Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes A Day! - Reception

Reception

Brain Age 2 was released by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS in Japan on December 29, 2005, in Europe on June 29, 2007, in Australia on July 5, 2007, and in North America on August 20, 2007. A Brain Age 2 Nintendo DS bundle was released in North America on August 21, 2007, which included a copy of Brain Age 2 and a Nintendo DS colored crimson on the top and matte black on the bottom. At a Nintendo Conference on October 2, 2008, Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata announced during his keynote address that both games in the Brain Age series were redeveloped as two DSiWare games called Small Brain DSi Training Everyday for Adults Literature Edition and Science Edition. The DSiWare iterations include training modes from the previous two Nintendo DS games, including new ones that take advantage of the Nintendo DSi's camera. Brain Age 2 was given generally favorable reviews, receiving aggregated scores of 77% from Metacritic and 79.04% from GameRankings. Praise focused on improvements made on Brain Age, while criticism targeted the game's inability to consistently understand written and spoken answers. The game was voted IGN's Reader's Game of the Month for August 2007.

Remarking that Brain Age 2 uses the same formula as Brain Age "with some different variables thrown in", Game Informer noted that players' opinions of the original Brain Age will most likely be similar to how much they appreciate Brain Age 2. GameZone was excited about the Sudoku portion of the game, which they complimented was "worth the entire game itself and will provide many hours of fun". They found the daily training and quick play modes "simply addictive", and appreciated the game's "simple and easy to use interface". The video game website IGN felt differently, however, noting that the challenges felt fresh, with the exception of Sudoku. IGN agreed with GameZone on a particular point, however, writing that both the original Brain Age, and Brain Age 2, have "calm, clean interface". The television series X-Play was intrigued by Brain Age 2's promise to improve a person's intelligence. GameSpy called the game "the ideal video game gateway drug" because of its accessibility to a wide variety of people, lack of requirements for special physical dexterity or experience, and regular reward system to motivate the player. They also considered Brain Age 2 a "noble effort towards the betterment of our mental health through a painless training regimen". Game Revolution complimented the game's intelligent use of Nintendo DS features, "fun" sound effects, and "competent" handwriting recognition. Singapore's The Straits Times considered Brain Age 2 a good investment, despite noting that hardcore gamers might find the minigames "gimmicky". Recognizing that Nintendo intends to use the game to target baby boomers, The Globe and Mail writes that they were tempted to play the game at work and justify it as a self-improvement program.

Even though 1UP.com noticed slight improvements in Brain Age 2, they found that it also introduced new issues. They considered it difficult for the game to understand their writing, and were also displeased with what they perceived as an arrogant tone with Dr. Kawashima, the game's avatar. Disappointed with the lack of new additions to Brain Age 2, GamePro asked readers " expect too much more content than new tests and more Sudoku grids". Nintendo World Report was also unhappy with the game, telling players who were "hoping for an overhaul to wait for the inevitable Brain Age 3". The Toronto Star reminded its readers that although Brain Age 2 bills itself as a game that is able to make players smarter, it actually means that "the word smart has been temporarily re-defined to mean 'good at playing Brain Age 2.'"

Brain Age 2 was the 13th best-selling game in its debut month of August 2007 in the United States, and climbed up to 9th place in September 2007, selling 141,000 copies. It was the 10th best-selling game for October 2007, selling 116,900 copies. The game reached 7th place in December 2007, then went down to 9th place in January 2008, and dropped further to 16th the following month. In August 2008, the game was the 13th best-selling game in the United States, and the 11th best-selling game in Canada. In Japan, the game was the best-selling game during its debut month of January 2005, selling 1,084,857 units. By March 2006, the game sold 1.7 million copies. For the week of May 15–21, 2006, the game was the 2nd best-selling game, with 62,000 units sold that week and 2,281,000 copies since its release. As of July 2006, Brain Age had sold 2,539,922 copies while Brain Age 2 had sold 2,752,211 copies in Japan, outselling its predecessor by more than 200,000 units. As of July 2007, 5.33 million copies of Brain Age 2 had been sold in Japan. More than two-thirds of the people who purchased Brain Age 2 are over the age of 25. As of March 31, 2011, the game's worldwide sales have reached 14.83 million.