Puzzle Series Vol. 5: Slitherlink Comments by John Walker

Benjaminos: Seriously, I cannot fathom how you can support it. Surely the very point of a Picross game is to be able to SEE the puzzle as you fill it in? Having to drag the screen around to see a complete row entirely defeats the puzzle. What is your defense for this?

quedex: That makes no sense whatsoever.

What doesn't make sense?

What scale do you demand? Is 36x20 too small?

cheers for the play asia link, just ordered this and can't wait till it arrives. i love these sorts of games.

Botherer: Um, you do know the DS has two screens, right? And the top one shows the current state of the whole puzzle at all times?

@botherer: Yes. :-)
They do two ranges of books, one goes up to 36x20, the others go up to 45x30.

That screenshot of 36x20 puzzle makes it look too awkward having to keep scrolling around, especially when you've got used to doing the same puzzles on a single sheet of paper.

Good lord.

I want that puzzle so bad.

Honestly, the smaller puzzles are perfect treats for small gaps in your day, and the scrolling is as nothing when given the ability to delete lines, the different colours, the little rainbow pattern, and the option to have incomplete numbers turned red.

if you have to guess at all then it is not a sudoku.

The online puzzles are cool! very addictive (and there are only 2!). Definitely something to get for the gf's birthday... :D

I really am the biggest sucker for puzzles, i didnīt even finish to read the review that i already oredered it from play asia. Botherer prepare yourself for a bunch of question if translation is required!
Now i cant wait (today i also bought a ps3), today must be my day or something!!!

As i said (Everyone ignores me), get a copy of 'Beyond Suduko' (monthly puzzle mag) in WHSmiths. It has all the new style Jap puzzles, and tells you how to play them, and gives hints.

Then it won't matter if this is all in japanese or not. :)

The Picross screen actually works very well. When you touch a square the numbers for that row and column pop up at the side and the top, so it's not like you're going back and forth to check the numbers all the time.

You haven't actually played any of the other Picross games on the DS, have you?

All this talk of lines and numbers is all very well, but when, WHEN will they do a ds conversion of Uo Poko, officially the greatest game in the universe?

Eh?

You haven't actually played any of the other Picross games on the DS, have you?

(Edit: I know that wasn't expressly aimed at me, but still..)

I just don't understand either of the criticisms you level at Picross DS, to be honest..

The menu system is fine, I can reach a puzzle with four taps of the stylus. As for being "swamped in Japanese menus", why is it you could be bothered to learn the menu structure for Illust Logic or Slitherlink, and not Picross DS?

Also, I find the control system completely intuitive - why wouldn't you want to fill in the coloured squares with a stylus? I can't think of a more natural way to do it. It's simple - left hand on the d-pad, right hand holds the stylus.. hold up and tap to fill in a square, hold down and tap to mark it as empty, tap and drag to move the screen. There's even a key/legend in the top left corner of the screen to remind you, should you forget!

You don't even mention the puzzle editor (with the capability to send puzzles to your friends via wi-fi), the multiplayer, the fact that Nintendo are releasing weekly packs of ten puzzles that you can download and play.. maybe you should have spent a few more minutes deciphering the menus.

@Benjaminos

It seems the WOS review roundup has got Picrossds and the Hudson one the wrong way round. Picross DS even allows you to download mario related puzzles if you take it online. It's the blueey one shown in the screenshot for the Hudson game.

And it's totally excellent.

They're not the wrong way round, the screenshots in the roundup are arranged in pairs.

Picross DS has a far more complicated menu system than Illust Logic, but it's the scrolling that really screws it up. It's *ridiculously* fiddly to do a 15x15 puzzle by constantly having to scroll the screen around to see where the edges are and therefore where the squares have to go. And the thing is, it's totally unnecessary - Illust Logic makes much more intelligent use of the screen area to fit puzzles in without making it a horrible nightmare to use.

I can see how people would like Picross DS if it was the first Picross game they'd played, because Picross generally is great. But if you've played any other one, be it on DS, Game Boy, SNES or anything else, you'll recognise the interface as the appallingly cack-handed abortion that it is. Hell, the PD one for the GBA does a better job.

Well I can't argue with that. Because it's the first Picross I've played! I will track down the ones you recommend and shut up right now:)

[faints]

Don't get too surprised, as I still own a copy of Mario Picross for the GB, and I still think you're talking cobblers.

Edit for some actual content: I can't see why scrolling is such a bugbear for you.. the whole puzzle is permanently visible on the top screen all the time anyway, and if you're using the stylus to colour in squares, what difference does it make if you have to tap one or two times extra to move the screen?

I think Slitherlink has brought some kind of mad love to the world.

The comments thread didn't descend into a screaming mess of "BETTER THAN HALO 2 THEN?"s.

People have expressed their Slitherlink and Picross love.

A wonderful game has been bought by many.

jonsaan's reply was a reasonable and modest comment on a forum.

And then Stu actually went back to Picross DS to check he wasn't wrong!

(He wasn't. It's a horrible idea to scroll the screen. Even the vast Picross in 94's Mario Picross 2 get it better on a Gameboy).

'Factor in going back to re-do earlier puzzles for the satisfaction of proving how much better at them I am now'

Which is exactly why I can't take Elite Beat Agents out of my DS to give this a try :(

but
but
but

It's not even shiny...

Oops.

Bought.

Get a taste for it here:

http://www.puzzle-loop.com/

(in English too)

Ordered it, along with Illust Logic.

Trying not to play around on the puzzle-loop website so that it still feels fresh when it arrives. Not easy.

Im not usually one to jump on the bandwagon so fast, but i know how potently addictive these DS puzzle games can be. Eurogamer gave me a justified heads-up on 42ATC, so im willing to trust them on this one as well.

*Pulls a sad face at Play-asia's "dispatched within 7 days" notice* Bastards!

Ten out of ten... is this the best videogame ever? It must be!

i have sudoku essentials which is picross and sudoku and that seems like an amiable little game. what do the picross and sudoku connoisseurs make of this game?

Read the first two paragraphs, man...

Yet more puzzle joy for the DS - truly the best puzzling console there is, which is why I have one.

Apart from those on the Rev's website, what other Japanese puzzling goodness is recommended here (assuming no language barriers)?

I doubt I will ever get my hands on Guru Logic Champ (been after it for 2 years but still never found a copy).

R

Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection: The ultimate little-squarish-puzzle-games-collection. Works on PC, Mac, Unix and Pocket-PC. Great timewasters!

Look for "Loopy", if you want to play Slitherlink.

oh god gerald, i so wish you hadn't posted that link... yikes! :)

Hurrah, 100th DS game review. Can't wait to get this, it'll be interesting to see if it takes over me like Kurushi Final still does to this day. So.many.blocks.

I'm loving it...but can anyone explain what the blue and yellow dotted line is for?

Well I caved in too and ordered a copy :) It sounds like perfect bus fodder and I haven't had a puzzle game on the DS since Tetris got stolen last year, lol. Can't wait!

Does Slitherlink really qualify as a "Video Game" in the same sense as, say, Olbivion, Mario or God of War ? I frankly do not think so. It is a puzzle game, as a crosswords. Because it is played on a screen does not make it a video game.

@RickHard: To me, (not played this yet though, just read the review) this is more of a video game than oblivion, which is more of an interactive story than an actual game.

Games are toys. Games are there to be played. If you have fun playing said game, then it's a good game.

And apparently this is just that.

EDIT: Stuart campbell likes it.. Therefore ipso facto, it's shite.

(and he probably only likes it as he probably didnt pay for it, only downloaded it - probably).

I thought GridWars was great, and he recommended it!

Really?

Wow.

Sounds good I'll see if I can fins a copy.

played it. didn't get it... what am I missing?

EDIT: I guess random clicking just isn't right, right?

Only just got this, and i actually think the review might be right! - could not put it down last night.

Although... I play purely with D-pad and buttons - beautifully fast!. seems much better than stylus control to me.

Got my copy on Monday and have been enjoying it since, playing about 2h in bed each evening... :)
I would still like a complete translation for the options screen and some of the tutorial. What's with the incoming blue lines for the later cases?

Blarg. Play-asia have changed the shipping date from March 29th to April 10th for my copy. At least they shipped out Illust Logic separately.

And I have Puzzle Quest coming. Woo!

i too have bought it, mostly because the revioew cracked me up so much, hope its good woo!

Well copy arrived on the morning of my gf's birthday!

/is a lucky man!

Mine arrived today also. Enjoying it muchly, and has bumped Illust Logic out of my DS for now.

Mine just arrived - sitting in the sun struggling to see the screen :) I like it