Bombs and numbers - a perfect match

After the excitement in November about White Bear Studio's 3DS Sudoku game — since revealed to be just a concept — it looks like Konami is going to win the honour of "first 3DS Sudoku game" with its publication of Hudson Soft's Sudoku: The Puzzle Game Collection in May.

As the name implies, it's not just Sudoku you'll be trying out in glorious autostereoscopic 3D, as the collection also includes Hashi, Shikaku and Akari alongside the classic numbers-in-boxes puzzle.

Should you get stuck on a particularly tough head-scratcher, you can trade in your Play Coins — earned through using the 3DS as a pedometer — for hints to help you solve the quandary at hand.

Not sure you can get behind another Sudoku compilation after the huge wealth of the titles on DSiWare? This one contains Bomberman.

The collection of 600 puzzles will be available on shelves across Europe this May.

HUDSON SOFT enters 3D realm
Puzzle game compilation leads HUDSON’s Nintendo 3DS™ line

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has announced that HUDSON SOFT’s first title for Nintendo 3DS will be Sudoku: The Puzzle Game Collection, a compilation of popular puzzle styles due for release in May.

Sudoku: The Puzzle Game Collection is a test of mental acuity for the Nintendo 3DS, offering a choice of four puzzle game styles, including the numerical test that is Sudoku. Based on puzzles devised by world-famous puzzle maker Nikoli, the quartet is completed with versions of Hashi (Bridges) , Shikaku (Boxes) and Akari (Museum) – some of Japan’s most taxing puzzle styles.

Each puzzle has been created to benefit from simple control interfaces designed to ease the player into the complexities that the four sub-games offer. To this end, Sudoku: The Puzzle Game Collection will make use of Nintendo’s clever ‘Play Coins’ system. Players earn points as they carry their Nintendo 3DS with them, and these can be exchanged within the HUDSON game for hints for particularly challenging puzzles.

The 3D capabilities of the format are used in each game via beautiful imagery, with Shikaku showing off formed boxes with specially-created visuals, while Hashi’s linking bridges are also brought to vivid life. Sudoku: The Puzzle Game Collection contains a total of 600 tests, ranging from basic introductory stages through to Hard challenges that will test the most intelligent of players.