Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree is essentially a Wii version of the DS original, which itself was a variant on Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training. Wii Degree uses the same brain-testing tools as the previous release, with players going through numerous minigames to improve their mental skills. However, rather than using a touch-screen, players instead manipulate the Wii remote in different ways to complete each task.

Most of the games work relatively well and range from the straightforward: players must pop balloons with numbers on in numerical order in the quickest time possible; to the furious: a variation on the old Whack-a-Mole game where critters pop out of the ground, holding particular shapes and objects. The player matches up particular items and clonks the creature in the head before it sinks back into the ground. Only a couple of these games drag, such as viewing a rotating shape: it just takes too long to see all four sides of the block in question.

The Wiimote sometimes feels well implemented, such as shining a spotlight on a darkened field of animals (to see which species has the most dominance) or selecting track pieces to manoeuvre a train to its appointed destination. The Wiimote's built-in speaker also finds use, particularly with one minigame involving food items. Unfortunately, the majority of the minigames only use the Wii Remote to point and click. It’s definitely a missed opportunity when you consider the wonderful extent to which the Wiimote has been implemented into other games. It smacks of either a lack of imagination or just laziness on the part of the developers. Not only does it make the game appear slack compared to games like WarioWare, it also feels strangely non-interactive and keeps the player detached from the action.

The selection of minigames is also odd as a few of the best ones from the DS version (Pathfinder, Missing Link, and Animal Lines) could have used the motion-sensing technology, with very satisfying results. Instead, we have Fast Focus, a game that shows you a blurry image that slowly gets clear while the player has to guess what it is. A lot of these minigames feel dumbed down: a crime in a game that's all about mental acumen. This isn't to say they won't provide a fun diversion for short bouts of brain training, but it’s easy to quickly exhaust the offering and want more variety.

There are fifteen minigames in total, divided into five categories: identify (Visual-themed questions), memorize (Memory-themed questions), analyze (Reason-based questions), compute (Math-themed questions) and visualize (Logic-themed questions). The player is challenged with each of the 5 categories in random order. There are 12 questions per category (4 for each minigame), resulting in 60 questions in total. The score is based on speed and accuracy; the faster one answers a question, the more grams they earn (which represents their score), but an incorrect answer scores no grams. The difficulty of the questions adjusts based on the player's score.

The single player portion of Wii Degree becomes repetitive rather quickly. Although players can complete daily challenges and keep an eye on their brain's growth in five categories (Identify, Computer, Visualize, Analyze and Memorize), all in sync with a pre-selected Mii character, this doesn’t detract from the fact that the number of challenges on offer is disconcertingly brief.

On the DS, multiplayer was crucial: when the single-player mode had become dull, it provided much needed longevity to go head-to-head with a group of friends. Wii Degree comes up strangely short in this arena. The two player mode has players competing in a series of randomly mixed minigames. It’s a diverting enough affair without ever truly getting the pulses racing. The game also includes an eight-player mode, where teams of four pass the Wiimotes around throughout various activities. Of the three modes, only one lets players use their own Wiimotes. That one, Mind Sprint, is fun: you race to be the first to finish a set of problems. But even this doesn't allow multiple players to compete in the same minigame. The other two modes require you to pass one remote around the room: a major headache in any multiplayer game. This is exacerbated by the fact that in one mode, Brain Quiz, every minigame is sudden death. You have limited control over what you can pick, and if you have the misfortune to get your first question wrong: you are finished. In the final multiplayer mode, you pass the remote around in a tag-team race to be the last one standing. It's fun, but again, one false move and you are history. The whole multiplayer component is mainly dissatisfying.

As you might expect, it’s pretty much impossible to play a game like Big Brain Academy without comparing it unfavourably to Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training. Although Brain Training itself has not yet made the leap from DS to Wii, you can be sure it will only be a matter of time, while this game attempts to fill the gap. It’s certainly fun in short bursts and does provide some interesting mental exercise, but this more of a GCSE than a degree.