Want to spend an hour or so wandering colorful cartoon dream landscapes created by the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog? Do you like the feeling of being pleasantly surprised? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will want to play the demo Balance Wonderworld. It’s something else.
Something else is a dream platformer in which a pair of heroes, Leo Craig and Emma Cole, are sent by the mysterious master Balan on a journey through imaginary worlds created from other people’s dreams. In the demonstration, launching tomorrow for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and Steam, we explore the dreams of a farmer who had problems with the harvest, a boy who dreams of flying and a girl who met a kitten.
The demo opens with the protagonist chosen in a place called Isle of Tims, a green field with portals at the available levels. Here we interact with Tims, fluffy little creatures who follow Leo and Emma in their adventures. By feeding these creatures crystal drops collected in the different stages of the game, we can change their colors, which affects how useful Tims are during exploration. Red Tims attack. Pink Tims will hunt hidden objects. I’m definitely not Chao from Sonic the Hedgehog, but I’m the sort.
Sonic similarities make perfect sense, given Balance Wonderworldis genealogy. The new game is directed by Yuji Naka, the director of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, directed by Naoto Ohshima, Sonic designer and director of timeless classics Nights in dreams and Blinx: The Sweeper. Echoes of each of these games can be found in Balance Wonderworld.
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The game stages of the demonstration are vast wonderful, twisted lands, full of dancing creatures in fancy costumes, golden statues to collect, challenges to overcome and puzzles to solve. Colorful landscapes are landmarked by dreamers who dream them. Farmer levels, for example, are sprinkled with huge vegetables and hay. The level “The boy who would be one with the wind” in the demonstration presents the real boy, of huge dimensions, sitting in the air, dreaming of flying. The designs are crazy and imaginative, as we would expect from art director Naoto Ohshima of Sonic and Nights in dreams Fame.
The basic mechanic of Balance Wonderworld the suit changes. Leo and Emma unlock costumes as they venture out. Each has a unique ability. The Soaring Sheep suit allows the heroes to turn into fluff, which can ride the wind created by the rotating fans. The Elastiplant suit allows the pair to extend their upper body to access crystals and switches placed slightly higher than other crystals or switches.
Other costumes mimic the moves you might find in a Mario or Sonic game. Aero Acrobat clothing gives Leo and Emma the ability to block with enemies and objects in the air, throwing themselves at them to carry out an attack. This is Sonic’s attack. The Pounding Pig costume is Mario’s adorable pig-shaped pound.
Instead of giving the characters all these skills and letting them go to the city on some dreamy landscapes, Balance Wonderworld makes them juggle up to three costumes at a time. This gives the player something to think about as they go through the levels for Crystal Drops and hidden secrets. Level checkpoints can be used to change the range of players’ costumes, so don’t worry if you encounter a path inaccessible to your current wardrobe.
I can’t honestly say that I have a firm understanding of what exactly is going on Balan’s Wonderland since playing the demo. Much of my play time was spent pointing to the screen and asking my husband what the hell was going on. Why is she dancing? Why is this fan here? Why is that giant boy floating there? Our characters seem to be a couple of well-meaning children who get lost in solving people’s problems, which is good. We may be hallucinating, which can be fun. I look forward to getting to the bottom of this trippy mystery when the full game comes out on March 26th.