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Impressions: a boy and his blob (Wii)

WayForward's a boy and his blob is at the same time an excellent recreation of the original game and an experience all its own. Much like the original game, our titular boy feeds his pet blob many varieties of jelly beans, however a new art style and host of new blob forms give this game a feel all its own. If there were any doubts regarding this title as both a conduit to relive the plesant days of the original's release, while simultaneously offering a fresh, new take on the game, then let them be squashed now.
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It's tough to classify a boy and his blob. We want to say it's just like the old game, and in many ways is, however the new additions cause apprehension. The game feels different, and benefits from modern design in ways the old game just can't compare with. The first noticeable change comes in the form of infinite jelly beans. In the original game, resource management of jelly beans was crucial, and one could actually be kept from completing the game by overusing beans, eventually being forced to reset the game and start over. That's not the case any more.

And with a new jellybean system, comes new jellybeans. The blob will now have alternate forms not seen in the original game, such as turning into a bouncy ball that lets the boy navigate across bodies of water. The folks at WayForward couldn't offer all of the blob's forms, however they did promise a few surprises. Cheeky!

One thing that isn't stressed enough about a boy and his blob is simply how amazing the visual art is. Each area is comprised of many, many layers of hand-drawn art, which gives the feeling of depth to this 2D title, and adds a style all its own. Watching the boy move around, and seeing how fluidly the life in each world animates, it's clear that a boy and his blob is going to be a real visual treat.

The demo left us wanting more, and only had four different areas to explore. WayForward promised a lengthy title, with 40 different stages and as many challenge areas, which are beefed-up, difficult levels to play through after you've gone through the main campaign. a boy and his blob will be available this October.

Oh, and hugging the blob is the cutest thing ever.