Game Review - B.O.B. (SNES)

B.O.B. is a Super Nintendo game released in North America by Electronic Arts in 1993. B.O.B. is a side-scrolling platformer that combines elements of a puzzle game with elements of a game similar to Super Mario.

The underlying plot in B.O.B. involves you, the alien known as B.O.B., running out of gas in your intergalactic space-car after having taken it from your insect-like alien family. Since it is the family car, you are now involved with a fiasco that you must fix before your alien father punishes you for your misdeeds.

The graphics in B.O.B. are pretty good; they fit the scenario pretty well. Since the game has a comedic nature (you're a teen-aged alien, for goodness sake) the graphics tend to be represented in a cartoonish manner. Backdrops are set in space-settings, with things like Mars being a similar theme. Character sprites are pretty fluid, and all-around the graphics are decent.

The audio in B.O.B. involves a lot of techno and trance music, which fits the genre and theme of the game perfectly. Despite lacking a lot of good sound effects, the platformer features great audio tracks. All-in-all, though, techno gets repetitive to me, so your mileage may vary, too. For everything exccept the boss battles, which are more metal than techno, the music is extremely repetitive.

The learning curve and difficulty in B.O.B. is a tad ridiculous. I found that the first two levels were indeed amazingly fun, but after that the difficulty increased exponentially due to an unexpected increase in the difficulty and complexity of the obstacles introduced. I found this to be a ridiculous function that had no bearing in a properly balanced game, but to each his own. Overall, the gameplay in B.O.B. is rather good.

In closing, B.O.B. is a good game. Despite the magnificent difficulty later on in the game, it still plays well and tells its story aptly. I like that B.O.B. is set in a proper theme and maintains its comedic undertones throughout the entire game. Despite its misgivings, B.O.B. earns a solid 7 cosmic stars out of 10.