Blob Dash Review

Blob Dash is a little puzzling gem for the iPhone that reminds me of something, but I can't quite put my finger on what. It's a little bit Lemmings, a little bit Bomberman, and a little bit Chu Chu Rocket — but in no way is Blob Dash just another carbon copy of these winning formulas. Blobk is a fresh and fun experience that's totally unique to the iPhone.

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Blob Dash is a little puzzling gem for the iPhone that reminds me of something, but I can't quite put my finger on what. It's a little bit Lemmings, a little bit Bomberman, and a little bit Chu Chu Rocket — but in no way is Blob Dash just another carbon copy of these winning formulas. Blobk is a fresh and fun experience that's totally unique to the iPhone.

In each of the game's 24 levels, you'll need to guide a pre-determined number of blobs from their spawning point to a crystal. The blobs will always attempt to take the path of least resistance, but they're not smart enough to account for traps and hazards on their own.

That's where you come in. Using a small selection of tools, you'll place different objects around the map in an effort to steer the blobs to the crystal safely. Get enough blobs to their destination and you're home free.

The pitfalls and potential problems that the blobs will run into are somewhat varied, but are few enough in number that you'll learn the best way to deal with each of them rather quickly. The majority of the time, a simple box will suffice. Boxes are how you'll create new obstacles for the blobs to navigate around. Placing a box in front of a trap, for example, will mean that the blobs will change their route to avoid the trap. It's a simple game mechanic, but it works well in this friendly little puzzler.

You'll also face evil blobs who are looking to merge with your team and turn them into stone. Lucky for you, these blobs are just as dopey as the one's you manage. You can set traps for them, maneuver their path with boxes, or even lead them straight into an exploding bomb.

With the exception of the last few stages, the puzzling in Blob Dash is never really all that hard. Despite being on the simple side though, we found it to be a fun and rewarding experience. Nothing was ever simple enough to be figured out at a glance. Every stage required a certain amount of thought, regardless of how little. It's this sort of puzzling that manages to keep us excited in the genre.

Just as we were really getting into the game, Blob Dash quickly came to a close. If this game had one glaring weakness, it's in how short the offering is. Nearly every level can be completed in under two minutes, meaning the 24 levels offered here can easily be conquered within an hour. With little to no replay value, that means $2.99 is asking a lot. And it's not like Blob Dash was completely free from other problems either.

Placing items on the game map wasn't nearly as intuitive as it could have been. Often your initial placement would be a square or so off , and by the time you've corrected it and placed your item you may very well have just squished the blob you were looking to protect. The speed of each level could have also used a good deal of tweaking. A fast forward button existed, but when we used it we could hardly notice a difference. Once we had everything in position exactly where it needed to be, we would have killed for a proper fast motion option. Instead we would sit there for upwards of 30 seconds waiting as all the blobs made their way to the crystal.

Minor frustrations aside, we had a good time with Blob Dash. It was far too short and a little on the easy side, but it also reminded us of how much fun a good puzzle game can be. $2.99 is a little steep for what's offered, but if you don't mind spending the cash you'll find that your time with Blob Dash is an hour well spent.

The good

    The bad

      60 out of 100
      Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.