest picking this title up for any household; it bridges the gap between non-gamers and gamers, thus providing an experience you can share with your family and friends.

Grade: B+

“Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree” is currently available.