Brain Games

Not being one of Atari's more popular titles, Brain Games doesn't show up on most Atari players radar.  Perhaps its mix of cheesy mini-games doesn't appeal to serious gamers, or maybe it's because you need to dig out those damn keyboard controllers to play?  Either way, most people agree that the best thing about Brain Games is its artwork.

The Atari version of Brain Games has a rather stern faced looking wizard that appears to be conjuring up some puzzles for us to solve (worst spell ever!).  While the Sears box has a far more serene (and pastel) looking wizard holding what appears to be little triangles with pictures on them.  There also appears to be some odd pixilated shapes behind him that are unidentifiable and a really cool lizard in the corner for no apparent reason.

If you look closely at the Atari wizard you'll see that his lower half is made out of jigsaw puzzle pieces, which is a really nice touch to the puzzle theme. The Atari artwork was so good that they decided to use it in several catalogs in a slightly modified form.  While the Sears version is nice (and oddly calming), it almost seems a bit out of place due to its lack of puzzle themed imagery (unless you count the puzzle of figuring out exactly what the heck is being depicted in the artwork).  Still, both pieces get a big thumbs up for making a dull game look a bit more exciting.

Let's call it a draw.