A passion project for Sonic creator Yuji Naka, Balan Wonderworld earned itself a reputation as something of a disaster before it even had a chance to launch. Its lengthy demo was almost universally panned, prompting the unfortunately named Balan Company to promise improvements in time for release, but it’s simply a case of too little, too late for this kind-hearted platformer.
It casts you as a young breakdancer whisked away to a strange world by the top-hatted Balan, an unintentionally unsettling creature with a love for musicals. In this floating garden lies doorways to other, stranger lands that appear to be physical manifestations of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the game’s cast. You’ll venture through each level to collect statues and ultimately relieve the characters of what ails them, mostly by bonking a boss monster on the head three times in a row.
These self-contained tales are as basic as can be and, as a result, almost instantly forgettable. Who is that terrifying huge farmer? Why did the girl's dolphin turn rabid? These are the questions you must ask… before rapidly moving on to the next piece of nonsense the game throws your way. Sadly, basic does not mean elegant; it means underdeveloped and, all too often in this case, trite.
RELATED LINKS: Balan Wonderworld Switch review, Balan Wonderworld interview, New Switch games
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