Is Mario Galaxy 2 the best Mario game ever? Probably! In terms of "pure" video gaming, without stories or dialog or character development, this is absolutely as good as it gets.

It's difficult to nail down particulars - SMG2 is just great. The gameplay mechanics are solid. The world designs are delightful. The variety and pacing are perfect. Looks awesome, sounds awesome. It's more challenging than the first game, but can also offer more built-in help if you need it.

Also, Throwback Galaxy. Yes!

Better than: Super Mario Galaxy
Not as good as: ???
Probably also better than: actual space travel

Progress: 71 stars, beat Bowser

At least so far, I'm getting a very Super Mario Sunshine vibe from Mario's intergalactic romp part deux. If you think that's a bad thing, you're a terrible person; what I mean is, while Galaxy 2 doesn't revolutionize 3D Mario games - just as Sunshine didn't - it greatly refines them. It lacks the "Holy shit Mario's in space!" effect that the first game had, but the rate at which it introduces new mechanics, and ramps up its difficulty, is (no pun intended) stellar.

Galaxy 2 doesn't have a hub world - it has a world map, ala Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. et al. As I completed the first World* I instantly thought, "Man, I miss the hub." But no sooner did I get my first star in World 2, that the game showed me a zoomed-out map to easily navigate between the Worlds. It doesn't have the same sense of wonder that Peach's Castle or the Comet Observatory did, but it does streamline the action, which, given the quality of Galaxy 2's action, is just as good.

* The "world" metaphor doesn't really work very well when each "world" is made up of several galaxies, does it?

Progress: 22 stars

This is Mario Galaxy. More Mario Galaxy. And, uh... Yoshi.

Fuck yes.

Progress: 10 stars

Yeah, the story is completely not interesting at all. This is a shooter campaign. Nothing more. It even comes with terribly unbalanced events, like having to do a rescue mission in the middle of oncoming fire and grenades. "We'll cover you!" my squadmates say; so why am I the only one killing anything?

Mechanically, Modern Warfare hits most of the right notes, but still has a few irksome qualities - most notably, player collision. Sounds like a nice feature, but when friendlies are all around me, they have a tendency to block my path, or shove me into harm's way. Thanks, guys.

I'm halfway through the game, on Regular difficulty, and it just isn't fun anymore. I die instantly, and repeatedly, with little warning. I'd love to dial down the difficulty just to see the other half through, but, naturally, there's no way for me to change mid-campaign. Yeah, the intro mission suggested that I play on easy mode - but now that I believe it, I'm supposed to start the whole game over again? No way.

Clearly Modern Warfare has been extremely successful, and as far as I know, the multiplayer is some of the best in its class. But there's nothing to the single-player experience. In so many words, it's bullshit.

Progress: Gave Up -- Got to "Safehouse"

When COD4 came out back in twenty-aught-seven, I had no feelings for it one way or the other, aside from some mild satisfaction that someone had finally made a shooter not about World War II. Fast forward to more recently, when its follow-up was about to become bigger than Jesus, and suddenly I hear that people are excited about the single-player. Really? Allegedly, the first Modern Warfare had a thrilling campaign, and I had gone two years without hearing a word about it.

So far, though, I'm unimpressed. The tutorial mission was pretty neat, but the narrative is completely disjointed - missions alternate between a British SAS soldier and a US marine, with less cohesion than a typical episode of '24'. Cutscenes seem more about Michael Bay-style CGI flash than actual content. And although there are characters, with names, none of them have any personality. Christ, even Rogue Warrior managed to have personality.

I'm still pretty early in the game, so I suppose it's possible that things will heat up. But so far it's nothing more than a standard, lackluster FPS single-player campaign.

As for the gameplay itself, it works - but again, I'm not really impressed. There are a few touches to make it seem more realistic than typical shooters, but I can't say that I care too much about that.

Progress: 'Hunted'

Winterbottom isn't as clever, challenging, or ultimately satisfying as Braid. But that's really the worst I can say about it. This time-bending platform-puzzle game has some very inventive mechanics, a story mode that doles them out at a perfect pace, and an immersive aesthetic that really brings the whole package together.

There were a few instances where the puzzles felt a little loose. That is, I completed them by the skin of my teeth, and feel like it had more to do with lucky timing than with really understanding the puzzle mechanics. (Specifically, I'm thinking of some of the spotlight puzzles.) But these moments were the exception, not the rule.

My only real grievance is that it's a little on the short side, but that isn't counting the Bonus Shorts, which I haven't touched at all. And likely won't - like Portal's extra challenges, I expect some weight and motivation to be lost without narrative accompaniment.

At any rate, this is a misadventure I can recommend.

Better than: Exit DS
Not as good as: Braid
A little olde-tymey rhyming: goes a surprisingly long way

Progress: Finished the story mode

I was a bit unsure about Winterbottom, in spite of its great reviews, because it looked like it might be a World of Goo-like: more fidgety than strategy. But with a simple control set and some very imaginative level design, it's actually a lot more like Braid, which is an extremely good thing.

Winterbottom's core gameplay mechanic is being able to record clones of the main character (that is, Winterbottom). The clone will play back its recording on an infinite loop, so you can do two - or N+1, where N is the level's maximum number of clones - things at once. You also have an umbrella attack, which launches a clone in an arc before your time paradox leads to its destruction. These concepts combine with a variety of environmental mechanisms, like springs and levers, to create timing- and thought-intensive puzzles.

In the first (of five) worlds, several stages were revisited in various ways - one had a recording of my first time through the stage in the background, and from my new vantage point, I had to strike levers to allow him safe passage through the stage. I'm not sure if this mechanic will return, or if, like Braid, each world has an entirely unique spin on the game's core conceit; but either sounds like fun.

The game's aesthetic is particularly remarkable, with film-grain effects, ominous olde-tymey music, and humorous rhymes to kick off each stage. Winterbottom revels in its presentation, and it really feels one-of-a-kind.

Also, it's $5. Amazing!

Progress: Level 2-3

Like the first game, I had a difficult time putting Mass Effect 2 down until I was done with it. And also like the first, this second installment is very imperfect, with some glaring, systemic problems. But unlike Mass Effect, which I only enjoyed in spite of itself - ignoring large swaths of gameplay purely for the sake of sci-fi and laser guns - Mass Effect 2 sold me on a more meaningful part of the package. It succeeded in compelling me to do side-quests.

Relative to its predecessor, combat is significantly spiced up, with fun abilities and scenarios. And, playing to their strengths, BioWare has shifted the writing balance away from a Roddenberrian all-encompassing plot, toward a tighter, more character-driven narrative. Almost all of Mass Effect 2's party members are genuinely intriguing, and fun to conversationally poke.

But the conversation mechanics remain a bit of a let-down. There are still instances where the "system" - top is Paragon, bottom is Renegade, left delves deeper, right gets out - is the only way to tell what an option really means, because the text isn't illuminating at all. There are still instances where the preview text is entirely different from what comes out of Shepard's mouth. And there are still instances where choices are blatantly limited for the sake of narrative direction. Overall these problems seem less frequent than in the first game, but I may have simply gotten more used to them.

Mass Effect 2's problems aren't just old ones, though. The new planet-mining mechanic is fun at first, but quickly wears out its welcome, in the face of the massive amounts of resources required for ship and weapon upgrades. Really, the resource costs just seem way too high. The new hacking mini-games are - well, the node-connecting one is a neat diversion, but the code-matching one is a royal pain, especially when the code I need to match just won't appear. The new equipment system - a loadout menu instead of an inventory/equipment screen - is a definite improvement, but weapon options are anemic, with each type seeing two (at most) upgrades from the beginning of the game to the end.

There were times when I was downright irked by environment glitches. On probably a half-dozen occasions throughout the game, I would find myself floating in the air, unable to get down. Once I tried saving and re-loading in this state; it put me back in the same impossible position. Luckily, I had an auto-save only a few minutes back, but that could have been really nasty.

And the New Game + option is welcome - but restricted to the same class I already played? Why not start me with an advantage into a new class? That would be a much more persuasive offer for replaying the game, given that, in addition to the countless things that can change in subsequent playthroughs, there are countless more that don't. I'm simply not that interested in going through hours upon hours of the same old stuff again.

My complaints are numerous, but what ME2 does right is more than a match for them. The shooting is fun, the characters are interesting, and the game world is, in general, a pleasure to take part in. The sequel is superior to the original, and a significant step forward. But there's still a long way between it and perfection. Here's hoping Mass Effect 3 doesn't rest on this game's laurels.

Better than: Mass Effect
Not as good as: I had been led to believe
My Shepard banged: No one. I respected them too much. Can you believe it?

Progress: Finished on Veteran

For a sequel, Mass Effect 2 sure is full of surprises.

One is the importance of class. In the first game, class choice only really changed relative biotic/weapon/tech strength, and the guns Shepard could use. Mass Effect 2 makes the classes feel special, with unique abilities; my Infiltrator has a temporary invisibility cloak, and enters bullet-time while aiming a sniper rifle, allowing for some wicked headshots. I'm not sure what all of the other class specialties are, because the class-selection screen does a poor job of illustrating it, but I'm sure they're just dandy for people who don't love sniper rifles.

Also surprising is the modified ammo system, or rather, the effects thereof. In Mass Effect I mastered the waiting game: fire my sniper rifle, wait for it to cool, and fire again, ad infinitum. Mass Effect 2 implements 'ammo' in the form of thermal clips, which means I don't have to wait inbetween firing, but also means that it's possible to run out of ammo. Especially sniper ammo, which has a relatively low maximum cap (currently, I can only carry 10 shots). I would really have preferred some hybrid system, where I could wait for the weapon to cool if I'm out of clips.

The blatant lack of care in the PC version is another surprise. For a genre-combination that basically screams "PC" - and considering that the original game's PC version was a significant retool of its console brother - ME2's PC interface is baffling. Clicking on buttons will sometimes, but only rarely, actually execute anything; frequently I'll also have to click an OK button of some sort. In-game text windows can't be scrolled with a mouse-wheel, nor with the arrow keys, usually. Fortunately the real-time combat controls are solid enough, but it seems a bit ridiculous for an RPG to have shitty menus.

A more pleasant surprise is the removal of the nonsensical Omni-Gel. Now Shepard collects four different kinds of raw material, by searching treasure chests ambient debris in missions, as well as by scanning planets for resources. These materials are used variously in upgrading the Normandy, improving squad weapons, enhancing armor, and for other miscellany. So far I've only really used the Iridium resource, though, leaving me with ass-loads of Platinum and Palladium, which just sit around on my ship I guess.

Another surprise? How awesome it feels to take orders from Martin Sheen.

One thing that isn't surprising is the story and writing: it's the same stuff, although with less of a boring introduction (unless you're new to the franchise, and decide to laboriously read through everything in the Codex). The plot is enough to pique my interest, but not terribly compelling. Lead characters are well-written and intriguing, while bit parts are low-budget and expendable. The Paragon/Renegade system is a little more user-friendly this time around, but sometimes just seems goofy - how is sucking up to Cerberus a renegade act?

I'm not quite as awe-inspired by ME2 as I thought I'd be, but it's still fun, and unquestionably more polished than its predecessor. In fairness, too, I've still got plenty of hours left for the game to heat up.

One more surprise: Miranda's teeth. Promotional materials do a good job of not focusing on her face, but when the game zooms in... eesh.

Progress: Recruited Mordin

Dark Legend makes a few welcome changes to the Overlord formula: shared Life Force for all minion types, purchasable minion upgrades at the Castle Forge, and an in-game map that resembles sense. But not all its ideas work out. Pointing at the screen to order your horde is great in theory, but in practice is often marred by shoddy pathfinding and minions getting stuck in the environment. And the manual camera control would be useful if not for its undersensitivity, and the fact that ordering minions and rotating the camera simultaneously is unfeasible.

All this is compounded by the game generally feeling like a remedial version of the original - and while you might imagine that a less-frustrating Overlord would be a winning formula, in execution it just feels silly and insubstantial. The simple controls and barely-navigable environment ensure that enemy encounters are nothing more than point-and-button-mashfests. Also, there is a waggle move to blow things up by sacrificing minions? So you get to lose control of the battle for several seconds, foolishly shake a Wii remote, and lose part of your fighting force, all at once. Excellent.

The story isn't at all interesting (you know the ending even before the game begins), and the writing doesn't seem up to franchise quality. That's the character writing, mind - the in-game encyclopedia was certainly written by a cadre of underpaid interns, as it has about as much life as the 3,000+ Nazis I recently killed. And I never like being that guy, but the graphics are distractingly bad; the game tends to run at a good clip (aside from occasional chugging), but the incredibly low level of detail makes everything blend together. And visible interlacing, really? What year is this? Come on.

Even if Dark Legend did nothing but improve from here on out - I only finished two of the twelve (linear) quests - it is so dramatically held back, as in, couldn't pass the fifth grade on its own, that I can't imagine it surpassing "meh" territory. But there's no way I'll slog through the rest of the game to find out.

Progress: Gave Up -- Reclaimed the Castle Forge