Chip off the old block ...
This has been out in Europe for a while now and it's stayed firmly put in my DS since then. It is one of those classic games where you pick up for a quick puzzle or two and fall under it's spell again. Suddenly it is 2AM and you still want to finish a new section.
It does takes a while to get your head around the concept and navigate around the blocks. If you are used to the 2D versions, the third dimension is a lot trickier. Although it is the same basic mechanic (delete the zeroes, leave the high numbers and so on), your brain will be oozing out of your ears as you have to scoot between horizontal and vertical layers, picking off the odd block or two, turning the puzzle around and starting the process again. The stylus is sometimes a little inaccurate however, especially when you are trying to get rid of a few blocks at the back of a puzzle and hit the wrong one by accident. By the way, given it has 350 puzzles (plus more to download apparently and user generated ones), you will still be happily playing through the lenghty tutorial many hours in. The difficulty curve is very smooth before you hit the super hard levels.
And it is so stupid as well. You are a grown adult human being but the pleasure you get from discovering a baseball player or simple depiction of a household item is amazing. It's always rewarding you - pushing you on to the next level. The star system adds another element to the game too - one star for completion, another for getting it within the time limit and the third if you don't make any mistakes. The latter, if you are in anyway OCD, is essential - you will repeat a 15 minute puzzle just to get a perfect score. Speaking of which, the puzzles are all grouped into many different categories (e.g. objects found in an office, a love letter, fruit items etc) - you will want to complete each collection and play with the simple animations.
For value-for-money, this is up there with Link's Awakening or Tetris. Hundreds of puzzles at about 5-15 minutes a time is well worth it. Perfect for a commute or just to pick up when you are bored and want to exercise your little grey cells. The DS does puzzle games so well, you need to get this or at least give it a decent try. I'm off to see what the next item is ...
