Overall 8.8 Graphics 7 Sound 7 Addictive 9.5 Story 1 Depth 9.5 Difficulty 7
8.4
Reveal the Beauty Inside supernerd117
Most people have little experience with Picross. The 2D elimination game has perhaps been most familiarized by the Game Boy title, Mario’s Picross. But even so, the game was not very popular. Despite that, Picross has a certain charm to it that many have missed out on. Essentially, you “remove” squares as possible components to a picture. After you have eliminated all the necessary squares, you are left with a picture. Picross 3D takes this idea and melds it into 3D. And boy is it good.
The game is easy to learn, but hard to master, even for most adults. A lengthy (but very helpful) tutorial walks you through the basics: Hold up on the D-pad to make a hammer to remove blocks. Hold right on the D-pad to make a paintbrush to mark blocks you need to keep. Chip away at each 3D block while making notes with the paintbrush (to jog your memory and prevent yourself from knocking out the block painted) in order to reveal a picture. At many spots on the larger block, there will be numbers. These indicate the number of correct blocks that are within a row or column. If the number is zero, go ahead and chip away all the blocks in that direction. If it’s 6 and there are, say 7 blocks, you can go ahead and highlight the middle 5 blocks; if it’s 3 and there are 5 blocks, you can highlight the middle block, etc.
There are various types of symbols, as well. A circle means there is a gap in between correct blocks. A square indicates two gaps. And no symbol means that there is no gap at all.
In addition, you are timed. You have a certain number of minutes allowed before you start to lose a star or stars. Make it in the green with zero mistakes, and you’ll get three stars. Make it in the yellow, and you’ll get two stars. Make it in the red and you’ll only get one. If you make a mistake, the number of stars you get will go down by one, as well. However, you will always get at least one star if you clear the puzzle. The only way you will fail is if you run out of time (1 hour) or make five mistakes.
The backgrounds of each puzzle may give a hint as to what the puzzle is. Whenever you clear a puzzle, the object is sent to a gallery of sorts according to its background. If you’ve solved another puzzle with the same background, you may be able to figure out what the puzzle is before you solve it. This is less likely than in traditional Picross due to the blocky 3D, but it is still possible.
Simplicity is the name of the game here (OK OK I know it’s Picross 3D), including the graphics and sound. The graphics will remind of a child’s playhouse, as if the toys were all made of blocks. The sound does the same, with very little variety in the music. However, neither aspect is irritating and makes the game a fun, pleasant experience.
There are also optional puzzles. You can access them by gaining a certain number of stars for a section. First unlocked is silver, then gold.
Should this ever be remade, one thing I’d like changed is the same thing I’d like changed in most puzzle games - the ability to play all puzzles off the bat. Instead, you have to clear all of a certain section’s puzzles (minus optional ones) before accessing the next rank. This is not so much a complaint as a preference. I can deal with it, and most people can, as well, to my belief.
Between the 350+ puzzles and the ability to create your own puzzles and share them with friends locally, there’s a whole lot of replayability. And friends can even try out the game, too! You can send them a limited copy via Download Play so they can try out a few puzzles before they make the decision to buy.
Overall, this is an experience not to be missed. A competent, yet simple puzzle game with over 350 reasons to come back.
Presentation: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 6/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Lasting Appeal: 9/10
Overall - 8.4/10
NOTA BENE: The game is super cheap on Amazon. You can probably grab a copy for less than $10.
Graphics 7 Sound 6 Addictive 9 Story 1 Depth 10 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 4.7/5
Submitted: 06-03-15
Updated: 06-03-15
Review Replies: 1
9.1
IT'S A WHALE! Lexatom
Picross 3D is a game released for the Nintendo DS- wait, wait, wait, hold on. Picross 3D. Regular DS. Why not 3DS? This game was released before (probably) the 3DS was even thought of. Anyway, Picross 3D is my favorite puzzle game of all time. (Tetris gets second place. This game is that good) Why is this game so good? Does it deserve the praise I am giving it? Let's find out.
Graphics - 7
Picross 3D is a puzzle game in which you smash blocks to reveal a 3-dimensional animated picture. They can range from elephants, to people, to dogs, anything really. These animations are always made up of cubes, and although that might sound very hard to do, it's actually quite simplistic and the animations tell you what you just created without confusing you. Sometimes you can just look at the animation and immediately tell, "Oh, that's an elephant!" The only downside to the blocky graphics is that sometimes you see some cubes that you feel should be left out of the finished product, although you rarely see this.
Sound - 8
Picross 3D comes with a variation of songs and sounds. The sound effects for smashing and painting blocks are very appealing to the ear....or brain...or whatever. You can choose from a wide variety of songs each puzzle, although I just tend to stick with the default. There are also some catchy tunes in this game, such as the Challenge theme which plays during a challenge puzzle.
Addictiveness - 10
This game is the most addictive puzzle game I've ever played. I don't really know how to describe it, to be quite honest. Whenever you finish one of the puzzles you really want to move onto the next and find out what you will make next. Once I think about it, this game is kind of like sculpting statues. Even when I make 5 mistakes (most of the puzzles give you 5 chances to finish it. If you make 5 mistakes you must restart the puzzle) on a puzzle I go right back into the same puzzle. It's odd, but I love it.
Story - N/A
Most puzzle games don't really have a story, and this game applies to that statement.
Depth - 9
This game recommends that you start out in the Beginner's level to learn the basics and functions of the entire game. It's really simple. But if you feel like you already know how to play, you can go ahead to the Easy puzzles. Each level of difficulty contains a TON of puzzles to choose from. Once you beat all the Easy puzzles, you can move on to the Normal puzzles, then the Hard puzzles, and after that, a secret mode. I've only made it to the Normal puzzles, and it's really tough. You're going to have to work hard to solve a lot of these.
Difficulty - 8
The difficulty varies depending on the mode and puzzle you are trying to complete. Like I said above, there are 5 modes (6 if you count My Picross, which is a make my own puzzle thing) Beginner, Easy, Normal, Hard, and a secret mode. The puzzles get more difficult as you complete more, and that difficulty rises with challenge puzzles. Challenge puzzles can range from only having one chance to complete a puzzle, (if you make one mistake you must restart the puzzle) or even complete the puzzle in a short time.
Overall - 9.1
This is my favorite puzzle game of all time. I know I said that before, but it really is, and I highly recommend it for any puzzle fan. It may be sort of hard to understand at first, but once you play a bit, it becomes very simple and addicting. I hope you enjoyed this review.
Graphics 7 Sound 8 Addictive 10 Depth 9 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 01-16-16
Review Replies: 2
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