The De Blob series may go down as one of the most underrated franchises from the Wii/PS3/Xbox 360 generation of consoles, in my opinion. The series may not do anything groundbreaking, but it does offer a really fun experience anyone can enjoy. The original De Blob was a lot of fun, but its reliance on the Wii’s motion controls made the game a little rough around the edges. Its sequel took the great concept of the original and improved upon it. Today we get to enjoy these games again thanks to remasters of both games. Now that De Blob 2 has made its way to Nintendo Switch, it’s never felt more at home than on Nintendo’s newest console.
De Blob 2 was originally released in 2011 on Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 (the DS De Blob game was a spin-off). THQ Nordic decided to remaster both De Blob and De Blob 2 and bring them first to PS4 and Xbox One earlier this year, and now it’s been brought to Nintendo Switch. To be honest, both the remastered De Blob games feel the best on Nintendo’s hardware. De Blob and De Blob 2 are both 3D platformer, puzzle-like games, though De Blob 2 gives you even bigger worlds to explore and more gameplay variety that makes for a really fun experience. In De Blob 2, it’s your job as Blob to recolor the world and rescue its inhabitants from the evil Comrade Black.
One of the first things you’ll notice with De Blob 2 is how great the game looks. It has a really beautiful, colorful visual style that makes it unique. It’s even better in this remaster as it helps hide the age of the game. When playing the game, you wouldn’t guess that it was originally released 7 years ago. THQ Nordic did a really good job updating the visuals so the colors are more vibrant and the world feels more alive when colored in. One thing the De Blob games really have going for them, especially De Blob 2, is the awesome soundtracks. When you start off in a new world, it is lifeless and colorless. The music, or lack thereof, reflects this. The more of the world you color and the more citizens you reduce, the more alive the music becomes. Seriously, take a minute to listen to the soundtrack.
Additionally, the improvements made from the original De Blob to its sequel make for a much more enjoyable experience. The game has better camera controls thanks to De Blob 2 being designed around all consoles and not just the Wii. The camera controls in the remastered De Blob felt like you were constantly fighting the camera to look in the direction you wanted. In De Blob 2 they’ve greatly improved camera movement. It should be noted that you don’t have to play the original De Blob to understand De Blob 2. The previous game’s story doesn’t really carry over to its sequel, so don’t feel like you’d be lost without playing the first game. Like I mentioned in an earlier paragraph, I really feel like De Blob 2 truly shines on Nintendo Switch. The game just fits with Nintendo’s hardware. You can easily jump into De Blob 2 for a few minutes and accomplish some smaller side-quest or get lost in the world for longer play sessions. The game is silly, goofy, and right at home with other 3D platformer games on Nintendo Switch.
That’s not to say De Blob 2 is perfect. While the game does feature better camera controls than the original De Blob (and its remaster), there were times when the camera in De Blob 2 still felt like it was fighting you. There were a few moments, like on narrow bridges in the sky, where the camera fought me enough that I fell off the bridges because I couldn’t see the gaps from the best angles. It didn’t happen a lot, but when it did happen, it was a bit frustrating. I should also mention that the game worlds you get to explore are, indeed, bigger than those in the first game, or at least they feel that way, though the worlds don’t fully open up until you’ve basically completed the corresponding levels. The original game let you explore wherever you wanted in a level without too many restrictions, but De Blob 2 sort of funnels you through the world until you’ve completed most of the story objectives in that level. Then the whole level opens up. It’s a slight annoyance when you start a level as it makes it feel a bit linear; however, this problem goes away once you’ve made it through most of the world you’re playing through.
To be completely honest, I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed my time with De Blob 2. It’s not perfect, but I found myself spending a lot of time in each world, exploring every nook and cranny to 100% (or nearly 100%) each area. The improvements made to De Blob 2 really helped make it a much better experience than the first game. Regardless of what platform you play on, I’d really recommend De Blob 2. If you own a Nintendo Switch, then it’s a no-brainer. You should totally get De Blob 2, it just feels right at home on Switch. I also really hope THQ Nordic does more with this franchise, namely developing a De Blob 3. These remasters are really nice, and playing De Blob 2 with updated HD graphics makes me want a new entry in the series. A new De Blob game designed on current hardware (PS4, Xbox One, and Switch) is absolutely something I want to see happen.
Developer: Nordic Games
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Platforms: Nintendo Switch (also Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Release Date: 22nd February 2011 (Wii, PS3, Xbox 360), 22nd June 2017 (PC), 27th February 2018 (PS4, Xbox One), 28th August 2018 (Nintendo Switch)