I’ll never forget the day I learned the meaning of the term “buyer’s remorse." It was 1989 and I was just a young lad looking for a new NES game to keep me from being active and making friends. My peepers gazed upon a new release titled A Boy And His Blob and even though I had no idea what the game-play was going to be like I knew it was going to rule by the title alone! I was wrong. It didn’t rule. In fact it’s only reason for being was to piss me off, and piss me off it did. I’m getting pissed off now just thinking about it. Well it’s been 20 years since I had my innocence and 50 bucks stolen from me and A Boy And His Blob is back, this time for the Wii.   

A Boy And His Blob tells the story of a creamy white blob who comes *ahem* to Earth in search of a hero who can help him rid his home planet, Blobolonia, from a rowdy bunch of black blobs who have enslaved his people and won’t keep quiet in the movie theater. The blob finds his hero in a young boy who lives in an unsafe wooden structure atop a tree and presumably has negligent parents. Together, the two venture out into the wild on a journey through jungles, caverns, and the deep reaches of space armed only with hugs and jellybeans. This is a man’s game.

Well, after several days spent playing through WayForward’s Blob revamp, I’m happy to report that much like a fine wine, A Boy And His Blob has gotten better with age. As Boy you are tasked with progressing from A to B by making use of your gooey companion’s various transformation abilities. These transformations are triggered by feeding your Blob various flavors of tangy jellybeans. Need to access an out of reach platform? Feed him a licorice jellybean to transform him into the Licorice Ladder. Need to safely float to the bottom of a steep chasm? Feed him a pear jellybean to transform him into the Pear Parachute. Need to have a little chuckle? Feed him a cream jellybean to transform him into the Cream Cannon. Seriously, there’s a transformation called the Cream Cannon. Gross.

Blob’s gameplay mechanics require thought over dexterity creating an experience that is more puzzle driven rather than action based. If you’ve ever played the original Oddworld titles on the PS1 you know exactly what to expect here. There are 40 main stages to traverse, each of which has three hidden treasure chests. If you are so inclined to collect all 3 you will unlock a brief but often restrictive challenge level. Beat the challenge level and you will unlock tons of concept art and a video of a small asian boy hugging a sleeping bag. Obtaining those hidden treasures is no easy feat and where the real challenge lies in the game’s 40 main levels but doing so will extend the game’s play-time and make you feel like you’re cooler than everyone else!