WAYFORWARD REVIVING A BOY AND HIS BLOB FOR THE WII
Oh, this is excellent news: the games blogs are currently all a-flitter over news from the most recent issue Nintendo Power, which is exclusively revealing that WayForward — the studio behind end-days cult hit Game Boy Color platformer Shantae, fan favorite DS remake Contra 4, and recently mentioned WiiWare horror/puzzler Lit — will be bringing a new version of obscure NES game A Boy And His Blob to the Wii.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen publisher-to-be Majesco try to revive the property: a DS version was in the works and due for release in 2005, but was abruptly dropped when the publisher was undergoing financial troubles before re-inventing themselves as a casual/Cooking Mama powerhouse.
And from what little we’ve seen (the Nintendo Power site is carrying only a pixelated teaser, but is running the above image whole), it’s looking a damn sight better than that DS version (have a look via Unseen64, but only from between your fingers), with WayForward giving it a quasi-anime/LostWinds-inspired facelift, with a reported hi-res 2D perspective.
If this is the first you’ve ever heard of the game, a little background: the 1989 original was one of the later works from early gaming legend David Crane, originally designer at and co-founder of Activision, where he created seminal games like the Atari 2600’s Pitfall.
Blob was created after leaving Activision to found Absolute, but wears its Pitfall inspiration on its sleeve (as seen above), only with the kicker that while your player was just as vulnerable to his surroundings as Pitfall Harry, he brought with him his titular invulnerable blob, which could transform itself into various protective and navigational items after eating one of a certain type of jelly bean (obviously).
Terribly challenging (especially to an 11 year old) but wonderfully inventive stuff, it’s a property and a solid gaming foundation that’s been long overdue for a loving revival, and, with any luck, WayForward are just the studio to give it its comeuppance.
UPDATE: As SonicTail noted in the comments, Nintendo Power have lifted the pixelated veil on the first two pages of the feature, which show off more of the gorgeously reserved illustrative 2D style. Click above for the full width spread.
WayForward home [via Joystiq]
See more posts about: Offworld Originals
