Comic Workshop 2

I remember playing Mario Paint for the SNES as a kid and being thoroughly engrossed in the primitive concepts of filling pre-determined photographs with blocks of colour. The game still stands as one of my most remembered titles as a child and I still have the mouse peripheral somewhere in my attic to prove it. Comic Workshop 2 essentially feels like a much more modern version of this, giving you a more professional platform with which to partake in your favourite creative pastime.

The game goes surprisingly deep and allows you to draw on a blank canvas or use pre-set storyboard windows with a distinct manga inspiration. If you want to create a comic with a distinct manga theme, this is one of the few painting titles out there that will allow you to do it so quickly. You get an assortment of pencils and pens which can be set to varying thicknesses and opacities, along with stamps and rollers for painting backgrounds and quickly filling areas. The touchscreen is used for drawing and hardly feels the most responsive; most of the time it was easier to import pre-defined images and use the game as a presentation tool.

The game does offer Miiverse support, which is a welcome addition over its predecessor, though the execution is somewhat limited. You can only share original drawing created by yourself, which limits the games capability as a true comic workshop. Still, this is unavoidable and sits inline with Nintendo’s strict sharing policy. They’re only trying to protect the younglings from the obligatory phallic comics that would appear should photo imports be allowed. This I completely understand.

• Developer: Collavier
• Publisher: Collavier
• Where to Buy: Nintendo eShop
• Price: £7.99
• Platform: Nintendo 3DS