Do you sudoku? If so, you've probably been wondering why you've been stuck waiting so long for Microsoft to approve some version of the numbers game for you to get your grubby little mitts on. Fear not, fellow 9-square junkie -- Buku Sudoku has come to the rescue!

Weighing in at 800 Microsoft points, Buku Sudoku offers a surprising number of twists and variations in gameplay over the standard 9-square solitaire you've come to know and love. Multiplayer, variations in puzzle size, and even optional peripheral support round out this package in an attempt to give you an adequate amount of bang for your buck. Before we delve to far into these features though, we should probably play a little catch-up for those not yet versed in the way of sudoku.

Sudoku is a numbers-based puzzle game that you've likely seen sitting opposite the crosswords page in your daily newspaper. It's traditionally played on a 9x9 grid. Several numbers appear in the puzzle to get you started, and the object of the game is to fill all of the empty spaces without repeating any number vertically, horizontally, or in a box. I think I'm making it sound more complicated than it is, but such is the nature of sudoku. Now that we have that brief refresher out of the way, onto the review!

One of the first things you'll notice about Buku Sudoku is that rather than leaving you with the standard 9x9 grid it provides you several options to choose from -- 6x6, 9x9, 12x12 and 16x16. Not only do the larger puzzles provide you with a lengthier challenge, but the different shapes (6x6 and 12x12 form rectangles rather than squares) shake up the way you look at the board. It's a little thing, but it really does give you a fresh take on a familiar game.

The other major plus to this title is the first real introduction of successful sudoku multiplayer. It's hard to imagine how anyone would have come up with this, but it works quite well. Four different modes are offered. The initial two are pretty similar: couch co-op and online co-op. Each allows up to four people to work together on the same puzzle. The couch version provides an opportunity to showcase one of the games most talked about features -- strange peripheral support. If you only have one standard controller, one Big Button controller (from Scene-It), a DDR mat and a media remote, guess what? You're still set for four player action. It's a strange feature and not one I'm sure most people would use, but as gimmicky as it is it's not like it takes anything away from the title.

The other two multiplayer modes that let you throw down the gauntlet down online are battle and team battle. Both are essentially the same game -- you and your opponent are tasked to finish the same board, and whoever clears it first wins. Team battle is a hybrid of battle and co-op, as you and your friend (either local or online) work together against a team of online opponents. We're not much into alpha-numerical scoring here at theBBPS, but in both effort and execution the multiplayer gets a solid A in my books.

The visuals clearly make solid use of the HD-nature of the 360. They're crisp, clear and clean, and offer a good variety of skins for your viewing pleasure. Everything from an 80's era PC to a newspaper and a Japanese tea shop are included. They all offer a distinctly unique style and appropriate musical accompaniment -- but that doesn't mean there aren't gripes.

I'm going to hit pause on this review real quick and give you a bit of an aside. Normally when reviewing a game we'd be inclined to avoid comparing it directly to another title unless it was absolutely warranted. From here on out you're going to see a few comparisons to the PS3 title Go! Sudoku. While they're not on the same system, it's hard to play two such distinctly different versions of the same game without mentioning where one got it right and the other got it wrong. Besides -- the developer of Buku Sudoku Ben Moy has referred to Go! Sudoku as their competitor in at least one interview, and the official website has the audacity to include the entry "How is Buku Sudoku better than Go Sudoku?" in it's official FAQ. All things considered, I think a discussion of the contrast is more than warranted. /end aside.

A beautiful as everything is at a glance, there are a lot of sharp contrasts between the numbers you're reading and the board behind them. It makes things a little rougher on the eyes than you might like -- as in "somebody run to the store and get me a bottle of Visine" rough. It's a seemingly small thing, but it can become a big deal if you're playing for too long. It's a perfect example of where Buku failed to learn from the successes and failures of the games that had come before it.

Buku's main competitor, Go! Sudoku on the PS3, is a title that's fairly easy on the eyes. It's fairly easy on the wallet too -- the starter pack is free (think of it as a demo) while each puzzle pack (grouped by difficulty) is only $2.99. Although you could spend more here than on Buku if you were a real puzzle fiend, chances are one of these packs would kill that craving just fine.

That's not to say this is a ringing endorsement of one product over the other -- far from it. Go! doesn't offer multiple control options or snazzy visuals. All you're getting for your $2.99 is straight up sudoku in a single difficulty level. It's just an observation that the two do things differently, and each does some things better than the others. Go!, for instance, offers a look that provides less of a visual strain than Buku. Also, despite a variety of control options (even the standard controller gives you numerous setups), I found myself preferring the control scheme in Go! to that of Buku. Number selection in Go! is just done by the triggers which I found to speed up the overall gameplay. Conversely Buku wasn't able to offer this because they let you pencil in possible options before settling on a final number -- a fantastic touch that Go! is sorely lacking.

While Go! Sudoku may provide some quick jump in and out play for casual sudoku players such as myself, Buku Sudoku offers a far more complete package for the sudoku gamer looking for more. If it weren't for the occasional eye strain and inferior controls, I'd argue that Buku Sudoku was the superior product across the board. As it stands, I'd probably recommend casual players looking for a quick sudoku fix Go! elsewhere, while those looking to commit some serious time to the game of sudoku and show their skills in an online arena will find a lot to love in the land of Buku.

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