I was surprised when I first started playing De Blob 2 on the Nintendo DS. I think I was expecting a simple, watered-down version of the game that has come to consoles, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this wasn't the case. While the console versions of the game play out like some sort of platformer-adventure game hybrid, De Blob 2 on the DS offers more of a straightforward platformer game, with few frills but a good grasp on what it's trying to do and how it wants to deliver that.

The story is simple and very unnecessary: Blob falls into a science base, unleashes an INKT monster by accident, chases it down. What follows is about two dozen levels of gameplay after this. The gameplay itself is, in a way, nothing special. Blob rolls around through sidescrolling levels, bopping enemies and coloring the world around him. You can find color bots (which you can attack to change color) and sprays that will change your color – and therefore what colors you paint the world – and enemies to pounce on and smash.

Much of De Blob's gameplay comes from this element of color. Some enemies require you to be a certain color to defeat them, some switches require a certain color to...switch, and oftentimes you'll be required to color a number of areas a certain color before you can proceed. Much of the game is based around you figuring how to become red so that you can mix with a blue paintbot and become purple, or how you can retain a particular color as you navigate obstacles towards a color switch. It mixes things up a bit, not a lot, but enough. Because of this game's genre as a 2D platformer, it's more of a secondary element than the other games on other consoles, but it does bring some fun to the table and it makes the game a more vibrant experience, visually speaking. Also, the sound effect when things get colored changes depending on what color you are, and I found that a nice little touch.

The game does a decent job of keeping things fresh as you play, adding in new ways to get around the levels, such as slingshotting yourself using poles, wall jumping, or jump pads in the background that you can use to keep yourself off the ground.

For replayability, the game is a little less forthcoming, but there are a few collectibles that you can grab from each of the levels. You can rescue graydians (captured citizens of the world) and large notes, three per level. In each world are five levels, but the fifth is only unlocked by completing enough of these bonus objectives, offering you a new level that doesn't really do anything story-wise, but is generally a little bit more of a challenge and a good incentive to get those collectible objects. Unfortunately, even after doing all the collectible objectives, you're still looking at – maybe – an 8-hour game.

So like I said, De Blob 2 for the Nintendo DS doesn't really do anything new. It's got some simple combat, decent platforming, good music and sharp visuals, but it's not going to break any records. But when you want a good, solid platforming experience that runs heavy on the casual side of things, then De Blob 2 isn't a bad choice.

For the context of this review, the platform primarily tested was the Nintendo DS release of the game.

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