Big Brain Academy for the ds is the 1st Brain Academy ds game released in 2006, it is a puzzle game that also grades you on how quickly and correctly you answer the questions.
When you are playing this game, you can work on your user profile, this is where you answer a range of questions on different modes, Easy, Medium, and Hard and later on Expert. You work through different mini games in different categories, and when you are finished you receive a score and a different medal, the aim of the game is to get the best medal on the hardest mode. You receive your scores the basis of how fast you answer a question as well as if your question was answered correctly. This is a great game for people who enjoy puzzles. There is a mixture of both serious and more fun silly questions which is great as it makes the game less boring.

Mini games
The mini games that are included throughout this game are really entertaining. There us a range of 15 different games that are divided into 5 categories, these are described below:
* Identify (identification-themed questions)
* Memorize (memory-themed questions)
* Analyze (reason-based questions)
* Compute (math-themed questions)
* Visualize (visual-themed questions)

You can practice any of the mini games over and over again, when you have practiced a bit and feel confident enough, you can then take a test where a number of different mini games are chosen at random, then when you have done your best in each game, a brain grade is calculated, my brain grade is currently B+ at the moment, but I plan on practising until I have my A+ as I can be a bit competitive when it comes to puzzles and my fiancé has his A+ and I won't let him beat me.

You can play against other people who you know that own the game most of the different mini games on this game, I have played this game on only 2 player mode though you are able to add up to 8 different players per session.

The interface on this game is really easy to understand and it does not take long to navigate through to where you want to go in the game from the title screen

Graphics/Sounds
The graphics on this game are what you would expect from the Nintendo Wii, they are bright colourful and cartoon styled, but I think that this is what attracts Nintendo fans as games are light hearted and fun to play/look at.

The music on this game is motivating though it does not distract you from working out questions. It is upbeat and is not out of place compared to what you would normally find in a Nintendo game.
Price and Availability
I bought this game in Amazon for £14.99 recently, this is a really great price for a ds game as they are normally much more expensive. You can also buy this game in Game, HMV, GameStop, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys or online, I am sure that these stores also stock the game in around this price.

Overall
This is a great game that will help you boost your brainpower, it has a great range of game that are designed to help you improve your memory, numeracy skills and also your literacy skills in an easy going laid back and enjoyable way. I recommend this game to people who enjoy puzzle style activities. The puzzles on this game might be a bit hard for younger children, though I think it might be suitable for kids aged around 8 or 9 or so plus.

*also on ciao under lorrainek90