Mario's Picross (1995)

Preliminary: I was very unsure cuz, well, puzzle games aren't really my thing. And it's Gameboy which I'm ready for a new era. But I am impressed with the different tunes so far, with the How To Play and easing in with different difficulties, and the way you choose a level etc. I've never played any Picross so I'm starting with How To Play :-p

I am not a very reveal-the-picture person. Instead I am purely looking at the numbers and enjoying it. It's kinda reminding me of when I first discovered Sudoku. It's my calm night so I can only play for 45 mins at a time but I am liking this way more than I expected, and the tunes continue to delight. I can only iamgine how great this would've been as a handheld game I could pick up any time as a kid. I loved number puzzles so I would've eaten it up, just never knew about this. I am playing it on a big screen, so I can imagine the numbers and whatnot get a bit hard to see, but as I am palying it, it is great. Just not that into revealing the picture aspect, just figuring out the numbers :-p And I like this level select screen

Day 1

I am so surprised right now. I am thoroughly hooked. It is such a fresh feeling like finding sudoku for the first time. It has so many QoL features too like able to mark an X in a tile you finished off etc. and how fast everything moves and reacts to your press.

I am absolutely loving tihs. Since apparently I'm going to be playing quite a bit of this, I do think I will eventually mute it but that's more so just out of how long I've been playing it and only so much space for different tunes heh. I'm already down to Level 3, having done all the letters for Levels 1 and 2, and still really enjoying tihs. My problem with puzzle games is, I never know when to consider myself done. Luckily this one lets me skip ahead, so if I do burnout with this 100% vibe I can just try some later ones to see more.

What I also really like about this is, I am not turningt o google to read common nonogram/picross strategies (tho I'm sure for the hard ones I will have to). I am figuring out things on my own. Again, like when I first foudn Sudoku.

Well darn I'm finally getting to a level of challenge that I'm stuck and can't use the methods I've thought of so far. May have to cave and look up usual Nonogram techniques. (Nevermind, I had thought of another idea before caving :-p ) Bahaha I just realized/confirmed that they do put the numbers in order, that helps a lot. Now I'm flying along! Tho I'm supposed to take a break. I'm definitely hooked to this tho I wanted to treat it as a relax and just slowly solve the puzzles, even the 30 min timer cut it close now that I am near the end of Level 3. To imagine there are 8 levels... and this s the Easy category! I will surely eventually burnout, and am disappointed it's not purely a relaxing puzzle game, but I am very very impressed with nonograms and this game.

I keep telling myself I need to get up and make my tea and do my calm time but I find myself keep clicking the next level lol I also told myself to just mute it and watch a relaxing movie or calming music and could still play it but here I am, just so hooked I can't stop.

Yessss lol

I have spent now hours playing this lol. And still never see the pictures till they name it for me, but loving the numbers. And I keep realizing very basic aspects of it that make it easier and easier, all without ever looking up strategies. Loving it.

Ok I had to forcably stop myself as I got to 5A lol. I never made my tea, never toook my break, and it's movie time.

Day 2

Oh gosh this game is full. Which is impressive and perfect for a handheld game. I wish I had it on cartridge so I could paly it on the go at work etc. Because it looks like there are several mroe areas to unlock and that you actually unlock them by completing the levels, which is something that only perpetuates my hook. Ah!

At work today I took a peek at a picross website and uh, I think what I love is Easy Picross on Mario's Picross!

I'm still super hooked even as the puzzle is getting so long that my eyes are getting a bite tired and hard to coutn all these squares and it's getting a bit more puzzle-game-I-don't-push-through-y. But yeah. I'm at 7G, so I might as well get through 8H. And I decided I am only requiring myself to get through a row or so of the "real" Picross. But either way this is a new Favorite.

I have the kind of hook where I hold in my pee, the kind where even tho I think I got COVID from my coteacher I can't stop playing. It's good and bad: I don't like this level of hook because then I put off healthy habits and being mindful of my body. But I like it because I don't get it often anymore and it's a fresh exciting game. And it's this ravenous sort of hook, not like my action platformer hook where I recognize my readyness for a break after a couple horus of gameplay. instead I just keep clicking the next puzzle!

Ok I had to physically rip myself from it at 8B. There's just that last row of Easy Picross then gonna do a row of normal Picross. I can always return to this when in the mood to slowly chip away at the rest of it. Hours played already...

** Day 3**

Welp, I finished all the Easy Picrosses! Time to do just one row of the "true" ones then count it done for now. But will slowly chip away at it.

Oh good you still get the hint. Ugh that means I will want to do all these too >.< But this is a very robust/full game! And dang I got through that first one in less than 3 mins... Ugh maybe I could get through all tehse! Ahhhh

Welp I didn't follow my rule. I'm at 3A of Kinoko Course >.< I really need to just treat this as someting I return to twice a week or something. Had a rough day. First a COVID scare, then some bad news. But still juts played played played smh. I got myselef to stop at 3A at least, but it's time for movie tiem anyway lol.

Day 4

I think I need to seek cousneling. I can't stop lol

I am absolutely loving this but I do really need to move on and see more. I've decided for real now, I am stopping at 4H of the Kinoko Course and I will just return to this over time.

Ok I stuck with it but did maybe I did peek at 8H just to see what hardest level was like and I did complete it, but I am finally moving on. Still absolutely loved it, still was absolutely grooving to the tunes (and how often can I say a song repeated that many times still grooved for me?). Just a lot of great things to say

Look: 9.5/10 Nothing spectacular but I like the level select screen, I like the images, and I like the references to other games. Plus it's crystal clear and very fffective for its goal, and good UI. You know what I am boosting this .5. It really is high quality and you can tell they put their all into every bit of this game.

Sound: 10/10 I know I shouldn't. But I will. What other game can I hear a song for about 9 hours straight and still be grooving to it. And there's a sentimental/cathartic aspect to it, not just bumping. Plus, it's handheld. So considering the limitations, nice.

Play: 10/10 I haven't been this addicted to a game... Just that's it that's the sentence. This was different than my usual platformer or RPG hook. This was a can't-stop-for-anything hook.

Feel: 10/10 With a more spectacular Look (and maybe if I had seen the ending there would be >.> maybe some day), this would easily be a 10. And I'm quite positive that was the Link's Awakening/Zelda Shovel :-p

Attachment: 10/10 Once I return to it, which I'm sure I will, this will likely end up a 10.

Overall: 9.9/10

Completion: "64/64 64/64" I think is what it says on my save data? See above

Playtime: 9 hours

EDIT 1/30/26:

Welp I did all of Star Course and then one Time Trial. I'm considering this done since it's 100% according to the title screen and I am about to get to Mario's Super Picross.

I upped the Look and Attachment because of returning to this and the different looks of the level selects. And might as well 10 for Feel since it's an intense beloved feel now. And adding it to Ultimates. It's the perfect handheld game. Can just pickup and play a puzzle then it saves and get back to life

This is my first time playing a Picross game, even though I own others like the TLoZ: Twilight Princess on the 3DS I never actually sat down and played through it properly. It's challenging but very fun and engaging, perfect for a quick session while listening to podcasts or music.

The instructions at the beginning were clear enough so I didn't find it hard learning how to play at all.

There are three downsides, though:

• Every time we choose a level we need to select whether we want tips or not (I wish we could just turn it on or off instead of seeing the same pop-up appear over and over again);
• The controls are a bit buggy and slow;
• Some of the drawings were pretty... vague, to say the least.

Overall, very addicting game you could easily sink hours into.

I mistakenly thought I'd played this game, but I was confusing it with Mario's Super Picross (which I played shortly after it debuted on Nintendo Switch Online).

Compared to that game and Picross 2 (an entry I really enjoyed), Mario's Picross is extremely basic. It offers a fine introduction to nonogram puzzles, a decent number of puzzles (some cute, some generic), a Time Trial mode, and that's about it.

It's still Picross, and Picross is great. But Jupiter made a lot of improvements in everything that came after.

There's no lack of ways to play Picross/nonograms/oekaki. That being said, Mario Picross is a great way to play. The game is simple enough mechanically, that it works well with the Gameboy interface.

The lack of Nintendo imagery is a bit disappointing, but doesn't really hamper the experience. The game lets you change the background music as you wish, so if you ever get sick of a track, you can switch to another. The game does also lack almost any sort of congratulations as you progress, so if that's your thing, you may find yourself feeling unmotivated as you continue playing.

New to this puzzle type? Mario Picross is a great starting point. Played before? Still plenty of challenging puzzle fun to be had. A great choice for anyone who likes logic/number puzzles.

Personal score: 10/10

Critical score : 8.5/10

History:

Never played this game before. Actually, I don't even know what Picross is!

Expectations:

Seriously, what is Picross!?

Day 1:

I made a Gameboy, on a Gameboy game, being played on a Super Gameboy... Inception Boy?

So I get what Picross is now, and just looking at it I kind of assumed it was a bit like Sudoku. I like this a lot better than Sudoku actually. Puzzles are more interesting than Sudoku, and more fun and rewarding to solve. Still, this particular brand of Picross has one major flaw...

Not a flaw, necessarily, but an issue for me. Picross seems like the perfect portable game, but playing on an actual Gameboy renders all the numbers WAY to small to manage, for me.

Playing it on a TV is good fun, I played through the first eight puzzles that way, but this isn't the kind of game I really want to be setting aside time to play.

Still, it is a really fun puzzle game, and I hope to find a version I can more easily play on the go!

Lies...

Conclusion:

Again, I'm really happy to have been introduced to this game. The puzzles are fun, not "too" difficult and feel rewarding when you complete them. It makes for a great pick up and play type of game, but unfortunately I just can't see this one well enough to enjoy it on a handheld.

Liked:

- Fun, rewarding puzzles that don't eat up too much time.

Disliked:

- Numbers were too small for me to enjoy it on a handheld.

Personal Score: