A Boy and His Blob (Wii)
common sense media says
The sweetest, gentlest action heroes around.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that aside from the inclusion of a few scary looking evil blob monsters, A Boy and His Blob provides a sweetly entertaining adventure that works the brain and even touches the heart. The title characters are so endearing (and adorably rendered in 2-D artwork), it's hard not to like this game. The amount of fighting in the game is minimal, and mostly occurs during the four boss battles. But even those boss battles are really brain twisters; with the exception of one sequence in which a machine he enters allows him to "punch" the bad blobs, the boy never lays a hand on an enemy, he simply figures out which shapes his blob must take in order to defeat the bad guys.
Educational value:
There's a lot of brainwork in this game. Traversing each level means solving one puzzle after another.
Positive role models:
Friendship, loyalty, and cooperation are exhibited in spades by the two title characters.
Ease of play:
The controls couldn't be simpler. And while the puzzles themselves get much more challenging as the game goes on, the difficulty rises on a gradual scale. It's also possible to get through the game without figuring out how to retrieve each hidden treasure chest.
Violence:
Enemy aliens are blobs, just like the hero. Destroying them generally means dropping something heavy on them from above, resulting in a splat of black oil. Your good blob can strategically get eaten and then burst a bad blob from inside. When the boy gets touched by any of the bad blobs, he falls over and faints with an audible cry (but there's no dying). Also, a few of those evil blobs — mostly the bosses — can take somewhat frightening forms, like that of a giant cobra.
Sex:
Not applicable.
Language:
Not applicable.
Consumerism:
Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Not applicable.
More on A Boy and His Blob
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Most useful reviews by all members
dskane
parent of 5 and 8 year old
parent of 5 and 8 year old
Boy falls dead when touched and cut scene creatures are scary
I enjoyed this game but I would strongly caution against it for young children. Within 2 minutes of playing the game myself an evil blob touched the boy (the character you play) and he falls to the ground dead. Although he's instantly resurrected for another round of the game, I found this image to be visibly jarring and was glad that I did not give my young children the game as I had originally planned. I have found that some ratings on games for this site (which I really like) have a grey area where a parent may be swayed a little older or younger on the age recommendations, but I would not on this one and may even bump it a year to age 9.
In the opening cut scene we also see the evil creatures which resemble black ghosts with ghoulish faces chasing the boy. This image may illicit some scary thoughts and bad dreams, so steer clear of this game for young children or kids that have challenges with fearful dreams. I believe that Boy and is Blob is also way too scary for young players.
The game itself is very enjoyable, but again only for 9 and up, in my opinion.
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The online ...
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
A great pleaser for all ages.
A fantastic game that is innocent and really fun, and the boy is helping the blob, not exploiting him, and its obviously not scary.
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A responsible ...
parent of 5 , 9 , and 12 year old
parent of 5 , 9 , and 12 year old
My review has a title
The boy clearly exploits his blob without any concerns for it's safety. Along with feeding it a constant supply of jelly beans, instead of more health conscious foods, the blob gets eaten, jumped on, shoved in a backpack, carelessly thrown at enemies and spikes and abused. While the boy may hug the blob it could never make up for the pain the blob must feel on the inside.
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ChronoTrigger
teen, 16 years old
teen, 16 years old
Trouble on Blobulania (NES) review
*THIS REVIEW APPLIES ONLY TO THE NES VERSION*
I have this game on NES, and on the Wii. I prefer the NES version. It's not scary, but it can be a little unpredictable if your kid doesn't have very good puzzle solving skills. Still a pretty fun game, even if you can't beat it.
You can see a banner/advertisement for the company "Shockwave" inside the game in various places, but, who cares? They're just a internet media scripting company. Can't buy anything from them.
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