#Balan wonderworld gameplay movie

It wouldn’t be so bad if Balan Wonderworld provided your character with a default move set that was actually fun to use, but without a costume equipped, all you can do is jump (not remarkably high) and move. But it quickly became apparent that most of the game’s costumes simply provide a different way to jump or attack, and the novelty of finding and switching costumes quickly wears off and becomes a chore. Another gives you a telescoping neck that lets you collect Drops that would otherwise be too high up, and that springs you into the air upon releasing the “A” button. One of them, for example, turns you into what looks like a pig and gives you a fun and silly ground pound ability. I’ll give credit where it’s due – some of these costumes have creative and quirky designs. Levels also generally don’t flow very well – they sometimes feel slightly maze-like, which isn’t inherently bad on its own, but a lack of visual variety in each level combined with poor signposting on the way to your next objective makes getting from point A to point B an exercise in patience.Ī big component of Balan Wonderworld’s gameplay is its selection of over 80 costumes which, presumably, exist to make navigating through these levels more interesting. Similarly, jumping from platform to platform feels like an exercise in patience due to poor telegraphing of distance and a jump arc that feels inconsistent. Unlike games such as Super Mario Odyssey in which there’s almost always a way to reach the top of nearby structure, Balan Wonderworld is filled with obstacles that seem short enough that you should be able to jump atop them, but for some reason cannot. That’s for a variety of reasons, most of which come down to poor level design. I was hopeful that gameplay would feel more satisfying within the actual levels, but if anything, it just became more frustrating. Each world also has a couple varieties of enemies to fight and concludes with a boss battle. There are also multicolored floating gems to collect called Drops, which are all but pointless for reasons I’ll attempt to explain later. Each world has a theme that ranges from farms to underwater environments, and you unlock new worlds by collecting Balan Statues that are hidden across the environments. It wasn’t a great start for a game in which running and jumping are basically the only things that happen!īalan Wonderworld’s levels are split across twelve worlds with two stages each (more stages open up after beating the game), with everything connected at a central hub world called the Isle of Tims.

Walking or running in any given direction lacked a strong sense of momentum and control and jumping felt imprecise and difficult to control midair.

As I began controlling my void-of-personality cartoon character with uncomfortably large hands and feet, I was surprised at how horrible it felt to just move around the environment. Between the aura of mystery and the flashy production values, it’s an intriguing sequence that sets the stage well and made me feel like I was about to watch a crazy theatre production.īut that optimism I felt – that hope that I was about to experience something unique and special – immediately disintegrated the moment the actual game began. He’s a tall, sharply dressed figure with an off-putting smile and a top hat that covers most of his dark, furry (yes, furry) face, and upon entering the theatre, he transports the young girl to the strange cartoonish universe where the game actually takes place.

#Balan wonderworld gameplay movie

The opening movie for this game depicts a young girl who is, apparently, incredibly sad – although I’m still not entirely sure why – stumbling into a magical theatre run by a mysterious figure named Balan. The strongest parts of Balan Wonderworld are its infrequent but extraordinarily detailed cinematics. I cannot recommend this game to anyone – even diehard fans will find extraordinarily little to love here. Not only does the game barely run on the Switch, nearly every component of its gameplay and level design feels unfinished at best. Balan Wonderworld is, frankly, a fundamentally broken game in almost every way, and it’s one of only a handful of 3D platformers – one of my favorite genres, mind you – that I have no desire to finish. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is: just about everything.