PixlBit

A Boy and His Blob originated as a unique side-scrolling game made by Activision co-founder and Pitfall creator David Crane for NES in 1989. The series made a pit stop on Game Boy in 1990 and languished in development hell for years, with both a Game Boy Advance and DS game announced and cancelled. Finally, the series is returning with WayForward's animated take on the story of how a boy and his blob saved Bloblonia.

Blob is a puzzle-based platformer with two main characters, only one of which is directly controlled. Players can run and jump as the titular boy, but he's no match for enemies, long distances, or water. That's where the blob comes into play. Players feed their white amorphous pet different jelly beans that turn him into different items, such as the Licorice Ladder, the Apple Jack, or the Root Beer Rocket. Using these items in conjunction with environmental hazards, you traverse through the game's 80 different levels.

The style is adorable and the colorful world and animation is like something out of a Disney film. There's a whimsical vibe to everything and the art direction is top notch. This is a hand-drawn masterpiece, with crisp animations and lavish environments that only get prettier as the game goes on.

In each level, you are given an assortment of jelly beans that you can use as many times as you want. Oftentimes, especially in early levels, there are signs in the level that clearly tell you what jelly bean to use. While it does remove a little bit of the experimentation one might do, it still doesn't spell out exactly what you have to do. There's plenty of "a-ha!" moments in this game where you wonder how this item will help, and then you figure it out. Some of the ways the items are used are ingenious, and it's a joy to see how they're used next.

At face value, the main quest, which features 40 levels split into four different worlds, is easy. However, the big challenge of the game comes from trying to get the three treasure chests hidden in each level. These are tricky to obtain, but if you get all three in a level, you unlock a more challenging level. The second group of 40 levels is shorter and sometimes only uses one jelly bean. This is where you'll get to use your blob in increasingly more inventive ways. If you beat challenge levels, you unlock concept art and other behind-the-scenes goodies.

To me, there are only two sour spots in this super sweet game. The load times range from a little obnoxious to ridiculously long and the Root Beer Rocket, which transforms the blob into a rocket that the boy can ride, is almost impossible to control. The rocket always sends you through tight areas that wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't nearly impossible to go straight on the damn thing. Luckily, it's not used as extensively as the others, which are fun and easy to use.

Aside from those minor gripes, A Boy and His Blob is a fantastic game. The hand-drawn animation is extremely vibrant, and the puzzle-based gameplay is rewarding and intuitive. There's a wealth of levels and unlockables as well as a decent amount of challenge in the latest take on this long-dormant series.