Whether you spend an hour or more wandering through colorful cartoon dream landscapes designed by Sonic the Hedgehog? Do you like the feeling of being pleasantly perplexed? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will want to play the demo for Balan Wonderworld. It is something else.
This other thing is a dreamlike platformer in which a pair of his heroes, Leo Craig and Emma Cole, are sent by the mysterious maestro Balan on a journey through imaginary worlds created from other people’s dreams. In the demo, which will be released tomorrow for PlayStations, Xboxes, Switches and Steam, we explored the dreams of a farmer who had crop problems, a boy who dreams of flying and a girl who met a kitten.
The demo opens with the protagonist chosen in a place called Ilha de Tims, a green field with portals for the available levels. This is where we interact with the Tims, cute little creatures that follow Leo and Emma on their adventures. By feeding these creatures with crystal drops collected in the various stages of the game, we can change their colors, which affects how useful the Tims are during exploration. Red Tims attack. Pink Tims will hunt for hidden items. They are definitely not Chao’s Sonic the Hedgehog, but they are sorta.
The similarities of Sonic make perfect sense, given Balan Wonderworldpedigree of. The new game is directed by Yuji Naka, director of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, with art direction by Naoto Ohshima, Sonic designer and director of timeless classics Nights in dreams and Blinx: The Time Sweeper. Echoes from each of these games can be found at Balan Wonderworld.
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The game’s phases of the demo are vast twisted wonders full of dancing creatures in extravagant costumes, golden statues to collect, challenges to overcome and puzzles to solve. The colorful landscapes are inspired by the dreamers who dream them. The farmer’s levels, for example, are dotted with giant vegetables and haystacks. The “Boy Who Would Be One with the Wind” level in the demo features the giant, real boy, reclining in the air, supposedly dreaming of flying. The designs are crazy and creative, as you would expect from art director Naoto Ohshima of sonic and Nights in dreams fame.
The central mechanics of Balan Wonderworld is changing clothes. Leo and Emma unlock fantasies while they venture out. Each has a unique ability. The Ascendant Ram costume allows heroes to transform into puffballs, which can ride the wind created by spinning fans. The Elastiplant suit allows the pair to extend the upper body to access crystals and switches placed a little higher than other crystals or switches.
Other fantasies imitate movements that you can find in a Mario or Sonic game. The Aero Acrobat outfit gives Leo and Emma the ability to catch enemies and objects in the air, running towards them to attack. This is Sonic’s driving attack. The Pounding Pig costume is Mario’s solo in the form of an adorable pig.
Instead of just giving the characters all these skills and letting them go to the city in some dreamy landscapes, Balan Wonderworld juggles up to three fantasies at a time. This gives the player something to think about as he scans the levels for Crystal Drops and hidden secrets. Level checkpoints can be used to change players’ clothes, so don’t worry if you come across an inaccessible path to your current wardrobe.
I can’t honestly say that I have a firm understanding of what exactly is going on Balan’s Wonderland to play the demo. Much of my playing time was spent pointing at the screen and asking my wife what the hell was going on. Why are they dancing? Why is this fan here? Why is that giant boy floating there? Our characters appear to be two well-meaning children wandering about solving people’s problems, which is a good thing. We may also be hallucinating, which can be fun. I’m looking forward to getting to the bottom of this mind-blowing mystery when the full game is released on March 26th.