SDK Paint (Wii U) Review

I'm not an artist. Still, I do like art programs and I think the Wii U is a great home for them. The Wii U touch screen lends itself very well to art programs. I liked Art Academy by Nintendo. It was a neat app. I did not like the more recent pixel art focused, Pixel Paint.

SDK Paint by HullBreach Studios (out tomorrow) is yet another art program for the Wii U. Is this one better than the rest? Here's my review.

------------------------------------------

When you load up, SDK Paint, you are presented with four options: Painting, Gallery, a mode connected to upcoming HullBreach games and a Share mode.

The painting mode presents you with a blank space to draw on and your tools on the right hand side. If you are left handed, you can switch the tools to the left side. A very cool nice feature.

The tools section has various brushes, colors, and other tools you can play with. For the expert artist, SDK Paint will let you play with layers to create a complex looking painting (and according to Share mode, you create 3D paintings!).

There is no tutorial telling non-artists how to use this program. The games manual doesn't help much. As stated earlier, I'm not an artist. I was able to create a very simple painting but didn't know how to work any of the more complex art features. There didn't seem to be many colors but I may have been missing the place to switch the colors. That said, I enjoyed my time painting and loved seeing it shown off in a gallery.

Gallery mode lets you go into several different environments, like castle and a studio, and look at your artwork hanging on the walls. During this mode, you walk around in a first person mode. It reminded me of an older Doom game control and graphics wise (just no weapon to shoot with of course). I really enjoyed this mode and can't wait to draw more paintings and have them hanging on walls. Also once you create a painting, you'll see it on the TV when on the main menu.

Other modes include a mode thats connected to upcoming HullBreach games, where you can paint in some blueprints and a mode where you can share the paintings you've created. These two modes don't do much yet but its nice to see future features for this app are already in place.

SDK Paint looks simple graphics wise but has a lot of features and interesting future features ready for updates. Artists and non-artists alike may be interested in this program. SDK Paint will be $2.99. A good price!

I recommend SDK Paint. I wouldn't say its as great as Art Academy but SDK Paint is a program with a lot of potential. I can't wait to see what other future features the program presents us with.

------------------------------------------

MY SCORE: 8/10