Today sees Nintendo's popular Brain Training series arrive on Switch for the first time, with a new game aptly titled Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch. The game launched in Japan at the end of December and is now available across Europe either digitally, or physically with a Switch stylus.
To mark the occasion, Nintendo UK has shared a launch trailer which shows off some of the classic and brand new exercises you can try. There are math equations, puzzles, spelling tests, memory tests, and plenty more besides and we find ourselves itching to give it a go - although this is partly thanks to a desire to simply use that stylus. We're simple folk.
It's also been revealed that a cool little Super Mario Odyssey Easter egg is hidden in the game. We won't share it here in case you don't want to be spoiled, but you can head here if you want to check it out.
For any of our friends reading this in North America, the only way for you to get the game at the moment is by grabbing a digital copy from another region, or importing a physical copy from Europe or Japan. Here's hoping it launches there officially soon!
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Comments 38
What the heck >:^( you saying us americans aren’t smart enough?
Got my physical copy earlier today. Was on the fence but could use an extra stylus for my Switch so that was the deciding factor. Haven't had the chance to jump into it yet but I will over the weekend.
I miss a review here on NL. And there's no review embargo in this case, other sites already published them.
@Tang000
Why view it like that? You could also see it the other way around... the Yanks are already smart enough, but us Europeans need a hand! 😆
@Ooyah critical and creative thinking is in short supply globally. This is needed on all continents!
this crap for near 30 euro? Should be 0,99 like other mobile games. It was ok to ask so much money back in DS days when Angry Birds wasn't yet a thing but now is way too much for an outdated mini game
Yeah so many people asked for this...
@dimi it is not a minigame
Get the digital copy if you can. There's no need for stylus, finger works fine. Swapping cartridge everyday to play 10 mins of Brain Training is tedious, you will end up not playing it, and disappointing Dr Kawashima's floating head.
This is the first game that show off the alarm feature of the new firmware, it startled me the first time it rang. The Joycon light was blinking and vibrating.
@dimi This is a full game with dozens of hours of content. It has nothing in common with a minigame or a mobile game outside of touch controls. You have no idea what you're talking about.
Going to get that in a sale of some sort.
Sold one in the first half hour of opening today. Surprised at the price of £24.99. Should sell gang busters if marketed well enough. The UK advert with that and Ring fit adventure to capitalise on the new year get fit market seemed a smart idea
my tv doesn't have a touch screen. why's there no review NL?
Not sure why they keep showing the Switch with the controllers attached. It just looks silly
Most not paying £30 for this physical. iPhone has a sea of the same thing (dirt cheap) and it actually makes sense holding it vertical.
@NoTinderLife No, RingFit Adventure already has the Alarm feature implemented.
PSA: Don't worry about shelling out extra for a physical stylus bundle. You can get a pack of three capacitive styluses that are also real writing pens for about $10 USD.
I still got my pack from Super Mario Maker and may just create a European account to get this. There hasn't been any announcement of this stateside, has there?
Here's hoping America will get it by 2025 (the 3DS iteration skipped Europe for five years).
@PorllM well i played the original games on DS (not Demo) so i got an idea
@dimi then I have no idea how you managed to say so many factually inaccurate things in one brief comment. I did play it too, obviously
Forgot that it included a stylus - instabuy!
@dimi it's not a mobile game
I Can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t come to the States soon.
It's kinda refreshing to see a game out in UK and not the US, normally we are the complainers
I have these on DS/3DS/Wii etc and never got the appeal. Definitely not for a lack of trying; they just feel too much like school for me and I'm WAY too old for school.
I would buy it if Polish was supported. I have no problem with English, but I would love to have my parents tackle it and only one of them speaks and reads the language. And doing the exercises in a different language than the native is an extra challenge.
I'd buy it if it were free
@jobvd @PorllM @Nintendo_Thumb I've never played any Brain Age game and the trailer shows a collection of standard and hybrid minigames that can easily translate into free or cheap mobile games, plus what looks like Dr. Mario EZ Mode (no gravity) and a bunch of stats.
So, how is this worth roughly ~$25? Speak to me like I know nothing because I know nothing.
I'm surprised no European players mentioned how strange it is that Nintendo waits years to release the 3DS devilish brain training in Europe. But the Switch game is not announced yet for North America. What's the big deal? This is coming from a Canadian. I did import the game for $50 CDN+$5 Shipping on Canadian Amazon. It beats the hell out of Play-Asia's ridiculous prices and shipping.
Yes but what's the framerate? We need to know these things.
I really, REALLY hope for the American release.
@gangsterswedish
I kinda feel the same way. I bought Brain Age 1, Brain Age 2 and Brain Age: Concentration Training, and none of them were fun enough.
@Kilroy the Brain Age series is a completely different franchise from a completely different developer that is made up of a collection of different mini games so maybe that’s where the confusion comes from?
Brain Training doesn’t have individual mini games that you play separately in that way. The tasks may be small and 2D but they are not self contained and are part of an ongoing campaign where the game mixes up the tasks based on your previous results and has a ton of progression.
I don’t think anybody can tell you it’s specifically worth $25, because that depends on your taste only. But there is no question that it has more than enough content to support that (already budget) price and if a game in this genre is something that interests you, there isn’t a better one.
This is an ongoing game that will take months to complete, 40+ hours of (different) gameplay and provide a different experience each day, it’s not a collection of mini games where you select which one you want to play today and then if you play tomorrow you select from the same few options again.
Brain Age has a setup like that and is comparable to games like Wii Sports, or smartphone mini game collections. Brain Training does not and is not, hope that makes sense.
Even if the individual tasks aren’t in depth, the overall campaign of working through and getting better at them is.
Really insulting to America to not be available for that market. Nintendo should be ashamed.
@Furealz American here, just want to say that PlayAsia vs Amazon is all relative because Amazon Japan only has ESP Ra.De (a shmup) from third parties for nearly double the cost of retail, while PlayAsia has it for a relatively reasonable price of $65±$7 ship ($20 markup from digital).
@PorllM If it's a completely different series from a completely different dev, why does it have Virus Buster, a feature of Brain Age and why does it show you your brain age? You can see where my confusion lies.
I can see the differences you describe, but I didn't get that from the trailer at all. I just don't think it's worth $25, $15 perhaps. Thanks for the info.
Can you play this docked?
@cometgamer1 : Only the multiplayer/Quick Play content is playable in docked mode. Everything else, as far as brain age/training is concerned, is exclusively handheld (designed to be played while holding the console vertically) and makes use of the touch screen. The packaging of the physical release also notes that the majority of the game is designed for handheld play.
Those using a Switch Lite won't be missing very much apart from the Rock, Paper, Scissors activity and the multiplayer modes (all of which can be remedied if you have a pair of Joy-Con), so Lite users should not be dissuaded from buying this if they are interested.
I would recommend playing the game with the Joy-Con detached from the console as it makes the console a lot more comfortable to hold.
hi everyone, if i use my UK account to buy this, would i still be able to use my USA Nintendo Online account once it is bought?
Thanks
@PorllM dude just read the review from Nintendo Life. They basically say the same thing and they are professionals. Its a collection of mini games that is very close to those available on mobile devices.
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