I read about the Sudoku craze on the Internet a few years ago. Since then I’ve chewed off a few pencil erasers while puzzling out these excellent brain stumpers. When the pencils ran out I’d play online versions on my laptop. I always thought that a portable version was needed but the Game Boy Advance didn’t seem up to the task. Enter the Nintendo DS and the portable Sudoku floodgates open up.

There’s already a handful of ways to play Sudoku on the DS, but Sudoku Mania touts the world’s first completely randomized puzzles. What this means is that you’ll never run out. In comparison Sudoku Gridmaster, another DS Sudoku title, has only 400 puzzles. This would be the dealmaker for sure if there weren’t so many deal breakers.

From the moment you fire this game up it will frustrate you. Let’s start with the controls. The game brags that it has an easy-to-use touchscreen interface, but I found it to be incredibly counteractive. The controls take up about two-thirds of the touch screen with the remainder left unused to show off the awful background image you’ve selected. The first thing that doesn’t make sense is the four-way arrow dominating half of the controls. You can tap the arrows to move your cursor around, but the Dpad does the same thing much more easily. Next is the row of numbers on the bottom. While I can count to nine just fine, I’m not used to seeing numbers I’m supposed to touch arranged this way. I’m used to my cell phone and the num pad on my PC keyboard. I found that I actually had to think for an extra second to find the number I was looking for.

My inability to quickly enter the numbers aside, it didn’t really matter what number I entered because if it was the wrong one it would immediately turn red. Seven, no, eight, no, two, BINGO! Wait a minute. This feels like cheating. Is hint mode on? Nope. This is the standard way the game works. On top of telling you immediately that the number is wrong there is still a hint mode available on the easier levels of play! I don’t know about you, but Sudoku is supposed to stretch my brain not be a patience-stretching exercise in randomly inputting numbers until I win.

If you get tired of the standard game, Sudoku Mania adds a twist. Instead of punching in numbers you can use symbols. So you’ve got nine different symbols and you use the traditional Sudoku rules to fill the grid with symbols. Hold on. Aren’t numbers symbols in the first place? How is this any different than playing standard Sudoku? It’s not. It just makes Sudoku Mania even more frustrating.

Gameplay: 3.5

How do you mess up an electronic version of Sudoku? Check out Sudoku Mania to find out. An obtuse control scheme combined with the worst implementation of the DS touch screen I’ve seen so far puts this attempt at portable electronic Sudoku low on the list.

Graphics: 3.1

It’s a whole bunch of boxes - how can you mess that up? ... With some of the worst backgrounds I’ve ever seen. Backgrounds range from a green-haired anime-wannabe girl to a collage of lions and dolphins frolicking at sunset.

Sound: 2.1

In one word, awful. If you insist on playing Sudoku Mania, turn the volume off or wear headphones. The rest of us would like to keep our hearing and our sanity.

Difficulty: Easy to Hard

The difficulty is adjustable and should provide even Soduku masters with some tough brain stumpers. Too bad the terrible controls will stump you more than the puzzle.

Concept: 6.1

It’s the world’s first DS Sudoku that automatically creates a new random puzzle every time you play. Besides the unlimited amount of puzzles, it’s the least refined version of Sudoku you’ll find for the DS.

Overall: 3.4

Sudoku Mania a fad cash-in game. If you’re into Soduku there are plenty of electronic alternatives on the Internet and if you need a portable version the DS has a few other choices that are much better. Stay away from this one at all costs.