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ESRB: 
Platform: PSP
Category: Puzzle
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Graphics 7 |
Sound 6.5 |
Gameplay 8 |
Tilt 7.5 ||
Overall 7.333
Author: Trevor H
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Developer – Atomic Planet
Publisher – Xplosiv and Eidos Interactive
Features:
1-2 Players
Game Share Multiplayer
When I first received Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku for the PSP my first thought was who the heck is Carol Vorderman? My second thought was what is Sudoku? Little did I know Carol Vorderman is an English television personality best known for being a long-standing co-presenter a game show called Countdown. By looking at the cover of the game you would never know she was born in 1960. She looks great on the cover of the game considering she is 47 years old. Having found the answer to my first question I still wondered about my second question. Sudoku is a logic-based number placement puzzle where the objective is to fill a 9x9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3x3 boxes contains the digits 1 to 9. Seems simple right? Well not quite. Fortunately Carol, the ‘ultimate Sudoku expert’, gives you over 30 minutes of advice on your way to becoming a Sudoku master. At the end of the day, Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku is not my cup of tea however if you are a fan of the ever so addictive Sudoku game then this game is for you.
Graphics
In terms of the visuals, Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku is about what I expected. Does it take advantage and optimize the power of the PSP? Not quite, but it is what you would expect out of a puzzle game of this type on the PSP. There is nothing flashy and it has a simple yet effective interface. The numbers on the screen are clear and the screens are easy to read. The Sudoku grid looks sharp too. The video tutorials are well presented and top notch. Carol Vorderman leads you through all the tutorials and you can’t help but look at her in amazement and think how great she looks for her age. There are no noticeable slow-downs during the tutorial and they run surprisingly very smooth.
There are some minor issues with the visuals such as differentiating between numbers you have entered and the numbers already posted at the onset of the puzzle. They could have perhaps done a little more with the backgrounds as well as they essentially consist of numbers. Other than that I really don’t have too many concerns with the visuals. Overall, I found this game difficult to compare to other PSP tittles as puzzle games of this type are generally not my cup of tea.
Sound
As far as the sound is concerned, Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku is less than stellar. The audio presentation is very repetitive and I found myself putting the game on mute preferring to play with just background noise from whatever room I was in. The music does suit the game but it only features the one track which plays over and over again. It is certainly not your traditional puzzle tune which can feature a non-stopping techno beat. It is much more relaxing and soothing but frankly it became a little too much for me after 20 minutes or so.
The sound effects of the numbers however are good and certainly much easier to handle than the music. It is essentially what you would expect with a puzzle game such as this. Numbers make a certain sound and when a row is completed a sound effect is triggered. Simple yet effective.
Overall, I was impressed with the tutorials included in this game. The music and lessons provided by Carol Vorderman are helpful. Overall, I found them informative and she is certainly pleasant on the eyes. On a side note, she is not too shy about showing off her assets either. The tutorials were a nice break from gaming and great little feature that teaches you everything from the fundamentals of Sudoku to advanced strategies.
Gameplay
As far as the gameplay Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku is solid. With over 1 million puzzle boards to choose from die hard Sudoku fans with have endless amount of hours to conquer the game. It’s even enjoyable for noobs like me who have never played a Sudoku game of anykind before reviewing this game.
When you first fire up this title Carol Vorderman spews out a little history lessen on Sudoku. Personally I found it interesting and informative as I am rookie at this genre as indicated above. Once the history lesson is over the game starts. You also can access approximately 30 minutes worth of Carol Vorderman tutorial videos. In these videos she tells you everything you need to know from the rules of the game to a countless number of tips to assist your Sudoku skills.
The single player has several modes. There is a Classic mode which lets you get right into a game at any difficulty level. There is also an Arcade mode which has four modes within it. They are as follows:
- Beat the Clock – Is exactly as it sounds. Finish the puzzle before the clock expires. It’s a simple but addictive mode.
- Extra Time – In this mode you have to solve the puzzles within a certain amount of time. You get extra time by inserting the numbers correctly.
- Perfection – In this mode you have a certain amount of time and errors costs you time on the clock.
- 3 Strikes – Again, it’s exactly as it sounds and was my favourite option of them all. You have to solve a puzzle in the fastest time possible and you are only allowed three mistakes.
There is also a Career Mode in Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku. Similar to Karate you start as a White Belt and you you work your thorugh the various puzzles in an effort to earn a Black Belt. The final mode is the Challenge Carol option. This one is pretty much self explanatory however you should not even try this mode until you have played the game for a significant amount of time.
The game controls are simple and easy to learn. I won’t explain much here as it will only take you minutes to learn the controls which will allow you to play Sudoku until your hearts content. Frankly I was quite impressed on how everything did control on the PSP. This game would benefit from a touch screen but the PSP did a great job utilizing the available control buttons.
There are some Multiplayer modes in the game too. Frankly, I did not spend much time in this area as I have nowhere near the confidence in my Sudoku skills where I would be actually competitive in a head to head game. What you do need to know is there are several multiplayer modes and the game also supports wireless play.
Conclusion
Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku is a great Sudoku game for anyone on the go. I already envision people playing this one for hours in the airports or on long car rides. The price is also right considering it is much cheaper than your typical newly released PSP game. Overall Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku is worth picking up as the gameplay is addictive and quite enjoyable. Sure the sound and visuals are nothing to write home about however this PSP version of a puzzle classic is worth picking up not only for the hardcore Sudoku players but for the casual puzzle rookies like me too.
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