Did Blinx The Time Sweeper deserve to be Forgotten?
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- Опубліковано 1 лип 2024
- I love cats, and I also love Blinx... to a degree. Microsoft's try at making their own cute Jump N' Run mascot to rival Sonic or even Mario! Is it actually a diamond in the rough or a total failure, through and through? That's what I wanted to find out about and here's my observation...
#gaming #blinx #retrogaming #xbox - Ігри
I loved Blinx as a kid 🎉
Being in my 30s, this game was a big part of my childhood. I collected everything there was to collect in the game, and the fabulous soundtrack still gives me nostalgic vibes. The moment when Blinx finally saved the princess is a memory that will forever stand out in my gaming life.
i used to play blinx as a kid but man i dont remember anything past that lol
Hey! This video taunted me for so long, because I was on vacation and I couldn't really watch it till... well, now.
Month ago I've FINALLY bought the original X-box (and I love it, it's perhaps my favorite console of that generation, even when I've been PlayStation kid my whole life), mainly to finally play Blinx - the game that taunted me since its release in 2002 (and to play Crimson Skies - fantastic game, it's hard to believe that it was a launch title). Even though I read about it a lot (I mean... a 2-page review in a magazine made me want it really bad) and I've watched some videos about it, I too was quite unprepared for what it really was.
The game... is a mess and nearly everything you've said is certainly true. It feels more like a proof of concept with its mechanics (and some of them are actually improved in the sequel... but it isn't too great either) and the game is really clunky. I remember reading about time mechanics (and how the game was marketed as "the first 4D game", which... isn't true at all, obviously. From the top of my head there's game made in NetYarozee - Time Slip that did the whole "record and playback" thing MUCH better) and how my tiny brain couldn't comprehend how they would do it... and I suppose it was just that: a gimmick to be sold. I mean, it's still kinda cool and makes the game memorable... but it is so underused and underdeveloped that it also misses its point. Then again, if you stripped the game of it... it would be just a really generic platformer. The art style is really cool, though! And yeah, I agree - levels and enemies just... don't fit and it makes the game much more otherworldly than it really is - which is the part of its charm I guess.
It gets so hard later that I actually laguhed. It is beatable though. Am I proud that I've done it? Nah, not really, but I like the feeling of "closure", I guess.
Overall... the game is a mess. The review I've talked about before gave it 7/10. If I had to rate it using numeral scale I would give it 5 or 6, but with a recommendation to check it out. It's still really interesting and I'm glad that I've bought a console just to play it like I was in 2000s again (well, not only for Blinx but... mostly for it, haha). it's more of a interesting gaming history piece than a fun game... but hey, it's something. X-box sadly didn't have too many games like this, so I can see why it was so revered. By the way, X-box games are really finicky when it comes to the emulation, so I highly encourage trying to play them on the original hardware! They really look better that way.
I could see myself enjoying it years ago, but then again, I still did to some degree.
Also... 1:28 - we're in Europe! There's no "Tomba", he's called "Tombi" here, you coward (let's ignore the Japanese name)!
I have to call it Tomba to cater to my American audience because it's like 80% of it, I'm sorry to my European friends for not calling it Tombi... (Which I have tried once upon a time but didn't quite get the whole 2.5D thing and bounced off of it really quickly so I have to give those two games another chance one day, maybe if the remasters are good).
Just like how Blinx would have maybe deserved another chance, if they could have ironed out some of its problems, which they probably didn't with the second game since it also didn't got the best reviews. But maybe a third game would have done it, since third time is the charm, or however people say that! Still a fairly charming game at least and was worth checking out, even if it frustrated me to no end at times...
And yeah, most of the exclusive original Xbox games I always wanted to play and that I have on my list to check out don't quite run well enough for me to be able to make a video about it because it wouldn't be fair to them, luckily Blinx worked well enough after fixing the FPS drops. Xbox games still have relatively low prices for the most part, with some exceptions like the Otogi games so maybe I should get to it before they explode eventually... Why can't money just grow on trees?