Colors 3D! App Review

Colors 3D! is an amazing addition to the expanding 3DS eShop

The Nintendo 3DS eShop has been getting a slew of new games recently. Ranging from Ketzal's Corridors to 3D Classics Kid Icarus. Though one in particular really stands out, considering it's not truly a game but more of a fun app. Colors 3D!. Colors 3D! is a painting program that has six separated layers for six depths of view. In short it's like having a mini Photoshop on your Nintendo 3DS. The program is simple to use, has all the necessities needed and the 3D really adds to the paintings.



Colors 3D features a color wheel (much similar to Photoshop's) for you to choose a specific color. It has different sized brushes and three different brush styles, the solid one, the transparent one and a quirky scratchy one. Luckily when painting there is an eyedropper tool to lessen the burden when you need the same color again. The transparency brush isn't the only transparent tool in the app though. There is also a way to increase/decrease stroke size and increase/decrease transparency for the stroke. These simple tools may seem like nothing but it can make all the difference in a good drawing and a bad one.

An incredible Colors 3D! drawing of a most memorable scene. (Art by stat1stick)

The drawings that the people of the community make are outstanding and when first seen, the thought that someone painted this on a 3DS seems impossible. That is simply not the case here. The community is kind and fair all in it's own right as well (to see more drawings head to the Colors 3D website). Sadly since it is only an app there are it's fair share of downsides.

The first and foremost being there is no auto fill button. All the painting has to be done by hand. This lone fact makes me respect the communities drawings even more. Drawings that could be completed in one hour might take three now due to no auto fill. In it's own right, the auto fill could be considered not too practical considering how the drawings are drawn, nonetheless it would have been a helpful feature. A second downside, which really irks me, is that there is no way to 'select' a portion of your drawing and copy, paste or move it. Once a drawing is drawn it is fixed there unless erased and redrawn. The lack of this feature leaves me with a personal bother as sometimes I would like to move a certain object and now cannot and must be redrawn.

All in all Colors 3D! is a very nice app for casual and hardcore artist alike. The necessary features are present, the 3D layering looks fantastic and the community on both the 3DS and website is quite friendly. The features left out could have been implemented but sadly were not.

8.5/10