De Blob 3

de Blob 3 (Known as de Blob: Colour Worlds in PAL Regions) is a 2023 Puzzle Platformer developed by Purple Lamp Studios & the newly acquired Ronimo Games for the consoles versions while the Mobile version is developed by Halfbrick Studios which is published by THQNordic. de Blob 3 acts as a sequel to de Blob 2 retaining elements from the first 2 games while adding and refining the formula such as having English Voice Acting, Allowing Players to save after each mission, Mega Blob Powers and the addition of multiple playable characters. De Blob 3 was a timed exclusive for the Nintendo Switch & PC, Via Steam & later the Epic Games Store, until February 2024 where it was ported to Playstaion 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One and the Xbox Series X & S. The Game follows Blob & the Color Underground going on a Global quest, to stop the returning Comrade Black and new Villain, General White to decolour the entirety of Raydia from Colour.

The Console Versions received critical acclaim for it’s level design, graphics, music, gameplay and story though received criticism for some of the alternative gameplay styles used in the game and frame drops in the Switch Version, The Mobile version also received positive reviews though was criticized for its microtransactions and other gameplay styles. The Game also exceeded sales expectations set by THQNodric, selling over 2.5 Million Copies on all consoles however a majority of those sales came from the Switch and PC.

Plot
Taking place a decade after de Blob 2, Blob, Pinky and the entire Colour Underground have retried shortly after the events of the sequel. Blob & Pinky have retried to Paradise Island, The Professor is creating inventions that the entire world can use, Arty has gotten a Pet Dog named Spot and is an Art Teacher in Chroma Collage, Bif is a fitness trainer in the military and Zip is a World Renewed Sports Athlete.

Blob & Pinky are interviewed by the Chroma City news, explaining what they’ve been doing after destroying INKT, the news segment acts as a recap of all 3 Games, showing us how Blob saved the City & even the world countless times. The news reporter asks what both of them are doing now, Pinky answering that both have been keeping in shape while relaxing on the Island. The news reporter then announces that they are having a festival for Blob due to him saving the world countless times later in the week.

It’s revealed that the villains from the previous games, Comrade Black and De Blot (who managed to survive his fate from the DS Game) are watching this from a Black & White TV from an Asteroid from Space. Comrade Black gets angry at the fact of being stuck there in space for 10 Years all alone with a blubbering idiot, when suddenly a portal opens and the mysterious greets himself as Black’s brother. It’s revealed that a group of rouge Inkies run by the Inky Marshalls and Comrade Black)s Brother, General White have created a Propaganda Group called the “Stygian Underground” and have tracked down the 2 on this asteroid, their plan is too take over Chroma City an to have vengeance to the Colour underground for “killing” Comrade Black,

Blob & Pinky go to the festival and perform a few challenges from each of the members of the Colour Underground, after that Blob & Pinky get rewarded a medal before the Returning Comrade Black & Inkies attack the city once again. After a high Octane Action sequence, Blob & Pinky fall below the City and are saved by a giant Warphole crated by Pinky and end up in a remote beach. Blob & Pinky are quickly thrust into a new Adventure where they must save the world, and their friends from the Stygian Underground.

Blob and Pinky learn about the Stygian Underground plan to takeover the entire world now, the 2 free their friends and go to all 7 Continents of Raydia, while defeating all 7 of the Inky Marshalls and bringing the Colour of the world back. Eventually when the world of Raydia is saved the colour decide to go to the Inky Continent to stop the 2 Brothers once and for all. They make their way through the base and see that General White & Comrade Black have escaped and has left De Blot to deal with them. After the Boss they find General White and Comrade Black is on the moon, leading to the Colour Underground to travel to the Moon to stop the Brothers for good. Blob manages to win and sends General White and Comrade Black into a colourful void where they can never return, ending de Blob 3.

If the player achieves 100%, an extra cutscene plays showing us that the Professor is creating a new invention to travel to different dimensions after basing it on the Inky Marshall invention that they developed.

Gameplay
de Blob 3’s Gameplay is similar to the first 2 games. The Player Control Blob who use a wide array of Colours which are kept in Paint Bots, in order to paint objects around him which in turn opens up previously locked areas and allows Blob to advance the stage. Blob is given missions by his friends in the Colour Underground, such as completing timed races, defeating enemies, liberating captured Graydians and seizing important landmarks.These landmarks must use a certain amount of paint points to enter the building, once inside he must then traverse through either a 2D section like de Blob 2 or a shorter 3D linear obstacle course/puzzle section and then launch a Transformation Engine in the center of the building to take it back.

There also are various hazards to avoid, however. Pools of ink turn de Blob black and cause him to lose paint points constantly; when he loses all of his paint points, he loses a life. Ink must be washed out with water. The INKT forces, Inkies, will send out foot soldiers to stop Blob, as well as other forces—handheld ink guns, turrets, tanks, jetbikes and even Inkies that are immune to all but a specific color. There are also other hazards, such as hotplates, electric plates and spikes.

The time limit on a level does return but once the player has finished the level's main objective, the time limit is abolished and the player is then free to take their time to fully explore all of the level and complete any side objectives. These include:


 * Clean-up Award – Earned by smashing up all of the INKT objects in a level e.g. crates, barrels, tanks etc.
 * Environment Award – Earned by painting all of the Trees
 * Liberation Award – Earned by freeing Raydians/Chromadians trapped buildings and rescuing those turned into Graydians.

A lot of gameplay additions from the 2nd Game return such as the Dash Attack (Now can be used in the air and without using Paint Points but has a cool-down), Inspiration Points that can be used to decrease Dash cooldown, Increase Paint Point absorption, Stomp Power, How much Black Paint will take his Paint Points, Defence shield and life amounts and how long you can stick to a wall.

Power-ups which have now been dubbed Mega Blob-Powers which have all of the Powers return from 2 and some new additions, the Paint Ball (replacing the magnetic Wrecking Ball) allows Blob to roll around in a giant Ball to paint areas of land along with absorbing with Inkies, The Magnetic Ball allows Blob to roll up metal surfaces, sink underwater, and destroy any enemy easily; the Hazmat Suit protects Blob from any passive hazards such an ink and hotplates; the Graviton Bomb temporarily transforms Blob into a devastating black hole; the Re-Gen constantly replenishes Blob's paint points; and the Rainbow gives Blob infinite paint points and gives him the use of all seven colours at once, Blob can also harness elemental colours, Lava, which leads a trail of fire behind him whenever he moves, is immune to fire hazards and can dash into a giant Magna Ball similar to the burning ability in Kirby, Frost can freeze water, can dash into a Giant Ice Ball that can freeze enemies, and is immune to any ice hazards and finally Electricity allows Blob to avoid electrical hazards, can power up different parts of the environment, grapple onto certainly electrical lines and can stun enemies.

One of the new major additions to the game is multiple playable characters, in certain sections players can play with one of these playable characters or have them as a switchable AI along with Blob.


 * Arty revolves around painting artwork on a wall or going inside a 2.5D Landmark section, she can use her Paint Brush (which uses a certain amount of of Paint Points) that can be used as a Weapon that is either short-range with a 3 combo attack or long-range with her able to shoot paint balls or beams.


 * Zip revolves around racing against the clock in a short linear section while painting the environment as you go along, Zip can also boost with his boots for a limited time that will paint the environment with colour, drift, attack Inkies with a Homing Attack and quick step similar to Sonic in Sonic Unleashed/Generations


 * Bif revolves around fighting a certain amount of enemies before he can pass to the next mission, he has a Light attack and Heavy attack that can combined to perform different combos


 * Prof revolves around using different gadgets and bombs to either kill enemies or colour the environment while using multiple contraption either to float around or turn into a tank.