“We do not follow maps to buried treasure, and “X” never, ever marks the spot.”
– Indiana Jones
Where to begin with… I remember, even if the memory is a bit vague, that the first time I’ve discovered Mario’s Picross, it was through the French tv advert. I unfortunately wasn’t able to retrieve that one through the web, but it doesn’t really matter as I truly want to tell the thing from my own memory. At least, from what’s left…
So yes, even if it’s frankly not a hidden secret, I have to recall that I wasn’t really into Mario’s games back in the days. Indeed, after the disappointment to not have had a Nes for Christmas ‘89 with that awesome Super Mario Bros 2 cart, as we dove at home into SEGA’s universe, my point of view about Mario and Nintendo changed at that moment… for positively change again later with Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. But that’s another story.
So, back to the past… Of course, we had a Game Boy at home, and many games EXCEPT Mario’s ones. Weird, isn’t it? But actual. Oh, of course, I knew of all those Mario’s games, staring at those, just hiding into the bedroom while reading through my teenage eyes the Nintendo’s sections of the magazines we had, and watching at some videogames TV shows. And someday…
Ta dada dAAA Ta dada! *Indiana Jones tune*
He was here, with his old explorer’s hat and outfit on the screen: Mario. That’s what I recall: Mario was exploring some ancient Egyptian ruin, surely a pyramid, while searching with his stake and hammer which stones of the wall to break. Numbers, many numbers, Mario breaking some stones, for finally discovering a treasure room with the Mario’s Picross game and Game Boy thing. Dark vibe at the beginning, which slipped on an adventurous one, like into Raiders of the Lost Ark. Ok, it was just an ad for Mario’s Picross. Though, it was fascinating. I truly wanted that game, even if I sincerely didn’t understand at that moment what it really was.
And something like around 20 years after…
…I’ve finally discovered what was a Picross game. I’ve spent around 20 years telling myself that I really should try someday Mario’s Picross, being more and more fascinated by the thing… and the first time I tried the concept, around 2017, it was without Mario. That was too bad, because when I’ve seen the Mario’s Picross game at a store last year (2019), I’ve dumbly missed it. Fortunately, thanks to that marvelous technology of the world wide web, I was able to grab it – who has just said “emulation, eh?!” – no, I’ve bought it for nearly nothing on the 3DS E-Shop. Oh, indeed, it was an adventure too. The adventure before the adventure. As I’ve discovered that it was not possible anymore to buy something with a credit card on the 3DS E-Shop, I started exploring everywhere. It was just painful. Only associating the credit card to the old Nintendo account was an adventure – I don’t think I’ve seen such a buggy website before, or was I just unlucky on this day? And for just paying that nearly nothing price were needed a lot of steps to do. But after only 2 or 3 hours – yes, now that I’ve seen that I could pick up the game there, I wanted it at any costs – everything finally worked… and I downloaded it.
And, ok: a half minute later – it’s a small file on the 3DS… I already knew how a picross game worked from those other mobile apps I can have tried earlier. And if I’m truly fond of puzzle games, I’m frankly pretty bad at picross. It reminds me of my nearly zero capacity to solve a Sudoku when you have to begin to guess which numbers could possibly take their place just here while forecasting the whole grid with only a half single neuron working. Yep, everything just roasts up there. It hurts. Though, what might be less hard with a picross game comparing to a Sudoku, it’s the fact that you can try to guess the picture to draw. When it’s guessable. “But what’s this thing?”, trying to guess what this kind of “factory”-shape actually represents… oh boy, is it a boot? So, yes, not always obvious, but it can sometimes help you avoid some mistakes. I still was pretty bad at some point, but…
Brain facts
When I’ve finally grabbed the game, I’ve decided to try it the usual way: just before bedtime. So I’ve just switched the 3DS on, and launched the Game Boy Mario’s Picross game. And, oh, wow. I mean, ok, if there was just a picross puzzle on the screen and anything else, it would just be a fun simple empty picross. But there, there was a living Mariooooo! The game was like it took place around ancient Egyptian’s ruins, and from there was that exact adventure vibe I told before and which jumped to my face. Just like in the advert! And I truly wanted to see more.
As expected, I wasn’t brilliant at first. I mean, oh ok, the tutorial was well done, the first puzzles ok, but after a while, I was quickly stuck with the thing. And those were just the easy ones. “Mamma Miaaa!”
I was searching for a strategy, something which could have helped me to not lose all the left time because of several mistakes. This game is something logical, but it’s absolutely not mine. When it concerns numbers, I’m totally out. When it concerns letters too, but this is another problem.
Whatever, I have sought during some long minutes while failing, how to efficiently use all those available tools to the player. And, oh, what happened… I was so sure they’d told me into the tutorial that I could mark with an “X” the cases where I thought there was a block to put… broken-brain fact: it was the exact contrary. And it changed the way to resolve the puzzles: it was a lot easier of course, and I finally succeeded!
Through the night
This experience will now be related to some specific memories. I remember spending nights playing games because it was just fun! Not seeing the nights fleeing, only saying when seeing the sunrise : “Oh damn!”. It was easier because I didn’t really work at that moment. And I truly have spent a load of hours discovering and playing games without seeing the hours to pass. Diving into stories, dreaming of different worlds beyond the imagination, driving on crazy roads with amazing cars, making a Sim to drown… ahem! But it was a long time ago.
Life changes quickly, and now that I’m working early in the morning, it’s not always easy to late bedtime. Whatever, there are some traps on the road! While learning how to resolve the puzzles without mistakes – yay! – I finally decided to resolve another one… then another one… then another one… then another one… and I have to admit I have enjoyed doing that!
And I literally haven’t realized to have spend such a long time on the game… no, I haven’t spent the night trying to do puzzles hahaha but I have easily spent hours doing that, so much so that I’ve join my bed at 3am. And as the alarm clock was set at 5, I have to admit it was a hard day to go through, and a lot painful… but the most important thing to keep: it will be another priceless memory. And a lot of work to do before beating the whole game and its mysterious hidden secrets! And if you’re looking for me, I surely went back digging stones into Mario’s Picross…
Wahoo! You are a Super Reader! But the adventure doesn’t stop here… There’s more of this project in another castle! This article is just one level in an entire Super Mario Multiverse, a galactic collaboration between writers around the world sharing a bit of our hearts and memories about our favorite Mario games. Visit the Center of the Multiverse to see more:
