Glen was nice enough to lend me his Nintendo DS this past weekend, knowing full well that it could push me into a consumer like coma that would not alleviate until I too had Nintendo's portable goodness. Glen has a library of games that rivals the US Library of Congress's collection of dead trees, but I only had enough free time to try out Brain Age and of course, the New Super Mario Bros.
Brain Age was fun. It's a huge collection of little puzzles which you battle through while being overseen by a japanses polygon animation of a fat neuroscientist. The puzzles are quick and fun, and also showcased my incredible analytical ability, and weakness in language arts. The age of your brain is calculated through some mystical means, although I think the number is pointless, as long as you are enjoying yourself.
The New Super Mario Bros. is fantastic. It includes the usual cast of villans, a short and to the point storyline, Nintendo's classic two button control and a plethora of new levels. It was amazingly familiar running around with a turtle shell in Mario's hands while trying to jump off mushrooms over flying fish. I only managed to make it to world three, but I saw enough that I may just forgo a few nights on the town to give myself yet another gadget.
