Ginger, on A Boy And His Blob

If you don't already know about this game you're missing out. A Boy And His Blob is a platform-puzzle game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Majesco Games in 2009. There is an older version somewhere, but I'll be talking about the Wii version (released on October 13th, 2009).

First off, the art of this game is delightful. I've never seen a more adorable side kick than Blob. Even the bad-guy shadow creatures are cute in a way - most of them look far from menacing (except for the bosses).  The stages themselves are very well done to; To me, they kinda of look like a sophisticated Mario-style world. I happen to like the nighttime ones the best myself.

Guys, guys - I just want to pass by here.

Now as far as the premise, I don't know if playing the original game would explain anything better, but you get a little epic opening movie that shows Blob crash landing on Boy's world after leaving a jelly bean shaped planet, then Boy and Blob kicking butt and taking names, and finally a glimpse of the top bad dude you ultimately have to fight (?). ( I'm not sure if you have to fight him in the end or not since I haven't finished the game yet...) When the game actually starts you find Boy asleep in his pretty rocking tree house where he gets awakened by Blob's crash landing. Boy (you at this point) will get up and be directed on where to go find Blob and buddy up. Once you guys are together, you'll be zapped back to the tree house and the game will really start. You get different sets of jelly beans to feed Blob on each stage and each jelly bean has different effects - one will turn Blob into a ladder, another will turn him (it?) into a trampoline, another will turn him hole and so on. On the lower levels you'll get three different types of jellybeans, but you'll have more and more as you get further in the game. On each level you will use every type you're given at least once - especially in the boss battles. Though it is pretty straight forward (get form point A to point B), you do have to get creative sometimes to figure out how to get somewhere and the difficulty constantly changes so you're never bored.

Yeah! Squish those baddies flat!

As an added bonus there are two types of stages: the story stages and the challenge stages. The story stages have three hidden chests for you to find that turn into artifacts in your home after you finish the stage (not really sure what they're for yet or if they have a purpose) and the challenge stages help you hon your skills, sort of. The challenge stages are in fact a challenge, and take a little more finesse to get though. I let my husband play those since I don't have the patience for it, but I love the story stages.

All in all, I love this game. It's challenging enough for adults to play but easy enough not to be to difficult for children either. The stages are well thought out and planned. The story is sweet and says a lot about friendships and team work (a good lesson of adults and children alike). It's not overly violent like some many other games out there today (there is some bad guy squishing and bursting, but it had to be done). I's not sure about the replay value on this game yet, but I think it has some potential. Also, I think I might need a Blob plushie. Anyone know where to get one? :)