My first “finished” game of the year wasn’t a high-profile, multi-million dollar console release, or even a tiny one-man independent project. Nope…I just finished a game that lies somewhere in-between those – small, but just a shade above “unknown”. It’s a DSiWare game called Aura-Aura Climber, where you have to guide a little star as high into the sky as you can by grabbing onto circular grapple points, collecting power-ups and avoiding lightning balls and beams. There are 10 stages in the standard Score Attack mode, and after you’ve completed them all, the game unlocks “Marathon Mode” for play, where you have to go through all of the stages in order without stopping. I think I got to the fourth section of the marathon before I got struck by a lightning ball.

Endless Mode is just that – try to climb as high as you can until you either run out of time or run out of health. My highest so far is a little over 2,000m. I don’t know whether or not the placement of grapple points and hazards is randomized each time, so I’ll have to try playing that mode again a couple of times today.

Of the 30 in-game challenges, I’ve completed four – one for finishing Score Attack Mode, another for having every power-up at once, one for surviving with only a little bit of time on the clock, and one for surpassing 1,000m in Endless mode. There are more for getting crazy scores in Score Attack mode, and for seeking out hidden medals. That’s quite a lot to do in such a small-ish game (it costs only 200 DSi Points, or $2 U.S.) I expected to have to use the stylus controls to play this game, but I think using the buttons makes a bit more sense, now that I’m used to it.