Mario's Super Picross - Gameplay

Gameplay

Gameplay remains the same as in Mario's Picross, where the player must decipher the picture in each level, progressing to harder and harder puzzles. However, the player may also play "as" Wario, who presents a different challenge due to changes in the gameplay.

Each game is played against the clock. Opposing the picross tradition of black and white squares, the puzzles are set in stone and are picked out by Mario with a pick-axe type tool. The initial levels are smaller and a lot easier and are mainly Japanese symbols and Greek letters. When the player solves a puzzle correctly, the black-and-white representation becomes colored and animated, and the game shows the player the title of the puzzle. When the player finishes a section, Mario will congratulate him on his progress and either bow (in the first and last levels) or give a thumbs up (in all other levels).

The player must work through levels in order to get access to harder levels, with more rows and columns. In Mario's puzzles, if the player marks the wrong cell, time will be lost. The amount of time lost doubles for every mistake (one minute, two minutes, four, and finally eight). In Wario's puzzles, the time counts up from zero, and you are not penalized for marking the incorrect cell. However, you are also not told you made a mistake, and thus the mark will stay until you remove it. Because of this, Wario's puzzles are a little harder than Mario's puzzles, as it takes more guesswork to solve them. This mode is similar to the Free Mode in Picross DS.