Paint by DS (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Since the introduction of the DS developers have endeavored to make it more than just a simple games machine. This started early on with Nintendogs challenging you to train a dog from a puppy to a competition-ready hound, which arguably still had some entertainment value but the real change in direction came with Brain Age (and its many clones), which attempted to evaluate and improve your grey matter. Since then the flood gates have opened and everything from language tutors to city guides are now available. There's even a driving test aid and stop smoking cart on the way. Paint is perhaps a little more traditional than some of these but do gamers really want to tap into their more creative side?

Gameplay

If you've ever been given one of those 'paint by numbers' kits which claim to make an artist from even the most un-artistic of us then you'll be some way to discovering just what paint is all about. The main focus of this cart is to render any one of fifteen or so dye-line classics by either copying from the color scheme on the top screen or getting a little more creative. A number of different tools are at your disposal allowing for different finishes with a brush (for oils or water colors) or a pencil. Obviously all this takes hours so the ability to save is only a click away and any creative will tell you how important this is. Once you do complete you masterpiece though you may wish to submit the whole thing to the Virtual Art Critic who lives inside the cart, to see if you have any future. The response is generally dry and non-committal but always worth the effort especially if there are no 'real' people to judge your finished piece.

This content, however interesting, is insufficient for your average full price cart, so the developers have also added some mini-games, none of which bear any relation to the main subject matter. There's Whack a Mole, a Sliding Puzzle and a truly awful color memory game, which will make you wonder why this cart is even in your DS in the first place.

Controls

Painting with traditional controls or even a mouse, on your home PC, is very difficult so it's obvious that the whole system relies on a kind of tablet interface so, in other words, this is all touch screen.

Graphics

Fabulous, as you'd expect, although the front end is a little bland.

Sound

This is a graphics package so you probably haven't bought it for the audio which is fortunate because it's rubbish.

Dual screen

All touch-screen and reasonably intuitive.

Final comments

What all these non-games come down to is the simple fact that you either find the subject matter engaging or mind-numbingly boring but unlike some other genres which may eventually win you over this is all about content. In this case although the process of actually painting is reasonably satisfying, the feeling doesn't last for long and given that the alternatives provided on the cart are mindless at best it goes without saying that your relationship with Paint will be a short one. Only even consider this if you love painting and/or find this very cheap somewhere.

Pro: Great Painting System.
Con: Terrible Mini-Games and Audio.
Final score: 3.3

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