After enduring the suffering that was the original NES A Boy and His Blob, I found immense relief playing this vastly improved version of the game. Everything that was bad about the original game has been cast out like demons back to their unholy place of sorrow. The sins of the past... washed away!
WayForward's enhanced version of the old NES game takes the core concept and greatly improves all aspects of gameplay to create something that becomes a hundred times more enjoyable. The nameless Boy still uses different flavored jellybeans to transform his friend, the Blob, into different tools, items, and other handy things that enable him to progress his different environments.
After having played the original NES game, I can truly appreciate every single improvement that has been made: you now have infinite jelly beans, infinite lives, a generous number of checkpoints throughout each level so that you never have to re-tread much ground if you happen to die.
Also, in terms of difficulty, another improvement over the original game is that the game is now divided up into small, discrete levels rather than one large 2-D world where you're left to explore. Although I do love Metroid-style open-world kind of gameplay, which the original sort of resembled, I would argue the Blob transformation mechanic just doesn't mesh well with that kind of open world, especially one as poorly designed as the NES Blobolonia.
Jelly beans can easily be thrown onto any spot you desire, enabling great accuracy. Unlike the original, the game controls smoothly using the analog stick. You will appreciate the sensitivity of the analog stick when making precise movements such as when you're floating down a long shaft using the parachute Blob, since the Boy's movements going left and right have a definite sense of momentum. Overall, the analog control feels really good and responsive. I opted for Classic Controller rather than the remote/ nunchuk as the chuck offers no additional benefit, since the game uses no motion control or pointer capability.
Choose your jellybean flavor. It's fast and super easy!
I felt the pacing of the game was a bit too slow. The first two worlds are fairly easy, and there is simply too much explicit guidance, particularly with the painted signs telling you exactly which transformation you should use. The game is less about experimenting with what works and more about going through the motions of transforming the Blob and watching his animations (kind of like a loading time) just to be able to get to the next small section of a level. Plus, each level limits the different kinds of jellybeans you can use, so it would be only natural that experimentation would be a bigger gameplay component.
Gee, I wonder if that sign back there is a clue of some kind??? maybe
Many of the transformations are a lot of fun to use and really diversify the gameplay types. For example, there's one that transforms the Blob into a large protective sphere that the Boy can climb into, essentially becoming a hamster-in-a-ball (or a Monkey Ball, you Sega fans, you!), which is really fast and protects the Boy from danger. Obviously this power is limited to use in certain stages. Overall, I'm very happy with all the new Blob transformations that were added, and many of the old ones from the NES have returned and are as useful as ever.
There are also challenge levels to unlock by finding the three treasures hidden in each level. What I like about these 'expert' levels is they usually challenge your platforming abilities just as much or maybe even more so than the puzzle aspects of the normal levels.
There are some new elements thrown at you as you progress through the game that add to the challenge and force you to think creatively, like the hummingbird enemies that gobble up the jellybeans as you throw them when you're near, thus preventing a Blob transformation. Plus, the boss battles are a lot of fun. For example, the boss of World 3 requires you to use just about all your different Blob abilities to bring him down, making for a very satisfying duel! You basically experiment with what you are given and put things to use.
If there's one word to sum up this game, it is: charming. The cartoon animation, and the soothing melodies. There's a hug button!
The Boy's animation is excellent and is very smooth. There's a lot of cool shading/ shadow and lighting effects as the Boy travels through the different environments. I love seeing all the different background and foreground layers with parallax scrolling, and there's subtle touches such as some of those elements being interactive, like when your two characters brush aside vines (and the vines swing smoothly) as they walk across them. Yeah, it's not as complex as the layers in, say, Muramasa, but it's still a visual treat. Plus, a lot of the layers have simple but nice animations: branches swaying, leaves and vegetation.
I love the variety in the environments. The first time I saw the caverns was really great, with many layers, all wonderfully animated: gentle cascading waterfalls, the shimmering pools of water reflecting the stalactites. The animation simply shines throughout the whole game and is filled with seemingly hand-drawn goodness. Similar to some levels in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, you'll find levels where you're surrounded in darkness, and Blob then becomes a limited light source. Other levels use the silhouette visual imagery, where only the background is lit, making you and other characters simple shadows (technique expertly used in Donkey Kong Country Returns).
The music is certainly well done and is quite enjoyable. However, the only complaint I have is that the music loops on itself quite poorly. You'll hear an abrupt end to the track before it loops, and it just breaks the flow of an otherwise pleasant soundtrack. Surprisingly, some of the music tracks borrow heavily from the original NES theme (which sounded pretty awful in the first place) and is used in various tracks such that it brought a smile to my face whenever I would recognize it. Overall, music is soothing and relaxing (The caverns come to mind...)
Subterra music is oh so nice
Great nod to the original NES game!
Also, the Boy crying out "Blooob!" is cute but annoying when you're doing it constantly, though I guess it makes sense that you call out for him so he will come. The simple whistle would have been sufficient.
To sum it up: I'm really happy how WayForward revitalized the old game by taking the source and focusing on the core mechanic and making a game worth remembering. For fans of the 2D puzzle platformer genre, you really can't go wrong with this game, and you owe it to yourself to check it out at this point in the Wii's life.
I really do want to play Shantae: Risky's Revenge and Contra 4, but I've got to make some progress working my way down my backlog. One day, my friend, one day.
I got this game around nine months ago and finally got around to playing it in earnest. I'm on the second world right now and love the game so far. Charming indeed describes this game roykoopa64. I'm a sucker for hand painted graphics and the music is great. Very soothing.
I forget when I got this game, but I got up to somewhere in the second world I think. It's good, but I agree it's slow. I had gotten another game at the same time, so I started playing that and then left this one unfinished. The slow pace probably had something to do with that. I'll need to be in a certain mood before I play the game again.
Nice review. I LOVE the art style, the animation, and charm of this game. This is most likely the best WayForward game yet. Too bad there aren't more games like this, though the upcoming Ni No Kuni would probably come close to ABAHB's charm. One of the Wii's hidden gems for sure.
Overall, music is soothing and relaxing (The caverns come to mind...)
Bought it a while ago. Will need to pop it in my console at some point. This review has given me the itch.
