Game: Memory Lane 2
Genre: Puzzle, Education, Training, Racing
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PS4)
Developers | Publishers: Playstige Interactive
Age Rating: US E | EU 3+
Price: UK £3.59 |US $3.99 | EU €3,99
Release Date: August 3rd 2021
Review code used, with many thanks to Playstige Interactive
Memory Lane 2 is the follow-up game to the first Memory Lane game released on the Nintendo Switch back in August 2020. Let’s have a look at it.
Match Pairs
It’s a matching pairs game, you know the kind of game where you have a set of cards with their faces hidden and you must match the cards into pairs using your memory skills.
When the game starts you can choose a theme for your set of cards. These range from ABC letters to cats and toys. Picking a theme for your cards will change the picture on the card. So if you pick cats then it will be cats you are matching in the game and so on.
Find a Pair, Move On
The gameplay is simple, you move the cursor around the screen with the left stick and press A to flip a card over so you can see the picture. Find two cards with matching images, and you’ll form a pair. Once all the pairs have been found you’ll complete the level. This moves you on to the next level and you can continue to match pairs.
For each pair you match successfully you gain some points which are added to your score. If you make a mistake and pick the wrong card you lose some points of your score. Every so often, as you match the pairs, you unlock Factoids.
Factoids
I guess you could call Factoids fun little facts to educate you on the human brain’s memory and how it works. Little factoids such as ” Deterioration of the synapses due to diseases or neurotoxins is associated with cognitive problems, memory loss, changes in mood and other alterations in brain function. Avoiding stress, drugs, alcohol and other neurotoxins and doing regular exercise will help you strengthen your synapses”.
While the later levels in Memory Lane 2 pose more of a slight challenge, it is not a difficult game. It would be a great game to play with younger children to improve concentration, train their visual memory and increase their short term memory.
No Menu
You can also change the colour of the background that the match pairs is played on, and that’s really about it for frills as the game is very simplistic in its look and how it plays. What I found very strange is the lack of any kind of menu. If you want to exit the game and go back to the Switch’s menu you have to exit the game by pressing the Home button and pressing X to close the game.
Memory Lane 2 is fully controlled by the joy-cons and is backed up with 30 music tracks which will keep you company while you test your memory skills.
Conclusion
Memory Lane 2 is a no-frills, no menu, match pairs puzzle game. While it really isn’t anything special to look at, the match pairs aspect of the game does work well. Just don’t expect any bells, whistles or any pizazz, Memory Lane 2 is as plain as they come.
Final Verdict: I Like It 