I have vague recollections of having seen Color Zen on the Wii U and 3DS eShops, but it wasn't until the Switch port that I gave it a look. Apparently it was released for iOS first (not sure when the Android version came out). I'm not sure if the Switch port follows the format of that original release, but it provides 100+ puzzles for free, and then you can pay $1 for each of three additional downloadable puzzle packs. I'm guessing the Wii U and 3DS eShop versions just have you pay the $3 up front, though, and presumably have all the the DLC already included.

Anyway, at first I was impressed with the game's aesthetic and game mechanics, and they reminded me of Nintendo's Art Style series, which is high praise indeed as I consider them to be amongst the best puzzle games ever. The game's basic premise is that you have to move shapes around and combine ones that are the same color in order to merge them, which then fills the background with that color. There's a target color you have to end with, and some shapes are movable, and some are not. As you progress, the game introduces white shapes that can match any color, and black shapes that you can use to get rid of another shape. Like many modern puzzle games, the chill electronic soundtrack is absolutely essential in giving the game a cool and relaxing vibe, and the music perfectly complements the laid-back nature of the puzzle mechanics.

All well and good, and I really enjoyed the game starting off. However, the puzzles ended up being too shallow and repetitive, and by the time I got through the majority of the free levels I'd had enough. It looks like some of the DLC has more challenging puzzles, but as elegant as the core game mechanics are, they don't quite find the right balance between enjoyable and tedious as they increase in complexity. Tacking on more moves for each puzzle only makes them superficially more "difficult", and there were very few times where I had to stop and apply logic to make progress. By the end of the free puzzles I felt that the game mechanics had been thoroughly explored and exhausted, and even though 100+ levels isn't that much, it still felt like at least 1/3 of them were just basic repetition. Part of this feeling of repetition may be because of the game's mobile roots where you might just be doing a couple at a time while waiting for the bus or whatnot, but even then I don't think the game would've sustained my interest for very long past the initial set. I enjoyed giving the game a try, but it's too bad that it didn't have just a bit more in terms of interesting game mechanics.

Although on the surface the two Sing and Dance games I played earlier this year look like they might be part of the Just Dance series, I felt some relief going back to an actual Just Dance game, in this case, the somewhat awkwardly named Just Dance 2 Extra Songs for Wii. The game consists of songs that were originally DLC for the megahit Just Dance 2 and were subsequently collected on disc. I hadn't realized it, but Extra Songs was the game's European title, whereas in the US it was released as Just Dance Summer Party.

For the most part the game is your typical Just Dance experience, but the UI and presentation and controls feel noticeably better than the other series. The song selection of this particular entry is a little lacking compared to some of the other games in the series, but it's not too bad. What is noteworthy, however, is that somehow I managed to completely 100% the game, i.e. I got the highest ranking (5*) in every song. Go me! ;) I don't bother to 100% games in general (the last major game I can think of was Wario World for Gamecube, back in 2018), so I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment (although the game barely acknowledges the achievement, with just a still graphic of some stars without even a mention that it's because you got 5* on all songs).

I've definitely gotten more used to the way that the Just Dance games want you to hold your controller, but for the last few songs it was still a mystery how I was supposed to hold the controller for some moves, even after much experimentation. Still, the series has become a sort of comfort video gaming for me and a decent way to get up and off the couch, and the choreography is generally pretty solid, varied, and enjoyable (and only occasionally painfully cheesy). I have a few other dance games lined up before I resume my trek through the Just Dance series with Just Dance 2014, and although I'm looking forward to it, I am a little daunted by how far behind I am with a series that has annual releases.

I've mentioned previously that I'd gotten a PAL Wii a while back so I could play some of those regional exclusives, and a curiosity I came across along the way was the Today and Tomorrow Channel, a Wii Channel that never made it to North America. The Wii Channels ranged from useful (e.g. Weather, Wii Shop, YouTube) to mildly diverting, such as the Everybody Votes Channel, which had entertaining two-option polls that I enjoyed checking regularly, and the Check Mii Out Channel, which ran little contests where you designed and submitted Miis according to a prompt and voted for the ones you thought fit it the best.

The Today and Tomorrow Channel is pretty nonessential, even as far as Wii Channels go. You input your birthday and get astrological predictions, including an overall luck rating, ratings out of five across multiple categories (love, work, study, communications, and money), and daily suggestions for food and fun activities, and "care hints" (e.g. clean your room). You can also compare compatibility with a fellow Mii, and as its title suggests, you can choose to get predictions for the current day or the following day.

It's all very simple and basic, both in terms of its presentation and its features. Maybe astrology enthusiasts will get more out of this, but for the rest of us, this app is not much more than a funny little piece of Nintendo history and not worth a daily check-in. I'm glad I got to try it out, though.

I honestly don't remember why I picked up Tumblestone. I'm a fan of puzzle games in general, but I was afraid the game would be a little simplistic, and the art style didn't grab me either. Maybe I got it confused with the similarly named indie titles TumbleSeed or Grindstone? Anyway, as with the puzzle modes of various match-3-type games such as Puzzle League, you're presented with a board of variously colored squares and your job is to clear them all. You clear tiles by shooting at three in a row of the same color, and you can only shoot at tiles that are in the bottommost position of each of the board's five columns. There are only a small number of solutions, and if you hit a dead end you have to restart from the beginning, but a bit of logic (and perhaps combined with a little trial and error) will get you to the solution. Unfortunately, on the longer stages you have to work yourself through multiple puzzles, and if you reach a dead end on the last one you have to go all the way back to the first one of the set, which is fairly annoying.

I played through all of the first world of the solo story mode and some of the multiplayer versus modes, and although the main game mechanics are solid, they're not particularly distinctive or addictive. As you advance you get introduced to new types of tiles that provide various types of hindrances, and these carry over to the multiplayer mode (or you can choose to have them all unlocked and active). Although I didn't mind trying it out, in a crowded field of match-3-types puzzle games Tumblestone doesn't really stand out and I don't really see myself returning to it anytime soon. I would definitely recommend this be a game that you try before you buy, if possible.