Whilst the Sudoku phase is fairly recent in the western world, Sudoku is actually the most popular logic puzzle in Japan. The idea behind the game is fairly simple. All you have to do is fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. There is no mathematics needed and the game encourages using reasoning to solve a puzzle, each puzzle doesn't just have one possible combination but numerous possible "correct" answers. The game may seem confusing; and it does take a little while to pick up but there is a training mode which eases the newcomers to the series into the game.
This is Sudoku: Get It?
Aside from trying to complete the puzzles though; the game is also a race against the clock. Each puzzle has an allotted amount of time and if you run out of time then you will lose a life; this certainly helps to add to the tension of the game. The main real difference between Sudoku on the PSP and on pen and paper is that there is no pen for the PSP. Sony have come up with a fairly basic solution to this though; the shoulder buttons cycle through the numbers and if you just make a number active then you can add it into any box and remove it from any box at any given time. This means you won't be fiddling around with an eraser to fix your mistakes. Even Sudoku masters aren't likely to complain about having to insert the numbers this way as it doesn't really affect the game.
The game includes four difficulty levels for those who like to be eased into the game slowly. The four difficulty levels include easy, medium, hard and fiendish (which sounds a little evil for our liking). The easy levels only take a few minutes to complete, but the later difficulty levels only have a few solutions which means that each puzzle can take over thirty minutes to complete. In total the game includes over 800 puzzles on the disk and Sony are releasing another 200 on yourpsp.com.au up until the end of June, 2006. This downloadable content includes 80 easy puzzles, 60 mild puzzles, 40 difficult and 20 fiendish puzzles which brings the puzzle count to 1000. The downloadable content is available now though, so we're really not sure why these extra puzzles weren't just included on the disk originally.
Pretty standard stuff here
Those who don't want to play their Sudoku alone can play Wi-Fi against three other players. This is the most appealing features of the game though because this cannot be done as easily if you just stick to pen and paper. The game includes support for gameshare as well, and you can wirelessly transmit five puzzles to your friends. This is a disappointing number though considering there are over 800 puzzles on the disk. A selection of fifty puzzles to "gameshare" would have been a bit more generous.
Technically the game isn't exactly a revolution for the PSP; nor is it meant to be. Graphically the game is fairly basic but you can customise the backgrounds to include an image from your image library. The soundtrack in the background is on a loop and isn't memorable at all, but once again the sound is really not something that you'll be thinking about whilst playing the game.
Here we are once again
Go! Sudoku is exactly the title that you would expect, whilst the game isn't likely to be a system seller it does offer some 1000 Sudoku puzzles and the multiplayer is a handy inclusion that sets this game apart from all the other Sudoku games out there; although it is disappointing that the gameshare feature is heavily under utilised. Technically we cannot fault the game though and it is just as easy to play the game on the PSP as it is with a pen and paper, so if you're after a no frills puzzle game that is sure to have you playing for hours then you really cannot go wrong with Go! Sudoku, just bear in mind that it isn't exactly a showcase of the capabilities of the PSP.
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