Graphics: With more units sold than any other current-generation console system, the Wii deserves more games like this. De Blob was built for the Wii (not ported from the GameCube or the PS2) and it shows. The game sports a level of polish that is all-too-rare from third-party developers making games for the market leader. In fact, de Blob fills the niche abandoned by Nintendo this holiday season: the well-designed 3D platformer. The visuals become vibrant as spartan, yet gorgeous, black-and-white backdrops begin to fill with color. As the blob wheels through the city, splashes of paint fly and trail behind him, transforming the world – a beautiful effect that never gets old. This reminds me of those wonderful sequences in Okami in which the hero restores life to dry and depressed regions, with a geyser of color washing over every surface and transforming it. The developers have also done a great job creating a unique mascot. It’s not easy infusing a gelatinous mass with personality, but they’ve done it. The cities and environments are all very attractive, sporting a retro Art Deco aesthetic that nicely matches the quaint 1950’s-era sci-fi theme of invading baddies. I’ve often felt that there’s a limit to how good games should look; the closer they approach realism, the less they feel like a game. De Blob embodies that mantra. It always looks like a game, and a beautiful one at that.

Interface: Guiding your blob around the city is effortless with the combination of the Nunchuck and Wiimote. The analog stick on the Nunchuck controls your blob’s movement, and the Wiimote is used to execute special attacks. The developers did a good job of keeping extraneous waggle commands to a minimum. A tap of the Wiimote executes an attack or a jump and does not require overly exaggerated movements. Too many Wii platformers can be murder on the wrist, so it’s comforting to experience de Blob’s elegant control scheme.

Gameplay: Nintendo’s heralded game-design philosophies are embodied in de Blob. Much like the latter day Super Mario titles and the Pikmin series, time seems to melt away as you play. The game really provokes the “just one more level” obsession, as there is something primal and addictive about seeing these bland backdrops gain new life. While the challenges you encounter involve the same repeated tasks, the game steadily increases their difficulty, making each similar challenge seem fresh. De Blob also layers new abilities, enemy types, obstacles and puzzles, providing a nice sense of escalation as you work through the game. The optional challenges and the rewards they unlock help to increase the replay value, making this a game you’ll revisit often.

Multiplayer: The multiplayer modes are surprisingly enticing. While there aren’t many of them (each is a variation on the theme of painting more than the other guy), the ability to attack your opponents and paint over their hard work leads to some fun and fast-paced gameplay. This is a good game to bust out at parties; its adversarial nature should provoke a healthy amount of trash talking, the true barometer of great multiplayer. De Blob does get dinged, however, for the lack of an online component, which is inexcusable this late in the Wii’s life cycle.

Sound FX: The effects in this game are decent, but are lost amidst the lush soundtrack that underscores the action. That said, there are some nice squishy effects employed that add more character to your blob. The characters speak in that strange gibberish that Nintendo often employs for its characters, leading to a lot of reading whenever an NPC has a new order to issue. This design choice fits the characters for the most part, as none of these critters could be called human in any way, but by this generation, most gamers have come to expect intelligible dialogue without subtitles.

Music: De Blob features an original, funky, jazzy soundtrack with new tunes that play as you progress through the game. As more color is applied to each world, more layers are added to the music. A similar effect is found in some rhythm-based games, such as Rez, in which your actions lay the beats, eventually building a rich tonal tapestry. The music is key to de Blob’s addictive nature; you’ll find your toe tapping along to the music as you play deeper into the night.

Intelligence: While enemy encounters abound, the intelligence governing these color-stealing aliens is not indicative of superior life forms. Enemies typically stand in one area, lining up as fodder when your blob goes on the attack. You can chain airborne attacks, so you’ll find it very easy to bounce from one enemy to the next without fear of retaliation. This game skews more towards the puzzle-platformer variety; the weak AI is merely a small hindrance.

Difficulty: The first few levels allow you to work at your own pace. While a timer steadily ticks down in the corner, there are ample opportunities to add more time to the clock, leaving you with the chance to explore your surroundings. Later levels cut back on the extra available time and introduce lengthier challenges. In these segments, you are called upon to utilize all of your blob’s skills as well as your own grey matter to solve the clever puzzles that begin to crop up. In fact, these later puzzles make you pine for a sequel focused entirely on this style of gameplay.

Overall: De Blob is the year’s sleeper hit. Offering a level of polish that surpasses most other Wii third-party releases, this game thoroughly engages you while making you wish all developers would show this much care in their craft. Those Wii fanboys who were stung by Nintendo’s anemic E3 conference owe it to themselves to grab this one, as it effortlessly fits the bill as the big holiday title we’re so accustomed to receiving from Nintendo.