Second Sight finishes strong, with a cool plot twist and a very satisfying conclusion, after a very respectable length of game. The story remains this game's greatest victory by a fair margin - while I did come to terms with the shooting and psi controls, I'm still not especially fond of them. Nonetheless, it was a fairly fun play.

Progress: Complete

I'm slightly disappointed that the difficulty never got absurd - sure, there were stages that I had to retry several times to get the gold, but I could have passed them with little difficulty. But in any event the game was a great and satisfying challenge on the whole.

The music wasn't incredibly memorable, but not bad, and the graphics are some of the best the second dimension has to offer. I haven't mentioned the story so far because there really isn't one. The replay value leaves something to be desired - there isn't much to gain from getting higher ranks or scores in the game's levels, and the Construction Zone has nothing in the way of instant gratification (though it can be fun if you've got the time to build it and a friend to play it).

I can't say how well you'll do with this if you're not already into puzzle games. The learning curve isn't the steepest, but the rewards are in the form of pride, not big fancy cinematics. That said, I feel really good about my time with this game, and for puzzle fans, this should be near the top of your list.

Progress: All gold stars, everything unlocked

I'm still cruising on gold stars, but it may come to an end soon. World 6, Toadstool Castle, is rife with dangerous situations that require constantly switching attention back and forth to ensure the survival of the mini-Marios. While one is riding a life raft over a pool of water on the right side of the screen, the one on the left has to hit the colored switch to keep it protected from a piranha plant's fire breath, which in turn removes the barrier that had previously kept little guy #3 from falling onto a bed of spikes.

Right, each world has a theme for its nine stages + DK boss battle. The first two or three were distinguished almost purely by aesthetics, but as they progress, world-specific elements make for some interesting encounters. World 4 is called Magnet Mania, wherein the mini-Marios can walk on walls and ceilings (very cool). World 5 is the Lava Dome, and there is basically fire everywhere.

Though not at the same pace as the beginning of the game, new puzzle pieces are still finding their way into the mix, keeping the new stages fresh. And, as I implied in my discussion of world 6, the challenge is really ramping up.

Progress: Stage 6-4

I'm still not especially confident in Second Sight's controls; now that I'm past the learn-what-you're-doing chapters of the game, the protagonist, John Vattic, must use his gunslinging prowess and psychic powers interchangeably. Of the game's three perspective modes - cinematic third-person, over the shoulder third-person, and first-person - the third-person views make it difficult to select targets, and the first-person view makes it impossible to aim, period.

It seems rather unintuitive that psychic powers and guns can't be used simultaneously (the same trigger button is used to activate either). In general, the control scheme seems like it was sloppily pasted onto the game engine.

What Second Sight does have going for it is a really engaging storyline. The plot is intriguing, having something to do with a special operation overseas gone wrong; and it's told very well, in a combation of cutscenes, in-game voice overs, and psychic flashbacks.

There are also two space-shooter minigames hidden in Second Sight, that you can play by finding a computer disk and an arcade machine in the game. Cool extras are a plus.

Progress: Chapter 10 - Streetlife

Well it took long enough, but I finally put this travesty to rest.

The final boss, Dark Yabu, is probably one of the most difficult bosses I've ever faced in any game, spread across three phases that each take advantage of all the game's control flaws to put you on the cusp of death. But, despite the incredibly terrible ending (wrapping up the terrible story quite nicely), I do feel some satisfaction in finally proving that I am better than this game.

As I said before, there are a few nice things about the game, like the aforementioned graphical effects. It's clear that at least one person on the team had some bright ideas. For instance, when you select a world to enter from the central "Rift Hub," it becomes fully loaded, such that if you re-enter the same world there is no loading screen (this is made possible partially due to the fact that the hub itself is miniscule and bare). And of course, the game has some touching moments.

In the end, you could make a worse game, if you really tried, but Vexx is a great example of why Acclaim is no longer with us.

Progress: 60 Wraithhearts, beat Yabu

A passing resemblance to EarthBound, the inexplicable psychosis of Grasshopper, and sharing a name with the protagonist make me salivate for the opportunity to play this game.

Every time I turn on the game, I think "this can't possibly be worse than the last time I played," and I'm frequently wrong. I'm not talking about how the game's plot is completely vacant (it is) or how all the gameplay is a direct ripoff of Super Mario 64 (it is); I'm talking about goals that are made nearly impossible due to control and/or camera difficulties. When an enemy is attacking me but I can't see it because the camera is behind a tree, or when I'm trying to run down a hallway with smashing pistons but the camera forces itself into a "cinematic" position, I mean these kinds of problems should never exist in the first place. I'd settle for being able to move the camera, but often that's too much to ask for.

That said, there is a small list of things I like about the game's conceptual design. For instance, one of the worlds - "The Below" - puts you in an underwater dome, and has you solve some puzzles presumably left there by aliens (which, to my knowledge, is an area not yet explored by most platformers). There are also a few very cool graphical effects, like one-way portal mirror things. Yeah, this is pretty much the best I can say about Vexx.

Why do I keep playing? Because if I quit, Vexx will have defeated me, and I cannot abide by that.

Progress: 40/60 Wraithhearts

I got around to finishing this up yesterday. The problem I alluded to earlier (#64) is present all the way to the end: there are 21 normal stages (including area bosses) with Grade rewards before the final boss, and you need 38 Grades to open the door to the evil Emperor O-Dor. This is no Super Mario 64; getting more Grades doesn't involve new challenges as much as it involves doing the same level in a slightly different way. The monotonous backtracking really kills what would otherwise be a consistent stream of fairly creative content.

The level design is actually quite good. There is a great deal of variety in the default goals of the stages, though a couple of them toward the end are a bit on the lengthy side. The first few boss battles are very creative - usually fought in the cockpit of a giant fighting robot or other mechanical weapon - but the last ones are just ninja-jumping and sword-slashing. Ninja's combat system is solid, but not very deep (with the exception of the aforementioned occasional 'action tube' miniboss fight).

In fact, that can unfortunately be said for most of the gameplay mechanics in I-Ninja. There is a great variety of obstacles to overcome, but the vast majority of it, including fighting, is done by tilting the analog stick and/or pressing the B button. While it is fun to do, in the end it doesn't create much of a sense of achievement.

The game's plot fails to impress, as it revolves largely around juvenile humor (which, somehow, managed to produce several voice-acted cutscenes). I can't really comment on the audio, because I had it muted the majority of the time (other things were going on). Graphically, it's par for the times, nothing mind-blowing but certainly not bad. The presentation is passable, nothing more.

Overall, I would call I-Ninja a mildly entertaining diversion, but not deserving any significant attention.

Progress: Beat O-Dor

Think a combination of the original MvDK and Lemmings. You don't have a real Mario this time, but have to lead the Mini Marios through trap-laden stages to an exit. It's entirely stylus-controlled: shove them in directions, push them down pipes, make them jump on springs, et cetera. There are tons of mechanisms to exploit (elevators = awesome), and new ones are frequently added to the mix.

The first two worlds were pretty easy, so the challenge thus far has been in getting the Gold Star score, but if it's anything like its predecessor later levels will be impossibly difficult.

Progress: Stage 3-1

I've been playing ACWW on a daily basis for a while now. At first I spent some time fishing and bug-catching for the museum (I hate my neighbors), but lately I just put in half an hour a day to check for fossils and collect some cash. My long-term strategy is just to make a killing in the Turnip market and get my mansion.

There is a lot to do in ACWW, way more than in the Gamecube version. But the true genius of the game is that it's very approachable for casual play. If all I want to do is harvest fruit trees, I can do that. If I just want to extort my animal neighbors, that's possible too. Wi-fi town visitation isn't especially useful - mainly just for trading goods from person to person - but it's pretty easy to do.

Wild World is what you make of it, and though it isn't very engrossing (unless you really want that Golden Watering Can), it is easy to pick up and have fun.

Progress: Three floors!