Before I slipped out for abdominal surgery last week, I filed a review of the recently released A Boy and His Blob for the Nintendo Wii over at Kombo.
A Boy and His Blob's most impressive attribute is its heartwarmingly adorable art direction. Everything in the boy's world is smoothly animated, inviting, and charming. Some levels even make endearing use of shadows and silhouettes to help paint an emotional picture of the bond between the two heroes. Considering that the boy and the blog are silent protagonists (well, the boy does occasionally call out to the blob to hurry), all of the characterization comes from the various visual elements. The game even goes out of its way to avoid distracting the player with on-screen meters and indicators which lends a cinematic vibe to the action. Fans of the original NES game will spot the tribute to the 1989 adventure in Stage 11 immediately, too.
This delightfully adorable puzzle platformer is fated to go ignored this holiday season, but don't let flashier games with bloodier box art get the better of you. Fans of endearing 2D animation, puzzles solved with jellybeans, or games that feature a button that causes the two protagonists to hug on demand should not let this game get away.
