Midway attempts to heat up people's brains with Hot Brain, a new mind-squashing release dedicated to cooking players' noodles. The concept of completing puzzles to warm one's brain sounds far-fetched, but this project works better than expected.
Upon starting a new game, players tour the Hot Brain Institute, a place where smarts and brain activity are expanded to almost limitless possibilities. The helpful Dr. Warmer, voiced by improvisational actor Fred Willard (Best in Show, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), lends a hand with several tutorials, breaking down a series of exercises into five categories: logic, memory, math, concentration and language. Upon finishing these challenges, players' IQs are revealed through their brain temperatures – the hotter the brain, the smarter the player.
Most of the tests are pretty standard, requiring players to comprehend the simplest of things in a short amount of time. Sometimes they must figure out what shapes get created with specific pieces, while others require placing things in order – forwards at first and then backwards. Some games do stand out, however. Back Seat Driver forces the player to determine a taxi cab's final destination according to a series of arrows, while Cruise Ship requires counting the number of passengers who land on an awaiting ship as they parachute in. Players can select from multiple difficulty levels, so they can adjust the challenge as they please.
With presentation, Midway pretty much stuck with the basics. The puzzles don't take advantage of the PSP's processing power but their easy-to-read format works well. Dr. Warmth animates smoothly, even though he only shows up in-between minigames and never in them. Willard provides lots of comical quips throughout the game, adding plenty of charm. Hot Brain, however, does suffer from long load times.
The game also includes a decent multiplayer mode. Players can invite up to three friends to compete for the hottest brain in the shortest amount of time. They can also try to work together to heat up one brain collectively, introducing a surprising teamwork aspect. Unfortunately, Midway didn't include Game Sharing, forcing players to track down friends who bought the game.
Overall, Hot Brain manages to stand out in an overcrowded genre due to its charm. Having Willard on board definitely makes a difference, as his goofiness fits right in with Dr. Warmth. The variety of puzzles and difficulty levels make a big impact as well, bound to leave a few brains burnt out (in a good way). Brain training fanatics should definitely go a few rounds with it.
Final Score: 7 (out of 10)
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