Welcome to our review of Bouncy Bob, a couch co-op game with a dark side.
Bouncy Bob sets itself apart by being a simplistic game with a very interesting approach to gaming. It is basically a game where you can’t move in the most basic meaning of the word. All you can do, jump and flap your tiny wings/hands whatever you want to call them.
I played the single player for this review as my wife did not enjoy the co-op very much, she said the controls were hard and not easy to master. A sentiment I share, the controls sure take a long time to get used to. Once you press the jump button, Bob doesn’t just jump up and out of harm’s way, no sir, he does not.
Once you press the button, you get to see to which direction and how high/far he can jump. Upon landing, a quick button press does make you jump again. A more energetic jump even. The jump is your main weapon to beat your enemies, in true Super Mario Bros. Style, you need to jump on top of your enemies to defeat them.
It sounds fun, but Bouncy Bob is a more challenging game, though I must say, I am not sure if the challenge is the game itself or the controls. I think if the tutorial was a little more elaborate, that this game would start off a little easier. You are basically just tasked to defeat one enemy that packs no punch at all. He doesn’t even try to be a challenge and the contrast compared to even the easiest of settings, it is quite noticeable…
Once you get to the actual single-player mode, the enemies are a lot harder and it becomes clear that the game proves to be more challenging than you’d expect from the more funny graphics.
Despite everything, it did grow on me. Once I got a better control, which was kinda hard, it did get a little more comfortable to play. Admitting that I failed horribly on the hardest level, but that is just because I did not manage to really control the bouncy movements.
In conclusion, Bouncy Bob is hard to master and I think if given a chance, it might grow on you. For me, I think the variety of enemies and just 15 arenas might be enough to keep you going for a while.
My rating is 60%
