Picross 2

In Mario's Picross, the player is presented with a puzzle grid (either 5 by 5, 10 by 10 or 15 by 15 spaces in size, depending on the difficulty chosen) that they must chisel at in accordance with the numerical hints provided on the upper and left-hand edges of the grid in order to reveal a picture. In addition to the ability to chisel spaces, the player is also able to mark spaces with a cross to signify that the space is not meant to be chiseled. The numbers present outside the grid tell the player how many spaces should be chiseled within the row or column it is next to; if a single number is present on the row or column, there is that number of required chiseled spaces within said row or column, while if more than one number is present on the row or column, there are those numbers of required chiseled spaces, but separated by an undetermined amount of blank spaces. The player must use these numerical hints to fill in the grid both vertically and horizontally. Similar to a crossword, when a row or column is filled in, it is able to give hints as to the nature of the rows or columns it intercepts.

The player is given thirty minutes to complete each puzzle. If the player incorrectly chisels a space, some of the remaining time is deducted; upon the player's first error, two minutes are deducted; upon the second, four minutes; upon the third, eight minutes. Mistakes succeeding the third continue deducting eight minutes. If the player runs out of time, Mario falls over, and the game is over.

Mario's Picross was developed by Jupiter and Ape and was published worldwide by Nintendo. The game was created in an effort to capitalize on the popularity of puzzle games in Japan. Jupiter would go on to become the developer for the majority of the games in the Picross video game franchise. The game was released in Japan for the Game Boy on March 14, 1995. It was also re-released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2011 on 14 July in Europe, and in August for North America and Japan.

Upon the game's release, despite Nintendo's marketing through television commercials and Nintendo Power magazine, the game did not meet the market trends of English-speaking regions and failed there. The game, however, proved to be popular in Japan. Due to the failure of this game in English-speaking regions, future nonogram logic puzzles from Nintendo were not released in those regions until Picross DS in 2007. The success of Picross DS resulted in worldwide releases for the franchise, as well as releases for the Virtual Console on the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Classics service. The game also became a reward for the Club Nintendo loyalty program.

Mario's Picross received positive reviews upon its release. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly criticized the game's focus on logic and reasoning instead of rapid button presses, saying it makes the game boring to play after the first few puzzles. GamePro gave it a more mixed review. They criticized the repetitive music and the fact that Mario does not appear in the main graphics, but acknowledged that the game is "undeniably addicting, especially if you love numbers". Marcel van Duyn of Nintendo Life cited the game's addictive nature, volume of puzzles and soundtrack in his review.

The reception of the Mario's Picross Virtual Console re-release, however, was more positive. Lucas M. Thomas for IGN looked on the game positively, specifically referencing its amount of puzzles as a strength. Mike Rose of Pocket Gamer stated that although the game has sometimes unintuitive controls and always has the Hint system default to 'yes', the game represents the Mario series well and is a workout for the brain.