I remember growing up playing A Boy and His Blob for the NES with my best friend John. We never really got very far in the game but just the fact that they made a game called “A Boy and His Blob” was reason enough to make us play it. It’s funny to see that someone has taken the initiative to make a re-make of the title. Ever since it was announced I thought it was a great idea, especially with the art direction the developers decided to take. The original NES version was not a pretty site so to make the game any bit of interesting the developers had to turn it into something worth looking at. I believe the art direction is what made the game get the attention that it did.
Even though the art direction is totally different the gameplay still holds true to the original game. As you may have heard the game does not take advantage of the Wii’s motion controls which is a good thing because that’s usually more of a gimmick than anything else. The main concept is that you feed a white blob different jelly beans to make him change in to different objects. For example a red jelly bean makes him change into a hole in the ground or a black jelly bean turns him into a ladder. There are 15 total objects the blob can transform into. Each level is preset with certain jelly beans and this forces you to think about the steps you need to take to collect the three treasure chests that are in each level. There are 10 levels in each world and there are 4 worlds. If you collect all three treasure chests for the level a bonus level is then unlocked for you to play. The concept of trying to collect the treasure chests kind of reminded me of the puzzle piece collecting in Braid.
ABAHB’s controls do take some time to get used to. Not because they are mapped poorly but because the game is kind of tedious…switch to the black jelly bean, throw the black jelly bean, climb up the ladder, switch over to the red jelly bean, call the blob, throw the red jelly bean, jump through the hole, etc. It is this reason alone that made me get a little tired of the game after playing longer sessions. The repetitive nature takes its toll after a while. Other than that minor gripe I would say A Boy and His Blob is a perfect remake of the classic NES title. It’s polished, fun, and challenging. I honestly couldn’t ask for more in a remake of this game. Hopefully ABAHB will inspire developers to remake the more unique NES titles we’ve come to know and love.
If you haven’t dusted off your Wii in a while and you are looking for a solid game to play on the system then I would highly suggest A Boy and His Blob. The game is very cute so it will definitely attract younger kids but don’t let the game fool you, it is not easy.
