The beauty of Bloo Kid 2 is the way in which it genuinely feels like more than a throwback. It feels genuine. That’s top notch presentation, right there. It is as if it’s a lost Euro-platformer from the golden age, transported to modern devices through a strong mix of magic and science. Wonderful stuff!

This time round, the story plays out in a very traditional (gaming-wise) fashion. There is a mini-cut sequence when you fire the game up, sparking the little blue haired hero into action. The no-need for dialogue, straight to the point intro harkens back to the likes of Ghouls N Ghosts or New Zealand Story, which I shouldn’t have to explain further if you have those instantly in mind. Which you should, otherwise why are you on RGG? Retro, y’all! Basically, you have your reasons for jumping on heads and collecting stars and that’s really all a classic genre title needs, as much as I do love the whacky dialogue and storytelling to be found in the likes of Fist of Awesome. I mean, whoever really questioned the *story* of Super Mario Bros. 3? Exactly.

Graphically the game really shines. The sprites, the scrolling…its old school 2D bliss. It actually, for whatever reason, reminds me a lot of the original Wonder Boy, just a tad more polished. Considering Wonder Boy (or Adventure Island for you Nintendo lot) is one of the all-time greatest, that’s far from a bad thing. Also, much likes Ghouls N Ghosts and the impossible not-to-mention Super Mario Bros, castles make a strong appearance and look absolutely glorious with the enemies changing to fit the environment (enter the knights and skeletons). The enemy sprites themselves mostly return form the original game, so fans have something to feel comforted in right there. I absolutely love the fact that with the sequel it’s no longer single screen, introducing more expansive, scrolling levels. There’s hundreds of them, too – so lots of glory to behold on your mobile device of choice. Good stuff!

The game has the player progress through multiple ‘worlds’ featuring various stages each, with the difficulty ramping as Bloo Kid moves along in his adventure to reclaim the girl from evil clutches. Expect that frustration to build as you await your reflexes to properly become re-acquainted with this typically fashioned offering and get ready to bulk up that muscle memory as it’s certainly going to be a necessity. Bloo Kid 2, like the best platformers; has you wanting to throw your ‘Pad (see what I did thurr) one minute, yet immediately diving back in for seconds in, well, seconds. That is something that will always draw me to a game on a personal level, as that’s the kind of game design that I was accustomed to in my youth, something that doesn’t hold your hand while at the same time not being cheap. You have to learn, you have to repeat, if you are to be successful. You’ll want to be successful as quite simply, the game is fun. Which is something the difficulty of crafting can never be understated with. There’s millions of ‘retro’ style games on the AppStore and millions more doing their own thing, which just aren’t fun. But, this is. I assure you. Addictively so!

Something that adds to the variation and depth of the game is the players chosen path, as there is six optional missions (presented as stars on the end level screen), which allows for individual play styles to be represented. Like speedruns? A timer’s got that covered. Want all the blue stars? Go find ‘em! Fancy a flawless victory by splattering all the enemies in a level? Bloo Kid 2 got ya covered there, too! Of course, this’ll only cause repeated plays from the completionists in us all, which is obviously a grand idea.