Art Style: PiCTOBiTS

Art Style: PiCTOBiTS
Developer	Skip Ltd.
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Nintendo DSi, Nintendo 3DS
Release date	DSiWare: January 28, 2009 May 18, 2009 May 22, 2009 May 22, 2009 Nintendo 3DS (eShop): June 6, 2011 June 6, 2011 June 6, 2011 June 6, 2011
Genre	Puzzle
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Three years and older CERO: - All ages ACB: - General
Mode(s)	Single player
Media	Nintendo DSi: Digital download Nintendo 3DS: Digital download
Input	Nintendo DS: Stylus Nintendo 3DS: Control pad

Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (known as Art Style: PiCOPiCT outside of the Americas) is a puzzle game released on DSiWare in 2009. Throughout the game's 30 stages, the player tries to assemble 8-bit sprites from NES games.

Gameplay

In the game, blocky pieces of non-uniform shapes and sizes fall on the touch screen. When a falling piece hits something and stops, players can tap the blocks within the piece and place them in a block register, then transfer them into different spots on the screen. Blocks can be cleared when a falling piece hits something in such a way that it creates a rectangle. When blocks of each color are cleared, they travel to the top screen and are assembled into a shape, always of a sprite from an NES game; when the sprite is fully assembled, the player has beaten the level. If the player fails to clear enough blocks in time, and blocks accumulate at the top of the screen, preventing new blocks from falling, the game is lost. In order to prevent this, players can use a POW Block button, which causes all the blocks to fall to the bottom of the screen, but forfeits one of the spots in the block register.

Whenever players clear blocks, they get Coins, which appear using their sprite from Super Mario Bros. These coins can be used to purchase dark levels, which contain other sprites from the game in their corresponding light level. Beating a stage with a score above the stage's target will put a Super Star icon next to the score display.

Levels

Levels

Level	Mode	Sprite	Game	Notes
Level 1	Light	Small Mario	Super Mario Bros.	During this level, an arrangement of the Ground Theme plays.
Level 1	Dark	Luigi and a Koopa Troopa	Super Mario Bros.	During this level, an arrangement of the Ground Theme plays.
Level 2	Light	Underground Goomba	Super Mario Bros.	During this level, an arrangement of the Underground Theme plays.
Level 2	Dark	Buzzy Beetles	Super Mario Bros.	During this level, an arrangement of the Underground Theme plays.
Level 3	Light	Two Balloon Fighters	Balloon Fight
Level 3	Dark	Balloon Bird	Balloon Fight
Level 4	Light	Popo	Ice Climber
Level 4	Dark	Nana and the Condor	Ice Climber
Level 5	Light	Condor	Ice Climber
Level 5	Dark	Polar Bear	Ice Climber
Level 6	Light	Mario	Wrecking Crew
Level 6	Dark	Eggplant Men	Wrecking Crew
Level 7	Light	Batter	Baseball
Level 7	Dark	Pitcher	Baseball
Level 8	Light	Excitebikes	Excitebike
Level 8	Dark	Excitebikes	Excitebike
Level 9	Light	Tamagon eggs	Devil World
Level 9	Dark	Red Tamagon and devil	Devil World
Level 10	Light	Tamagon and pink enemy	Devil World
Level 10	Dark	Devil	Devil World
Level 11	Light	Link and an Octorok	The Legend of Zelda
Level 11	Dark	Link and Zelda	The Legend of Zelda
Level 12	Light	Red Darknut and Link	The Legend of Zelda
Level 12	Dark	Ganon	The Legend of Zelda
Level 13	Light	Red and gray Cheep Cheeps	Super Mario Bros.	During this level, an arrangement of the Underwater Theme plays.
Level 13	Dark	Bloopers	Super Mario Bros.	During this level, an arrangement of the Underwater Theme plays.
Level 14	Light	Bowser	Super Mario Bros.	During this level, an arrangement of the Castle Theme plays.
Level 14	Dark	Bowser	Super Mario Bros.	During this level, an arrangement of the Castle Theme plays.
Level 15	Light	Toad	Super Mario Bros.	During this stage, the blocks spell out "THANK YOU MARIO! BUT YOUR PRINCESS IS IN ANOTHER CASTLE!".
Level 15	Dark	Mario, Peach, and Toad	Super Mario Bros.	During this stage, the blocks spell out "THANK YOU MARIO! YOUR QUEST IS OVER. WE PRESENT YOU A NEW QUEST. PUSH BUTTON B TO SELECT A WORLD".

Nintendo eShop description

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include the UK/AUS description.

Americas: Your goal in Art Style: PiCTOBiTS is simple: clear large blocks that fall from above ("megabits") by combining them with "bits" (square blocks) of the same color. Add in the ability to pick up bits and place them anywhere on the Touch Screen, and you'll quickly find that strategy is critical to your success. By clearing the bits, you gradually reveal each stage's hidden game character—look for favorites from classic NES titles—and earn coins that can be spent to unlock DARK stages or to listen to the game's soundtrack in MUSIC mode. This grand mix of familiar elements and new gameplay leads to the uniquely enjoyable experience that is PiCTOBiTS.
Games in the Art Style series feature elegant design, polished graphics, and pick-up-and-play controls, creating an experience focused purely on fun and engaging game play.

Gallery

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  Logo

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  Title Screen

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  Gameplay of Stage 1, featuring Mario from Super Mario Bros.

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  Gameplay of Stage 14, featuring Bowser from Super Mario Bros.

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  Gameplay of Stage 6, featuring Mario from Wrecking Crew

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  Completed Stage 2: Goomba from Super Mario Bros.

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  Normal and Dark Mode

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  Music Mode

Trivia

• On this game's Game Over screen, the background is a curved line similar to one of the microgame icons from the WarioWare series.
• Midway through every level, a musical cue from Super Mario Bros. plays and the stage's background music increases in tempo, despite there being no timer in this game.