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If you like Sudoku this game is Essential. - merlin - 23/03/2007 17:09:03 - edited by andrzej marczewski
Genre: Puzzler - Publisher: D3 Publisher - Release Date: Out Now

No fancy graphics needed in this one. Just good puzzling. If you're into sudoku, this game for the DS will keep you going for weeks. It has 1000 preinstalled puzzles with the option of creating new ones to share with your mates. Essential Sudoku has a very user-friendly number inputting mode. Making use of either the D pad and the A+B buttons, the scribe or both, whichever suits you best.

After purchasing this game specifically for the sudoku feature, I was pleasantly surprised to find a picture puzzle on the same pack. This is another Japanese puzzle, sometimes known as a Tsunami. Whereby using logic you build a picture in a grid using clues on the top and left side of the screen. These clues indicate how many squares to fill in the grid and what colour they should be. Again there are 1000 puzzles of this type to have a go at and the option to create new ones to challenge others.

A grade is given when you complete a puzzle depending on the time it takes to finish it. This gives a lot of replay options, trying to beat your last time on a puzzle.

Both modes in this game, number and picture, have 10 stages, each of 100 levels. Level 1 is obviously the easiest and level 100 the hardest. One problem I had with this is that when you get to level 100 and complete it, you have to go back to level 1 on stage 2. This poses little or no challenge if you have finally worked out level 100 on the previous stage. One way to overcome this is to break down each stage into 20 levels. Go through from 1 to 20 on each stage in turn. Then go to 21 to 40 and so on. This way you don't get a repetitive rise and fall in the ease of puzzles.

The music is very cheesy and only bare able for about 5 minutes before the volume control is needed. As with most games for the DS, there is wireless versus option available. This is where you race to finish the puzzle before your opponent. I personally find these puzzles much more fun to do on my own.