Please Bounce Off A Cliff

Using only a single button, Bouncy Bob deserves some credit for a creative approach but ultimately suffers from frustrating gameplay.

If you are lucky enough to activate a power-up, it still doesn’t make the game any more fun.

From a 2D side scrolling perspective, the goal is to jump on the heads of the randomly spawning enemies that mindlessly move back and forth throughout the arena. However, the playable character who I can only assumed is named Bob, cannot move without jumping.  Meaning, each leap forces Bob to stick to the ground like a game of lawn darts. The only way to move is to hold down the jump button and wait for the Bob to launch in a constantly fluctuating angle.  You know the egg-throwing mechanic of Yoshi in Yoshi’s Island?  It is like that only with a wider angle and more inaccuracy.  Unfortunately, enemies appear so quickly that as soon as the player lands, it usually ensures game over since movement takes forever and is never accurate. To compensate for the inaccurate jumps in a game all about making accurate jumps, the player can tap the jump button while in the air to gain extra height and slightly change trajectory.  But even a crutch like this can’t salvage this gameplay disaster.

Grotesque visual style doesn’t do the game any favors.

The game supports up to four local players but I am not sure why anyone would want to play such an un-fun game.  For example, I tried to beat level 2 about twenty times and was not successful due to the horrible controls and unbalanced enemy spawns.  Making matters worse, the player cannot advance to the next stage until a specific score is reached on the current stage. Even the visual presentation looks like something an elementary student whipped up in fifth period art class.

There really isn’t anything to like about Bouncy Bob. Even if the frustrating controls didn’t cause instant rage quitting, there still wouldn’t be any meat on the bone to make gameplay enjoyable.

Not As Good As: pretty much anything else
Play It Instead: classic arena Mario Bros.  
Also Try: Kirby’s Air Ride on Gamecube (also uses one button)

By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz