Welcome one and all, to the wonderfully bleak Chroma City that is found in Raydia.  Comrade Black and the INKT Corporation are here and have purged this land of all its dreadful color.  Who wants to be a vibrant Raydian, when you can be an obedient Graydian!  So ditch those revolutionists from the Color Underground and prepare yourself to live in this dreary day and age.  Not if de Blob has anything to say about it!

            Take a moment to ponder the world in nothing but black and white, everything void of color.  This is what has happened to Blob’s city and he is not going to stand by idly and let it happen.  His job is to restore the color to Chroma City and save the Raydians from their miserable Graydian lives.  With the help of a few Raydians from the Color Underground, de Blob plans to succeed.

Once a level is selected, there is another decision to make on the type of music that is listened to.  What makes this intriguing is the way the music is incorporated in the game.  There is a steady rhythm to the sounds as Blob makes his way through the streets but as he starts to paint the buildings the harmony blossoms as well, each color “paints” a different sound to the tune.  The music is a nice touch to the artistic nature of this game.  

            The way color is used in this game is also pretty interesting.  There are little spider-like robots on the ground called Leechbots and they hold the paint that Blob uses.  After smashing the Leechbot with the ball-like mass of de Blob he changes color to match the paint.  The paint color is a basic blue, red, and yellow (mix colors for green, purple, and brown).  Now to the painting, Blob uses his bulbous mass as a paintbrush and touching the sides of the buildings paints the corresponding building with the color of de Blob.  And like a paint brush Blob can go dry.

            Painting buildings sounds pretty simple and uninteresting but it is surprisingly a blast.  There is more depth to the game than just painting; there are challenges to be found in each stage (which are color coded). Four different types of challenges await and are handed out by a member of the Color Underground with the matching color: Painting (green from Arty), Landmark (brown from The Prof), Race (blue from Zip), and combat (orange from Bif who teaches you “Paint-Fu”). 

            Painting challenges are easy in the early stages but can be more difficult in later stages.  Arty is the challenge giver for all the paint tasks.  She (for lack of a better term) directs Blob to paint city blocks of the buildings a specific color, and of course there is a time limit.  When completely engulfing a city block in color the Graydians emerge from the buildings (painting the Graydians restores their color and they become Raydians once again, for saving them they give Blob extra time to complete his goals).  This is the main “meat and potatoes” portion of the game and is absolutely entertaining.  Not to disregard the other challenges because they too are very fun to complete.

            Throughout the adventure, obstacles will try and prevent Blob’s task.  Giant spouts of ink, which pours on the ground, can get stuck to Blob and the only way to get it off is with water.  Water also cleanses paint away from Blob’s body, which is not a good thing at times.  There are also hindrances such as spikes and electricity, to name a few, that tend to slow him down but that does not stop de Blob from bringing color back to his city!

            Another area that this game shines is the multiplayer with games like Paint Match, Blob Race, and my favorite Blob on the Run.  Blob Race is a race to paint buildings and is mediocre at best.  Paint Match is very enjoyable, the objective is to paint as much as possible while the other competitors do the same (painting over each others buildings as well).  Which brings me to Blob on the Run, only one person can paint and the other people try to smash the “painter” so they would become the artist.  There is a set time limit and the object is to try and paint the most buildings but with other people stealing the “paint” it gets crazy, I was only able to play with one other person and had a great time.  I can only imagine the types of games to be had if there were four Blobs in a match.

            This charismatic game is an excellent reason to dust off the Wii.  Whether you rent the game or buy it, there is fun to be had.  If the controls had a button press to jump, instead of shaking the controller, I could have rated this game even higher.  This is still a good game and I really suggest playing it. 

8 out of 10