Bubbles is a particularly organic puzzler, not operating on any confining grid or bound by a strict rule set, allowing your bubble to gracefully dance through the environment, tenuously squeezing against mushroomoid buttons and catching on nuisance vines as it grudgingly tugs in futility.
The game holds obvious comparisons to WiiWare’s debut hit, LostWinds. Watercolour backdrops set to a minimalistic, ethereal score; nudging puffs and gracious sweeps from the consoles’ respective inputs; and a symbiotic relationship between protagonists.
While LostWinds asked players to schizophrenically control both Toku’s direct movements and the wind’s path, Soul Bubbles’ spirits ride silently in their protective shell, only pulsating with energy to alert nearby collectables or threats.
The apprentice, on the other hand, tirelessly pushes and directs the bubble with oversized blows to the point of exhaustion, donning masks to cut and deflate the bulbous carriers and penning new spheres when needed.
Yet, despite his extensive repertoire of moves and techniques, rapid utilisation or complete mastery is rarely needed. Enemies are few and far between, traps bare little challenge and there a no time limit breathing down your neck. Soul Bubbles is refreshingly relaxing, but a lack of challenge habitually breeds apathy.
Where Soul Bubbles shines brightest though, is its excellent puzzle design. Your tools won’t exclusively affect your bubble (allowing you to cut bothersome plants or deflate puffer fish) and your fresh globules can encase more than just spirits (catching water or unstable gasses in animation). Bubbles is a relaxation for your fingers, but a cognitive pressure on your brain.
Alongside LostWinds, Bubbles has strong similarities to LocoRoco (with its gelatinous substances, multicellular in structure), Yoshi’s Island (where your direct control is an auxiliary buffer to the cargo) and World of Goo (another organic puzzler without grids and firm rules).
Despite the game’s quality, critical acclaim and heritage (especially with consultation from Alone in the Dark and Little Big Adventure creator, Frédérick Raynal), the game has made a tiny dent on 2008 with few hardcore DS players taking notice and few sales (the game didn’t hit charts in the UK).
Soul Bubbles is a beautifully constructed game, artfully devious in its puzzles yet relatively tranquil in its challenge. An astounding attention to detail is paid in its serene graphics (complete with falling autumn leaves and tiny flowers, petals shedding with each vagrant puff) and unassuming score, yet the opulent backdrops never interfere with gameplay.
Mekensleep’s delightful platformer regretfully failed to earn the recognition it deserved this year. Don’t leave 2008 without trying it, the game can be yours for a miniscule £7.94 at Amazon.
TRAILER
If you are European you can download the demo of this game on the Nintendo Channel. I did and it made me instantly order it. Firstly know that it released in June this year and received its fair share of rave reviews, AAA scores from many UK mags and sites. In the U.S it is a Toys R Us exclusive. The good thing is that you can get it really cheaply online and it is an absolute steal.
Firstly, it has the worst name and boxart I have ever seen, I assumed it was some puzzle game with Tetris like presentation and the title suggests it is some weird game with bright coloured bubbles that you pop with the touchscreen or something. The boxart makes it blend in with all the other crappy junk on the DS shop shelves. Do not be fooled by packaging this game is excellent.
You should have really watched the trailer by now. It's brilliantly simple to control and yet you need deft skill to make it through the levels. It has superb presentation that is really reminiscent of the WiiWare title, Lost Winds, from the softly lit forests to the mellow pipe music and underplayed effects. You play a Spirit herder, and the spirits are fragile and need to be transported inside a bubble. As a spirit herder you can blow the bubbles about the level with the touch screen and avoid various hazards. It has superlative controls, you use just the touch screen and D-pad. You can slash your bubbles to get them through small spots, rejoin the bubbles, create bubbles and deflate them or pop them.
There are tons of levels and clever design of the hazards. Each level has 3 mario 64 style star type objects to obtain, plus you are timed and rated on each level. So while there is no ticking timer, you will want to replay the levels to acheive higher rankings, from S-rank downwards.
Just when you think the game might be a one trick pony things notable step up in later levels, there is some really clever stuff, from bubbles filled with different heavy or light gases, berries that bounce off walls, to snow levels which turn your bubble into a boulder which you bound about the levels. I can't emphasis what a neat little title this is and it's defintely something you need to pick up given the price you can get it for. It's the kind of thing the DS was designed for.