A double whammy here: first look at this fun little game, and
first experience of the PlayStation Vita.
Smart As
From: Sony
For: PS Vita
Three stars (out of five)
The new handheld device has been on the market for a while
and has taken a while to find its feet, possibly because most
casual gamers now find their entertainment on tablets and
smartphones.
The Vita is a sort of combination of a traditional handheld
gaming device and the aforementioned tablets/phones.
It's got a touch screen, for a start, and little game/app
bubbles that kick into gear upon being touched.
The back of the device has a ''touch pad'' that can also be
used interactively.
Twin control sticks are a welcome introduction, the screen is
a fair size, the sound quality is surprisingly good, and the
device is nice and light.
The question, I suppose, is whether the Vita packs enough
oomph as a multimedia system, or whether it can accumulate a
wide enough library of games to make it a compelling
purchase.
Speaking of games - which come as downloads, not hard disks -
Smart As is a take on the wildly successful ''brain
training'' games on the DS.
It entails a series of (increasingly difficult) challenges,
in mathematics and vocabulary and problem-solving and logic.
Your success, or lack of success, determines your ''brain
score'', and the idea is you come back tomorrow and try to be
sharper.
John Cleese narrates, and the game is springing with colour
and life. Will it actually make you smarter? The jury's out,
but it can certainly keep one's brain occupied.
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