Mario's going on another safari, but this time
he won't need a Super Scope or even Yoshi. All he needs are a chisel and
some logical thinking! In this puzzler set in Africa, Mario must make pictures
with the numbers given. They tell him how many squares to chisel. The logical
thinking comes in when he must figure out which ones, which the numbers
alone do not reveal. There are almost 200 puzzles for him to do! Mario
can also play them multiple times and go for the high score. Want to join
him on his adventure? Then it's time
to play.
Gameplay: 7
The concept is unique. You must use logical thinking to make a picture. The numbers on the edges tell you how many squares to chisel. A 5, for example, means chisel five consecutive squares. 3 and 1 mean chisel in a group of 3 followed by a single square, separated by at least one space. The catch is that the numbers don't tell you exactly which ones. You must use logic to figure that out. When you're done, you'll get a picture! But watch out- make a mistake, and you'll lose time!
Sound: 6
The game doesn't really have too many sound effects,
but the ones that it does have are rather good. For example, chisel a square,
and it has a sound effect of a block breaking. The music, on the other
hand, is very
abundant. There are five different tunes to hear
while solving a picture, and you can switch between them whenever you want
by pausing the game and choosing BGM. The tunes elsewhere in the game are
also good, and I love the title screen music a lot- it is very rhythmic
and sorta reminds me of some game show.
Graphics: 6
Mario's Picross has some of the best graphics on the Game Boy. Just about everything about them seems to fit into the Egyptian theme. On the file select screen, the word PICROSS is spelled with Egyptian characters. When selecting a puzzle, pyramids can be seen in the background. When actually doing a puzzle Mario can be seen in the upper right corner watching your progress- wearing a safari helmet!
Challenge: 7
This game is so challenging that you shouldn't even think of getting it unless you're a glutton for punishment!
Secrets: 7
Just the suspense of what the next picture is going to be is great enough to make the game enjoyable (some of them are actually Mario-related!). However, doing many pictures can open up secrets. Solving them all opens up a Time Trial mode where you solve the picture as fast as you can! In fact, none of the Star Course puzzles can be done until you finish every puzzle in Kinoko Course!
Overall: 6.5
This game can be rather enjoyable once you understand
the rules and learn the strategies, but be warned: Once you start, you'll
never stop!