This is a game I got for free via the My Nintendo service aaaages ago (like, 8 years, according to my 3DS' time log XD) back when they still did gold points for games from time to time. I've had it sitting half-finished in my 3DS for ages, and after doing Super Mario's Picross a few weeks back, I figured why not go through and finally finish this off as well. It took me a total of 38 hours, according to my activity log, to beat all(?) 256 puzzles in the game.
Mario's Picross is one of Nintendo's first attempts to get Picross popular outside of Japan, and it didn't really catch on. That said, it's still a fine Picross game. It has 264 puzzles of 5x5, 10x10, and 15x15 sizes. 64 are beginner "Easy" Picross, then there's the larger and more difficult Mushroom and Star rank puzzles of which there are 64 each. These are standard puzzles where you have a 30 minute time limit and errors are corrected and subtract from your time. Then, when you beat all of those three sets, you unlock Time Trial mode.
Time Trial mode has you playing without error corrections and no time limit (like Wario's puzzles in the Super Famicom game), but with a bit of a twist. There is no level select for Time Trial mode. You just get another selected puzzle from the set of 64. I actually wasn't counting, and there's no way to know if you've actually done them all, but I played a LOT of time trial mode and eventually the puzzles started repeating, so I assume I've beaten them all? XD . At any rate, they very confusingly rank your best times against one another and you can enter your initials, which is pretty weird given some of those puzzles are much easier than others, so ranking the times against each other has no real point, but the random assortment (picked from the list of 64 of ones you haven't done yet) does give this a good deal of replayability if it's all you've got for a long car ride.
The downsides of this really come down to its age and its platform. For starters, the most obvious problem is that this is still in the age before the numbers you'd filled in were filled out automatically. What's even worse is that unlike the Super Famicom game, you can't even cross out those numbers yourself, so it's all counting in your head. Given that the biggest puzzles are 15x15, that isn't SUCH a huge problem, but it's still a pain. Then beyond that the limitation of the GameBoy's resolution meaning 15x15 is as big as the puzzles get is a little disappointing, but it's not a really big deal, and it helps the games go faster too.
The presentation is fine. There are a good assortment of puzzles of Mario things as well as all sorts of other objects (from the Grim Reaper to a Mario Mushroom to even a sake jug with the kanji for "sake" written on the side XD). There are no animations on the finished puzzles like the Super Famicom game, but that's really to be expected. The music is also not amazing and really forgettable, but it's Picross, so you could really always put on your own music or a podcast these days.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. The lack of QoL features compared to more modern Picross games makes this more of a difficult game to recommend than the SFC game. It's a good puzzle game for the GameBoy, but you're probably better off just going with a more modern Picross game given how cheap they are on the Switch (or even on your phone) compared to what you'll have to pay for this game. It's not a bad game, but age and the popularity of Picross haven't been very kind to this otherwise quite solid entry in digital puzzledom.
Mario's Picross is one of Nintendo's first attempts to get Picross popular outside of Japan, and it didn't really catch on. That said, it's still a fine Picross game. It has 264 puzzles of 5x5, 10x10, and 15x15 sizes. 64 are beginner "Easy" Picross, then there's the larger and more difficult Mushroom and Star rank puzzles of which there are 64 each. These are standard puzzles where you have a 30 minute time limit and errors are corrected and subtract from your time. Then, when you beat all of those three sets, you unlock Time Trial mode.
Time Trial mode has you playing without error corrections and no time limit (like Wario's puzzles in the Super Famicom game), but with a bit of a twist. There is no level select for Time Trial mode. You just get another selected puzzle from the set of 64. I actually wasn't counting, and there's no way to know if you've actually done them all, but I played a LOT of time trial mode and eventually the puzzles started repeating, so I assume I've beaten them all? XD . At any rate, they very confusingly rank your best times against one another and you can enter your initials, which is pretty weird given some of those puzzles are much easier than others, so ranking the times against each other has no real point, but the random assortment (picked from the list of 64 of ones you haven't done yet) does give this a good deal of replayability if it's all you've got for a long car ride.
The downsides of this really come down to its age and its platform. For starters, the most obvious problem is that this is still in the age before the numbers you'd filled in were filled out automatically. What's even worse is that unlike the Super Famicom game, you can't even cross out those numbers yourself, so it's all counting in your head. Given that the biggest puzzles are 15x15, that isn't SUCH a huge problem, but it's still a pain. Then beyond that the limitation of the GameBoy's resolution meaning 15x15 is as big as the puzzles get is a little disappointing, but it's not a really big deal, and it helps the games go faster too.
The presentation is fine. There are a good assortment of puzzles of Mario things as well as all sorts of other objects (from the Grim Reaper to a Mario Mushroom to even a sake jug with the kanji for "sake" written on the side XD). There are no animations on the finished puzzles like the Super Famicom game, but that's really to be expected. The music is also not amazing and really forgettable, but it's Picross, so you could really always put on your own music or a podcast these days.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. The lack of QoL features compared to more modern Picross games makes this more of a difficult game to recommend than the SFC game. It's a good puzzle game for the GameBoy, but you're probably better off just going with a more modern Picross game given how cheap they are on the Switch (or even on your phone) compared to what you'll have to pay for this game. It's not a bad game, but age and the popularity of Picross haven't been very kind to this otherwise quite solid entry in digital puzzledom.
It's like picross, but it's clunky. One of the only things a puzzle game needs to do is have a good cursor. It's also pretty small too. But, it's picross. And I do love me some picross.
(Review from 2021) Good Picross game for its time, I think some aspects are a bit clunkier now but considering when it came out I think it’s great and I’m happy it held my interest as long as it did. The time penalty was an interesting way to incorporate solving it correctly
THE best timesink on the gameboy. hidden gamer trivia is that the final mode where they throw a ton of random picrosses at you is NOT endless and is NOT (i don't think) completely random. 100% completion... it can be done...
foundational puzzle game
I'm going to run out of things to say about Picross by the time I get tired of this game. This one was a bit lesser than the Picross e games I've been playing, solely because it doesn't have a lot of the quality of life features which those later games have. This one had some of the more genuinely difficult puzzles I've faced.
I shouldn't enjoy picross this much
There isn't really much to say about Picross. It's a fun puzzle game.
One thing I want to say about this version is that the cursor doesn't feel as responsive as it should be, but that is something that can be adapted to.
One thing I want to say about this version is that the cursor doesn't feel as responsive as it should be, but that is something that can be adapted to.
fire, the first game to put me on to picross and im happy it did, one of those key games that turned me into a freak of a human being
Picross, except this time it's small and your ears are gonna bleed.
What more do you need? It's picross.
What more do you need? It's picross.
Was on Star Puzzle #60 when my cartridge shorted and I lost my entire save file. Fml.
how'd they fit so many squares inside this big square, it just doesn't make sense
how could you not like picross you absolute buffoon
It's picross.
A unique puzzle game that got me introduced to picross. It is a very fun time waster, but some of the rules were a little iffy in explaining...unless I'm just slow
i liked this game but i gotta say the last 16 or so levels are next level evil. just the most fucked up guesswork ever construed by the worlds top sociopath But other than that ilikegit🙂
Played on an emulator for a little while out of curiosity, either on my phone or my laptop, can't remember which. I like nonogram puzzles, and there's nothing wrong with this game, but with the large number of Picross titles available on Switch, I have no reason to return to this specific version of it.
It's picross. Not sure why it's Mario's, there are hardly any mario related pictures in it.
It's lacking any QoL. When you complete a number in a row or column, it doesn't get marked.
While it's possible to finish the puzzles without guessing, it does get very difficult. Some of them take up to 1 hour for me(especially starting with the time trials). Maybe I'm just bad. I stopped after 7 time trials.
There are 256 puzzles in total. They get more difficult as you progress. First puzzles will only take a couple of minutes or less, then it ramps up.
Not sure I can recommend this one, when there are so many more picross games. Nothing wrong with this one, and I was curious how it was, but it's probably a better idea to start from the newer titles and go backwards so you don't get burned out by playing the old ones.
It's lacking any QoL. When you complete a number in a row or column, it doesn't get marked.
While it's possible to finish the puzzles without guessing, it does get very difficult. Some of them take up to 1 hour for me(especially starting with the time trials). Maybe I'm just bad. I stopped after 7 time trials.
There are 256 puzzles in total. They get more difficult as you progress. First puzzles will only take a couple of minutes or less, then it ramps up.
Not sure I can recommend this one, when there are so many more picross games. Nothing wrong with this one, and I was curious how it was, but it's probably a better idea to start from the newer titles and go backwards so you don't get burned out by playing the old ones.
Picross. Good. Soundtrack is an absolute banger.
This game started my Picross addiction and honestly I had a pretty fun time with it; playing it felt like I was experiencing something from my childhood occasionally, though it does get pretty repetitive occasionally
Pre-Picross e is pretty unpolished, but an unpolished diamond is still a diamond.
perfect covid game
good classic picross, ain't nothin like it :)
picross
I love this puzzle game. I can pick it up and play it anytime.
Lacks challenge
Pretty decent picross game.
best in show
Can't say I ever pictured Picross as a fun puzzle game, but that's exactly what it is. With an interesting mechanic of using tiles and numbers on a grid based system, Picross always has your brain working on both sides! The only problem is Mario's Picross can often be a bit to trying and tedious to be fun all the time, thanks to its penalty system, but really Mario's Picross is a good niche puzzler.
Relaxing and free on SNES online on Switch