I haven’t been in Elementary School in quite some time, so I have to say when we got the chance to review Brain Quest Grades 3 & 4 and Brain Quest Grades 4 & 5, I was quite nervous if I was even smart enough for this game. Elementary School nowadays is a lot more advanced then when I was a kid. Thankfully once I got started I was not intimidated anymore and I discovered that Brain Quest for Nintendo DS is a great tool to expand your child’s learning outside of the class room. There is no better way to do it then through what a child loves, video games.
I started to play Brain Quest for Nintendo DS and it was a little hard looking at it from a 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders etc… perspective but if I had this when I was a kid it would have been great. The graphics are simple at best, nothing to intense here. However, the characters are warm and welcoming and so are the graphics. Very colorful and large characters grace your screen as well as different environments. You can play several different ways. The first would be Brain mode, which is random questions in select categories ranging from Math, History, English, Science and the questions are asked in many different ways such as multiple choice, fill in the blank, or match. I thought this was fantastic because your kids will be familiar with the format of answering questions as would in some cases in school. You can choose between 3rd or 4th grade, easy medium or hard. The second is Quest Mode, as a player you have a chance to travel the world, answer questions, meet up with local kids around the world, and expand your knowledge. This is more of a story -line mode. The types of questions and form of questions are the same, the only difference is instead of doing 5 question rounds, you need to correctly answer questions in order to travel the world.
In addition to the Brain and Quest mode, the game also offers Sudoku for Kids as a bonus. I thought this was great because it is a way for kids to take a break from the educational perspective of the game and explore more mind challenging games that are not in the question and answer format and more in the problem solving aspect. The controls are very easy and the game is mostly stylus driven except when in Quest Mode which is more a combo of the D pad and stylus. There is also a helpful tutorial before each question or a new part of the game which has to be read through. A sample is also given; the player is actually walked through a sample question before coming to the real question.
Some sample 3rd and 4th Grade questions:
4th Grade Question – Paul Revere was an expert.?
Silvermith
Goldsmith
Blacksmith
4th Grade Question – Carlos was born 3,915 days ago. How old is he in years? (11) ( 10) (13)
3rd Grade Question – “Oh wow!†Is this a question, an exclamation or a statement
3rd Grade Question – “seeing is believing†means sometimes you must something for Y_ _ _S_ _ _
Brain Quest 5th and 6th Grade edition is really more of the same. There is no difference between either versions except that the questions get harder. The concept is the same and so are graphics. It just continues the theme of making education fun.
Some Sample 5th & 6th Grade Questions:
5th Grade Question – Which is not apart of Great Britain? (Scotland) (Denmark) (Wales)
5th Grade Question – Solve this math problem by following the operation signs from left to right 888/4×2+100-44= _ _ _ 500
6th Grade Question – What Arabic number is equal to the roman numeral CMXL (1,140) (960) (940)
6th Grade Question – Shwa was the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ emperor during World War II Japanese
Conclusion:
I would give both Brain Quest 3rd & 4th and Brain Quest 5th & 6th grade two thumbs up. This is a good way to take a break from cartoons and turn on the video games with out loosing study time. Parents will approve, as it makes school grades higher and makes learning fun and with over 6,000 unique questions they are bound not to get bored too soon. Both Brain Quest 3rd & 4th and Brain Quest 5th & 6th retails for $29.99.
The Good:
Fun way for kids to learn and will keep kids entertained
The bad:
Graphics are ordinary
