Topic: NWR Game Club #1: A Boy and His Blob

[NWR_Neal]

Feed your little blob some jellybeans with us.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/29549

The winner of our inaugural site-wide Game Club is A Boy and His Blob, published by Majesco and developed by WayForward. The winner had to be decided by tiebreaker as it was deadlocked with Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. The other three games (House of the Dead: Overkill, Let's Tap, and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories) were far behind. Bowser's Inside Story will return in some sort of second-chance poll in the coming months.

So go track down or bust out your copy of A Boy and His Blob now! We'll start rolling out features and coverage on the game starting in April. We're looking forward to discussing this game with you, and use this forum thread to talk about your experiences with the 2009 Wii exclusive.

You can start off, if you're curious about the game, by reading Andy Goergen's review.

[fordrob]

I smell a Connectivity segment

[SBB]

I've had this for a pretty long time, and I never finished it. I guess this is a good excuse to get back into it!

Also, more games need a hug button.

[NWR_Neal]

Oh yes, there will be a Connectivity segment!

I'm kind of excited to go back and play this. Haven't touched it since 2009, and I might attempt to 100% it.

[Olimar77]

I've been thinking about getting back into this game and finishing it for the last month or so. Now I have a good excuse to do so.

[KisakiProject]

This is my favorite Wii game.  I can't wait for this segment!  I'll have to send in some listener mail.

[Fatty The Hutt]

Got my copy coming on hold at the library!

[Chocobo_Rider]

Absolutely fantastic game.  Why there aren't more games done in this style I will never understand!

Off of the top of my head: Warioland Shake It and Rayman Origins are all that come to mind.  Any others?

[Adrock]

Does Muramasa: The Demon Blade count?

[Pixelated Pixies]

A Boy and his Blob is a deserving winner (one of Wayforward's best in my opinion), but I still feel that Shattered Memories deserves more recognition than it's been given. Anyone who owns a Wii owes it to themselves to grab a copy.

[Halbred]

*hugs*

[Damaba]

cool I have had my eye on this game for a long time. Just picked it up today. I played the original as a kid and i can sing the music in my head.

[Robknoxious1]

I started playing A Boy and His Blob a little over a week ago. I posted a comment in the review of the game over at Negative World where I usually hang out (mainly lurking lately). Bumping that review thread attracted some other comments and Guiollme mentioned that NWR was starting a sort of game club for the game. Figured I'd check it out since I was already playing it.

[Fatty The Hutt]

I'm about three hours in now. I am what looks like about half way through the "map" on the treehouse wall from which you select levels. Maybe there will turn out to be more than one map. I dunno. And I have completed all the corresponding "bonus" levels that unlock concept art and whatnot. So, I am guessing I am half way through the game. Short game, if so.
 
The game itself is...odd. I enjoy the puzzle aspect well enough. It's not much of a platformer. It is slow paced. And it is a bit janky in some implementation. There have been a half dozen or so times where I can not see where I am chucking a jelly bean, because it is below me or off screen, and that causes me to have trouble calling the blob back to me. That is a bit frustrating.
 
Game looks fairly nice, in a gentle, cartoony way. Art style is a bit boring, I find. Music is OK. There's no character development to speak of. I don't really care about the boy or the blob. I was also initially put off that they explained nothing to you as you were figuring out the gameplay.
 
So far, I find it all a bit "meh". I like Zack and Wiki a lot better, as Wii puzzlers go. My youngest kid ( asked me if it was a downloaded game. Sharp kid. I do feel so far like this game is in the "download" kind of category. Its a bit one-noted in terms of gameplay but I would have happily spent $10 giving it a whirl. But if I had paid $50 for the disc, I would so far be pretty unimpressed. Maybe it'll pick up but, to be honest, I am not that motivated to continue.
 
I do like the hug button.

[Robknoxious1]

I little info for Fatty_The_Hut (not spoilers or anything). First the game is deeper than you feared. There are four separate areas. The treehouse area and three others, each with ten levels and with each level if you get all three chests you unlock a challenge level so there are a total of 40 regular levels and forty bonus levels (also four bosses). As far as tossing jelly beans out of your field of vision if you press right on the direction pad you get the camera centered on blob. This comes in handy for "leaps of faith". Also if you didn't already know you need only call blob three times and he will float to you in balloon form from anywhere. Once he's closer you can get him out of balloon form by just calling him one more time.


As far as gameplay, as the game progresses you will have different transformations/abilities which add different wrinkles to the game. Just watch the opening movie, everything you see the blob transform into there will be in the game for you to use.


I'm in world four level five I think.   

[Fatty The Hutt]

Thanks, robknoxious. Some good tips there.
Too bad the game itself failed to tell me any of them.

[Robknoxious1]

Yeah it's a bit ironic since the game puts up signs all over the place telling you exactly which transformation you should use in a given situation - robbing you of the opurtunity to figure it out on your own - and yet relies on the instruction guide to fill you in on some very useful information.

[Damaba]

Hey Fatty the hutt,
Love your signature  "Kirby suck up the babies!" LOL  aww the little presents that Nintendo video brings us.


As for the no instructions in the game I also found it a little bit frustrating for the first 30 mins,  but in the end I figured stuff out myself and derived joy from discovering  and solving problems on my own within the game. In an odd way also it might be a tribute to the original game.  The developers realize that the game is a puzzler more than platformer and though it's art style is inviting like a children's book the game presents a real challenge. 


Personally I am enjoying the game.  Just got to world 2 today. 
There is something really special about the music in this game and the art style.

[Fatty The Hutt]

Hey Fatty the hutt,
Love your signature  "Kirby suck up the babies!" LOL  aww the little presents that Nintendo video brings us.

Thanks, man!

As for the no instructions in the game I also found it a little bit frustrating for the first 30 mins,  but in the end I figured stuff out myself and derived joy from discovering  and solving problems on my own within the game. In an odd way also it might be a tribute to the original game.  The developers realize that the game is a puzzler more than platformer and though it's art style is inviting like a children's book the game presents a real challenge.

I am all for the challenge of the puzzles. I enjoy that. But basic control info not being revealed is not charming. (I guess there were control instructions in the manual? Mine game copy didn't have a manual.)

Personally I am enjoying the game.  Just got to world 2 today. 
There is something really special about the music in this game and the art style.

This, I agree with. Art style and music are charming, if, like I said, a bit unmemorable.

[ejamer]

My complaint with the game is that it never quite made up it's mind: too easy and hand-holding to be a puzzle game, but not quite designed to be a platformer either.  I would have been happier if there was a difficulty option where you could reduce some of the hints and spoilers (signs showing exactly which jellybean to use/firefly paths) to make the game a bit more interesting.


That said, I still really enjoyed the game.  The animation and general artwork was gorgeous in my opinion.


It might look like a downloadable game for other consoles, but I'm pretty sure that system limitations would've prevented that distribution method for Wii.

[fordrob]

The bonus levels provide ample opportunity for increased difficulty, especially later on.  As Neal likes to put it, I "100 percented" this game not too long after it came out, but I still remember struggling through some of the harder levels - specifically while navigating the rocket.  In the end, I felt that there was a very satisfying blend of puzzling, platforming, and challenge.

[NWR_Neal]

Going back to it, I realize that, outside of the first rocket part that put a huge smile on my face, I hate that power-up. It's such a pain in the ass to control, and it's just frustrating.

Other than that, everything is just as charming as the first time I saw/played it.

[Damaba]

agreed the rocket is a pain in the ass!  how often does it come up?

[Robknoxious1]

Yeah I was so happy to see the rocket and get to fly on it. That lasted about two minutes. Within maybe 15-20 minutes I started to loathe it. I was so relieved to see it wasn't in all the later levels.

[Olimar77]

The last level I completed was the first level that introduced the rocket. Good to know I just need to push through those levels so I can start enjoying the game again.