Sudoku Master (Nintendo DS) Review

And looking at it you can actually tell this is not a Nintendo-made product as it certainly lacks the style and finesse that we have come to associate with the creators of such classics as Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong. But, not to take too much away from Hudson's budget-priced effort, it gets the point across, with clear boards and easy-to-read numbers. I mean, what else do you really need to play Sudoku in terms of visuals? The same goes for the audio aspect. It is definitely nothing that will warrant turning up the volume, but then again when you are trying to concentrate on some of the harder puzzles, do you really want some mellow tunes in the background, sending you to sleep?

Before Brain Training came along I had only heard of Sudoku and how people were going crazy over it, swearing that I would never get into the 'fad' (albeit quite a long fad...). However, as part of the Brain Training package I ended up coming to love the numbers game. At first I drew a blank when looking at the first ever grid, purely because I had no idea what I was supposed to do. And there may well be some of you reading this that think the same way. Therefore, for those select few, here is a quick overview of the idea behind Sudoku.

You are faced with a grid comprising of 81 little boxes, some of which will already be filled in for you, with more numbers filled in on the easier settings and far less on the difficult ones. Each three-by-three block can only have a single number between one and nine, with no duplications. At the same time, each vertical line of the entire grid must be filled in with a single digit between one and nine, again with no duplications. Finally, the same must be done with every single horizontal line. Therefore, you end up having to really think hard about ensuring there is no duplication of numbers across each axis, as well as those three-by-three mini-grids.

In Brain Training there were one hundred puzzles spread across three difficulty levels. Sudoku Master, though, offers up a massive four hundred of them (again over three levels of difficulty) and even challenges you to beat the clock in order to open up some of those. Therefore, there is actually incentive to complete them, as if you want to crack each and every one of them, you MUST become a Sudoku Master and beat the set times (receiving a grade each time one is completed). Thankfully, here you can save your progress part-way through a puzzle, without affecting your overall time, and come back later to pick up where you left off.

There are also hints available, meaning that the game will highlight certain potential 'clash numbers' and guide you along by the hand, which will definitely be a breath of relief for those tempted by Sudoku, but still unsure about it on the whole. In terms of actual input, okay Brain Training's hand-writing recognition was a great plus, but also a huge source of frustration when you wrote '4', but the game thought it was '7' and promptly penalised you. Therefore, the fact that you can either use the d-pad set-up to scroll to the designated square and then over to the number-inputting box (the slow option) or merely tap the box and then number you want to input (the quicker, recommended option) is actually very pleasing. You can opt to write the numbers in if you want, though...at least there are several options available to keep everyone happy.

The only real drawback would have to be that there are no extras such as the ability to create your own puzzles and send them wirelessly over to a friend. There are no multiplayer options either, actually, meaning that Sudoku battling is not available; something that seems like an oversight. However, this is definitely a robust package and only