Game: ibb & obb
Genre: Platformer, Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch (also on PS3 and Steam)
Developer|Publisher: Sparpweed | Game Drive
Age Rating: EU 3 | US E
Price: US $14.99 | CA $18.89 | AU $ 19.00|UK £13.49 | EU €14.99
Release Date: 5th March 2020
Review code used, with many thanks to Game Drive
ibb & obb started out as Richard Boeser’s graduation project, and it made its first public appearance as part of IndieCade’s selection at the E3 2008 in Los Angeles. Catching the eye of Sony, the game was first published on PS3 in 2013. Now it’s come to the Switch, a perfect console for the multiplayer part of the game!
Gameplay
ibb & obb is wonderfully simple and yet fiendishly challenging. Player 1 controls a little green blob with legs, called ibb, and Player 2 controls his taller, pink friend, obb. This is a game of bi-directional gravity, of working together to solve puzzles and navigate enemies while collecting diamonds. You have three controls; left and right on the control stick, and jump is on A. That’s all you need as you hop, bounce, and puzzle your way across the 15 normal levels and 8 hidden worlds.
You travel the barrier between the normal world and limbo as you go, using the various doors to travel between the two and take advantage of the inverted gravity in Limbo to get around or defeat enemies, or even give your partner a boost to get to a higher platform on the other side. It’s great fun, as my partner and I discovered on a typical, wet, miserable British day. We were playing for at least an hour without even realising; as you finish each level and get your score, you roll straight into the next so it’s easy to fly through without realising how long you’ve been playing.
A single-player mode would be lovely, but it’s nice to see a game that forces you to be social and work closely with another person; just be sure you can keep your tempers!
Graphics and Sound
I absolutely love the art of ibb & obb. Muted and yet still somehow vibrant colours fill the beautiful world with simple shapes and interesting landscapes. ibb & obb themselves are adorable; they may only be a pair of eyes on a two-legged blob but they pull the cutest faces when watching enemies move or falling asleep waiting for you to move them around.
The music is a delight; it’s perky yet relaxing, drawing you gently into the almost zen world of soft tones and a noticeable difference between each level. If there was a single-player mode I could easily lose an entire day to this game thanks to the relaxation it’s atmosphere inspires.
Difficulty
The mechanics are very simple but incredibly hard to master. It’s only basic gravity, as we’re all used to from other platformers, but used in such a unique way that it can be really hard to turn your thinking around and figure the puzzles out. Some are simply more difficult because they require some precision, whereas sometimes we really had to think outside the box to find the solution.
Conclusion
ibb & obb is simple yet challenging, vibrant yet muted, and perky yet relaxing. It’s a game of contradictions, and we loved every second. It may be a little pricey for what it is, but a great game for you and your Player 2! So here goes, our highest praise:
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up
