Sometimes a developer can
play it safe and be successful, simply by copying a tried-and-true video game
recipe and tossing it into production. Other times, the recipe is unaltered just
enough that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of its players. Margot’s Word
Brain falls into this latter category.
Margot’s Word Brain is
essentially a compiled reiteration of multiple word games that have been
released in the past on different platforms. The overall vibe resembles
Nintendo’s own Brain Age games, with sole emphasis on word puzzles, instead of
the variety offered by the first-party game. While Destination Software Inc.
attempted to recreate the same satisfying educational experience that Brain Age
made so popular, Margot’s Word Brain falls short in its compilation affair.
Margot is the instructor
that explains to the player exactly how to go about solving each of the
multitudes of puzzles. In all, there are six different word activities that the
player can experience, with each one presenting a unique twist on word-play.
While these different word puzzles are unique when compared to each other, they
definitely resemble activities that have been utilized in educational games
previously released.
For example, Word Link very
closely resembles an old Flash game favorite that has been on the internet for
years. The mini-game plays similarly to Bejeweled, but uses letters to form
words, instead of like-colored gems. This similarity to such a popular online
game might not be a bad thing, but if you despise repetition, the likeness could
turn you away quickly.
Another example of familiar
gameplay would be the mini-game dubbed Hyper TXT. Instead of reminding you of
another educational game you might’ve played, Hyper TXT is actually quite
similar to the everyday texting affair that most of the world participates in
every single day. The mini-game literally asks you to press specific numbers a
certain number of times in order to select the correct letter. You must then use
these letters to form a specified word as fast as possible. My question is who
really wants to sit at work texting all day, and then run home to text on a
video game?
Word Search is very
reminiscent to Crosswords DS, but with minor adjustments that make the game seem
more its own. The player is shown a group of words on the screen. After a few
seconds, the words will disappear, and the player must then locate and select
the first and last letter of each word within a jumbled grammatical mess. While
mildly entertaining, the game play can get very tedious.
And on with the rest: Word
Mine presents the player with 6 letters and asks them to create as many smaller
words as they can within a given time period. Word Run is a pureblood spinoff of
the board game “Scrabble”, and tasks you against Margot in a competition to
build words off of one another on the screen. Finally, Word Safe offers up rings
of letters that are circled around each other. The ultimate goal is to spin the
rings and form as many words from the adjacent letters as possible.
As you can see, there
appears to be a decently varied group of games that all still successfully stick
with the word theme of Margot’s Word Brain. Unfortunately, most of these games
seem to resemble other original ideas, instead of being original themselves. A
Wii version of the game is also available, but the controls provided by the
Wiimote are not nearly as intuitive or easy to use. The stylus and touch screen
deliver a much quicker, much more accurate way to play the same exact games, on
the go. Even the simplistic visual style of Margot’s Word Brain makes the game
seem more at home on the Nintendo DS.
As stated previously,
educational games can be great fun, if executed with the correct amount of
precision. But sometimes, a recipe for fun can be altered just enough to ruin
the recipe completely. Margot’s Word Brain is fun to play, but only if you’ve
never delved into the word game genre ever in the history of your life. Chances
are that each game included will feel strangely familiar to the player, and for
obvious reasons. While the two iterations seem identical in many ways, I easily
favor the portable, easier to control DS version.
|
|
Gameplay: 6.0
Although Margot’s
Word Brain visibly copies a number of previously self established word games,
the puzzles and challenges are still fun to an extent. Repetitive gameplay
appears to be another serious downfall, as expected in a game like this.
Graphics: 5.0
Impressive visuals
are never included when educational games are made. Why, I have no idea.
Margot’s Word Brain follows suit though, with a funky looking instructor, bland
colors, and basic designs.
Sound: 5.0
Apparently sound is
also placed on the backburner when creating a smart game. Nothing from an audio
standpoint really stood out to me, except the obvious inclusion of music and
sound effects.
Difficulty: Medium
Margot’s Word Brain
is capable of challenging the players, simply by allowing the player to
challenge themselves. You can compete against your own high scores, which is
part of what makes word games so addictive to some.
Concept: 4.0
The only remotely
conceptual idea within Margot’s Word Brain is the Word Safe mini-game. Every
other mini-game available is rehashed from some other previously realized idea.
Overall: 6.0
Margot’s Word Brain
makes for a fun, quick burst of educational entertainment for those DS owners
that love puzzle games. Unfortunately, only one of the mini-games seems to be
100 percent unique.
