Posts Tagged ‘Cubes’

Nintendo Reviews : Picross 3D review

We love Picross. We love it so much that if you don’t already have Picross DS then, no offence, but we automatically think less of you as a human being. Without Picross in your life everything you do – passing exams, falling in love, getting married and having kids – is meaningless. It’s that good. So when Nintendo decided to stir things up and add a third dimension to our beloved puzzler, we hoped it wouldn’t mess things up. Fret not, it hasn’t. Picross 3D remains as addictive as chocolate grapes coated in powdered sugar (imagine that), despite the addition of a Z-axis.

Download Picross 3D and Unlimited Nintendo DSi Games For Free!

The concept has changed in the move from 2D to 3D. Whereas Picross DS had you revealing a picture by filling in and removing squares in a grid, Picross 3D instead presents you with a large block made of smaller cubes. You have to use the numerical clues provided to tap away at the block with the stylus and remove cubes that aren’t part of the puzzle. Once you’ve removed all the unneeded cubes you’re left with a cube sculpture of an object (be it a dog or a fire engine or a dinosaur) which then comes to life.

There are plenty of tutorials near the start of the game which explain everything in great detail with both written and visual examples. Everything is so clear that we were even able to understand it based solely on the diagrams when we first played the Japanese version many months ago, so with the English instructions in place too nobody should be confused.

The control system is functional for the most part, though there will be the odd occasion in later, more complex puzzles where you’ll tap the wrong cube by mistake and cause an error. These are mostly preventable though if you take time to rotate the block and correctly expose the cube before tapping it.

Download Picross 3D and Unlimited Nintendo DSi Games For Free!

Our only issue with Picross 3D is that it loses some of the character of Picross DS. The stages are no longer split into themed categories with different graphics and sounds: each of the game’s 350 or so puzzles have the same look and feel to them. The background changes to match the category your object falls under, but other than that there’s no unique feeling for each puzzle.

There are also no special nods to Nintendo fans this time around. This is disappointing because our favourite bit in Picross DS was the last 15 puzzles that played the music from Super Mario Bros. as you solved them. Instead of chipping away squares you were breaking Mario-style blocks. There’s nothing like that here