In the second of this three-part look at Super Mario 64 and Nintendo's leap into 3D game design, we explore what Mario's polygonal upgrade took from his sprite-based adventures… and where this pioneering work left room for improvements.

Lupin III may be a criminal mastermind, but with this game, he couldn't steal... MY HEART. Alas, such an iconic manga and anime character deserves a more interesting Game Boy adventure than this dull puzzler. Sadly, this would be his only outing on the system. Such a letdown!

While not as fondly remembered as its dense, dark, NES counterpart, SunSoft's portable tie-in to Tim Burton's semi-camp classic Batman movie holds up fairly well. Despite some awkward jump physics and the occasional instance of super-cheesy level design, Batman stands out as one of the better Game Boy releases we've seen to date here. It's a strong example of smart portable action game design: Good sprite and screen proportions, short enough to complete in a single sitting, and not so easy that you're likely to see the ending your first time through.

That's no moon, it's a... giant... robot... thing? I can't make heads or tails of the story and overall aesthetics in Nexoft's weirdo puzzler Cyraid, but that weirdness (and some pretty inventive play mechanics) do at least help it stand out from the bazillion puzzlers we've already seen for Game Boy. Sometimes, the insanity defense pays off.

It's another arcade classic on Game Boy, sure enough. But for some reason, Nintendo decided to take this one under its wing and produce it as a first-party title. Why? Who knows! But the upside is (1) this is a great conversion on Qix; (2) it has a customs Super Game Boy palette; and (3) it has these weird endings with Mario in ethnic costumes.

Also, before anyone corrects me on the pronunciation of the game's name... I don't care what Wikipedia says, it's クイックス according to the Japanese packaging — that's "kuikkusu," or "quicks." Not "kicks." This is not the hill any of us want to die on!