I reviewed a game called Paper Monsters Recut from Mobot Studios Inc. not to long ago for GameGravy. It was a hybrid 2D-3D platformer that had some charming and redeeming qualities to it. What really grabbed my attention to Blocky Bot, though, was the developers’ unique 90’s rap inspired commercial, which served as the title’s trailer. The cheesy comedy bits are right up my alley, as I’m a sucker for movies like Kung Pow and White Chicks.
There is no story, unfortunately, in Blocky Bot, only random characters such as a ninja, wizard head, blocky robots (no surprise there) and even a guest appearance from RCMADIAX’s own Humphrey, who stars in Spikey Wall. Each of these characters will unlock randomly every 100 coins that you collect while endlessly jumping through the levels. You can also unlock themes, which don’t change the game control wise, just the aesthetics.
The four different themes, which range from the 1989 GameBoy inspired look to a lite-brite night time level, really give the game a nice flare. The graphics and art work are the best part of the title, as the rest of the game is literally just hitting a jump and weaving in and out of enemies while collecting chests and trying to maintain a high score. The soundtrack doesn’t slow down from the previously mentioned infomercial either. This game has some great tunes that go along with the themes perfectly.
With such a great style and idea, though, comes a few missteps. There are no online leaderboards in a game where the sole purpose his to obtain a high score. This is confusing to me, and I don’t want to keep reporting my title screen on the MiiVerse every time I get a new high score. Also, after playing Color Guardians and seeing how much can be done with the endless runner genre, it seems that this game is too light on the content. An overworld map with levels and goals to reach in each level would have been the route I would have taken. Think of the Squid 8-bit mini-game from Splatoon, you know what I’m talking about.
The Recommendation
With the style and swag of Blocky Bot, it’s a hard title to overlook for the price of $1.99. With that being said though, once you’ve unlocked everything and are tired of posting to the MiiVerse, there isn’t a whole lot to come back to. It’s a good concept and idea that could be great with some more content and gameplay tweaking.