Picross 3D - Review

Picross 3D
An Extra Dimension and Another Success

The DS has always had a strong stable of puzzle games in its library, and featuring prominently in that pantheon since its release in 2007, has been a little game called Picross DS. Based on a from of logic puzzle known as nonograms and striking a balance between Sudoku and Minesweeper, Picross DS was hailed as innovative and addictive by the video game press, but puzzle games are not particularly prone to spawning sequels that make changes in gameplay, which makes the recent release of Picross 3D somewhat surprising. As might be deduced from the title, Picross 3D shakes up the gameplay by adding depth to the height and width in the original Picross formula. The new, 3D puzzles not only look more intricate and daunting, but makes an interesting new twist to the game.

I didn't start off appreciating the additions, though. After the first couple hours of gameplay, I found myself losing interest in the game and wishing that I could just go back and play the original. There's always the possibility that a puzzle game will become tiring, and I'm afraid that this holds true for Picross 3D. You may pick it up for a little while, complete a few puzzles, and then put it down again. It's much better in small doses. Of course, this means that you might not be able to rely on Picross 3D holding your attention for a long plane ride or car trip.

The game is a slow burner: gradually, as I played more and more, I started to realize that I was liking the game more and more. The controls work well, moving and rotating the camera with the stylus and then using the X and Y buttons to mark and destroy blocks as you slowly reveal the shape in the center of each puzzle. The music wont blow you away, but it sports a fairly competent variety. In the end, I just turned down the volume and listened to the radio. There's nothing wrong with the sound effects or music, but you won't miss them if they go away.

If you're worried about content, let me put your fears to rest: Picross 3D boast hundreds of puzzles that will take you quite a while to complete. You might be able to easily complete the first few difficulties, but the puzzles to increase in difficulty, and you'll have quite a job to do if you want to get a perfect score on all the puzzles. A star system that rates your performance on each puzzle encourages you to play through each one two or three times to get the maximum possible score. In addition, even if you're able to make it through all of the challenges offered with this game, you can download additional puzzles through the Nintendo WiFi Connection. You can also create and share your own puzzles and share them with friends or upload them to the internet for other players to download. The puzzle creation tool is remarkably easy to use, and you'll have no difficulty making complicated challenges in no time.

As previously mentioned, the game takes a while to get into, and this is partially the fault of the fact that you have to play through all the tutorial levels before you can get on to anything remotely challenging. This is not to say that the tutorials aren't helpful, you will probably need to use them to get a grasp of the basic changes that have been made in the Picross formula, but forcing you to go through all the learning levels and then through all of the ridiculously easy beginner levels, just adds more time to the experience, not more enjoyment.

Overall, Picross isn't the sort of game that pulls you in for hours on end, but over the course of the last week, I've found that I've played it quite a bit. A minute here and a minute there really starts to add up, and looking back on the time I've spent with it, I've got to say that I did enjoy playing. So, despite first impressions to the contrary, I can find no reason not to recommend Picross 3D as one of the best puzzle games for the DS. Give the game some time and you might find that you'll come to agree with me.

--Tom