Red colored Tims bred for combat didn’t really make any difference in a fight as damage from your stomps or costume based attacks got the job done faster. For starters, there’s the tedious concept of collecting keys.Īside from completing trophies and seeing the Tower of Tims get completed, raising Tims overall didn’t feel very engaging because they served little to no purpose in gameplay. There was a lot of potential for unique gameplay regarding Balan Wonderworld’s costume system, but unfortunately, many factors made collecting costume for frustrating than fun. Another is the Dainty Dragon which sacrifices the ability to jump with a fire breath attack that’s chargeable. For example, the Tornado Wolf lets you jump while spinning which serves as an offensive move and block destroyer. There are around 80 different costumes scattered across the twelve stages, and each has a certain function. As a matter of fact, these costumes are a necessity, because you literally cannot do anything as Leo or Emma alone.
In each stage are different kinds of costumes that you can pick up that will help you finish a level. Dress to impressĬostumes are what Balan Wonderworld is all about. Majority of your time will be spent more traversing Wonderworld and snatching two important collectibles in the game: Costumes and Balan Statues.
The Isle of Tims itself is another source of activity as another gameplay mechanic of raising the cute chick-like beings called Tims, which we’ll touch upon later. You’ll find yourself backtracking a lot to previously unreachable areas when you get the right means to do so later in the game. The Acts in each Stage are just what you’d expect of a traditional platformer in the sense that they’re just the right size, which encourages exploration. What’s actually great here is that each of the twelve stages feel very distinct in terms of their themes. There are twelve stages to go through with one endgame boss stage. The game begins on the Isle of Tims which serves as the central hub of the game. Hop, step, jumpĪt its core, Balan Wonderworld is a platformer. It’s not a good user experience to have to refer to reference material outside of the game in order to understand what’s going on, and Balan Wonderworld reinforces this to an uncomfortable extent. As a matter of fact, while there was a definite beginning and end to the story of the person you helped, you can’t help but feel some details are lacking, details that the separately sold books have. While I’m all for accompanying materials to enrich the narrative of a game, in Balan Wonderworld’s case the accompanying materials feel more necessary than supplementary.įor example, the first Stage’s inhabitant, Jose Gallard, is never referred to by name until the end credits role and his story is only touched upon by the aforementioned cutscenes. In case you didn’t know, a novel and manga was released to supplement Balan Wonderworld’s story, and various PVs are there to introduce you to the game’s characters. While it was enjoyable at first, it gets boring really fast and you’ll be skipping these sequences by the time you reach level 3, maybe even earlier. Pair it with drab cutscenes and an incoherent dance number everytime you beat a boss and it suddenly feels like a tired and unevenrful noon time show. Unfortunately, the execution lacks weight and depth that the overall narrative becomes somewhat forgettable. In terms of the story itself, the game has a very positive, though pretty generic message, and it’s that sort of uplifting and positive feeling that could appeal to a lot of people. Along the way the pair and Balan are opposed by the similarly mysterious Lance, who commands the Negati, monsters born from darkness. Both have different circumstances but are still similar in the sense that both lead a troubled life, leading them to encounter Maestro Balan, the mysterious overseer of the Balan Theater.įrom here, Balan brings the pair to Wonderworld, a fantastic realm created from memories and hearts where Leo and Emma will embark on a journey, meeting other troubled souls and healing their hearts, all while learning to deal with their own troubles. In Balan Wonderworld, you play one of two children: Leo Craig or Emma Cole.
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