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Wii

NWR Game Club #1: A Boy and His Blob

A Boy and His Blob Is My Ico

by Neal Ronaghan - April 1, 2012, 1:44 pm EDT
Total comments: 3

Neal recounts his experience with A Boy and His Blob from announcement to release.

When it was first revealed in March 2009, I didn't pay any attention to Majesco and WayForward’s A Boy and His Blob. At that point, WayForward was just some company that made an interesting WiiWare title (Lit) and a balls-hard Contra game. So, when I saw some cutesy graphics for a new iteration of a series I had nothing but frustrating memories of, I ignored it.

Our own Jonathan Metts expressed a sentiment in the Talkback thread for that first article. "But WayForward is totally overrated, so they have a lot to prove with this one," he said. "Basically, the studio does great art -- I'm sure we can all agree on that.  But the three games of theirs that I've played were all disappointing/crap to various degrees."

It’s weird to look back and think of a time when WayForward wasn’t known as a beloved trailblazer of great original titles on Nintendo's download services and surprisingly awesome licensed titles on Wii and DS. In 2009, they were just "those dudes who made that Game Boy Color game (Shantae) that everyone can't shut up about. Also, Contra IV and Ping Pals."

When I saw the game during our Majesco appointment at E3 2009, I wasn’t expecting much. If I recall, that demo appointment featured Flip’s Twisted World (in an early, rough form), Cooking Mama 4, and a Jillian Michaels fitness game. In short, it wasn’t that sharp. However, the demo for A Boy and His Blob put a big-ass grin on my face, and I was almost immediately infatuated with the game.

The hand-drawn artwork and animation, as you all can tell, is gorgeous. The music? Also sublime. What really won me over was the game’s consistent tone of whimsy, magic, and adorableness. The minute the representative showed me the hug button, my heart melted. There was an instant connection between the game and me, and I cared for that amorphous blob like I would care for my beloved cats. 

The hug button is one of my favorite things about the game. It does nothing for the gameplay, but it is brilliant at enforcing the connection between the player and the pet-like blob. It's the kind of spirited moment that I rarely feel in games. Basically, WayForward achieved what Peter Molyneux wanted to do with the dog in Fable II with one button press.

My experience with the finished game was wonderful, and I sat in front of it with a ear-to-ear smile like a kid watching an ‘80s Spielberg movie. It was just delightful. Some people cite Ico as a game where they had a companion they care about, and they saw the value of that kind of take on co-op gaming. For me, A Boy and His Blob succeeded at giving me that feeling. I cared for my blob; we worked together. When he got all discolored and sad, I got sad. When the boy died (which happened more often than I’d care to admit), I would feel guilty for making the blob seem that lost and upset. When he turned into a hard-to-control rocket and led me to my certain doom, I let it slide (no one's perfect).

A Boy and His Blob is a story about two best friends who use jellybeans to fight the odds against an evil alien race. It’s also, in my eyes, one of the most overlooked Wii games ever. I hope you enjoy our first Nintendo World Report Game Club as we center our conversation on A Boy and His Blob, hand-drawn games, and WayForward.

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Talkback

At the time I wrote that comment, the three WF games I had played were Sigma Star Saga (disappointing), Ping Pals (crap), and Contra 4 (disappointing, in terms of accessibility for a casual fan). I had heard good things about Shantae but, like most people, had never actually played it and still haven't.


That said, I rented and very much enjoyed A Boy and His Blob. The game mechanics are pretty tight, which was much biggest problem with Sigma. And it is the best showcase yet for their signature art style, which really shines on the big screen with fluid animation that rivals Wario Land: Shake It. Since then I've also played Risky's Revenge and Mighty Switch Force, and I still think Blob is their best work by a large margin.

ejamerApril 01, 2012

Although a big fan of Contra 4, I agree that A Boy and his Blob is easily WayForward's best overall work.  Being much more accessible certainly doesn't hurt.


I'm torn about the hug button though.  I love it, but still wish it served some in-game purpose other than being adorable.  Maybe if that was how you got the blob to come back instead of just calling three times?  Or would that making hugging too common an occurrence and slow the game down?  Then again... do you really need a reason to enjoy a good hug?


One thing that I enjoyed were the couple of "behind the scenes" video clips showcasing where animations came from that could be unlocked by beating the extra stages.

TrueNerdApril 01, 2012

ICO is my ICO. I haven't played this. But hey perhaps I should. I like The WayForwards. I also saw Aliens Infestation at Game Stop the other day for $20. Might have to pounce on that.

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