de Blob 2 (DS) Review

I have a little bit of a confession to make – I never actually played the original de Blob game on the Nintendo Wii. I always meant to play it, I heard amazing things about it, but I just never got around to it. Fast forward a couple of years, and not only have I yet to play it, I’ve not even looked at its sequel on the Wii. On the DS, however, that’s a different story. Developed by Halfbrick Studios, the time vampires who’ve stolen all my free time through Fruit Ninja and Monster Dash; de Blob 2 for the Nintendo DS is a pretty nifty retro platformer that is sure to impress anyone who considers themselves a nostalgic.

Following a story that isn’t explored anywhere else, de Blob 2 for the Nintendo DS takes place in between the first and second game, and sees the evil Dr. Von Blot scheming to remove all the colour from the world. Collaborating with the nefarious INKT Corporation from the original game, Von Blot attempts to remove all colour and vitality from Chroma City by developing a unique new mutated ink, designed to change the Raydians (inhabitants of Chroma City) into mindless drones. When Blob, our charming amorphous protagonist, comes along a secret research base in the jungle, he must put a stop to the plans and save Chroma City once again.

The game’s story is told through stylised cutscenes that resemble a moving comic book, which are rendered very nicely. Expressions on Blob and his enemy’s faces during these sequences are perfectly animated to convey proper emotions, and despite no dialogue I always knew where the story was going. It was nice to see this medium utilised almost perfectly.

de Blob 2’s graphics are a bit of a mixed bag depending on which component of the game you focus on. Blob himself animates beautifully, moving at a nice pace and rippling whenever he’s hit by an enemy. The same can be said for the enemies themselves. The only downfall with de Blob 2, however, is that the environments, while looking great, just aren’t varied enough. The setting of the game largely takes place in laboratories which provide a rather staunch and sterile feeling set of locales for the game, which is a little bit disappointing. Still, the fluidity of the game’s actions is greatly improved with the smooth running graphics, which is a plus for a game like this.

The basic gameplay of de Blob 2 is actually a lot like all those platformers many of us grew up with in the 90s, in particular, de Blob 2 resembles a slower paced Sonic game, right down to the style of attacks that Blob can use. Taking place on a 2D plane, players must complete levels by traversing them, splotching the environments with ink as they go. Enemies can be attacked by jumping and then “homing” into them, similar to newer Sonic titles. Throughout the game, players will be challenged with “missions” which may include an arbitrary objective, but most of these are compulsory anyway so they aren’t really adding anything to the mix, despite being presented as if they do. There are also some nice colour based puzzles which mix up the pacing a little bit too.

The biggest problem with de Blob 2, however, is that the game just doesn’t really pose a huge challenge at all. This means multiple things; namely that it’s very suitable for younger children as it’s very approachable to them, while at the same time it may alienate more mature gamers by being just too easy. There are multiple items to collect in each level, but I surmise that it would take no more than five hours to collect absolutely everything. The game also boasts DSi functionality, where players must use their camera to find an object in the real world that’s the same colour as an item presented in the game. Finishing all of these challenges unlocks a pretty nifty in-game bonus but we won’t spoil it here – you’ll have to try it for yourself.

The game’s soundtrack utilises some rather goofy yet charming jazz tracks that are sure to interest both mature and younger gamers regardless of age, but what’s most impressive about the soundtrack is its tendency to augment your actual gameplay experiences. The more areas players colour with Blob in succession, the more coherent the music sounds. It’s a nice little touch that I feel really adds to the game’s mantra of restoring colour and vitality by utilising things other than visuals.

de Blob 2 for the Nintendo DS is a great platformer, but it’s pretty hard to recommend it to anyone who is a little bit older and looking for a lengthy challenge. Still, if you have children who are looking for something fun, light hearted and without any major frustrations, you’ve definitely got the right game here.

Graphics 8.0

Nice animations and modelling on characters, but the lack of a variety of locales to move through is a bit disappointing.

Gameplay 7.5

Resembling the old Sonic games (before they went bad), de Blob 2 mostly does no wrong. Puzzles and colour based DSi integration are a great touch, but the severe lack of a challenge is disappointing.

Sound 8.0

The use of a jazz soundtrack is, strangely, quite appropriate for this kind of game. The way the actual soundtrack adapts and augments your gameplay experience is to be commended too.

Tilt 5.5

While there are collectables to find, theres not a whole lot of content here and most players will blaze through the whole thing in between 5-6 hours.

Value 9.0

I was not expecting much from de Blob 2 for the Nintendo DS until I found out who developed it. And I must say, I was not disappointed.