Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

Mario Kart. You’ll notice that I left off a version here, because I really think that probably every version of this game is a keeper. I always hear a lot about Mario Kart 64, which I’ve never played, but I have played a couple other versions. The first one I got was Mario Kart DS, which was one of two games I bought with my very first DS: The DS Lite, on its launch day. Great game, and it’s one I’ll always be able to go back to. It’s tons of fun to sit on the couch and race against people from Shelton, Sheboygan, and Shebuya. The maps give me a good variety of maps in previous Kart games I’ve never played, and learning new shortcuts is always fun. Also, plenty to unlock. I actually think it took me over a year to fully unlock everything, playing as casually as I do.

Mario Kart Wii is also a lot of fun, in large part because my wife really enjoys playing it with me. The “Wii Wheel” is her method of choice for steering, although I much prefer the accuracy afforded me by the nunchuck. Online ranked races are great, and Linda and I can play together against people from all over the country. We take note of other couples playing and tend to root for them. It’s also very cool to see peoples’ Miis, and for other players to be able to see your Mii sitting in the Kart.

The Kart games aren’t ones that I’ll play regularly, but I’ll always enjoy going back to them.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

Granted, Audiosurf is a purchase that I made from Steam, and so I really couldn’t sell the game even if I wanted, but it’s a game I’d keep for all the same reasons that I’m keeping all the other games that are physically on my shelf. Audiosurf is pretty damned innovative. It lets you use any mp3 file or CD that you have to dynamically create a track on which to race.

For $10, it’s hard to do better than Audiosurf. You get to listen to good music while you play, and you know it’s good music because you’re picking it. Whether you’re racing to Jethro Tull, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Joel, or (ahem) Kelly Clarkson, whatever you find to be good music is what you’ll use. Everyone has their own taste in music. Some of my personal favorites for Audiosurf are Sabotage by the Beastie Boys and Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. Good mix of fast and slow.

The actual gameplay is a beautiful combination of racing and Tetris. As you speed through the course, it will speed up during intense music represented by downhill spans, and slow down during mellow parts, represented by uphill sections of track. There are many different gameplay modes, but in generaly, you’ll be running over different colored blocks as you race, dropping them onto a Connect-4 type of board, and when you line up enough of a given color, they disappear and you get points for them based on what color they are. Overflow a row, and you’re penalized. Whomever thought up this mechanic is a genius, because it’s the most inventive mashup of game genres since Puzzle Quest.