Balan Wonderworld Impressions
First off; I managed to remember the game is called ‘Wonderworld’ and not ‘Wonderland.’ I keep making that mistake for some reason.
Secondly, I tried out the demo of Balan Wonderworld on my Xbox Series X and figured I’d share my thoughts on it. I felt in particular it was worth sharing because if differs from most people I’ve seen; I liked it! It’s a tad on the easy side (though that makes it well suited to kids) but it’s a game with a good overall feel and plenty of charm.
It’s nice to play a platformer where I have a proper sense of my jump and can judge the distances properly with no fear of being stuck on minor features of the location (looking at you, Crash 4). The simplicity is quite pleasant with a design philosophy that reminds me of some Wii games. Aiding it’s okay but comfortable gameplay is a treasure-trove of charming graphics and sound. You have cute little bird creatures (Tims I believe) following you about the level and random dance sequences after a boss battle. It’s such a... relaxing game... and I rarely feel relaxed.
There are minor nitpicks such as annoying backtracking to restore costumes and some costumes removing your jumping ability, but overall I liked it. I’m surprised to see such harsh negativity thrown at it by many other places but I personally look forward to picking up a physical copy on my Nintendo Switch in future.