Picross DS Review

Today we present the first Wii Bluelight exclusive interview review with lugenstien. The first game reviewed is Picross DS.

Wii Bluelight: Lugenstien, what exactly is Picross DS.

Lugenstien: Picross DS is a puzzle game that can be simply described as a picture crossword. For each row and column you are told how many of the boxes need to be filled in to create a picture. For example on the puzzle below the middle column would be totally filed in since it says five of the boxes are filled in, and that is how many boxes there are in that row. The last column has a three that means that three consecutive boxes will be filled in. Through a process of elimination you can figure out which of the boxes those are. In the second row the numeration is 1 1. This means that there will be a box filled in and there will be some space in between another box that is filled in.Although somewhat complicated to explain once one begins to play it is easy and entertaining.

Wii Bluelight: How is the game controlled?

Lugenstien: There are actually two control methods. The first is stylus control. You tap or drag the stylus across the boxes that need to be colored in. The second is controlled through the control pad and the A and B button. For the smaller puzzles the stylus control is better; however, larger puzzles such as the 20x25 puzzles that require zooming in on the puzzle to use the stylus it is easier to stay zoomed out and use the control pad instead.

Wii Bluelight: How many puzzles are included in the game?

Lugenstien: There are 15 easy puzzles to help familiarize you with the game play, 165 normal puzzles where you are penalized for marking a wrong square, and at least 150 free puzzles where you are not alerted if you make a mistake. In addition to these puzzles you can create your own puzzles, download additional puzzles from the internet, and play in a daily mode where you try to advance your skills.

Wii Bluelight: Is there anything the game could improve on?

Lugenstien: The game as a whole is amazing. The gameplay is both addicting and challenging. The one shortcoming of the game is that it does not allow for multiple save files. If multiple people are playing the game it is impossible to know which puzzles you have completed and which puzzles the other person has completed. The simple addition of allowing for multiple player files would have made the game close to perfect. It makes the main game better but it would also be fun to compare your daily training scores with other people using the cart, similar to the Brain Age series.

Wii Bluelight: What is your final verdict on the game?

Lugenstien: I would break the score down like this.

Presentation: 5, simple presentation but it works; really should have provided for multiple save files

Graphics/Sound: 6, basic and clean graphics, limited selection of songs that get old quick

Gameplay: 8, gameplay is addictive, stylus control doesn't work as great on the larger levels

Game Length/Replayability: 10, there are so many puzzles you will be playing this game for 100s of hours

Overall: 8.5, adding multiple save files would have easilty pushed this game above a 9.

Wii Bluelight: Lugenstien, thank you for your review. We look forward to having you back on the site to review more games.