I woke up this morning–the very last day of my holiday break–looking forward to today’s level. Couldn’t wait to get to the 3DS and get climbing. Less than a minute after reporting to my desk, level 0-2 was over. I wanted more. I still want more as I type this. The big challenge here, at least until the levels become more complicated, is limiting myself to just one level per day.

0-2 introduces randomly shifting conveyer belts. These belts carry Mario, along with what appears to be ceramic lip sculptures, left and right, etc. The ceramic lip sculptures, as I learned, are hazardous. Merely brushing against one will result in death. In the center of the screen is an oil barrel which spews more anthropomorphic fire balls, always in pairs. There are also two hammer-power hammers to use, which I did, in the name of accruing the maximum number of points. There is also a large umbrella, which, when collected, rewarded me with a small amount of bonus points. I don’t understand why anyone would choose an umbrella as a manifestation of bonus boints, but there you go. Finally, there are expanding/contracting ladders on the penultimate level, just beneath Donkey Kong’s dancing feet. My first time up the girders, I reached this level just as one of the ladders was contracting and a fire ball was bearing down on me. Game over, man.

Donkey Kong, without any barrels to toss, does nothing in this level except parade back and forth across the top tier while performing a celebratory move which looks like something one might observe on the dance floor at a bar mitzvah. When I reached the top, 69 seconds had elapsed. (The Game Boy version keeps close tabs on my time, which I appreciate.) Naturally, Donkey Kong grabs Pauline and makes his way off the screen, towards level 0-3, where I will meet him tomorrow. In the mean time, I’m going to see a matinee of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and try not to think about level 0-3, and try to make the most of this final bit of holiday before 2012 officially starts up tomorrow.