Eggheads (Nintendo DS) Review

There are three modes in total for Eggheads, starting with the Normal mode in which -- like the game show -- lets you compete against five of the brain boxes in a three-question round each, with these all being multiple-choice, with there being over 2,400 questions that could possibly be asked. After the three questions, if neither the player nor the Egghead has won, it goes to a sudden death round where the player has to type in the answer using the DS touch screen. The game gives a clue to how long the word is and the questions are generally tricky. If the player wins, they move on to the next Egghead, whilst if they lose, the “prize money” increases by £1,000 each time until it is won.

Besides the Normal mode there is a Challenge that has ten different types of mini games that make you answer different questions in quick succession before a timer runs out, giving points that go towards unlocking bonuses usable in the Normal mode, such as hints. There are two initially playable mini games involving mental maths and general knowledge, and to unlock the next two players have to score at least 800 in one round in both modes, which is no easy task, and repeat the same procedure to unlock the rest.

In addition to both of these, Eggheads has a training mode, so if you are void of any knowledge in certain areas, it is a chance to always brush up on a few facts using it. The player also gets an Egghead rating and a medal for themselves; Gold if beating them without using the unlockable bonuses and nothing if using more than four per round. Besides that, there really is nothing else to Eggheads, and although 2,400 normal questions -- including 700 sudden-death questions -- sounds like a lot, they will soon be repeating after a few hours of play, and with there being no multiplayer aspect to the game, most will hard pushed to continue playing the same computerised Eggheads over and over again.

Overall then, this isn’t exactly the worst quiz show game for the Nintendo DS, but if anyone is expecting quality sound and graphics, then they have definitely come to the wrong place. However, that aside, it does hold some value, and if you aren’t a know-it-all Egghead, there is the opportunity to gain some knowledge you never would have otherwise had, although there is never really going to be a chance to put that knowledge to the test against a friend or family since there’s unfortunately no multiplayer. This one definitely is for dedicated EggHead fans only.