Trouble on Blobolonia

The Making Of Trouble On Blobolonia A er giving us one of the earliest examples of a realistic-looking human character in a videogame, David Crane blessed one of his virtual Adams with an unusual Eve: a jellybean-chomping alien named Blobert. Crane spills the jellybeans about his NES classic, A Boy And His Blob: Trouble On Blobolonia, to Stuart Hunt 70 | RETRO GAMER 070-73 RG77 Aboyandhisblob.indd 70 10/5/10 18:59:54 THE MAKING OF: A BOY AND HIS BLOB: TROUBLE ON BLOBOLONIA orging a relationship inside a game has the power to inspire emotion like nothing else. Rarely is a strong bond Fbetween the gamer and their avatar struck up over the course of an adventure. How can it? The instant our virtual hero dies our natural reaction is to lambast their idiocy for making us replay something over again, and the second that they do achieve something amazing it’s ourselves that we’re mentally giving last adventure, Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, a pat on the back to. Alone, Boy and Blob were useless. in 1983. Working alongside his friend Throw another character into the mix, and collaborator Garry Kitchen, and though – a character that is looking to publishing the game under their new you for direction and guidance – and Together they were unstoppable studio Absolute Entertainment, Crane things can change dramatically. Who saw an opportunity to do something can forget frantically trying to prevent Blob. Released exclusively for the NES, truly unique in the genre. their stranded party from being carried the game saw a young boy befriend an “As you might guess from Pitfall, away by pterodactyls in Denton Designs’ intergalactic white ball of glob that had I like adventure games with puzzles 8-bit classic Where Time Stood Still, or a peculiar reaction to sugary jellybeans. and tasks along the way,” he explains. the pang of heroism felt by grabbing Feeding Blob a jellybean would cause “By the time I was thinking about a the hand of an ethereal girl and pulling him to transform into an object that new adventure game, the genre had Trouble her from vaporous ink clouds in Ico? Boy could use to solve puzzles, protect expanded to include tool use. The on- Relationships are some of the most himself from threats, and help the duo screen avatar might collect objects from indelible and magical things that can traverse the game’s perilous world. one area and use them in another, but occur in games, staying with you long Alone, Boy and Blob were pretty having and displaying a tool inventory after the credits, and are the very things IN THE KNOW useless, but together they were an was not very elegant, so I started On Blobolonia that have helped games such as Ico, unstoppable force that embarked on looking for a different way to do the PUBLISHER: Shenmue, Sonic 2 and Where Time ABSOLUTE ENTERTAINMENT one of the quirkiest and most fondly same thing. I remembered a cartoon Stood Still feel so memorable. DEVELOPER: IMAGINEERING remembered NES adventures as they series from my childhood called The So where can we trace the worked together to save Blob’s Herculoids that featured a couple of RELEASED: 1989 introduction of that unusual ‘in-game home planet of Blobolonia shape-changing blobs that often saved relationship’? Well, we’ve already GENRE: ADVENTURE from the evil Emperor. the day by transforming into useful mentioned the emotional impact of EXPECT TO PAY: A FEW QUID At the time, Crane saw objects. That was the spark to create a WTSS, but for many console owners the relationship aspect of A buddy who could become all of their fi rst taster of this unusual bond Boy And His Blob as a way to put the tools you needed to complete between gamer and game came from his own stamp on the advances the adventure.” a humorous cartoon adventure game that had occurred in the genre Typing ‘Herculoids’ into Google by David Crane titled A Boy And His since the release of his fl ashes up a quirky-looking » [Wii] Crane has yet to play the excellent Boy And His Blob reboot by WayForward Technologies, but did say that the visuals look “beautiful”. RETRO GAMER | 71 070-73 RG77 Aboyandhisblob.indd 71 10/5/10 19:00:14 The Making Of A BOY AND HIS BLOB: TROUBLE ON BLOBOLONIA Hanna-Barbera cartoon series that aired feeding Blob a vanilla in the US in the late Sixties. Starring an A Boy And His Blob bean would transform odd band of alien superheroes, of this him into an umbrella to group two characters, Glob and Gleep, was one of the most played protect Boy from falling debris immediately catch our eye. Both are and allow him to fl oat safely to white protoplasmic aliens who look the ground from high platforms, while uncannily similar to Blob, and further games at Nintendo consuming a tangerine fl avour would investigation reveals that they have the change him into a handy trampoline, ability to transform into useful objects useful objects Blobert should be able to allowing Boy to access otherwise too. So with Blobert’s origin established, transform into. inaccessible platforms. Some diligent where did the idea to give the white “The Blob’s transformations came fans may recall that the game’s manual protoplasmic hero a friend stem? fi rst, from a wish list. Then, once I knew also included mention of a grape “It is probably apparent that I have what could be displayed, I designed jellybean, a fl avour that doesn’t actually always liked puns. A game where you puzzles that could be solved with those appear in the fi nal game. can fall into pits? Let’s call it Pitfall. If the tools. On 8-bit systems like the NES, the “The grape jellybean was in the game game is going to have a blob following display resolution was limited,” recalls as it was submitted to Nintendo for you around like a dog, then obviously the Crane. “With every game we did, it was release,” recalls Crane, when revealing dog – I mean blob – has to have a boy,” necessary to carefully select in-game to us the story behind the bean’s curious says Crane. “As the concept solidifi ed, DEVELOPER objects based on how they looked on disappearance. “The pun was ‘Grape it was clear that this was going to be HIGHLIGHTS the screen. We brainstormed a large list Wall’, as in China. I believe that the a unique part of the gameplay. Your DAVID CRANE’S of objects that would be useful as tools, wall was intended to defl ect one of partner was your toolbox, and you AMAZING TENNIS PICTURED and the artists drew them in pixels and the centipede baddies, although I don’t needed him as much as he needed you. SYSTEM: SNES put them on screen. A ladder was a remember if that ever got implemented. So you would have to play the game in YEAR: 1992 must, as was a bridge, but many of the We found out later that A Boy And His such a way to bring him along with you.” THE SIMPSONS: BART other transformations had to be carefully Blob was one of the most played games With the ‘buddy toolbox’ concept VS THE SPACE MUTANTS selected. Many objects were rejected at Nintendo, working its way up to the SYSTEM: ATARI ST decided, David began planning the because a player wouldn’t immediately top management. In the game as I YEAR: 1991 layout of the game and deciding on what know what it was when they saw it designed it, you had to take good care of SUPER BATTLETANK SYSTEM: GAME BOY in the game. That kind of choice was your Blob or you could lose the game. If YEAR: 1994 made every day during 8-bit videogame you weren’t careful you could become development. We tried to never intrude separated from him and not be able on the fl ow of the game by inserting to proceed. Apparently this happened something that required explanation.” once to a member of Nintendo’s senior A total of 14 different fl avoured management, and even though it was jellybeans appeared in the game, each how the game was intended, this transforming Blob into a unique object infl uential person decided that it was a with its own specifi c use. To help the bug. ‘We need a way to continue even » For the game’s Japanese user remember what each of those if we lost our Blob,’ and ‘We need this release, which was objects were, Crane decided to relate fi xed by tomorrow or the game won’t distributed by Jaleco, the Boy sprite was redrawn to them – sometimes quite tenuously make Christmas’. The fastest thing I make him more anime in look. – to a fl avour of jellybean. For instance, could do was change the name of the A BOY AND HIS BLOB: THE ANIMATED MOVIE One rumour that has always videogame to be simultaneously surrounded A Boy And His Blob released as a game, toy and was that Crane intended for the animated feature fi lm,” Crane game to spill into merchandise reveals. “We went so far as to and movie territory, with A Boy bring in the producer of the fi rst And His Blob toys, an animated animated Transformers movie to movie, lunchboxes and socks – work on the fi lm development, well, perhaps not the lunchboxes but that was another casualty of and socks.

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