Picross S: Genesis & Master System Edition (2021)

As usual, Jupiter has delivered a solid title with Picross S Mega Drive & Master System edition. The Nostalgia is big with old character favourites some hidden gems in the available soundtrack. This title is a definite recommendation for puzzle lovers.

“But what is Picross?” I hear you screaming into the internet ether. Picross is a Nonogram puzzle game created in 1987, mere weeks after I was born and completely irrelevant to my birth, but just as important.

Picross S GENESIS & Master System edition is exactly what it promised to be: a puzzle game with elements from both consoles. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, as fans of the franchise can feast on hundreds of new puzzles that will keep them busy for hours on end. The presence of SEGA makes the game more interesting than any other release in the series on Nintendo Switch. However, for a title that deals with such important intellectual property and that is the ninth release in the hybrid console franchise, its shallow design ends up disappointing. Since 2017, developer Jupiter has ignored basic quality of life enhancements that would make its nonogram collections even better. This would have been a good time to introduce them, along with ways that better illustrate the classics represented.

Picross S Genesis & Master System Edition is a solid offering with a welcome layer of nostalgia. However, the amount of missed opportunities is hard to overlook, especially weighing the fact that there are far superior unofficial Picross titles for Switch.

The amazing Color Picross puzzles are few and far between, and the fact that normal and Mega picross puzzles share the same images is a disappointment. Not to mention the fact that there are literally four tunes in the entire collection! This is less of a love letter to Sega and more of a skin deep collection of Sega-esque nonograms, so don’t expect fanservice in here. Expect just a ton of fun picross puzzles to solve and keep your addiction in check.