Hot Brain coming exclusively to PSP
Fried neurones, anyone?
With the huge success of Brain Training on the DS (Amazon.co.uk has just revealed it was its best-selling video game of 2006), it's no surprise to see similar titles begin to appear from a variety of publishers.
The latest is Hot Brain, which Midway is hoping will tap into the lucrative mainstream audience with its mix of brain teasers, puzzles and challenges designed around quick three-minute style experiences (though equally able to offer extended play sessions, naturally).
The game, which is hosted by a character voiced by Fred Willard (of Best in Show and Anchorman fame), apparently features hundreds of timed challenges divided amongst five categories that focus on testing your logic, memory, mathematical ability, language skills, and concentration. Results are displayed according to each category, as well as an overall 'brain temperature' rating signifying your superior intellect.
If you're a bit dozy, don't worry – even cool brained individuals can play because the controls have been kept simple and intuitive in order to enable fast-reaction play, with each potential answer to a given challenge mapped on to a controller button.
Practice mode is where you'll spend most of your time, regularly training your grey matter in order to achieve increasingly higher temperatures. Once you're simmering, switch over to Test mode and undertake a series of challenges over the five categories with the aim of reaching 'On Fire', the highest brain rating available.
Of course, being the smartest kid in the universe isn't much use if you've got no one to brag about it to. So in the interest of superiority, why not invite up to three friends to join in via ad hoc?
Two modes also exist in multiplayer, with Brain Race offering the chance for two to four players to compete against each other in a series of timed challenges, with the winner being the first to raise their brain temperature. Or, for those who prefer to share the heat, Think Tank mode will deliver cooperative fun, inviting players to work together to solve challenges and raise the temperature of the onscreen 3D brain until it reaches critical mass.
Appropriately, Hot Brain is currently scheduled for a summer release.