In Majesco’s A Boy and His Blob, dark times have fallen on Blobolonia, an evil emperor has seized power, and the Blob escapes to search for help. Crashing on Earth, he finds a young boy (the unlikely hero) to help him leave Earth and return to save Blobolonia.
A Boy and His Blob is a re-imagining of the old 1989 game by the same title. This game is one of my favorites from E3 — and not just because it was the only game with a dedicated hug button. The game is visually beautiful and gives a side-scrolling adventure that is simple without being easy and filled with enemies without being overly violent.
You might remember the original game was about a boy with a blob for a friend/pet who he would feed jelly beans, which would cause the blob to take different shapes. For example, if something was up too high, you’d feed him a “licorice ladder” which, as the name implies, lets the blob turn into a ladder the boy could climb. The new game picks up on this concept, taking from several of the classic jelly beans and adding even more new beans to the mix.
The hand-drawn backgrounds give a soft watercolor feel that helps pull you in and makes the game soothing to play. I loved the subtle environmental interactions. A lizard on the ground that catches the attention of the blob as it runs by. Nothing gameplay related — just a moment of distraction to make you feel with characters rather than simply play with them.
Enemies are often dealt with by simply dropping them through a hole to a lower level. When you do have to kill them by means like dropping an anvil on their heads, they fade away like pouring water on wet ink. When they touch the boy, he’ll quietly fall over and you’ll restart at the last checkpoint. Checkpoints are EVERYWHERE. You should never have to spend more than a minute getting back to where you died, and it usually takes much less.
I look forward to playing A Boy and His Blob when it comes out, and with the focus more on friendship than violence, it seems to make it a good choice for kids. There are 40 levels with an additional 40 challenges, so there’s plenty to do. More or less, I expect A Boy and His Blob to appeal to side-scrolling adventure fans of all ages. I mean, who can help but love a game with a button dedicated to hugging your blob?
