OK, imagine this scenario. You are out to make your first game. You've got no original IP, no real street cred, but lots of talent, spunk and know-how. What do you do?
Why, you buy a cheap, ancient, and terrible license, and build an excellent game around it.
I was of the generation that Madballs hit hard. I had a few. Maybe one. Slobulus, I think. Whichever one it was, don't remember having a fondness for them beyond the joy of throwing them into my Nerf basketball hoop. They weren't exactly posable, and mostly, they played trap-componant, or quick bad guy for the Transformers and G.I. Joe's I used to play with.
Fast forward to adulthood, and here I am, staring at the name of this game: Madballs in Babo: Invasion. It wasn't exactly a property I was expecting to see pop up in Steam. Xbox Live, I can understand, though: there's a lot of games built on existing licenses there.
But Play Brains actually does a good job with the IP.
This is a freewheeling shooter that actually makes Madballs interesting to me. Mainly because each ball has his own attributes and skills. Oculus Orbus, the only ball I even remember wanting (but never having) as a child, is your first ball. He's got no weaknesses or strengths, unlike his compatriots. But there are other, original balls in here, too, and the mixed bag of bouncing protagonists yields a standard spread of skills: the heavy ball is slow, but can take a beating, while the support ball is strong against fire and weak against ice.
The single player game is pretty engaging, and because the balls use guns and grenades, they're enjoyable to control. The story is certainly fleshed out, and reads like a grittier take on the Madballs cartoon universe. They're all commandos now, you see. The levels are proper examples of game design done well, with good pacing throughout.
Madballs in Babo: Invasion is essentially a top-down Quake, so multiplayer is a frenetic blast. The unlocking system makes things a bit lopsided against newbs, however. It's not an impossible to overcome, however, as the balls are relatively balanced.
I can't offer an actual score or thumb rating on this one, though, as I was unable to complete the single player campaign. I played a good deal, but found the balancing acts required at points to be tiresome. Jumping puzzles without jumping puzzles are here, so be forewarned.
Another gripe is that the game is not super popular online, so you're likely to find only one or two games going on at any given time. I did not play the Xbox version.
So, I leave you with two videos.
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