A Boy and His Blob

You know, there are big games and there are small games, and I'm firmly of the belief that both have their place. If you're coming off of a full course meal like Mass Effect 2, might I suggest A Boy and His Blob as a refreshing palette cleanser.

The story is incredibly simple, yet I was completely blown away by how much it resonated with me. For having basically no overt plotline, the story evokes this incredible sense of companionship in the face of complete loneliness. You play as the titular Boy, who wakes up one day to the sound of a comet crashing in his backyard. From there, you meet the Blob, an amorphous white piece of goo that follows you around. The Blob is kind of like a dog, except that he has the ability to change into a number of different useful things, like a hole, a ladder, a cannon, and some more out there things like a rocket and a mecha. Your mission is to lead the Blob back to his homeworld, as well as restore his planet to peace – there's an evil Blob that's taken over Bloblonia, and left a wake of minions in his place.

While not as out and out beautiful as Muramasa, A Boy and His Blob goes in a slightly different route in the 2D hand-animated sub-genre that seems to be cropping up on the Wii fairly frequently now. The best way to describe it would be a less detailed, but just as fluidly animated videogame version of Hayao Miyazaki's work in his less epic films (I'm thinking of Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro, specifically). The animation quality is impeccable and really helps to sell the whimsy of the game.

In case you weren't aware, this is a remake/takes inspiration from the original NES game, also titled A Boy and His Blob. That game was designed by legendary Pitfall creator David Crane, and if you've played the original game before, you now know what frustration is. The game only gave you a limited amount of transformations – so you could only turn the Blob into a ladder or whatever a set amount of times throughout the entire game. That basically means having to know all of the solutions before you even start the game, because once you get far enough in, if you've used up all your transformations, well, you're pooched. The Wii game successfully sidesteps this problem by basically taking on a different philosophy of experimentation. Should the Boy die at any point, the game just puts you back a couple of seconds earlier and lets you retry until you solve the puzzle. This is a really welcome addition, making the game so, so much less frustrating.

I was expecting the game to be a fun diversion and to deliver some interesting puzzles and gorgeous animation, and on those fronts it delivered. However, as I said before, I simply wasn't expecting the sublime friendship that is fleshed out in the game without the use of any dialog. The Boy is a fairly weak character – his jumps are small, he dies at the first touch of an enemy, and he wouldn't be able to traverse the landscape without the Blob. And the Blob needs the Boy to help him get back home and to lead him through the terrain. Their companionship is strengthened by the visuals, but also by really nice touches like the absolutely gosh darn adorable addition of the Hug Button. At any time, you can give the Blob a hug. It serves no purpose other than to reinforce this idea.

If I had any complaint with the game, it would be the inclusion of boss battles. Besides the first one, they're all really hard, requiring some pretty lightning fast reflexes. They also don't really seem to fit into the world that's been created in the game. Seriously, the second boss was giving me conniptions. If it wasn't for these segments, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the game to children or pre-teens of above average intelligence who have the patience for a game like this. But as it stands, these segments make the game more suitable for an older crowd, who also have the added benefit of being able to appreciate the wistful, yet adorable themes in the game.

One other thing of note: the game is really short. Like, four to six hours short. That's OK with me – it makes for a perfect rental, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Seriously, check out the hugging in this game. I wish Army of Two was like this, and not chock full of bro douches.