Following on from Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, the odd polygonal wiz will guide the cerebrally challenged through a series of thought provoking mini-games that will ultimately lead any intrepid gamer to the level of genius. Well perhaps not quite. The tasks are designed to take only a few minutes a day, with the idea that completing them regularly increases the activity in different parts of the brain. The more the brain gets used, the fitter it becomes, with the aim of rejuvenating neurons to the optimal level of a twenty year old.

The training is broken down into two clear parts: Daily workout tasks and the Brain Age Test. The test calculates the age based on the results of three randomly selected exercises; the lower the age the healthier and more active the brain. One of these includes a series of Rock Scissor and Paper puzzles. With a twist on the usual scissors beats paper, the player may be asked to state the item that will lose rather than win, and mixes this up from picture to picture. It’s surprisingly perplexing on occasion and it definitely forces some intense thinking.

Training consists of ten different mini games based mostly on math, English and spatial skills. Due to the fact the training is only suppose to take a small amount of time a day, there's no need for masses of tasks, but there is enough variation to prevent them from being overly similar. Expect to be calculating the change from a fiver, working out spinning anagrams, playing a classic melody on a virtual piano or calculating what day it is “three days after one day before now”. That one really does frazzle the grey matter. The tasks vary from engaging to irritating but there’s no need to do all of them, just the ones that are enjoyed the most. The player is scored on both speed and accuracy, resulting in the job being done at walking, car, train, plane or even rocket speed. Do well and the result will get recorded in the local top three league table.

Not all of the tasks are available from the outset. Dr Kawashima will be expecting daily visits in order that stamps can be collected. The more stamps on the calendar, the more mini-games are unlocked, and of course the bigger that brain becomes. There’s not really anything much different from the previous game, rather variations on a theme, but there’s enough for people that enjoyed it to take a look here.

Making the most of the DS’s features, MBT prescribes voice and hand-writing recognition. This has been improved somewhat since last time, but there’s still a need to over-exaggerate letters than would be done if ordinarily writing. The microphone seems to distinguish Rock, Paper, Scissors easier than the previous Black, Blue and Red, though clear pronunciation aids the process further.

Progress is tracked through a series of line graphs, showing peaks of genius and troughs of dim-wittedness over time. Fear not though, because Dr. Kawashima is always on hand to pass out a dose of encouragement should the scores be a little lower than expected. It can seem a bit condescending at times, but it's all in the name of fun.

To accompany the training exercises, a suite of Sudoku puzzles are included. These range from the very easy to the intensely hard. Fans of the puzzle will find a good amount of time can be spent in this area of the title, though Sudoku becomes much of a muchness after a while.

As if the brain training and Sudoku weren’t enough, a secret hidden game, very similar to Dr Mario, is sat lurking at the bottom of the task list. Pairs of squares drop from the top of the screen with the aim of removing the blocks randomly placed at the bottom by matching colour groups of three or more. It’s a nice distraction, but it’s far too easy a challenge and is unlikely to keep anyone coming back for any lengthy period of time.

The idea that More Brain Training will elevate anyone to Einstein intelligence is perhaps a bit far fetched, but it’s clear that working your brain regularly is as essential as getting enough exercise; more neurons, less flab. It achieves exactly what is sets out to do in a slick, well executed package and it doesn’t take much time out of the daily schedule. If it can help with outwitting your monkey of a boss, that can only be a good thing.