Hot Brain PSP Review

The brain training games have taken off, ever since the release of the mega-successful Brain Age and Big Brain Academy games from Nintendo. Now everyone wants to try to make you a smarter person, whether you want to accept it or not. Midway has decided to throw its cerebellum-testing hat into the ring with the release of Hot Brain, a game that takes a different route to testing out the mapping of the human mind. Instead of measuring intelligence, it actually lays out brain activity via temperatures. If a part of your brain runs cold, you're thinking like an Eskimo without a heater. (Well, a dumb Eskimo, anyway.) If it's boiling over, surprise, you're in the movie Scanners. No, just kidding, you're smart.

The multiplayer mode deserves a mention, as up to four players can take on each other in brain challenges to see who's the smarter person. It requires a little getting used to, but it's a novel idea, pitting smarts against one another to see who's the smarter guy. Unfortunately, multiple copies of the game are required to get this mode going, and it's going to be somewhat difficult to find someone patient (and rich) enough to plunk down $30 on a copy of the game. Maybe when it goes down in price...

In the end, Hot Brain doesn't do enough to change your life, but it's a quirky little addition to the brain-training scene that deserves a look out of sheer boredom. The addition of downloadable stuff, along with a better variety of puzzles, would've made it more than worth the $30 price, but the multiplayer and Fred Willard make it a decent investment all the same. Besides, who are you going to trust -- some brainy doctor you've never heard of or Ron Burgundy's boss? Thought so.