Games & Gadgets

For the oppressed residents of the world in "de Blob," whatever you touch turns that color. For the person playing it, it might as well be gold.

"de Blob" is equal parts soothing and challenging, a rare combination for any game. It's a third-party platformer/painting game, the kind of original, quirky effort that seems to find an excellent home on the Wii.

In the game, you play as de Blob, a gelatinous ball of liquid-type substance whose home, Chroma City, has been black and whited by the evil INKT Corporation. Your job is to spread the color revolution by taking the sucked-up color and splattering it on buildings, trees, residents (called Raydians) and the rest of the landscape.

At first glance, the game appears to be child's play. Merely touching any part of anything paints the whole thing, the containers containing your color are plentiful, and the enemies didn't graduate summa cum laude from AI school.

A deeper look (and several lost lives later) reveals the challenge – all missions are timed, and while you can gain time, you can't freeze it. The enemies upgrade to ramming you with jet bikes, breaking out turrets and other methods of blotting you out.

Most dastardly, though, are the platforming challenges. Sure, you can pretty easily roll through levels, paint the minimum, and be done. The sad sight of the Radians and their monochrome buildings, however, will have you trying to paint everything, which is where the screaming begins.

de Blob isn't de Blimp, and soaring is not in his repertoire. Some buildings are segmented, making the journey to splatter their top sections something that will have you seeing red. Other times, a billboard or blimp will seem perfectly protected by gravity, and you've got to figure out the right path to the top. If you play to reach 100 percent, the game will give more than enough challenge for your buck.

There are also color changes, where you must paint parts of a block different colors in 90 seconds or less. Trying to find the needed colors can have you spending precious time in a frustrating manner. Oh, and you only get three: Red, yellow, blue. The game's other four colors (orange, green, purple and brown) must be mixed.

However, if all you want to do is paint, look at the pretty colors and drift off, that's easily accomplished. The worlds are giant, giant canvases, and there's satisfaction in bringing superficial color diversity to Chroma City.

Like many quirky Nintendo titles, the artistic style is either charming or childish, depending on your preferences.

No matter your style, the music is more than satisfactory. The player has some control over it, like so; based on the color de Blob is at that moment, the music will emphasize a different instrument. Fiery trumpets, bouncy vocals or smooth guitar match certain colors. Each level allows you to pick an overall mood (with classics such as "righteous," "revolutionary" or "euphoric").

In all, de Blob could be a bit more challenging at its most basic level, but no matter your mood or artistic skill, the game will leave you smiling and coming back for more.

4.25 buttons