Picross NP Vol. 1

Picross NP Vol. 1 (Japanese: ピクロス) is a logic puzzle game, developed by Jupiter Corporation and published by Nintendo.

It was available on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan in April 1999 exclusively via the now defunct Nintendo Power service. Players used to be able to purchase a blank SF Memory Cassette or GB Memory Cartridge, and then download games on to them in stores across Japan via the  machines for cheaper than the recommended retail price. Picross NP Vol. 1 was the first in a series of eight Nintendo-themed games, which were not released in standard cartridge form, and were exclusive to the service, and were only for the SF Memory Cassette, not the GB Memory Cartridge. The Nintendo Power service was discontinued on February 28, 2007.

Picross NP
Picross NP Vol. 1 was the first in a series of eight Picross NP games exclusive to the Nintendo Power service. All of these games were themed after Nintendo's most successful games and franchises.

Gameplay
In Picross, each puzzle—referred to by the game as a 'problem'—consists of a grid of squares. The player is given 30 minutes to complete a puzzle by shading in particular squares in order to make some sort of picture. In each puzzle, there are numbers adjacent to each row or column which indicate how many squares in each corresponding row or column need to be shaded.

The player can mark squares thought not to form part of the picture with an 'X'. If the player attempts to shade in a square that is not part of the picture, a time penalty will be incurred: 2 minutes for the first mistake, 4 minutes for the second, and 8 minutes for any mistake thereafter.

Depending on the difficulty level, each puzzle grid can be 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 tiles in both length and width, and the grid is not required to be square.

The game features a How to Play (Japanese: あそびかた) and a Competition (Japanese: ) mode along with the main puzzles.

Puzzles
There are 6 rounds of puzzles.

Character
In the game's 'Character' round, there are 12 puzzles that are based on Pokémon.