One of the best things about the Nintendo Wii has been how it has invigorated Nintendo’s massive catalogue of games. It has been 20 years–for those that remember–since we were first introduced to Blobert, the amorphous white goo ball who works for jellybeans.
In both the original and the 2009 remake, you are tasked with assisting your nebulous friend defeat a tyrant who has claimed the throne of his home world, Blobolonia. The journey is wrought with perils. To overcome the challenges the player can get his blob friend to transform into numerous helpful objects by feeding him different flavors of jellybeans. The blob can transform into an anvil, jack, hole, ladder and parachute to name a few.
The 1989 original.
The original game was frustratingly difficult. You had limited lives, limited jellybeans and many blind leaps of faith.
The remake takes what was good about the first, and removed every source of frustration to end up with a magnificent little game. Unlimited lives and frequent checkpoints encourage experimentation and allow for tougher puzzles.
A Boy and his Blob is a puzzle game first. While the original traversed only three large levels, this one is divided into four regions of 10 levels each. Another 40 levels can be unlocked by finding hidden treasure chests in each of the main levels.The remake is minimalistic and simplistic. The story is delivered simply, without dialogue or text, through a small movie that looks like a cheap Saturday morning cartoon on public television. There is not a real menu, nor is there a tutorial. The player is coaxed gently through the early levels, only to have the complexity and difficulty of the puzzles ramp up as you progress.
The artistic style is picturesque like illustrations in a storybook. And like an illustrated children’s book teaches reading and grammar, A Boy and his Blob teaches lateral thinking and problem solving.
This makes it a great game for children of any age. However, that does not mean nostalgic gamers will not be equally baffled by some of the puzzles and particularly tense boss battles.
Absolute Entertainment originally released a Boy and his Blob for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. It was designed by David Crane, who is perhaps most famous for creating Pitfall! for the Atari.
