Review: Balloon Headed Boy
Score:
75%
Version Reviewed: 1.00
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There’s a lot to be said for the cutesy cartoon platform genre. Most of the time the words "cheap rip-off from somewhere else" are those words, but sometimes (just sometimes, mind you) you can use "a really nice game". Luckily for Morpheme, I can say the latter about their Java Midlet "Balloon Headed Boy."
Controls are a simple left/right/jump combination, but as with most games in this genre, there’s a twist. While not exactly flying, Balloon Headed Boy can turn his head into a balloon so that he can float up over walls and obstacles, into hitherto inaccessible areas, and generally get around the puzzles in the level. The more flowers you eat, the more gas you have to pump your head up.
We’re on level-based game play here, and there’s no choice in how you tackle it, it’s purely linear. Inside each level, you have two goals. The first is to collect enough balloons to open the exit of the level and allow you to get to the next one. The second is to collect every single space hopper in the level. There’s no pressing need to do this to get through the game, but you just know that when you reach the final level you’re going to need to have a 100% collection rate to get the final victory screen or a secret level unlocked.
The levels themselves are well thought out, and use the portrait orientation of the Series 60 screen to good effect. There’s no feeling of being cramped into sideways movement, most of the puzzles work in the vertical plane – unlike other platform games, the screen orientation is used as an advantage and not a limitation.
Balloon Headed Boy doesn’t expand the platform genre by any stretch of the imagination, but neither does it disgrace it or make any mistakes. It doesn’t get boring very quickly, and the difficulty curve is gentle, but present. If you’re looking for a running/jumping/standing still platform game, then you won’t be disappointed.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at