Balan Wonderworld
A very late winner of platformer of the year, 2004
After our last preview, your impressions of the demo, and pretty much the entire internet being united in hate for Balan Wonderworld, you’re probably wondering why this review has an 7 on it. Well, it’s simple: the PS5 version with the Day 1 patch installed is a solid, family-friendly platformer with great production values, exemplary level design, and accessible controls. Yes, really.
Just like the hero of Naka and Ohshima’s 1996 classic Nights Into Dreams, the eponymous showmaster Balan visits two children to help them confront their fears and insecurities. This time they do so by helping a cast of 12 other characters overcome their own demons, each with their own fantastical, themed world. These worlds are a little chunky and formulaic, and level geometry is relatively simple, but exploring the environments as you seek gold statues to progress to new worlds is consistently rewarding. Gold keys unlock costumes which you don, each giving you a special ability. You can carry up to three costumes at a time, using the abilities they impart to find the solution to every puzzle. And with 300 statues to find, that’s a heck of a lot of well-designed platform-puzzler to enjoy.
The game runs perfectly on PS5, with rock-solid 4K/60fps visuals, so it feels fantastic. There are moments of supreme spectacle, such as a reflective corridor full of lasers, surreal chequerboard staircases, and high vantage points with beautiful views. Even so, Balan Wonderworld is less glitzy than the Spyro and Crash remasters, less wildly imaginative than LittleBigPlanet and nowhere near as modern as Astro’s Playroom. Character movement has been improved since the dodgy demo, leaving it assured, if still a little slow-paced.
DREAM DELIGHT
Naoto Ohshima’s character designs are predictably beautiful throughout. There are 80 costumes to discover, and the costume switching element works well. Unconventionally, this 3D platformer adopts a single action button control scheme (just like the original Sonic and Nights), which flies in the face of modernity because it means, sometimes, that your character can’t even jump. Combat is therefore rather simple, and so underplayed. But Balan Wonderworld doesn’t feel like a one-button game; instead it’s simply accessible. Children who played it with me (eight and 11 years old) enjoyed the adventure and treasure hunting, while experienced gamers should relish the more complex later levels and statue-collecting endgame when playing alone. And playing in co-op is perfect for including a younger gamer.
The levels exhibit classic metroidvania design: you revisit areas with costumes gained in later levels to reach things you
A solid, family-friendly platformer with exemplary level design and accessible controls.
couldn’t get to previously, and the game becomes more interesting as you progress. Indeed, after a slow start, Balan Wonderworld becomes increasingly rewarding, peaking as you approach the last boss and then providing advanced problem solving for at least as long again.
ENCORE UNE FOIS
While it’s never what you might call thrilling, it’s constantly engrossing, and it’s amazing how well it holds together and maintains design quality across such a large area of play. Only the Balan Bout QTE sections start to grate, as they lack variety and interaction. But with 50 distinct and large regular play areas, it’s a much bigger game than it first appears.
The strangest of those areas is a twee hub world that evolves as you play. Here you play with the game’s A-life system, feeding gems to furballs called Tims and unlocking apparatus for them to play on, including a sort of marble run. The Tims glitch a little while using it, but you will always want to see what the next bit is, just to see if any one piece makes it all make sense.
Many have tried to capture the magic of 1990s and early 2000s platform games, but
Balan Wonderworld achieves it without parody or selfawareness. It’s so authentically old-school, it should almost run at 320×224. While not the classic it should have been given the talent behind it, it’s nonetheless heartfelt, well designed, and absorbing to play. So play it.
While not reaching its full potential, Balan Wonderworld is a grand and well designed adventure, which runs superbly on PS5. It’s perfect for family co-op play. Justin Towell