Introduction: Thinking back to the classic puzzle games on the various Nintendo handhelds will inevitably lead you to the original Gameboy's Tetris, Columns or maybe even Puzzle League on the Gameboy Colour. You are unlikely to remember a little sleeper hit that was known as Mario's Picross. However, anyone that has played this game will know how addictive and ahead of its day it was.

GamePlay: This is a game based on a popular Japanese puzzle game which has some similarities to Sudoku. However, where Sudoku revolves around manipulating numbers around the play-space, Picross is more a game of real-estate. You have the simple task of placing tiles on a variety of grids in a pattern that matches the numeric clues provided on each axis.

If you haven't played the game before it does have something of a steep learning curve. But as you play more and more levels you start to get into the groove and get used to the different patterns and assumptions that can be culled from different number patterns relating to each cell. Whilst we could spend time here explaining the minutiae of Picross you would be better served by looking it up on Wikipedia. In fact we found the game suddenly took on a new light when we understood some of the more advance moves you could make.

Control: Being a DS game the controls focus largely on the touch screen. This enables you to quickly tap around the screen filling in the various tiles in accordance with the corresponding numbers. This is preferable to the D-Pad control scheme that requires you to move square by square to the required tile, before you can toggle it on or off.

The touch screen pairs up with the left or right trigger button. This enables you to switch between fill and flag mode. Whilst you progress through the puzzle by filling cells, at the same time you also need to flag some cells as blank. This enables you to eliminate them from the puzzle and can enable you to figure out which other cells need to be filled.

Graphics: The visuals on the game pick up the now popular touch-generations reduced palette. This gives the whole game a really clean look and feel. Although a minor point, it really helps you to focus on the game with a lot of the usual garish graphics and clutter cleared out the way.

The puzzles each work to reveal a certain pattern on the tile. At the end of the game your reward is to have each of these puzzle animated. It may sound a little sad, but I got quite into guessing what my puzzle was going to reveal. At first they are pretty easy to guess but as the complexity is increased it gets harder to second guess the animations.

Sound & Music: Again the sound is appropriately muted for this sort of game. It doesn't really stand out, but then it doesn't detract from the general gameplay either. Whilst more audio choices would have been a nice addition, it wouldn't really have added much to the game as a whole. The music and effects that are included are solid and well sampled.

Dual Screen Use: The game makes an excellent use of the DS's online play. You can quickly jump in for a ranked match and play a best of three competitions. Whilst playing you get a progress bar for yourself and your internet opponent. It really adds another dimension to the game and creates a competitive edge that can result in some knife edge finishes. Apart from the great use of the stylus we have mentioned about, the online mode is the only other standout feature that makes use of the DS's lesser utilised functions.

Final Comments: This is a great refresh of a game many people would have missed the first time around. With the current upsurge of Sudoku play it should stand a good chance of a warm reception. In our opinion it is a more enjoyable game to play, and one that results in a nice picture rather than a sea of well formed numbers.

Pro: Clean design and well planed Picross tables.
Con: Limited number of puzzles.
Final Score: 7.9


Reviewed by: Douglas Andrews