de Blob

I threw this game in my queue on the strength of a few good reviews from some game critics. The premise is offbeat, different, and a whole lot of fun. It's pretty simple, really. You start with black and white world that the evil dudes have come and sucked all the color, life, and fun out of. Your job, as an animated paint blob, is to color it back in, thereby free the residents from a boring, colorless life. You do this by moving your character in a 3D space using the Wii nunchuk, occasionally flicking the remote to jump. You collect paint and everything you touch turns your current color. Also, when you touch something paint-able it adds an element to the current music.

The cut scenes that explain the ridiculous story look amazing. Think Monsters Inc. I have no idea how they get it to look so great on the underpowered Wii. They're actually sort of funny too, and give you at least a flimsy reason as to why you're painting this section of town or landmark. There are tons of mini challenges in each level which are sure to keep the OCD collector-types busy. But there is also a main goal that you need to accomplish to make it through to the next level.

My two complaints are one minor, one major. As far as I can tell, there's no way to quickly save your progress, it only saves after each level, which can take a while if you happen to get turned around. Not a big deal. What is a big deal is the stupid waggle controls that developers feel they have to use when a game appears on the Wii. There's a huge A button right on there that's a perfectly acceptable solution for jump. Use it! But you can't, and the combination of this unresponsiveness and the less than ideal camera makes technical jumping sections needlessly frustrating. Luckily, these sections don't seem to happen all that often in this fairly kid-friendly game.

Speaking of kid-friendly, this would be an excellent game to share with a youngster, and it sort of reminds me of the Lego series. There are tons of little objectives, bright, shiny objects and little penalty for failure. So, in short, it's a fun little game that you ought to take a second look at.