YMMV / Brain Age

• Annoying Video Game Helper: Dr. Kawashima's advice can come off as incredibly condescending, given time.
  Dr. Kawashima (said with a disappointed face): “Hmm, a little tired, are we?”
• Memetic Mutation: GAME OF THE WEEK ^Explanation The port of the original game to the Wii U eShop became a consistent top seller long after the system was discontinued (one Wii U homebrew exploit requires a DS game from the eShop, and Brain Age is the cheapest one). Akfamilyhome eventually started a Running Gag of hyping up Brain Age every time it topped the weekly sales chart.
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • The voice-based tests in both games. It can be very hard for the system to pick up certain words, leading to skewed Brain Ages (and sometimes the game even totally aborts the test if it can't hear you properly). Thankfully, there's an option (meant for use in loud environments) to not allow these tests to show up during Brain Age testing.
  • Similarly, any of the minigames that forces you to write under pressure (for example, Word Attack: Space). Brain Age's inability to correctly identify letters becomes extremely frustrating when you're unable to zap that "e"-shaped bullet before it destroys your ship because the game insists what you're writing is an "f." This is especially annoying in "Devilish Calculations" where you must write to correct answer in a few seconds and end up getting the problem wrong because the game failed to recognize the number you wrote.
  • The difficulty progression in Devilish Training relies completely upon your performance, rather than skill level or preference. A single good or bad level will automatically increase or decrease the difficulty of the given course, with only an average score keeping you at the same level. Forcing you to Do Well, But Not Perfect, if you want any form of consistency or time to really practice at a certain difficulty.
  • The Switch version adds the infra red camera into the mix, and like with the sometimes faulty writing recognition, getting the game to recognize the signs you're throwing can be a bit of a hassle. The complaints must have reached the developers, since an update that came later elaborated on the instructions for how to set up the IR camera exercises properly.
• That One Level: Number memorization in 2. Unlike the other Brain Age tests that focus on memory and quick thinking, this one relies only on memory, and makes you memorize a massive 25 numbers in the matter of two minutes. If this appears when you're testing your brain's age, expect the age to tank if you don't cheat.

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