Wow, what our readership is capable of never fails to surprise and impress us. Take this review of a Wii game that perhaps many overlooked this generation for whatever reason. Maybe it's time to go back and check it out? Read what Freezair says about it, and decide for yourself! —cortjezter
Back in the day, my next-door neighbors owned an old NES. One of the handful of games they had for it was the original A Boy and His Blob. While I never could get the hang of it (it's one of the more notoriously difficult games for the system), something about it kept me bashing my head against it anyway. So when I heard that A Boy and His Blob was being revived for the Wii--by the venerable WayForward, no less--my interest was piqued. Although many attempts to revive the Blob franchise have been made, WayForward succeeded where many had failed before. Admirably, in fact.
A Boy and His Blob (we'll just call is ABAHB for short) is a sidescrolling puzzle platformer. You play as The Boy. You can't directly control The Blob, but you can give him a few commands (like "stay here" and "come to me") if need be. Now, The Boy is just a boy. A small one, in fact. He can jump, but not very high. He can run, but not very fast. And if he gets touched by one of the various slimy black enemies in the game, well, things are not going to end very well for him. But The Blob is a mysterious, invulnerable, shape-shifting warrior from the far-off planet of Bloblonia, who came to Earth seeking help to rid their planet of the evil Emperor that's conquered it. The Boy may not be mighty, but he has something incredibly powerful: Jelly beans! Yes, jelly beans. Whenever the Blob eats one, he can transform into a useful object like a trampoline, an anvil, or a jack. But he needs the boy's help in these forms; he can't use himself. So they form their partnership--the Boy feeds the Blob jellybeans to give him powers, and the Blob protects the Boy. Using their combined powers, as well as an arsenal of jellybeans, you must figure out how to get through a variety of levels.
Since cosmetic things are often the first thing people will notice about a game, it must be said: ABAHB looks GORGEOUS. WayForward went with a hand-drawn look for the game, and it is absolutely stunning. The Boy, the Blob, and all the enemies were lovingly animated by hand, and the fluidity is astounding. Nowhere is this game's labor of love more apparent than in the bosses, which are seething, drippy masses of viscous black goo, vaguely formed into animal shape, oozing with every movement. Every bubbly drip and sludgy slither is wonderfully detailed, and their roiling, explosive death throes are honestly somewhat unsettling as they finally dissolve into lifeless muck. And all of this is set against exquisite and beautiful background paintings, full of life and atmosphere. And it's not even in HD!
The gameplay itself is quite solid, too. In the original game, the Boy had a limited supply of jellybeans and had to find them around the world to use them. In this game, you can use as many beans as you want, and the beans you use for a particular level are decided for you at the game's start. To some this may seem a bit arbitrary--"This puzzle would've been easy if they let me use THAT power!"--but in most levels, you're given precisely the beans you need, and frequently you're given superfluous ones. The only time the game really plays stingy with your powers is in the challenge levels, but more on those in a minute. Some of the levels are definitely better put-together than others, and there's a few that will probably get on your nerves, but there's no out-and-out bad ones. Some of the better levels range from the clever to the brilliant, with puzzles that combine both your knowledge of the Blob's powers with some basic platforming skills.
The game is divided up into four worlds, with ten levels each, for a total of forty main levels. Each of the main levels has copious checkpoints, and they each have three optional treasure chests in them that, if collected, will unlock a bonus challenge level. Challenge levels have no checkpoints, and are, as their name implies, generally quite difficult. But the main game is no slouch, either. Although the game is easy to the point of hand-holding in some of its early levels, the later areas of the game are quite brutal. The challenge levels in particular tend to have a lot of very particular tests of reflexes and reaction time. The Boy can only take one hit before dying, and a single wrong move will often spell his doom. Nowhere is this more apparent than the game's second boss, "The Beast," which is a fast, far-reaching boss in an arena filled with floating mines who can only be harmed by putting the Boy himself in mortal peril. Though the game looks cute, it doesn't play around. Completing challenge levels unlocks bonuses: Usually it's concept art, but some levels, completed in series, will unlock things like a bonus behind-the-scenes video, an extra "self-imposed challenge" option, a sound test, and, in one case, even a little in-game storybook. There are eighty levels in all, and some of them are quite long (and/or quite hard) which is pretty decent length. You can even replay the levels again in the game's bonus "Dark Mode" if you so choose.
The game's story is pretty simple (save the planet from the evil emperor!), but the execution is quite nice. Aside from the title screen and the aforementioned bonus storybook, the game is completely textless, and is almost completely dialogueless save a few voice clips from the Boy. The game is extremely determined to make sure to fall in love with the Blob, and just in case his cuteness wasn't enough, there's a button in the game to let you hug him. It sort of serves a purpose (the Blob can get nervous on occasion if there's a lot of enemies around), but mostly, it's just there to make you go "D'awww." Combined with the very evocative character animations, the game is great at provoking emotion without needing words. The first time you let the Boy die, you're pretty much guaranteed to feel like a real heel. He slumps to the ground lifelessly, and the Blob starts jumping on him and prodding him, as if to say, "Please, wake up!" Of course, in the later levels, you'll be dying left and right, so it kind of loses its impact for a while. There's other such moments of sweetness and tenderness and sadness in the game, and even a few of complete and utter awesomeness, but I won't spoil 'em for you.
The soundtrack is quite pleasant, too. It has a cinematic feel, and a few of the tracks (such as the ones that play when you're in nighttime levels, surrounded by fireflies) are even downright magical. Although you might not remember every track with perfect detail, the quality is, overall, high. Since the game goes for that Disney-animated-movie feel, there's even a vocal song performed over the end credits, and it's got definite tear jerker potential.
On the whole, ABAHB is definitely one of the better games for the Wii, and worth a look if only to marvel at the great animation. But it's also got some great puzzles. Top it all off with some downright sadistic challenge levels (for those who like that kind of thing, and you know who you are) and a great visual-only style of storytelling, and you have yourself a game worthy of a spot in any platformer fan's collection.
And it's got a hug button.
MY SCORE: 8
Source: Freezair
