Bloo Kid 2 for 3DS is a port of an iOS game, and it translates to the hardware extremely well. This retro styled platformer benefits fromBloo Kid 2 for 3DS is a port of an iOS game, and it translates to the hardware extremely well. This retro styled platformer benefits from physical buttons a lot, but still isn’t perfect by any means.
It begins with a short cut-scene where you see Bloo kid’s baby being kidnapped, quickly followed by Bloo chasing after them. And that’s the storyline. Fortunately, a simple, albeit generic story is all that is required for most platformers, so it isn’t too important.
The game is controlled entirely using a simple control scheme, reminiscent of older games on consoles such as the NES. The d-pad is used for movement in levels and the A and B buttons are your assigned jump buttons, with the start button being used to access the pause menu. I found the controls to be very responsive and tight, so when I missed a jump I knew it definitely wasn’t down to the controls. If you have big hands like I have it can be uncomfortable using the d-pad on the 3DS, since the circle pad can’t be used in the game instead, so breaks may be necessary during long play sessions to prevent cramp. I can understand the decision though, since the developers were aiming for a retro feel that the d-pad provides best.
As for the gameplay itself, it consists of running, jumping and double-jumping through the 5 worlds with 9 levels in each to reach the end of the level. Enemies are scattered throughout the levels, and these are defeated by stomping on their heads or through the use of a solitary fire power-up, acting as invincibility; a wider variety of power-ups would have been nice. The enemies were quite varied, with various attack patterns and designs, and different ways to defeat them. As you progress the enemies become a lot more challenging to defeat, as it’s no longer as simple as one jump to the head. You may have to bide your time, or bait them into attacking to get an opportunity to strike. On the other hand, the boss fights are incredibly simple. Work out the pattern and beat the boss; that’s all there is to it. They do look cool and a couple of them are obvious references to older games by Nintendo or SEGA, but that doesn’t make them any less of a non-event.
Even if the bosses are pretty weak, the rest of the game is not. The first world isn’t too difficult, but it quickly ramps up as you advance, sometimes becoming incredibly frustrating in a few levels (mine-cart levels, I’m looking at you). The auto-scrolling levels were the worst for me, as you have to rely on trial-and-error or insanely fast reflexes in order to get through them. The vertical scrolling level near the end required a couple leaps of faith due to the camera being focused on Bloo. This is made worse by the fact that there are no checkpoints in a level, so one mistake means starting again. Still, it’s definitely not impossible to play, but it’s definitely not a game for the faint of heart, and easy mode provides a full health refill with certain treasure chests if you’re awful at avoiding the various hazards. Higher difficulties do reduce the number of hearts you receive from the chests though, with nightmare mode (unlocked upon beating the main story at any difficulty) reducing the number of hits you can take to two.
It’ll take a long time to complete this game 100%, as there are 27 achievements to strive for and 6 challenges in each level, as well as two extra modes you unlock after beating the story, providing loads of content and replay-ability. Each level gives you a star for collecting all of the yellow stars in the level, collecting the three hidden blue stars, defeating all of the enemies (that don’t resurrect after a short time), finishing the level with full health, finishing the level within a certain time and for popping a balloon that appears at the end of the level and quickly floats away. One thing I especially liked about the hidden stars in the game is that they’re actually very well hidden throughout the levels. But to compensate for this, there’s always a blue flower nearby, so you know whereabouts to search for it in the level.
The presentation is very well done as well. The pixelated sprites are very bright and pretty, and the animations are nice as well. The extra effort can be seen clearly, for example, when Bloo gasps as an enemy attacks or something as simple as the stars in the level spinning. The 3D effect is great in this game as well, and I played with it on the entire time as it was useful for distinguishing some platforms from the background. And the soundtrack is very catchy and accompanies the art style perfectly, my personal favourite track being the one that plays on the mine-cart levels.
Bloo Kid 2 is an excellent platformer with great visuals and an awesome soundtrack to boot. It can be frustrating and unfair at times, and a bit generic, but it accomplishes everything it sets out to do and provides a lot of content, with more levels promised in future. If you fancy a challenge at a fair price, I’d say definitely buy it.… Expand
