Monday, December 30, 2019

A Boy and His Blob (Wii) Review

Received: December 25th, 2009 | Written: December 18th-30th, 2019

Year: 2009 | Developed by: WayForward Technologies
Published by: Majesco Entertainment

Wow, I can't believe we're about to enter a new decade already, but before that happens I think I can sneak in one more review... I just hoped that I would have the review done daze before Christmas,...

I'm contemplating whether to review this fun Christmassy Funcom platfotmer on a July or next December for a more appropriate time of the year to cover it  🎅
too bad, really, that would've been a good timely wordplay.  😔
Left image from GameFAQs; Happy 30th Anniversary, OG A Boy and His Blob that I haven't played!
In 1989 Europe received a game developed by Imagineering that was published for the NES by Absolute Entertainment by the name of A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia which America would catch up with on January 1990
Image from GameFAQs
that would be followed that November 29th in Japan (with a very differently designed boy) as Fushigi na Blobby: Blobania no Kiki courtesy of Jaleco.  This was an action-puzzler that was unique for the time where you controlled a nameless boy who fed his blob companion jellybeans so that he'd change shape to overcome obstacles and help get to otherwise inaccessible spots.  Its reception was decidedly mixed, but it was a success otherwise as it won the 1989 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) "Best of Show" as well as the Parent's Choice Award in 1990
Images from GameFAQs
and its success would earn it a sequel in the form of Fushigi na Blobby: Princess Blob o Tsukue! on November 9th, 1990 (almost three weeks before the Japanese version of the first game) courtesy of Jaleco which America would receive on May 1991 thanks to Absolute Entertainment as The Rescue of Princess Blobette which Nintendo would release in Europe later that year.  Both of these games were the brainchild of David Crane
who you might recall as the name of an individual who was behind certain Activision (a company he co-founded) titles on the Atari 2600 such as Fishing Derby, Kaboom!, Freeway, the notorious The Activision Decathlon, as well as a little-known game called Pitfall!; the last of which as a hidden inclusion was deemed among the best things (if not the only good thing) about Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure--
a sentiment I must sadly agree with as twenty-eight year old me finds it rather annoying nowadays which does hurt since I actually thought it was good and sort of enjoyable back when I was eighteen after I downloaded the Genesis version on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console a decade earlier in 2009.  😔  What was I thinking?
Image from GameFAQs
Almost two decades without any new A Boy and His Blob activity came and went until October 13th, 2009 when Majesco Entertainment (who acquired the rights to the IP after original licenseholder Absolute Entertainment went bankrupt in 1995) released it on the Nintendo Wii in North America and in Europe that November 6th.  On November and December 2009 respectively Majesco digitally re-released the 1989 Imagineering NES original on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console in America and Europe as a way to relevantly coincide with the new game that had just come out.
Responsible for developing this take in particular was beloved fan favorite developer WayForward Technologies; programmed by Robert Koshak, Larry Holdaway, and Daniel Yoon, produced by Robb Alvey, and directed by Sean Velasco, the last of whom was a fan of the original games whom he felt "had a ton of potentail" and wanted to do a reimagining for a new generation as opposed to a direct sequel or a reboot.  Original A Boy and His Blob creator David Crane wasn't involved in the development of the Wiimake but those who were expressed respect for him and his earlier work when making it.
In the 2D Nintendo Wiimake A Boy and His Blob you take control of the eponymous (albeit nameless) boy who, with the help of his nameless blob friend who he meets and befriends at the beginning of the game, must reach the golden jellybean in order to finish the present stage, but along the way he'll need Blob's help if he is to reach the goal and eventually save Blob's enslaved home planet Blobalonia by defeating the evil power-hungry King (funny, the manual refers to him as an Emperor, and Blobalonia is written as "Blobolonia", hmmmm… I think I'll stick with the official storybook version for this one).
Left: Resting up for a new day's adventure | Right: Hugging Blob in Moon Forest
There are two types of controls for this game: the Wiimote and Nunchuk controls and the ones via Classic Controller--since I exclusively played with the latter controls I'll specifically be covering those (and I apologize in advance to those that only played with the former).  With the left control stick you can move the boy by toggling left and right (gingerly if you wish to walk at a slower than normal pace), climb a ladder by holding up or down, press up to enter a door, hold up to survey what's above you, hold down to peer below you, and jump with the B button (note that his jumps aren't very high).
Left: Pushing a rock over the ledge | Right: Gliding down via blobchute
Accompanying him throughout his journey is Blob, who can shapeshift into whatever proves to be beneficial to progress further (and/or collect chests) by feeding him specific jellybeans (of which the boy has got a near endless supply of).  To select whatever shapeshifting option is available to you in the stage simply hold down the Y button and toggle the left control stick until you made your choice after which you can let the Y button go, toss it in any which direction trajectory aim-style with the A button (you can hold if you need to adjust your aim, and once you did so you can launch it), and to revert Blob to his natural state press the X button.
Left: Trajectory aiming a jellybean | Right: Hanging onto a blobby platform ladder
The X button can also be used to have Blob be by the boy's stead, but should the two be too far away from each other press the X button enough times until the boy whistles which will cause Blob to become a balloon and float to his current position; additional controls are holding right to keep tabs on Blob's current position, press down if you want Blob to remain in position, but the best control is when the boy is beside Blob for if you hold up then they will cuddle hug, awwwwww!  🤗  You can pause and unpause your progress with the + button, but if you wish to return to the hideout press the - button while the game is paused--know that if you were in the middle of a stage and had collected a chest or two then it won't accept them until you beat the stage proper.
Left: Blob-bowled | Right: Creepy cobra boss
Each of the normal stages has got three chests that can be collected to gain access to a bonus stage (it's all or none if you wish to access these extra stages), with the only one able to gather them being Blob who'll be more than happy to nom it down.  Littered throughout these stages are the evil King's henchblobs who will cause the boy to lose a life should they touch him thereby letting you respawn at the nearest checkpoint (but if it's a bonus stage, you must do it all in one go otherwise you must start it over); you'll also lose a life if you landed on the ground after falling too much (or to the bottom edge of the screen), fell in the water, landed on spikes, got hit by an enemy's projectile, or had a rock fall on you.  Like the boy has got an unlimited amount of jellybeans so too do you have an unlimited set of opportunities as there is a genuine sense of trail and error throughout the proceedings.
Left: Walking under the star-studded city sky  🌟 | Right: Hugging beside a house  🏠
In the final stage of each hub there is the usual stage that you have to get through which eventually culminates in a boss fight, action-puzzler style as you'll have to find a way to overcome it without being touched once lest you wish to start the battle from the beginning.  Each hub has a map where you select which stage to play (or replay) and if you wish to move to a different hideout simply go to the hub map and press up or down to select the one that's available.  A Boy and His Blob has only got one singular save file which saves your progress automatically.
Left: God shedding His light on the purest sight ever | Right: Floating on a blobby exercise ball
The art direction led by Marc Gomez has got a very soft look and feel which was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli animated films; WayForward has definitely got good taste when it comes to taking inspirational cues when it involves My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, yeah!  😃👍  Each world's stages are big in scope and evoke a sense of wonder and awe, and the backgrounds are exquisitely detailed especially during the stages inside the forest and swamps, the interior caverns, Blob's home planet Blobalonia, and the evil King's realm.

And when it comes to the exterior areas like the aforementioned forest and the city which precede the much more cavernous stages they have got a pristine amount of seamless parallax scrolling with the trees and lit up houses which augments this game's atmospheric depth, and did I mention I'm glad WayForward kept this Wiimake in 2D?  'cause I am, and in so doing this game visually holds up well a decade later!  😊  Oh, but I'm not done yet: the first world's stages either take place with a lit up sky with trees in the backdrop or in the swamps there is a slightly disconcerting and threatening vibe as it's dreary with the lifeless trees and fog (and in the night-time stages there is a beautiful glowing moon);

when the boy and Blob walk towards the city after the first boss is defeated it's all happening underneath a star-laden sky with the moon hanging over the horizon as the city slowly reveals itself with the characters and foreground in nothing but effectively shadowed silhouette; the cavernous stages look wonderful with different variations depending on the stage you play, including ones set in complete darkness except for a firefly Blob swallows which makes him act as your fluorescent light (it's like Ludimedia's Rayman with the title character's fists in that one pitch black Eat at Joe's cavern stage, only implemented better here... mostly because it is better-crafted than in the 1995 American and European PlayStation One launch title, but I digress) which further brings a sense of atmosphere to the table,

and once in awhile in the bluer or darker cavern stages there are isolated spots with atmospheric fireflies, and there is a great sense of buildup in the final normal cavern stage where you see the second boss you're about to confront in the distance waiting to strike at you which is unnervingly effective foreshadowing and is foreboding; Blob's home planet Blobalonia is the most creative in terms of design (the planet itself is shaped like a jellybean) with the sugar-coated color scheme, rainbow water, and sweet backdrop with occasional red, green, and blue lights in the same spot as if they're pointing you in the direction of the chest (even during the stages with a vibrantly purple filter);
Left: Jumping on a makeshift platform | Right: Being tossed afar
and finally there's the evil King's stages which are emphasized by drab clockwork machinery, eerie decorative statues, and bizarre stain glassed windows, some of which even embody some of the enemies you encounter (I'm such a sucker for stained glass windows in video games); and the buildup for when the two first confront the evil King is so foreboding.  The last of each world's stages has got a dark red filter which means it's time to confront the boss.  For the A Boy and His Blob Wiimake, Gomez's idea was to make the boy rounder and younger than he was in the Imagineering game and for Blob to be a loyal and faithful (dog like) companion to him and he "wanted them to have a mutual need for the other...  One can't progress without the other", which I feel really came across as both of them have such endearing designs.  😃

The boy has a good, simple design with him carrying his brown backpack and wears a green shirt with a solitary stripe on it, I like how expressive he is when you finish the stage and when he's about to toss a jellybean and when he hugs Blob, his walking and running animations are fluid, and I like the way his shirt and hair flutter in the wind whenever he either gets carried up by a current or slowly glides down with his friend Blob turned parachute; and whenever you load the game there is a cute animation with the boy sleeping on Blob who makes for a good pillow.  That said, considering the extremely heartwarming and lighthearted nature of this game I'd be remiss if I didn't say that the boy's death animation as he becomes limp and lifeless is genuinely unsettling (that simple four to five note death cue stinger doesn't help matters).  😨
Hey, wait a power enhanced jellybean-feeding Blob minute, is that... a frame of OG A Boy and His Blob boy with Wiimake A Boy and His Blob boy?  😲  If that's the case, that would make the former the latter's father!  🤯  Not that we'll ever find out since the elder boy never shows up proper, but hey, it's a nice thing to consider.

As for Blob, simple though his soft design may be, is very adorable with his two blue dots for eyes and the way he hops and bounces along the way.  But the best part about him is his shapeshifting animations and what he turns into for the boy's benefit: among them a balloon, an anvil, a ladder, a lifting jack, a bowling ball, a bouncing rubber ball, a transparent life-sized ball that the boy can get inside of, a rocket, a parachute, a hole to make you (or rock or enemy) fall through a slim platform, a trampoline, a cannon, a shield, a human (yes, really, it's amazing), and a giant mech; and what's neat is how his eyes are still present (even when he became the "o" in WayForward's logo screen).  Blob's friends and family in Blobalonia also look cute (yeah, they're essentially palette swaps that are either bigger or smaller than him, but the point stands).
Programmer Robert Koshak's son, Kanin Koshak, was pretty much used as reference for the boy's design and movements, including the quintessential hug which was based on a recording of him hugging a blanket which is cute and is one among many unlockable behind the scenes content of this Wiimake.  😊  More on those later.

The enemies you put up with throughout the game have all got varied designs, being the evil King's henchblobs, and when they get defeated they go out in a splat; some examples of them are the regular inching henchblobs, a bullblob that wags its tail upon seeing the boy in its vicinity before it proceeds to charge towards you, ball shaped henchblobs, mineblobs that blow up within contact of solid objects (living or otherwise), and giant henchblobs that toss life-sized ball Blob, et al.  The evil King's three bosses he sends to go after you all have got intimidating designs with recognizable animal designs and traits they're based on (the cobra king, the cougar, and the vulture), and the King himself has got a menacing design in terms of his grimace and obese state which is especially true of his second form at the end where he more or less resembles Cthulhu.
If you remain at the title screen just long enough whenever you turn on and load the game there is a fantastically cinematic animated introduction sequence with lots of adventurous flair which screams all kinds of epic.  The color palette is succinct, the movements and camera are dynamic, and it really pumps you up for the heartwarming quest you're about to embark on.  From what I looked up, over 4,000 frames of unique animation have been used throughout the game.

Composing the music for the A Boy and His Blob Wiimake was Daniel Sadowski; who prior to working on this game provided the music for SCS Software's Hunting Unlimited 3, Naked Sky Entertainment's RoboBlitz, Battlefront.com's Combat Mission: Shock Force, Fury Software's Strategic Command: WWII Pacific Theater, Eko Software SARL's Downstream Panic!/Aqua Panic!, and WayForward Technologies' Baseball Blast!, with today's game being his follow up musical contribution for the developing company.  The soundtrack is really good and complements each area so succinctly and he knows how to set the appropriate tone depending on the scenario.  😃
Left: Raising up a structure in order to get through | Right: Pushing a rock inside a blob-created opening
The theme for the stages set in the Moon Forest is sweetly sincere, the theme that plays during the iconic moment the boy meets Blob after the latter crash landed on Earth at the beginning is mysterious yet invitingly warm, the theme for the forest during the daytime has got a lightheartedly adventurous feel about it (with the opening twelve seconds not used in game) especially as the boy blobachutes down slowly with a theme set in the plains serving as background music for when you experiment with Blob's transformation for the first time, and the swamp theme sounds just as dreary as its atmospheric environment as the boy and Blob venture down more dangerous territory.

The theme that plays during the city segment and final set of stages back at Moon Forest is a joyously fun theme that apparently is a remix of a song from Imagineering's original A Boy and His Blob, and one of the themes that is set beneath the city sounds engrossingly atmospheric and gives a big sense of scale when it comes to its location and stage designs, the theme for when you first venture in Blobalonia has a strange otherworldly sound to it that nonetheless is an enthrallingly bouncy listen, but the theme for when you venture deeper in Blobalonia with the purple filter is a little eerie and unnerving especially with that brief chorus here and there.
Left: There in the backdrop is the cougar boss awaiting your arrival | Right: My least favorite boss in the game, by the way, and the one I look forward to the least
When you get very close to the King's citadel as it looms in the distance the theme is intensely composed with a no time to turn back kind of tone, but when you get in the citadel that's when things start to get a little serious with its music as you get closer to the evil King, and the theme for the stages set among the gear works sounds mechanical with an added flavor of dire urgency.  The regular boss theme is action-packed and ominous, the theme for when you first confront the King is menacingly organ-driven, and once you face off against Cthulhu King at the end his battle theme is epic with an important do or die quality about it as the fate of not only Blobalonia but now Earth rests on the boy and Blob's shoulders.

Each hideout has its own theme dedicated to it: the boy's hideout sounds warm and calming and lighthearted, the hybrid home and cavern sounds softer with an echoic quality to it, Blob's hideout is affably warm and inviting, and the hideout near the King's citadel is dark but not to the point that it sounds too off-putting.  There are a couple moments when Blob is forcefully separated by the boy which is followed up by this distressing theme, and themes for when the two head towards the city and when Blob flies the boy to his home planet are pleasantly atmospheric in tone.
Left: Trust exercise, trusting that he'll fall down to a blobby trampoline that'll cushion his fall | Right: Bowling blob inside a hopping froggy enemy
A couple of my top favorite songs in the game which in turn are some of the best are "Subterra" which is surreally atmospheric, very comforting to listen to, sounds enthralling and harkens back to innocent times which gives it a wistful quality; the other of the best songs the A Boy and His Blob Wiimake sounds majestically epic and is emotionally as well as enjoyably empowering especially as it's also a huge reprieve after witnessing a briefly heartbreaking scene--the only thing that makes me sad about the song is that it's a little drowned out by the mechablob's sounds and outside of the sound test is only played once near the end and then never again.  😔  Why are the best video game songs usually composed as one-offs?  *sigh*

The theme when the boy and Blob bid each other goodbye is sad but sweet with a more tearful reprisal of the Moon Forest theme, the credits' medley is rewarding to listen to (especially as it incorporates motifs from the city and the King's citadel and "Subterra" to name a few), and Daniel Sadowski's first credits song "Everything to Me" had its lyrics written by director Sean Velasco and was sung by Bethany Mosley (whose only other credit I could find was a vocalist in Twisted Pixel Games, LLC's 'Splosion Man that same year) which may be short but it is very (bitter)sweet.  😢
And since I brought up the sound test, this game's take on it is adorably clever as it takes place in a room that is unlockable on Blob's home planet Blobalonia that's replete with many a blob who will play a specific song after feeding one of them a jellybean.  🤗

The game's sound effects were provided Ekaterina Slepicka as well as the Miles Sound System, a sound system created by RAD Game Tools in 1991; and the sound effects are well implemented like the bull blob charging towards you upon sight with the galloping sounds, the sound for when an enemy has been squashed by either a rock or a blob anvil, and Blob's gulp sound for when he eats a jellybean is cute as well as the brief transformation sound effect (including continuously whirring and mechanical ones for the mechablob).  The A Boy and His Blob Wiimake also incorporates voice acting from Robert Koshak's children Justin and Kanin Koshak taking turns voicing the boy as well as Jeff Pomegranate (whose only other voice acting credit was in Pacific Gunner which was co-developed by Running Dog Software and WayForward Technologies) as the evil King.
Left: Jacking up a large enemy and lifting him higher | Right: Blob spewing out the chests he nommed down
For the longest time WayForward's A Boy and His Blob was relegated as a Nintendo Wii-exclusive until January 2016 when HD and smartphone conversions were pretty much available worldwide that were handled by developer Abstraction Games on Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, the PlayStation Vita, the most poorly and misleadingly named Xbox One, it would arrive on the PlayStation 3 that July, and it would be available to play for Android and iOS users on September and November 2017 respectively.  A Nintendo 3DS port was apparently in the works until it got cancelled--that is too bad, I would've loved to have played a version of this game on a system I owned on the go.

I do remember many years ago in the early years of the 21st century seeing screenshots of Imagineering's original NES A Boy and His Blob which I thought had an interesting idea with a blob that changes shape but I never got to play that version or the Game Boy sequel.  I forget quite how I found out about the Wiimake by WayForward all the way back in 2009, but I'm guessing I saw an online article about it with screenshots (or watched a trailer video) that looked very appealing to me and it bared the same name as its Nintendo 8-bit ancestor (I saw it as an opportunity to explore the boy and blob concept in one form or another); that Christmas I decided to ask for it as one of my gifts to quench my curiosity and looked forward to playing it.

When I first played today's game I became so enamored with it and its sense of puzzle-solving, and it was a game I thoroughly enjoyed and was invested in... unfortunately there was one stage I couldn't get past (a bonus one, but still): specifically the dark hideout's second bonus stage
where there was a portion that had a line of mineblobs sway towards the left and to the right, and the only jellybeans available here were ones that made Blob turn into a cannon and a ladder.  Back in early 2010 I was stuck here and no matter what I tried I couldn't get through it without falling due to the boy's low jumping ability or touching the mineblobs in any capacity and subsequently stopped here.  It wasn't until I replayed this game early this year for the first time in nine years that when I got to this point I realized the solution was right in front of me the entire time: I didn't consider using the ladder option back then.  I do feel rather dumb to have not considered this back when I first played it, but that's what hindsight does to ya.  😓

So many years had come and gone since I last touched it, as the Nintendo Wii I usually revisit once in awhile to play the games I downloaded on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console, but early this year I decided to give this game one thorough chance all the way through.  Yes, I got two supplemental screenshots of it for my review of Designer Software's edutainment title Mickey's Ultimate Challenge back in April (given it's a pre-WayForward vehicle given the involvement of key members Voldi Way and Shantae creator Matt Bozon), but the truth is I really wanted to reexperience the A Boy and His Blob Wiimake because I remember loving it so much and had a burning desire to revisit it after years of seeing it on my shelf, and I'm glad I did because I forgot how seriously good this game was.  Flashforward to this month as I 100% through it the second time and my feelings are still as strong (if not more so).  😃

Left: Cannonblob can also shoot out enemy spheres | Right: Being given a ride on a hard head
The gameplay is really fun and experimental with the different jellybeans and the different Blob transformations that you can use to further your progress, and I'm glad WayForward opted for a classic control setup rather than use what was commonplace on the system like Wiimote waggling and shaking because while I didn't particularly mind those at the time I felt this was refreshingly welcome and retro.  There is also a lot of great imagination and a huge sense of visual and atmospheric wonder, and even liked the little touches of Blob's interaction with the environment like with the vines and chains in the swamp and gear-operated location as it flings towards the direction he bounced towards.

There is a good sense of flow with its challenge, starting out easy so you can get to grips with the gameplay and puzzle-solving and the further you progress the difficulty would slightly tip upward as you go along (sure, once in awhile there might be a throwaway stage, but on the whole it does get gradually challenging).

I really appreciate this game offering a good degree of challenge underneath its sweet exterior, especially since cute-looking games generally have gotten the reputation of being easy throughout the years.  Sure, there's cases where that's true but it didn't stop them from being enjoyable and fun (like HAL Laboratory's ever-growing Kirby franchise for a more notable example, and for a more recent example, Playful Corp.'s New Super Lucky's Tale), but just because that foregone conclusion applies to certain games it doesn't necessarily mean it applies to all of them.
Ocean Software's Mr. Nutz is one such genuinely challenging platformer that proves that just because a game has an adorable visual quality to it that doesn't necessarily always equate to facile times in terms of overall difficulty.
Terrifyingly dark and serious plus occasional nightmare fodder boss designs notwithstanding, that game is a purely adorable and enjoyable platformer in my opinion.
This was the most complex .gif animation with screenshots I took that I created yet, I had to make sure that every frame (reused or otherwise) aligned properly to replicate as best I could to Mr. Nutz's in-game idle animation and avoid having it come out jumpy or choppy  😵  Worth it, though!
And what other reason would I have to bring this game up again other than it's still one I love playing even well over ten and a half years after I got the original SNES cart?  And in my book Mr. Nutz is best video game squirrel, hell yeah!  😄✊

And that's exactly one of the game's biggest strengths: its puzzle-solving.  🧩  The first time you use Blob's certain abilities will be in front of a sign with a symbol marked on it, and while the solutions might start out simple they become more complex and challenging to solve as you press on.  While I do feel sheepish that I didn't solve that one puzzle I brought up on the first go-around, I love that plenty of its solutions aren't readily obvious at first glance as they might require a lot of thought and planning.  And if you fail, that's okay, because the infinite lives give you opportunities to try again and experiment with a lot of trial and error.
Left: Cannon boy | Right: Keep rolling, don't stop
Some moments in order to either get a chest or progress in the stage you might need to turn Blob into a hole so that either you or a bull blob or a mineblob could fit through, and in certain cases you'll have to push Blob as an anvil onto a bulking blob enemy to stay on top of it as it walks on a bed of spikes, some moments require a leap of faith as the boy must fall down and hope that when he reaches the bottom that he bounces on Blob as a trampoline, in a few stages you'll need to use the jack power up to raise a structure until the path is big enough for you to get through or until a series of platforms rise up from the bottom up,

to make things harder for you in some of the last citadel stages there are humanoid blob enemies that mirror your exact movements (apart from jellybean throwing and ladder climbing) which means if you move right then they will move left as sometimes you must utilize this advantage in order to make them step on a switch (sometimes at the same time as you to open a gate), in certain switch-based puzzles both the boy and Blob as a humanoid must step on them for he'll move as you do plus he can help you push giant boxes, in some portions of Blobalonia are door mazes, et al.
Left: Looming citadel as the boy slides down | Right: Watching a cute pair of enemies (if they're far away from you, that is)
Some puzzle solutions need to be intricately laid out in order to ensure success, for failure to do so and/or losing a life while doing it will have you start that part over.  Some puzzle solutions will require quite a bit of ingenuity to solve and in certain cases if something causes it to not go the way you wanted you could always improvise with another option (of course, that only applies to certain specific puzzles and not all of them).  Still, I liked the area designs by Michael Herbster, James Montagna, and Michael Pace and the puzzle solutions retrofit for said stages, even if there were some that were a wee bit deviously constructed and required countless tries to overcome.

But with the infinite lives and jellybeans to use there is a more forgiving nature to the proceedings which is among its greatest benefits.  Successfully clearing the bonus stages will have you access unlockable behind the scenes content like that one aforementioned Kanin Koshak video and the blob-themed sound test but largely rough sketches, simple colorizations, and finalized versions of the boy and his blob, the enemies, and the stages you traverse, and they are all a fascinating insight into the artistic design progress with a neat comparison of prior design to the one that's used in-game.  😃
Happy belated 22nd birthday/Christmas, Tomba!!!  🥳
I suppose it's fitting then that I go from reviewing a feel-good game to reviewing another one with the A Boy and His Blob Wiimake.  But whereas Whoopee Camp's endearingly entertaining quirkfest Ore! Tomba/Tomba!/Tombi! was all about humor and heart, this game is all about heart which makes the proceedings feel very warm with an innately innocent flavor to it.  💖

In a way, though, one could make a case for this being the ideal family friendly game where anyone of all ages can like and appreciate it, especially the much younger members.  There's no ambiguity, no metaphors, no heel turn betrayal, no hint of irony, no cynicism... it is purely, 100% sincere and genuine and just wants to convey the story of a friendship between a boy and his blob as they overcome the forces of evil which it does with immaculate aplomb.  The minimalistic storytelling approach is also a very commendable approach; no need for dialogue or words, the actions and subtleties speak for you and in so doing makes things concise and simple enough to understand nonverbally.  📖
Left: Large enemy in a daze | Right: Sinking Blob anvil
That said, though, it's not without its flaws, none of which are really game-breaking so much as nitpicking: there are moments when Blob's AI is hit and miss whenever it comes to the boy calling for him that you have to do so a few more times until he whistles (or in a few cases takes too long to get to the jellybean you threw in a certain spot), the nameless boy has different ways of calling Blob (i.e. "Blob!", "C'mon!", "Let's GO!" "HeeEeey!", "Over here!", "This way!", et al) and I do admit that they can be--to put it kindly--Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Navi levels of overplayed (right after I beat this game for the first time I saw a fan-comic crossing the two series over which culminated in Link and Blob ditching Navi and the boy's redundant calls to their respective partners which I admit to have found simultaneously funny and sad, but that's neither here nor there),
Left: "You will pay dearly for being in my vicinity, now you better run, kid!" | Right: 🎵 Rocket Blooob, Rocket Blob burning up his fuse up with a friend 🎵
Blob's transformations for when he turns into a humanoid and mech do take their sweet time forming up, like I said earlier the mechablob's whirring sounds do drown out the music and are a bit noisy, and when you lose against a boss the room starts again so it's going through the motions (including one with an ominous buildup leading to the King) which personally could have been cut short after the first time but I understand why they had to as simply cutting to the actual battle would've made the encounter seem abrupt.  But I can forgive much of that because this game is so heartwarming.
Left: Swooping vulture boss | Right: Blob shield  🛡
Apparently at one point in development WayForward had the game revolve around keeping Blob happy throughout as he would go through different emotions which was scrapped because testers found that to be too much of a hassle; one element they kept from that original idea was the hug feature which director Sean Velasco found too pure to remove as it is the heart of this game.  I am glad they kept that in because I like having any occasional moment to hug that little marshmallow it's that sweetly adorable.  🤗
Left: "BLOB!  Why is there an enemy roaming inside a stained glass window?" | Right: Boy and humanoid Blob versus antiblob humanoid
Of the WayForward games I played (which isn't much as they also involve the pre-WayForward Mickey's Ultimate Challenge, DuckTales: Remastered on the Nintendo Wii U, and the second, third, and fourth Shantae games I downloaded on the Nintendo Wii U's eShop) their A Boy and His Blob Wiimake may be my top favorite out of their catalogue; it's such a fun and heartwarming game that might border on challenging at points but does so in a forgiving way as you're accorded nigh unlimited opportunities and is sincerely genuine that it's a feel-good experience.  😍
Left: Finally meeting the evil King | Right: Mechablob
I do feel bad for not having played it as much of it as I should have in the ten years that I've had it, but I'll make up for that by coming back to it every once in awhile.  And there is a good amount of replay value here too; like I said sometimes puzzles solutions can be approached in more than one way, you can revisit the stage you previously beat if you failed to get all three chests to open up the bonus room, and speaking of bonus rooms, the very last one has got six rooms to choose from (only two of which can be accessed) and they are all differently set up in terms of puzzle solutions.
Left: Facing off against Cthulhu King | Right: Final goodbye hug
If you're into action-puzzlers like Silicon & Synapse's The Lost Vikings and its late in the game Nintendo 16-bit sequel as well as Traveller's Tales' criminally overlooked Puggsy, then I wholehearted recommend this game.  👍  It's a one of a kind experience on the Nintendo Wii and for me is among that console's very best and regardless how you end up feeling about the game's quality if you haven't played it before you can't deny its surefire ability to make you feel good and warm on the inside.  🤗

My Personal Score: 9.0/10
d(^-^)bTO EACH THEIR OWNd(^-^)b
● Wow, it took me awhile, but I finally made my first Nintendo Wii video game review on my blog!

● 😨  Sooo,... ratio of number of screenshots I used versus how many I took directly of this game (including the in-game WayForward logo): 59 out of 504 (granted, they also comprised of different parts of the intro and credits, but still).  Between the 143:558 used versus total screenshots I took ratio for my review of Shade's The Granstream Saga and this, sometimes I feel like I'm grossly overestimating (or underestimating until I get some more) exactly how many screenshots my reviews need because I write my reviews off my head and want to be as thorough and articulate as I can be.  😟

Happy 10th Anniversary,
A Boy and His Blob Wiimake!!!  🥳🎉

Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW allowed); hope your Christmas was great, hope you have a great day, and wishing everyone a Happy New Year, take care!  😃
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"Chest!!!  Nommy nom nom!"
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See you all in 2020

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