Charming is not a word that usually enters my vocabulary in the milieu of discussing games, being a word better served in terms of describing handsome rogues and quiet country inns. Yet, as I played through A Boy and His Blob for the Nintendo Wii over the last several weeks, that was the word that I found popping into my head more than any other.

The original Boy and his Blob, back on the NES, was not a game I personally played all that much. I didn’t own it, and none of my friends owned it, and this was prior to me discovering the joys of renting games from the local video store. I did, however, have a strong image of the game in my head for an entirely different reason: Nintendo Power. The very first issue of Nintendo Power I received had a large article about the game, including sweeping maps of the early levels. I remember being enthralled with the artwork going over the different flavors of jelly bean and what the blob would turn into when fed them, and I remember the images of the first level, with it’s city skyline at night glowing in the background as the boy and his friend set out on their grand adventure.

It would be a few years before I got to actually play the game, but those early impressions stuck with me all the while. As it turns out, the game itself was very difficult, and I never managed to get particularly far in it. Nonetheless, the original still held a special place in the recesses of my memory, if only for that magazine review.

So, when Wayforward and Majesco announced they were creating an update to the game, I was intrigued. The gamer in me hoped they would do something about the difficulty issues, but the little boy in me kept flashing back to those wonderful drawings that filled Nintendo Power. As such, you can imagine my thrill when the first shots of the new game appeared, and the whole thing was done in a lush, illustrated style that hearkened back to those old drawings.

My Blobolonia

The story of the game, such as it is, is that an evil dark blob king has conquered the peaceful planet of Blobolonia, and our titular Blob escapes to Earth to seek aid, which he finds in the form of the titular Boy. Somewhere in there, jelly beans are spilled, and the Blob’s amazing powers are revealed. So, with candy in hand, you make your way across some lovely landscapes, avoiding the dark blob minions that have also fallen to Earth, and head back to Blobolonia to deal out some shapeless justice.

The gameplay itself is quite simple: you control the Boy, who can make short jumps and toss jelly beans. The Blob consumes the beans, and depending on what he transforms into, new modes of transportation or navigation emerge. Each level contains three hidden treasure chests that are optional to collect, but that open up special challenge levels if you do. Other than that, the goal is simply to get to the golden bean at the end of the level and progress ever forward!

A Degree of Difficulty

One of the main complaints I have heard leveled against this game is that it is too easy; too much hand-holding along the way, and not enough challenge to make you sweat.

The dangers along the way consist of dark blob enemies, environmental hazards, and falling too far. The enemies come in only a few varieties, and none of them are particularly aggressive; you don’t ever have to worry about an enemy pouncing on you unawares. The environmental hazards all dealt with as features of the puzzles, and falling too far is your own damn fault.

The issue often raised is that the game does provide helpful signs in many places telling you what blob form you need to use to proceed. This is done quite heavily in the early levels, and then continues on mostly when a new jellybean is introduced, or a new way of using a form is required. While the signs do serve as tutorial early on, which is good, they do tend to linger a little longer than is needed in the later levels. None of the puzzles are so outrageously difficult that hints are required, and the designers should’ve given the players a little more credit in their ability to solve things on there own. That being said, the signs do only really say what form to use, and not how to use it, so some puzzling out is still required on the player’s part. Additionally, you don’t have any “lives” in the game, and getting yourself killed results in you reappearing at the last checkpoint, ready to try again.

As for the enemies, they are, in general, aspects of the puzzles themselves rather than individual threats, so dealing with them goes hand-in-hand with progressing. The only exceptions to this are the boss blobs, at the end of each world, which require some quicker reflexes in addition to puzzle solving skills. To me, it was these bosses that felt out of place, as they called on a different skill set than the entire rest of the game, with a completely different pace. Something tougher, but perhaps a little more laid back, would have felt more appropriate.

One issue that does crop up later in the game is that the controls for some of your blob modes are a little touchy, and this can result in some frustration. The ball mode feels like it’s never quite responding to you the way you’d like it to, and the rocket mode is incredibly sensitive in steering. This adds to the challenge of some of the later levels, but not in a good way. The removal of some of these rocket-based sections and replacing them with some regular puzzles probably would go a long way towards making the latter-half of the game feel more consistent.

I must also make mention here of what will no doubt be your most hated enemy in the game: the hummingbird. While he can’t kill you, he will swoop in and eat your beans whenever he is around, forcing you to find new ways to solve puzzles. Under his colorful yellow plumage beats (quite rapidly) a heart of darkness. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was in later levels when I came across opportunities to kill him. I am not proud.

Enjoy the Ride

So, with relatively simple mechanics, a fairly low degree of difficulty, and a hateful bird, you might be wondering what exactly it is about this game that makes it worth your time. The answer, quite simply, is that you will find yourself entering a state of zen calm the moment you turn it on. The game oozes charm, from the hand-drawn graphics to the lush backgrounds to the soothing music. With moderate difficulty and slow pacing, the game lets you unwind while you play, losing yourself in its pastel-hued world. This is the kind of game you can just sit back and enjoy playing, and it never asks more of you than to pay attention. Heck, the game has a button mapped solely to having the Boy hug the Blob; if that doesn’t sum up the good feelings this game radiates, nothing will.

So, while A Boy and His Blob is not a must play, I would firmly mark it as a should play – if you like feeling good about yourself and about games, make some time for this one. Especially if, like me, you have any long-lingering memories of the lost days of dreaming about games unplayed, this is one for you.