Pixel Paint (3DS)

Thank you Rainy Frog for sending us a copy of the game to review!

Over the last few years there has been a resurgence in interest regarding pixel art. Pixel Paint was originally released on the Wii U two years ago, and now Sanuk Games has brought their tool to the 3DS. With a few enhancements over the Wii U version, this certainly is an enjoyable application to use on the go.

To start off, one must choose how large they want their picture to be. Extra small pictures are 20x15 pixels big, small are 40x30, medium are 80x60, large are 160x120, and extra large are 320x240. As I'm not the most artistic person using this tool, I found myself drawing in the smaller choices as they are simpler to work with. Using the stylus to fill in the squares with paint is just as simple as it sounds. On the left side of the screen is the tool bar where you can change the brush density, choose an eraser, and access the color palette. There is also an option on the pause menu to switch which side the tool bar appears on. Newly added to the 3DS version of Pixel Paint is the ability to draw circles and triangles simply by pressing their respective buttons in the tool bar and dragging the stylus across the screen. Other common features include a cut and a copy function, and the option to fill in the picture with color.

The best part of this tool is the vast array of colors to use. Besides having access to each true color value, there are a few premade palettes made to resemble the Gameboy and NES color palettes. This made replicating old video game sprites incredibly easy. Having the option to upload to Miiverse and save to an SD card means your works of art can be shown off without too much hassle. 

Looping constantly in the background is an incredibly relaxing piece of music. Normally I'd criticize a game for only having one piece of music, but since this isn't a game and the song is really good, there isn't an issue here. Visually, things are handled well, but playing on my original 3DS I couldn't help but wish the touch screen was larger. Using a medium paint mode or bigger looks like MS Paint at first as the grid-like setup isn't present immediately. Upon zooming in the grid will become visible again.

For the price, this is a fantastic option for 3DS owners that enjoy drawing. The UI is simplistic and the screen never feels cluttered. Add in some easy to remember shortcuts with button combinations, and this is a  comprehensive tool. The only limitation is your imagination, and I am excited to see what the Paint Pixel 3DS Miiverse community will create. 

-Kyuremu