Best of Tests DS

Rating Everyone Genre puzzle Publisher Conspiracy Entertainment External Links Official Conspiracy Games Website

Riddle me this Batman; how could Best of Tests DS make the bold claim of being able to "calculate your I.Q. and adapt itself to your level in order to offer you a personalized challenge that is always renewed and updated"? Conspiracy Entertainment seems to be deeply involved with some real conspirators if they think this game does any of that. However, Best of Tests DS does offer a few fun and challenging puzzle games that will stump adults and have some brainiacs scratching their heads. The overall presentation is what hampers down another DS puzzler.

The testing is broken up into two sections: intelligence tests and memory tests. There is also a training section, which allows you to practice specific games and, theoretically, improve. The first big snag is that you have to know what you're doing wrong to be able to improve. The game never bothers to tell you the correct answer, so it's impossible to learn what system the game is using or use the answer as a hint to what you've been doing wrong. There is an intelligence test, which shows a three-dimensional shape and asks you how many surfaces there are. Try as I might, I've yet to guess the number correctly. If you're not good with any of the testing subcategories (vocabulary, numbers and letters, figures and drawings, cards and dominos, or mathematics) there's real trouble finishing some of the levels of testing.

There is also a lot of game to wade through if you are really interested in improving your I.Q. The three skill levels (Easy, Normal, Difficult) require the previous skill level to be unlocked first. Additionally, each skill level has three tiers of testing (Short, Medium, Long) none of which feel short at all. The tests get redundant in the short, ten-question level. The long, thirty-question test is absurd. Once each level is passed on Easy mode, get ready to do it again on Normal, both for the intelligence and memory tests.

That's not to say there aren't a couple fun puzzles mixed in with the bad ones. Some of the letter games really cause you to think. The domino logic games are fun because they usually work on two levels or require you to think two different ways. Some of the more challenging puzzles that use cards require you to think about the changing suits along with the numeral changes to come up with the correct answer. And, if you like playing memory games, it's hard to mess up a simple game of Concentration. Regardless, the incentive to play through a variety of mediocre games for a couple fun ones doesn't really seem to justify this game's existence.

When it comes to tracking your progress, it's like Brain Age never existed. There is no overall test to measure I.Q., there is no graph to watch progress change over time, there is no meaningful cumulative score that would encourage extended play of this game. Even when you tire of the Brain Age tests, at least there's Sudoku. Best of Tests DS has no real reason to keep it fresh. With a little bit more work, like actually doing some I.Q. measuring and having a logical layout for playing through the game, this could have been a pretty decent title. Instead, much of the game feels like the low road and will be destined to end up in the bargain bin. I'd avoid it there, too!