Critics are struggling to find good things about the recently released Balan Wonderworld. After releasing a widely-panned demo, Square Enix promised a day-one patch to address some of the criticisms. Though Square Enix admitted the patch wouldn’t resolve every issue, the hope was that it would resolve some of Balan Wonderworld‘s glaring problems.
Critics have been able to spend some time with the game, and it’s not looking good. Echoing many of the same critiques as those who played the demo, it seems Balan Wonderworld still lacks in many areas.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
Tom Marks, IGN: “When you’re hopping around Balan Wonderworld‘s simultaneously imaginative yet bland stages, it doesn’t necessarily feel like a total trainwreck. Some of its barebones obstacle courses can occasionally produce hints of what I might call fun, and it’s not much more than a total bore the rest of the time. But when you take Balan Wonderworld as a whole, it sinks lower than the rudimentary platforming that barely props it up. From its misguided one-button control scheme, to its haphazard transforming costume mechanic and the levels that use them, to the half-hearted Chao Garden-like hub world between them, it gets a lot wrong – and very little of what it gets right helps to balance the scales.”
CJ Andriessen, Destructoid: “If I were to sum up Balan Wonderworld in a single word, that word would be antiquated. This is a new game that feels very, very old. It’s an artifact of the mid to late ’90s, calling back to the golden era of the mascot platformer, a brief period when developers blessed the world with weird and experimental platform games like Bug or Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. If you were to tell me Balan Wonderworld was actually an HD remake of some 1997 Sega Saturn title, I’d probably believe you because from top to bottom, this feels like something I played back when I was 13 years old. And hey, there is nothing wrong with feeling a bit old. Retro games are as big now as they’ve ever been, and we’re still getting Kickstarters for “spiritual successors” to those titles we deeply adored as kids. But Balan Wonderworld doesn’t just feel old. It feels like Yuji Naka and his team at Balan Company have ignored the past 25 years of progress made in game development. Because while much of this title pulls at the parts of the brain that control nostalgia, some elements are stark reminders of just how far the medium has come.”
John Rairdin, NintendoWorldReport: “After many hours, Balan Wonderworld remains a mystery to me. It clearly has modern influences—most obviously Super Mario Odyssey in its ability swapping mechanics—and yet it either wildly misunderstands them or simply takes glee in ignoring key elements. It’s backed by the monolithic Square Enix and yet the Switch version in particular feels like a poorly funded indie title that is overstretching a lone developer. At times you’ll catch a glimpse of what seems remarkably close to a vision for the game, yet equally common is the nagging feeling you’ve fallen victim to a scam. The more I played the more I began to think the latter was the case. Balan Wonderworld will leave you with a sense of wonder. A nagging sort of wonder. The kind of wonder that makes you wonder. Wonder how a game could so masterfully miss literally every opportunity to treat its players with a modicum of respect. Wonder how a very well known publisher could stomach having it in their library. Wonder what in the world happened with the Switch version. Wonder where your $60 went.”
Mitch Vogel, Nintendo Life: “There’s nothing wrong with setting up different hurdles in levels for each suit’s abilities, but Balan Wonderworld fails to go beyond scratching the surface with the creativity of these obstacles, a creative failure that extends to the control scheme limited by one button. All the face buttons and both the triggers do the exact same thing, which for most suits is some version of a jump — in some cases, it might be a basic attack instead, but it can’t be both. The result? Wearing an attack-focused suit literally means you can’t jump anymore. There’s no reason for a limitation like this to exist and it only makes an already frustrating game that much more baffling. What were they thinking? We’re not going to mince words here, Balan Wonderworld is a waste of your time. Monotonous level design, awful performance, and shallow gameplay combine to make for an experience that is simply not fun to play. It may look pretty (when it’s framerate isn’t chugging), but there simply isn’t enough good content here to justify your time or money, and this is doubly true when you take into account that this is a full-priced retail release.”
Giovanni Colantonio, Digital Trends: “Nothing really meshes together. The levels feature deliberate visual motifs, but few stages actually take advantage of their settings or story in a meaningful way. Most are just filled with interchangeable platforming challenges that lack any real personality. Anytime the game introduces a promising mechanic, like a train riding section of a carnival level, it quickly drops the idea. It all feels like a whiteboard doodle adapted into a rough proof of concept. It’s tempting to write Balan Wonderworld‘s flaws off as part of its throwback charm, but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. Beloved 3D platformers like Sonic Adventure may have some jank to them, but they’re still fun to play. Balan Wonderworld stumbles over the basics with sluggish movement, overly simplistic controls, and a half-formed costume gimmick that creates frustrating roadblocks at every turn.”
About The Author