A Boy and His Blob
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| A Boy and His Blob:Trouble on Blobolonia | |
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| Developer(s) | Imagineering |
| Publisher(s) |  Absolute Entertainment Jaleco |
| Designer(s) | David Crane |
| Platform(s) | NES Game Boy Nintendo DS |
| Release date | 1989 November 29, 1990 1991 |
| Genre(s) | Platform Game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia (Fushigina Blobby: Blobania no Kiki in Japan) is a video game developed in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System by David Crane.
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[edit] History
Created by David Crane (creator of Pitfall!), the game was named best of show in 1989 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The advocacy group Parents' Choice Foundation awarded it with a Parents' Choice Award in 1990.
[edit] Overview
A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia is a side-scrolling platformer in which the character and his friend Blob (full name Blobert) travel together on earth and on Blobert's home planet Blobolonia in a quest to defeat the evil emperor.
Blobert can change into several different items when he is fed jelly beans. A licorice jelly bean, for instance, will change Blobert into a ladder, while a honey jelly bean will turn him into a hummingbird. Most of these transformations can be remembered mnemonically due to a correlation between the flavor of the jelly bean and the item that results. The list is as follows:
- Licorice - Ladder - Climbs to higher places. The flavor and relating item both start with the same letter. May also be because licorice is long and thin.
- Strawberry - Bridge - Crosses gaps. "Strawberry" relates to "draw-bridge".
- Coconut - Coconut - The screen follows the rolling coconut.
- Cola - Bubble - Allows safe underwater exploration. Bubbles are in cola drinks.
- Cinnamon - Blowtorch - Burns webs. Cinnamon is spicy and blowtorches are "hot".
- Apple - Jack - Lifts up objects. This refers to a drink made from cider called applejack, and to the popular cereal "Apple Jacks".
- Vanilla - Umbrella - Protects the boy from falling objects and from heights. The "illa" and "ella" parts of each word almost rhyme.
- Tangerine - Trampoline - Jumps to high places. "Tangerine" sounds similar to "trampoline".
- Root Beer - Rocket - Allows travel to and from Blobolonia. Root beer, when shaken, can create a large explosion of soda, much like a rocket.
- Honey - Hummingbird - Allows Blobert to follow more easily. Hummingbirds eat nectar/honey.
- Punch - Hole - Punches a hole to new areas. This is a pun on hole punch.
- Lime - Key - Unlock doors. A Key lime is a smaller type of lime. Also a reference to "Key Lime" pie.
- Orange - Vitablaster! - Shoots vitamins at enemies. Oranges are well known as an excellent source of Vitamin C.
- Ketchup - Nothing - Blobert dislikes ketchup-flavored jelly beans, so will not normally eat them; instead, where the ketchup jellybean is thrown, Blobert will appear, even if he was many screens away. "Ketchup" sounds like "catch up".
It is possible to trick Blobert into eating a ketchup-flavored jelly bean by throwing him a honey jelly bean first and then quickly throwing the ketchup one. Doing so will cause Blobert to transform into a brick wall which serves no purpose.
The boy must make use of all of these jelly beans, collect diamonds and treasure, and defeat the final boss on Blobolonia, The Emperor, by using vitamins. The emperor has a sweet tooth to the extent that vitamins are fatal.
[edit] Japanese release
When the game was released in Japan it was retitled Fushigi na Blobby: Blobania no Kiki (ふしぎなブロビー ブロバニアの危機 Mysterious Blobby: The Crisis of Blobania). The game's game sprite for the boy was changed to a more detailed anime look, and the game's title screen was changed to a more colorful look as opposed to the English title that is reminiscent of the Indiana Jones logo.
[edit] Sequels
A sequel to the game was released for the Game Boy in 1990 under the name The Rescue of Princess Blobette.
Fifteen years later Majesco announced another sequel for the Nintendo DS at E³. Using 3D graphics, the game (which takes place 6 years after the first title) was originally scheduled for release on November 11, 2005. Although rumored to be completed, Majesco's financial troubles have delayed the game's release indefinitely. As of August 2007, the title has apparently been canceled.
The new game was set to feature 15 differently colored jellybeans and 15 levels. The touchscreen feature of the DS would have featured a map and helped manage jellybean inventory.
