Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
The sudoku craze continues with Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku from Empire Interactive on PSP. This British TV game show personality can help you fill in those squares. Helpful graphics eliminate a lot of guesswork, especially how many of each number used, in this challenging game.
Don’t know how to play sudoku? Really? Then why did you buy this game? Don’t worry, this intriguing game on a nine-by-nine square grid includes tutorials and create-your-own puzzle options. The highlighting graphics can help you focus on specific numbers if you have a hard time seeing the big picture. Vorderman’s introduction to the game, and other helpful videos representing most of the PSP's power, also provides necessary assistance.
This game is already established in print, but the colorful, time-saving graphics and overall assistance succeed in converting the game to a nice interactive level. The easy-listening music also helps fire those brain synapses and keep the stress level minimal. The immense number of puzzles would amaze even die hard fans, and super-competitive players can even take on Vorderman herself by beating her actual times with a considerable puzzle set.
This one-player game features an instant play classic and four other modes. Rapid time races and “perfect game” challenges can really get the brain clicking to hone your powre of concentration. The extra time mode lets you continue as you solve correctly and creates a bonus-type sense of accomplishment, but largely represents an overall promotional concept of getting players to learn more, faster. Optimistic players should try every mode before they get frustrated and stop. If there are no favorites, then you probably don’t like sudoku. If so, great. Find that niche and stick with it to build your skills, then expand to more challenging puzzles and modes.
The career mode has seven levels, and the multiplayer mode features puzzles in head-to-head or pass back and forth formats. It’s great to experience a title that builds so many cognitive and intellectual skills with sharp, appealing graphics. A high level of variety keeps players spending hours at a time, but it’s very easy to stop and then pick up where you left off later.
There’s no middle ground here. If you love sudoku, you’ll love this endlessly challenging game, despite the lack of roleplaying elements. The more you do, the smarter you become — at this type of puzzle at least. It's a simple production with high volumes of puzzle information that challenges vertically and horizontally. "Britain's Brainiest" Vorderman has an appealing personality as well as credible tactics.
Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB. This game can also be found on: PC, PS2.
