‘Dr. Brain’ Makes Learning a Fun Exercise

No matter how much cheese sauce you put on broccoli, you can’t disguise it enough to fool most kids. The same thing is usually true of educational computer games.

However, Sierra On-Line does a great job with the cheese sauce in its first educational game, “The Castle of Dr. Brain.” Because “Dr. Brain” is presented as a fantastical job interview and skills test, the game manages to rise well above the level of disguised broccoli and becomes a really fun and challenging exercise.

The use of popular and familiar puzzle types keeps the game from being intimidating. Entry to Dr. Brain’s castle requires memorizing and repeating a musical sequence on the doorbell. Once in the great hall, it is necessary to solve three common types of mathematical puzzles. (The puzzles also cleverly disguise the on-disk copy protection.)

Traveling through Dr. Brain’s castle, each hallway and passage presents another job test. Dr. Brain only wants to be bothered with truly qualified job applicants. Puzzle types include robotic programming, logic, astronomy, three-dimensional mazes and ciphers.

While a few of the puzzles remain the same for all three difficulty levels of the game, most of them have an increased element of difficulty that makes it worthwhile to move on to new levels as each one is conquered.

The sound and graphics designed for the game are nice, but especially interesting is that this is the first game not sold by Disney that uses the Disney Sound Source hardware accessory for voice and sound effects.

Designed for older children, the game has managed to keep several adults in our house glued to the screen. After meeting Dr. Brain at the end of the novice level, he was seen heading for the Island of Dr. Brain. Can a sequel be far behind?

‘Dr. Brain’

Rating:

IBM and compatibles; VGA (EGA/Tandy sold separately); 286 AT or better. List: $49.95.

Computer games are rated on a five-star system, from one star for poor to five for excellent.