Blobster HD ($1.99) is a colorful platformer adventure for the iPad. It really doesn’t add much new to the genre, but the sum of its parts makes it a very worthwhile play.
At the heart of this app is a quite competent puzzle/platform game. The controls are very intuitive. I liked the slingshot mechanic, a la Angry Birds, instead of the traditional jump button. This approach requires the player to jump in every direction to collect items, instead of only up as in most platformer games.
I found the controls to be generally good, but found faults in each of the two control schemes. The tilt control technically works fine, but combined with the way the camera follows Blobster, it made for a disorienting experience that I didn’t enjoy much. The standard touch control scheme suffers from a different problem. Left and right movements occur when touching the left and right sides of the iPad respectively. “Conveniently” placed within that zone on the right is a separate button to control the flinging of blobster. Way too often the wrong control would get pressed, and when it meant death for little blobster, it was a frustrating experience.
On a more positive note, the level design and characters are quite well done. Blobster will change its shape depending on the power-ups obtained, usually to hilarious effect. The enemies are also cute in their own way, but with sinister intent. All in all, the app depicts a colorful world, very much worth saving.
The difficulty curve in Blobster HD should appeal to a broad audience. Early levels can be passed very quickly, if so inclined. I would expect this to be how most casual gamers will tackle the game. However, in order to collect every item, a lot of trial and error will be needed to discover the best ways to use each of the various power-ups. For instance, the underwater power-up will only stay active for a limited time, so you must quickly explore all of the underwater areas in order to best determine the fastest route for later attempts. This make later stages quite tricky, and will appeal to much more experienced gamers
Overall, I found Blobster HD to be of high quality, and quite a lot of fun to play. Level design and gameplay are on par with similar puzzle/platformer titles, and its broad appeal will certainly help this app find a home on many iPads.
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