In a world of rules & regulations, sometimes you need a release where you can explore your mind & have complete freedom to express your individuality. An easy means of relieving stress & giving you this sense of freedom is through a childhood pastime, specifically drawing & coloring. The Colors! 3D application recently saw release on Nintendo 3DS’ eShop & it’s a great way to tap into your creative energy & let your imagination run free.
Whether you are a skilled artist or a person whom just loves to draw, Colors! 3D invites you with open arms & provides all the tools you’ll need to create the masterpiece of your dreams. By freeing a few minutes a day to sit & draw, Colors! 3D returns a simple pleasure to your life as it delivers a form of pure delight to your daily routine.
With spring advancing & summer looming just over the horizon, there is much inspiration to be taken from nature as it begins to burst with life. Release your mind & draw what you see, things that inspire you, or how you feel at a given moment or day. Just as coloring has no rules, there are no limits to what you can create with this finely designed 3DS eShop app.
Getting started is easy: select your brush type, line thickness, density of your stroke, & then color – Colors! 3D offers an impressive selection of shades to choose from. As you advance in your creation, you’ll find the ‘R’ button to be your best friend. By tapping the ‘R’ trigger you’ll bring up all your artist tools allowing you to change your color, brush, etc. with great ease. Other handy options include resetting the canvas, an undo button, zoom in/out, & the opportunity of coloring an existing photo which may provide you with some simple ideas for your own piece -- find some examples of the work created in Colors! 3D here.
Colors! 3D’s biggest innovation is how the app allows for five separate layers of detail. Layering is a valuable asset as it allows you to create a detailed background & foreground & then mend each to your liking without tampering the other layers. Switching between layers is done via the Circle Pad, so swapping between each is done with great speed & ease. Layering takes some time to adjust to, but once you are able to do so, you’ll find yourself making incredible 3D images.
For example: When drawing a stage from Super Mario, I had the deepest layer (5th layer) display the sky, clouds & mountain ranges where then added to the fourth, third featured a hillside, secondary had coin boxes & pipes, meanwhile the first had Mario & several Goomba. Thanks to the 3DS’ capabilities, each layer exists in its own 3D space, thus allowing your drawing to come to life with notable 3D effects.
No art application would be complete without a means to show off your work to the art community, therefore it is nice to see Colors! 3D support an online community where you can upload & share your creations, browse & view others’ drawings, & leave comments on their work. One particular feature that stands out is a video playback function which allows you to watch a painting come into being as the video shows the step-by-step process of how the painter created their work. This is a great way to learn new techniques & help motivate or inspire your next piece.
Colors! 3D may not make you a better artist, but it offers the tools & freedom to create whatever you imagine. It’s a brilliant application that puts the handheld’s abilities to good use & is a must-own app on the 3DS.
Overall: 9.0 / 10
(Editor's Note: A game code was provided by Nintendo for review purposes.)
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