Blow & Fly [Xbox]
A cute and quirky puzzle game developed by Khud0 and EastAsiaSoft, Blow & Fly has you take on the role of a blowfish (and other creatures/objects) as you try to launch yourself into the toilet at the end of each level, after your owner’s son destroyed your aquarium. There’s no real story to the game aside from the information divulged in the game description, so we’ll just dive right in and see if this one stinks or swims.
Levels are well varied, with the difficulty steadily increasing across each area’s twelve levels if trying to keep under par - thankfully the levels can still be completed if over par, if you want to take things a little easier. Some of the levels do prove to be quite a significant challenge to do within par, with multiple paths available - and the solution often being simpler than it would first appear. You can preview shots, in order to get an idea of your chances of success before you take the risk - and you can reset quickly with Y, instead of having to pause back out to the main menu and returning. It’s one of those games that will have you repeatedly resetting, as you try to get the perfect angle - but that allows for the frustration to set in quite quickly as you inevitably auto-reset without thinking when you would’ve otherwise succeeded with a jump (I’m not bitter…).
The art style is very bright and colourful, with interesting yet simply designed level layouts that have pits to fall down and spikes to be impaled upon, as well as jump-pads, keys to unlock sections and gravity switches that all add to the complexity. The bold outlines and faded backgrounds add a layer of depth to each scene, and the colour palette shifts across each of the areas. It’s a simple yet effective look that works well, and the colour switch when you’re blowing yourself through the air, allowing you to easily recognise when you can blast off again (though some of the unlockable ‘fish’ have colours that are a little bit too similar, or designs that make the angle quite difficult to distinguish). The soundtrack is catchy, though it does begin to feel quite repetitive after a while - even with the slight changes across the areas.
The mechanics get more complicated as you go on, which helps to keep things interesting. Once you get the hang of one thing, something else gets introduced, and you’ll eventually be able to re-fill your water during flight for an added boost when passing through water panels. Some levels end up feeling damn near impossible, especially within the Hell and Hell II levels, making it feel like an odd mix of satisfaction and relief when you finally succeed.
There are a few Secrets hidden within the levels for you to find, offering different gameplay situations such as a basketball-styled level and battling against slippery ice to reach the top. These might be found by falling through certain parts of the map, or shooting yourself through sections of wall - and you can hear a slight twinkling whenever one of these is nearby. Achievements are all tied to level completion across the first two stages, nothing further for getting as far as Hell, nor finding the secrets, meaning they can all be nabbed within around an hour or so - providing you can get into the swing of things.
Overall, we had a decent time with Blow & Fly, with it offering a good level of challenge and an entertaining premise - though we do wish it had a little bit of story, a multiplayer versus mode, or more variety as well as something more to encourage you to keep playing, even if that meant spreading the achievements out throughout the levels. If you like the sound of this, then you can pick it up for £4.19 on the Xbox Store.
In the end, we decided to give Blow & Fly the Collecting Asylum rating of 6.5/10.
Are you interested in Blow & Fly? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to EastAsiaSoft for the Blow & Fly Xbox review code!
