I kind of feel weird reviewing Smart As for the PlayStation Vita. I mean, I'm going to do it because I need the IGN paycheck, but I view Smart As more as an app than a PlayStation Vita game. Sure there are high scores, mini-games and Near challenges, but the point is to improve the way your brain functions. And if making yourself smarter sounds boring, I assure you, it’s not. Smart As succeeds as both a welcome time waster and a title filled with challenge.

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The setup to Smart As shouldn't catch you off guard. Like Brain Age on the Nintendo DS, the main hook to the game is participating in a number of daily challenges – in the Observation, Language, Logic and Arithmetic categories -- that give you a Brain Power score. You come back each day, go through different challenges, and hope to improve your score.The setup works for two reasons: the challenges in Smart As are clever and intriguing, and they give you something to do on the PlayStation Vita each and every day.Each category, in which you're given an individual Brain Power score, has five games with four difficulties. I haven't found one game that I don't truly enjoy. Word Wheel gives me a bunch of letters and challenges me to make a word, Chain Reaction wants me to connect colored pins without ever crossing lines, and Live Jigsaw takes a live image from one of the Vita's cameras and breaks it up into a puzzle for me to assemble.All of those are challenging without being frustrating. Sure, I suck at Roller Blocks (which uses the Vita's gyroscopes to roll some cubes into predetermined locations), but I like trying to figure out the puzzles. Seeing my Brain Power tracked in Smart As makes me want to try each and every day, but the fact that I actually enjoy the conundrums placed before me keep me coming back. If you have a few minutes, you have time to chip away at Smart As.But the game isn't limited to just daily training. As you play, you unlock the mini-games in free play and can go practice, unlock difficulties and post scores online. This did little for me as I don't want to practice -- I just want to take cracks at my Daily Score. However, Smart As also packs Street Smart Challenges. Here, you get to compete via the Vita's GPS and jump into competitions anchored around your location. You get another round of challenges, see how you stack up in your city, and wait for the next challenge to be posted. You can even upload and download specific challenges via Near and try to place yourself on those leaderboards.While the static challenges/leaderboards don't do much for me, the constantly changing Street Smart Challenges and Near options are intriguing. I like the idea of a dynamic environment, of other commuters competing with my high scores. Of course, it's too early to tell if this option will be anything other than a good idea. If no one picks up Smart As, there shouldn't be that much competition for me on the San Francisco leaderboard. Perhaps then, the global, country and friend leaderboards for the individual challenges would mean more to me.In terms of presentation, the visuals are sharp and colorful, the load times are nominal, and John Cleese does a great job narrating. The game uses the front and rear touch screens a lot, and both are responsive. Smart As really is a happy little package for anyone with a PlayStation Vita, both in terms of gameplay and looks.