Sudoku Gridmaster is one of the first games from Nintendo to get branded with the Touch Generations label, which identifies titles that anyone can pick up and play — even those with zero gaming experience — and that can be played at competitive levels or as casual fun.
The logo for these games appears in orange, with the letter G and a stylus. Touch Generations titles include Big Brain Academy, Brain Age, Magnetica, Nintendogs, Electroplankton, Tetris DS, and True Swing Golf.
Nintendo is attempting to reach those who have little experience with video games and those who like puzzles and other games in this category; Sudoku Gridmaster fits in very well. The game works like a puzzle; enter the numbers between one and nine in all the squares in the grid, while ensuring no one number appears in the same row or column twice. If you've played Sudoku in Brain Age, however, be warned that the two are different in how you use the controls.
Sudoku Gridmaster for the Nintendo DS contains over 400 puzzles ranging from easy to difficult, so fans can get plenty of nine-by-nine-squared goodness to keep them busy for a long time. Those who've never played the puzzle or haven't gotten the hang of using a Nintendo DS will appreciate the game's detailed help and guidance. The game comes with practice mode to help you get a feel for the game and its rules.
However, using a stylus with Brain Age's version of Sudoku is easier than with Gridmaster. The handwriting recognition doesn't work as well in Gridmaster and the controls are more tedious, whether you write them or tap them. Gridmaster does have a few tools that come in handy, double-tapping a number highlights all of the same number that appear in the grid. It also lets you highlight entire rows and columns.
Question marks float in the background, which gets annoying after a while. While you can change the background color, you can't turn off the animation. To move around the game, you can use write or touch mode, although in write mode, you tap the screen to do a few tasks.
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