Sudoku Mania

by UFO Interactive

Product Features

• Auto-generating algorithm for an infinite number of puzzles
• Time saving Touch Screen control
• Unique 2-player versus mode
• Customizable difficulty allows you to adjust the game to your personal skill level
• Select from 5 different themes and switch between numbers or symbols

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000FIH72G
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches ; 1.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: June 30, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,735 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Sudoku Mania is a reason for portable puzzle fiends to rejoice! The puzzle sensation makes its debut on the Nintendo DS, with exclusive features not found on any other console. With its time saving Touch Screen control and infinite number of puzzles this is the version of the classic puzzle game you'll want to take everywhere with you. Pick up where you left off with the puzzle saving feature

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst Sudoku Game we've Played, October 28, 2006

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Sudoku Mania (Video Game)

We have tested quite a number of Sudoku handheld games, both for the DS and PSP. My boyfriend is a Sudoku addict! I honestly have to say that Sudoku Mania is the *worst* of anything we have tried.

You can chose a few options - the difficulty of the puzzle, the number of items per grid (2x2, 3x3) and solving with numbers or symbols. You also choose the theme of your puzzle, which change the look and feel of the game. Then you launch into the automatically generated puzzle.

The layout they chose to use is simply awful. The top display shows the puzzle. The bottom area has four TINY arrows that you can click on to move your "selection cube" up, down, left or right. You have to click precisely to move your cursor around. So you're watching the top screen and clicking in tiny spots on the bottom screen to position your cursor to the cube you want to work on. Yes, you can use the D-Pad as well.

Once you select a spot, you use the stylus to tap ONE NUMBER to put into that cube. You can't put in several numbers to indicate what you are currently working on!! Did the developers even play Sudoku before developing this game? No other game misses this most basic technique of playing Sudoku.

Oh, if you put an incorrect number in - where the number is already in a row or column - it flashes. So much for using your brain to solve the puzzle. Not that you really can solve some of these puzzles - their autogenerator seems to have faults and not all games are intuitively solvable.

All of these issues would already have put this game at the bottom of the list, but even their font choices are poor! Looking at the grid, some of the numbers look like other numbers. The contrast is poor so it's hard to see any of them. Again, these are basic issues that really should have been fixed. It's rather obvious that these guys were out to capitalize on the Sukoku mania and figured that once someone bought the game because it said "Sudoku", they'd be unable to return it.

With all the other Sudoku games out on the market, there's really no reason to get this one.

Rating: 1/5

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If you're looking for Sudoku for DS, look elsewhere ..., October 18, 2006

By 

paulinpaloalto "computer geek" (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Sudoku Mania (Video Game)

I bought this game after playing the sudoku in Brain Age and I am very disappointed
with Sudoku Mania. The overall quality of the implementation is really shoddy,
especially when compared to Brain Age. Just to point out a few of the major
limitations:

The user interface is really primitive. You can't use the stylus to navigate.
No handwriting recognition (a nice feature of Brain Age).

The font they use for the numbers is very hard to read (e.g. 3's and 8's are
almost indistinguishable).

There's no way to take notes about the potential possible numbers that
are valid in a given square (this is one of the great features of the
Brain Age sudoku).

It appears that they generate puzzles that have multiple solutions, which,
according to my understanding of sudoku, is not copacetic. What's the point
if you have to guess?

Trust me, buy Brain Age, not this turkey!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How can I get my money back?, March 8, 2007

By 

Jessica E. Bowen (Marlborough, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Sudoku Mania (Video Game)

This is an awful game! I bought it because I've finished all the Sudoku puzzles that came with Brain Age. I'll have to go play them again, because I just wasted $9.99 on this junk.

The worst part is that there's no way to enter possible solutions. You can have either a blank square or a number, that's it.

I also only played for a short while and was too frustrated to continue, but the puzzles on the difficult level do not appear solvable - and I'm a pretty good player.

I have a version for my PDA that lets you choose colors instead of numbers and I love that feature, so I thought I'd like the different themes on this game, but they're just really annoying.

I also think the touch screen programming is off. When you click on an item, sometimes it works and sometimes it acts as though you touched something else. I haven't noticed this on my other DS games, so I assume it's shoddy programming.

This game is TERRIBLE!