Nintendo struck gold on the DS with the new sensation of training games and Brain Training being the biggest seller of this new a unique title. With the genres easy and portable gameplay the titles are bound to continue to appear on handheld systems. The training titles are almost the new puzzle games of the modern era of gaming since they push players to use their minds to solve problems but make it fun and not appear to be a learning process. Well it was only a matter of time before a game like Brain Age made its way onto the PSP and Midway decided they wanted to be the first with Hot Brain.

Hot Brain is a compilation of quick simple puzzles that will push gamer’s brains to solve them. Like the Brain Age titles, Hot Brain will make you think quickly and answer questions in timed intervals of various categories. The hotter your brain gets the better you are doing. The hottest temperature reachable in the title is 120 degrees which is a fever and isn't usually a good thing but for Hot Brain the hotter the better.

Welcome to Hot Brain Institute, where it's time to see just how smart you really are. Think you know your ABCs? Well, I bet you don't know them as well as you think you do. Sure everyone knows the song you were taught in kindergarten, but can you put a series of words in alphabetical order on the fly without referencing the song? Chances are you won't 100% of the time. Hot Brain will cover several fields of study such as Math, Logic, Language, Memory, and Concentration. After solving each category, you'll receive the results of your brains temperature for each corresponding field. Players can finish in seven temperature zones with Icy! (32-33 degrees) being the coldest and On Fire! (110-120) being with hottest.

Well before you get your brain tested for how hot or cold it is, there are several gameplay types available for gamers to enjoy prior to jumping right into the core of the game. The game consists of Practice Mode, Test Mode, and Multiplayer mode. Practice mode will let you go through the five fields and let you choose a difficulty level and what challenge you would like to partake in. Practice mode will allow players to warm-up their brains before jumping into the demanding Test Mode. Once in the Test mode, players will have challenges in each categories and the difficulty will increase based on how well you are performing. So if you are moving along slowly you'll only be tackling the easier questions. The worse you do the game will decease difficulty and ask you the easiest questions possible. Remember the point of the game is to push your brain and challenge yourself not to take it easy. Of course, Test is the main core of the game and with a limited amount of challenges it doesn't offer a whole lot of new content. Hot Brain offers 15 exam types throughout the five categories so there isn't a whole lot of variation after so many plays through.

Multiplayer mode will let players challenge 3 others at a time using the PSP's wireless Ad Hoc connection. There are two multiplayer games available, Think Tank and Brain Race. Think Tank will put player together as they try to solve challenges. Players will have to raise the temperature of the brain on the screen by answering questions correctly. Each right answer will hit the brain up whereas each wrong answer will cool it down. Brain Race will have players compete in timed challenges. Players will race against each other to see who can get the hottest brain the fastest. The multiplayer mode offers a nice segue from the main game but is fun if the other players are a challenge and good teammates.

Hot Brain does a good job at what is has to offer the genre but it isn't enough to comeback to the title daily for more self examinations. Dr. Warmer, voiced by Fred Willard, offers some comedic relief but isn't as stern as the floating polygonal head of Dr. Kawashima. Hot Brain doesn't finish as hot as it could have and ends up only being lukewarm.