Curiosity got the better of me. When I was a little kid playing the 8-bit NES system, one of my school friends had the original game and I had read about it in a Nintendo Power. So of course we had to give it a go... and neither of us could figure it out or play for more then 10 minutes. Still, it was an incredibly unique game that stuck with me, so when we got a new take on it in the days of the Nintendo Wii, I picked it up. Sadly I didn't get to it while I had my actual system up and running. Rather the dice called it now, so play I did.
Now please keep in mind, I did NOT play this on original hardware. Rather, I ripped my disc-copy of the game and played on the Dolphin emulator connecting a real Wii-mote with classic controller to it (yes you can do that.. Bluetooth connections work). However, I don't think the difference is going to be very strong, even in the visuals as this game is all hand-drawn. There is no 3D rendering work for the computer to upscale beyond what the Wii originally did.
Story: Trouble brews on Blobolonia. It has been conquered by an evil emporer and the poor residents are being imprisoned in his castle! They need help, so they sent for it as one brave soul traveled out to the cosmos to find a hero in their time of need. And it landed here, on earth only to be discovered by a young boy. Join these young adventures from different worlds as they begin a journey to restore the blob's world!
This is about all the story there is in this game, but sometimes a simple story works to your advantage and this is one of those times, as this game tells what little story there is without a word. Even the names above only come from a single paragraph in the manual. Rather the game uses the world to get across the feelings and basic ideas across, including the bond of friendship between the boy and his alien friend. It is simple, but beautiful.
7/10
Graphics: Old technology certainly doesn't hold this game back in the least! Starting with our two heroes interacting during the publisher/developer names, you have a hint of just how high quality the animation here is, and that is what you are dealing with. And then if you leave the game alone, the opening animation will just show the dedication the artists had with this. It is simply glorious.
But if you choose to skip it (and you should not), its not like the game is going to short change you here. From the hand drawn animation of the boy as jogs through the forest is at a level we usually only see in animated TV shows, and every frame is absolutely on point. The blob, for it's own part is also imaculate if not both more simple and more complex. Where the boy only needs to do human things, the blob is a detailless white mass with the exception of it's eyes. It's movement is most of the time can be reduced to bouncing where it needs to go, but the transformations it will perform throughout the game are a lot more unique and just as perfectly done as anything else in the game.
And this same level of detail carries on to everything from the first sludging enemies of black goo to the five absolutely monsterous bosses you will see, all to incredible hand-painted backdrops taking themes from the four locations the game will take you through... from the forest to the Emporer Blob's metal castle. This game is simply a feast for the eyes!
9/10
Sound: Sound is a little bit more of a mixed bag then the artwork here, but that is because of what it lacks more then anything else. Outside of the boy's calling out to the blob (and a really badly acted yell of fear) there is literally no voices in this game at all, choosing instead to rely on the soundtrack and ambiance of the world to finish the picture the art so expertly starts. And this it does really well. The sound of the devices you turn the blob into, the movement of the duo through the terrain you are in, and simple sounds you might take for granted like crickets chirping at night make the physical world of the game work that much more.
But the star of this game is the music. Hands down this is one of the most beautiful soundtracks I have heard in a long time, keeping the classical orchestrated tones melodic throughout, even as it shifts from wonder to feat and back througout your adventure. This is the kind of background music that really would be welcome away from the game.
8/10
Gameplay: Unfortunately, this is where the game hits it's nastier steps, and it is a real shame. It never does much to be more then average on it's own, but when it's working, it completes the picture the brilliant picture you see and hear while you play quite well. The game starts on these strong notes with just the boy awakened by the crash of something big. You can run and jump and the game will naturally teach you how pushing objects work as you guide him to the crash site and his new-to-be friend from beyond the stars.
Once blob is with you, the game opens up with levels that effectively are physics puzzles where you will guide the boy through, using the blob as various tools. It starts easy enough teaching you the ropes, like for example how to use the trampoline and ladder. And just when you start to lose interest in the basic tools, it drops a new one in your lap with a level designed to show you how it works and what it can do before adding it to the potential mix of abilities at your disposal. And that is one place the game mixes things up which some will like and others will not: your abilities for Blob are not cumulative: they were hand selected by the developers for each level. Personally, I think this can and does work really well for the most part as they are often so well chosen their selection itself is a hint of how the level is supposed to work. It even goes so far as to be your first (and often biggest) clue of how a boss fight is supposed to happen... but this is also where the downfall begins.
The second quarter of the game tends to open up the abilities that are not just tools to deal with a situation but modes of transportation... in particular the orb. When you use this jellybean the Blob will turn into a human-hamster ball and the boy will climb inside allowing you to move around really quickly, but at the cost of precision of any sort. The levels that demand this be used tend to be annoying as your ability to traverse can be very unpredictable, but the second boss that you encounter actually requires you to use this ability as a shield from it's attacks... and it is very likely it will hit you before you can first climb into it at the beginning of the battle, ending that run before it can even begin.
And let's talk about this boss, as it is also the moment the game goes from a descent but gorgeous puzzle game to an absolute horror to try to play. The arena opens up with a beastial thing almost on top of you which, if you are lucky (it seemed about the odds of a coin toss to me), you will get into this orb before he swats you dead on the spot. From there you can see you only have one other power... turning the blob into a hole. Looking around, all there are are three little dark explodable blobs flying their lazy paths up and down and you know your mission: Set the hole under them to go down and hit the big bad boss. Only problem is locations: particularly his. He chases you down and doesnt necessarily always line up with points you need him to for the fight to go as designed. Add this to the boy at these moments being very vulnerable, no real jumping ability as one would expect in video-game terms (even as they are admittedly impressive when compared to a normal human), and generally just not maneuverable enough to really dodge effectively and expect to die.. a lot.. even as you understand what you are doing.
This difficulty spike will sour the game for a lot of people, myself included, but what follows is even worse. For while the puzzles around the orb are annoying in how hard they are to actually control, at least failing won't kill you... the rocket the entire next section depends on is not so lucky. You will be required to guide blob in the form of an ever forward propelling device without hitting anything that could kill the boy and the way they use the movement stick to do this just feels incredibly squirrely. This was as far as I got before calling it quits because it had been the 8 hours or so I demand of myself before writing a review and I had just spent 30 minutes of which repeating the same 15-20 seconds trying proceed despite said controls. A real shame since the game does return to form afterwards, but you can only repeat yourself so many times before you call it day.
6/10
Bugs: While there are not any bugs I can confirm 100%, I'm pretty confident I found one in the second boss (halfway through the game) as I did not require all three hits to kill him, nor am I even sure I hit him the first time. Still, considering how brutal and RNG (random number generation) this boss is I hardly consider such "bugs" a bad thing.
Score: At first this was a descent game backed by some absolutely gorgeous artwork for your eyes and ears. But it never takes a lot for a game that is only descent to fall from grace and this game around the half-way mark falls hard... hard enough to drive me from finishing it. As such I really can not recommend the game to anyone looking for something fun to play. It will wear out it's welcome well before you finish.
6/10
Source: Retail (With the Wii being no longer active, an HD rerelease on all major platforms)
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