Tales From Space Shines on Vita

Quick Note: This game is exactly what the Vita needs. It's got solid game play, great amount of content and is only $8. Every Vita owner needs to play this and every Vita developer needs to take notice of the fun to play cheap game.

With the release onto PSN at launch time, I expected to pass this title up for some other, blockbuster level titles. Fortunately, Drink Box Studios put much love into this little title; enough for it to shine amongst, and even above, the large triple A titles to become one of the top titles at Vita's launch.



 Tales From Space: Mutant Blob Attacks is a 2D platformer at heart. The player controls the blob as it escapes from the little college science lab and makes it's way to space. Each level is broken up by barriers that can only be absorbed if the blob has eaten enough items in the environments. These often relate to simple puzzle solving to unlock more objects to eat and to grow. The more you eat, the higher the end score for the level will be. Thanks to clever and well paced level design, each level has enough life to enjoy. Also, with two mini blobs in each level to find and bronze, silver and gold trophy rating system, there is plenty of re-playability per level.  

Alongside the standard platforming levels, the team has added some tilt controlled levels. These are similar to the classic marble maze games, in which the player rolls the blob around a level, avoiding obstacles as he/she finds more mini blobs and absorbs objects.

The game is completely created in hand drawn graphic style that oozes with style. Each segment includes 4 or 5 levels of the same style which add small layers to the story as well as the humor (the beginning college levels are awesome in the eyes of this college student). This topped with the small animated shorts per section, the cute little story line makes playing the anti-hero blob so much fun to explore. The music is cute, but fairly standard video game music, which isn't to say that it's bad, it's just not very exciting.

Overall, the game is an amazing package. It utilizes a lot of old school platforming fun with the studios unique twist to make it a fun romp. With 24 levels, a nice set of trophies and score boards, there is plenty of great game for the $8 price tag.

10 out of 10

Interesting Sites:
Official Game Site: http://www.mutantblobsattack.com/
IGN Review: http://vita.ign.com/articles/121/1219029p1.html
Wiki Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_Space:_Mutant_Blobs_Attack