If you miss a day or just can’t get up in time, it’s hard to get back into the rhythm. And it’s hard to get into that rhythm with how annoying it is to have to set weight-based goals, even if you don’t need to change your weight.

At this point, the most redeeming feature of Wii Fit is the balance board. A couple of games have come out that use the board for other things - guiding a ball through one of those get-the-ball-in-the-hole mazes and trying to simulate drum pedals, for example. But the game itself just doesn’t hold appeal for more than a few weeks.

Super Sluggers takes much of the same gameplay as its older GameCube brother - fields that are more than typical baseball diamonds, special moves depending on the classic Nintendo character you’re playing as, and so on - and a few tweaks to the Wii Sports Baseball control scheme.

The problem is in the simplicity. Half the fun of the game is the control scheme, but using the movement-based controls means you can’t control baserunning or fielding aside from shaking the Wii Remote to speed up your character.

There are a couple other control options, including turning the remote sideways or plugging in a Nunchuck, but then you lose the fun of the Wii-style controls and it becomes a Superstar Baseball clone.

Wii Fit is really hard to find these days: this copy, I hear, was on eBay and probably a marked-up pricetag. (My birthday present, in case you’re wondering.) It’s so hard to find that as of this writing and for at least a few months back, Amazon.com isn’t taking orders for the game itself, and is instead offering it from third-party sellers for $160 apiece. (FreetimeGamer.com, by the way, gets all of its games on the open market, most of them new.)

The game seems pretty good at its intended purpose. I’m no fitness expert and no bodybuilder, but I’m not in that bad of shape. Still, I found many of the exercises tough and I really felt it in my muscles.

A couple issues, though: the virtual trainer in many of the strength-training exercises went a little too fast, so it was hard to keep up. Also, it would probably be best in places with more room in front of the TV than my apartment - probably a good 10 to 15 feet between the TV and the next furniture. I don’t think anybody much taller than I am would be able to do the push-up exercise without that much space, especially since you need to see the TV to figure out what the sounds mean.

Another oddity: the weight sensor on the balance board (the included weight- and balance-sensitive controller) may need a little more calibration: it seemed to think I lost nearly a pound during my first hour with the game.

Still, the game does make me want to figure out the best way to fit it into my routine, perhaps when I return home from work each day. The exercises can get rather amusing - especially the aerobics exercises, which have the Nintendo flair for including other Miis in the gameplay.

(Quick note before I continue: I’m reviewing the Xbox 360 version. I hear it’s also available for the two Ws: Windows and Wii.)

In the game, you’re a CSI, working with computer-animated versions of the original CSI’s main characters to solve crimes. It’s not quite as exciting as it could be; there’s no way to arrest the wrong suspect or otherwise screw up the case. But you do get evaluated on how well you gather the evidence and whether you use hints.

But it’s not without bugs. The first few times I popped the game in, I got stuck - once in Grissom’s office with nowhere to go, once with a blank “Details” screen that wouldn’t go away, and a few other times with a few other oddities. Could just be random glitches, though; things started working OK again a couple of days later.

Controls on the Xbox are a bit wonky - you use the left stick like a mouse, but the digital pad to navigate some of the menus. I would imagine it’s a bit better on Windows and Wii.

This game is OK as a freetime game - you could play it for an hour, put it away and play again later without having to remember too much. The game keeps track of all the facts and makes all the conclusions, so if you forget what happened, you can head to the case file and get caught up again.

As for the game making all the conclusions, well, that takes a lot of the mystery out of it. Since the on-screen characters take care of the thinking, the game loses some interest and intrigue. Occasionally, I found myself just kinda following along and suddenly, the case was solved.

So there are no real stakes; this is more of a game with five interactive episodes of CSI starring some off-looking computer-animated clones of the characters. And the occasional plot hole - Doc Robbins mentions the family of the first victim is all dead when said victim hasn’t even been identified. Then there’s another one in another case involving a blind character. That’s a little too important a plot point for me to elaborate on.

For fans of the TV show, a couple things may freak them out a bit, aside from the occasionally creepy computer animation. Those are the voices of Catherine and Sara, performed by soundalikes to the original actresses. The male characters are voiced by their TV actors.

A bit of a content advisory for parents: While this game does carry an M rating, it’s certainly not promoting violence. The language is occasionally a bit more intense than it is on the TV show, and there is a mild sexual theme in a couple of the cases. The player has to swab a used condom in one case and there is a short scene of fully clothed on-screen “sex.” The scenes in the morgue may creep some viewers out, and the game does use some of the anatomical animations from the show to demonstrate some of the crime.

All in all, fun was had, although the interactivity was a bit lacking. About as replayable as the TV episodes of CSI - not more than a couple times until you’ve had a chance to forget the game.

Zuma is perhaps one of my favorite Windows games. It’s a nice mix of puzzles and a little bit of action. Great time-waster.

The iPod click wheel version: OK, but just doesn’t work as well on that screen.

The Xbox 360 version: After just 10 minutes, my left thumb started hurting. You push the left stick on the Xbox controller in the direction you want to shoot the ball. Pretty intuitive idea, but not that nice with the design of the Xbox controllers. I practically had to bend my thumb in half to be able to control the stick nicely.

Inevitably, as time wears on, your thumb starts hurting and twitching, bringing what control you had to a grinding halt, leaving you two or three orbs off in either direction on a good day.

Leave this game where it belongs: on computers. (Although I’d be intrigued by what PopCap could do with the Wii Remote.)

Let’s just get the “Well, duh!” statements out of the way: Backgammon is a game of strategy. A single game lasts 5 to 10 minutes.

In terms of controls, Hardwood Backgammon is pretty intuitive. (Or at least as intuitive as you can get with the typical Xbox 360 controller. I would imagine a Wii version would be even easier to use.)

But in terms of the environment, expect to be annoyed. Quickly. The background music - one song - lasts about two minutes. And then it repeats. And repeats. And repeats. And– you get the point. The song isn’t even that good anyway.

Of course, you can still Bring Your Own Tunes through the Xbox’s music feature - just make sure to turn the music volume all the way down in the game. Kinda sucks for me, since 99 percent of the music I normally listen to is from iTunes, and little of it will work right on the 360, even with that little update.

Graphically, it’s nice enough. I mean, it’s backgammon, but the programmers seem to have done a good job at using as much of the Xbox’s immense graphics power possible (and sanely) in a backgammon game.  

It’s a pretty good game if you’re into backgammon. But if you’re not, don’t expect this to get you into the game.

(Note: The version I tried was on the Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged disc, but I would imagine the downloadable game is the same.)

Here must have been the step-by-step directions the programmers followed:

1. Take Tetris from the NES.
2. Strip out all references to Nintendo property.
3. Make the multiplayer mode playable over the Internet using Xbox Live. Add in the ability to make it 6 players.
4. Add a cheesy aquarium theme.
5. Have the music resequenced, this time in “bad jazz band” style.
6. Sell it on Xbox Live Arcade.

Tetris is really a classic game. It’s one of my longtime favorite games to relax. But the problem is: Tetris Splash adds nothing really that new to the game. Okay, there’s the 40 line mode, where you clear 40 lines as quickly as possible. (Somebody thinking Mode B on the original Game Boy Tetris game?)

If you have Tetris already, save your Microsoft points. It makes zero sense to buy this game again.

In the game, you’re a bird-thing attached to two red balloons, and the object is to fly up and pop other bird-things’ colored balloons while they either try to pop yours or just float around aimlessly. (You basically kick the balloons.) It’s nice for little snippets of action.

There’s another mode, shown in the video on Nintendo’s website linked below, where the object is to pop as many balloons as you can in sort of a marathon. I’m not very good at that mode. It’s actually rather humorous how bad I am.

The soundtrack is really catchy, especially from an 8-bit NES cartridge game. (Head to the official site, linked below, to hear some of it from the gameplay video.) The gameplay is rather fun, giving enough of a challenge that it’s not boring, yet not being so challenging you give up quickly.

Probably one of the main downsides is the control. It’s rather funky - you keep hitting 2 to fly, or hold down 1, but it’s hard to control your altitude. I’ve found myself right above an enemy, but lose control to drop enough that it’s my balloon that pops instead of the other guy’s.

Also, don’t worry about the Classic Controller for this (or really any Virtual Console game from the NES). The sideways Wii Remote is good enough, especially given that it’s similar in shape and function to the original NES controller.

(Virtual Console, 500 points)
Official Website

Wrecking Crew has Mario breaking down walls and such using a hammer and bombs, all while being chased by odd creatures and fireballs shooting from the sides. It’s kind of the lovechild of a puzzle game and Mario Bros.

But it just doesn’t work out. The levels are kind of blah - not a whole lot of thought required. Mario’s reaction to blowing up a bomb is sometimes unpredictable - he’ll fall part of the time, he’ll stay up part of the time. And in the end, the bad guys are more annoying than threatening.

(500 Points on Wii Shop Channel)
Official Site

The latest update in the Mario Kart series adds motorcycles to the mix. And while it certainly doesn’t have the most realistic physics, that’s kind of the point.

One of the real pluses this game has for this site is how long it takes to play a game. A Grand Prix - four races - takes about 5 to 10 minutes to play, making it perfect for a quick video gaming fix.

It’s also the perfect balance in terms of challenge: the 50cc level provides for an easy, relaxing game, while the 100cc and 150cc levels add just enough challenge.

And the game offers some nice choices for control: snap your Wii remote into the Wii Wheel packed with the game, attach a Nunchuck or Classic Controller, or use a GameCube controller.

While Wii Sports gets all the media attention for the Wii, this is definitely a killer app for the Wii.

Official Site