It is worthy to note that Yoshi's Island DS was designed as a portable game and it still had large levels. Still, I tend to feel that the bite-sized levels of the 2D games are more immediately replayable than the longer 3D game levels anyways.

At least 8-3 had two powerups so you could roast those Hammer Bros at the end. Though for the longest time, I didn't know about the power-ups, forcing me to dodge them head-on. Damn things are so unpredictable, and almost all of my attempts to stomp them ended in getting killed by a hammer.

I think that a crucial thing people seem to miss is that Emil and Marta are supposed to come off as annoying at first, as the game is about showing how they grow out of it. Sounds cliched, but personally, I thought the way the story played with our perceptions of stock character archetypes was pretty intriguing. As much as everyone hates hearing this, Tales Of Symphonia 2 is a game that gets better later on, at least story-wise.

Usually, no, but seeking 100% completion sometimes does end up feeling like a chore at times, since the sidequests and post-game content tend to be of noticeably lower quality than the main game. Well, obviously, those are just in there to satisfy people wanting to get more out of the game, but when it involves hunting for secrets that mostly require a strategy guide to weed out or challenges focussed more on artificially inflated difficulty or longevity rather than putting the player's skills to the test, only my compulsive tendencies see me through.

The Pokemon games, though most of it was grinding.

Super Mario 64. I spent a lot of time just goofing around and exploring around for coins, which probably adds up to 100 hours.

I've played a lot of Super Smash Bros Melee and Brawl, though not so much the latter.

I sank 200 hours into Rune Factory Frontier, and this was only a single playthrough. Seeing everything there is to see in the game is an immense goal, after all.

I've been kind of annoyed with the backlash against short games myself. I do understand that people obviously don't want to pay $60 for a game that's only going to last them 5 hours, but personally I'd rather have a short game which lends itself well to replays than a long game which I'm never going to touch again after one playthrough. I guess that's why I've been more interested in downloadable games recently, though of course short games there are more acceptable since the prices are much lower.

I think the continued success of the Mario name is how it manages to remain true to itself despite all the changes in popular trends and expectations of gaming in 25 years. Nintendo doesn't try to make the series darker and edgier for the sake of pandering to a different audience, instead keeping the series on its own path with its own ideas. I also sense that Nintendo keeps in mind what works and what doesn't with each game. What follows is a bit subjective, but I think it gets across the general idea.

Super Mario 64 was amazing, but it was somewhat offbeat for the series, being quite nonlinear and having a greater focus on adventuring and puzzles than platforming. So Super Mario Sunshine brought in the "Secret" platforming stages while also making the controls tighter and easier. Of course, the huge open worlds clashed with the linearity of the missions and a lot of Shines were repeats, so Super Mario Galaxy streamlined the worlds to put the focus back primarily on platforming. The levels were made primarily linear with almost no backtracking involved and there were relatively few stars for each world. Galaxy 2 was an even further streamlining with each world only having 2-3 regular stars in total. Notably, the much-criticized "exploring" Purple Coin challenges were taken out and only the linear path and timed ones remained.

In a sense, I believe Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the ultimate expression of Miyamoto's vision, what with large amount of worlds and the astounding variety among them. After all, he did make 32 courses for Super Mario 64, even though only 15 remained. Personally, I think Super Mario Galaxy 2 might have went a little too far with the variety, since before you get to truly enjoy a world, it's off to the next one, but then I'm not Nintendo. Overall, it's great that the games managed to stay so fun and fresh while maintaining the same spirit we've all come to love about them from the very beginning, especially considering how so many other long-running series often make the mistake of trying to "get with the times" by trying to borrow from what's currently popular in gaming.

On a side note, not all the Mario spinoffs are great, but the good ones add a refreshingly different take on the series while again maintaining that Mario feel. Bowser's Inside Story, for instance, adds a lot of depth to the characters, especially Bowser and his minions. I'd even go as far to say that it fixes some of the lacking story elements in the main series, particularly Sunshine's infamous story.

Obviously the Galaxy games are on the list, but Wii Sports Resort, Rune Factory Frontier, Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, and Contra ReBirth are also very satisfying.

The Wii has definitely been attracting more quirky, unique titles and because of this, encouraged me to venture off beyond the typical first-party support to try some of them. The motion controls feel so immersive in Wii Sports Resort, LostWinds and Zack & Wiki (though the latter did have a few awkward moments). Even in a relatively normal controlling game like Super Mario Galaxy and Rune Factory Frontier, the Wii remote and nunchuk setup just feels more comfortable than the standard controller. Very much worth the purchase.

About time. I've been wanting to check out more WiiWare games, and the demos will be good for maybe picking up games I might have overlooked otherwise.