Invasion of the Blobs II: The Evolution Revolution

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Invasion of the Blobs II:
The Evolution Revolution
Blobs2-title.png

Release type: Freeware
Release date: 1998
Levels: 20
Author: Mike Perrucci
Website: More Mazeguy
Related games: Invasion of the Blobs!, Invasion of the Blobs III, Luigi's Heroic Debut!


Not to be mistaken for cly5m's Blob.

This sequel to Invasion of the Blobs! is a completely different game. In place of a top-down action adventure, Blobs II is mostly a side-scrolling platformer. The game is set ten years later, and now features the girlfriend to the original protagonist. The game mechanics are now based around high and low kicks, and a certain understanding of blob physics. The story is larger and more ambitious, as is the game design. Every level feels like a brand new experiment, and a combination of static cutscene and in-game cinematics furthers the plot between levels.

The resulting game uses just about every advanced technique demonstrated in a Game-Maker game, particularly in regard to advanced monster and background tile tricks, and makes about the best possible use of them. Some of these tricks would later be incorporated into the Super Mario Bros. tribute Luigi's Heroic Debut!, in a more subtle form. Other techniques, such as the faux-3D boss level and the word puzzles, do not seem to have been replicated anywhere.

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Invasion of the Blobs! Invasion of the Blobs II Invasion of the Blobs III
Invasion of the Blobs series

Design

Boss battle from Invasion of the Blobs II

There’s an element of world-building in Invasion of the Blobs II. As noted, it expands the timeframe, the active cast of characters, and their relationships. Another neat detail is that every stage seems to both lead logically to the next and from the previous stage. Often the previous stage is visible through an open doorway, and the tag leading to the next stage is hovering in the corner. For instance, after traversing a locker room you enter a behind-the-scenes area filled with leaky pipes. You plug the leaks with blob enemies, pass through, and climb to the roof. When you’ve reached the end of the roof, you leap off and grab the tongue of an enormous blob hovering in the sky. Startled, the blob begins to rocket backwards in space.

This leads to one of the most technically interesting stages in a Game-Maker game, a sort of Space Harrier tribute reminiscent of some of Eclypse Games' work. Other similarities include RSD’s Pipemare (in the custom intro screen) and Nebula (in the elegant mode selection menu), rounding up the demo game circuit.

Technique

There’s a ton of neat stuff in here, from particle effects to background objects that you can kick around. Yet as with the first game, it’s the small things that stand out here. For instance, combat. The construction of Game-Maker makes melee attacks very difficult to realize. To harm a monster, a player sprite has to somehow birth a monster of a higher power level.

Melissa.png

Although it is technically possible to birth a monster that looks like an extension of the player sprite, it’s a pain in the neck to get right. Even when it’s almost perfect, it never quite works the way that it should. Through what must have been painstaking trial and error, though, this game gets it right. The protagonist attacks mostly through high and low kicks. Also notable is the amount of thought that went into the range and use of the attacks.

Somewhat uncommonly for a Game-Maker game, the visuals are imported from an external painting program, resulting in more flexibility and consistency in the backgrounds and sprites. Some would use the then-industry standard Deluxe Paint; Perrucci used Neopaint. Same thing.

Story

10 years later...

Graduation ceremonies are taking place at Deemynus Upper High School, and our hero Rob is about to receive his high school diploma as his long-time girlfriend Melissa looks on -- when suddenly an alien ship (which looks very familiar to Melissa and Rob) appears from behind the clouds!

A being from another world descends from the ship, grabs Rob, and quickly pulls him back up as almost everyone else looks on with feelings of helplessness. Only Melissa is willing to attempt to rescue the person who saved her from hostile alien blobs when she was just eight years old. And after seeing the spaceship that looks exactly like those blobs, she wants revenge!

Today, it is Melissa's turn to be the hero!

Instructions

Attacking in Invasion of the Blobs II

Controls

For best effect, use the numerical keypad.

A: Kick high (left)
S: Kick high (right)
Z: Kick low (left)
x: Kick low (right)
7: Jump left
8: Jump up
9: Jump right
4: Run left
6: Run right
2: Duck
Spacebar: Special action

Function keys

F1: Displays help during game.
F2: Show's Melissa's health status.
F3: Turns music on and off.
F4: Turns sound on and off.
F5: Saves a game.
F6: Loads a saved game.
F10: Read about Game-Maker, the program that made the creation of this game possible!

Two very helpful items!

Collect as many spinning hearts as you can find. These give Melissa more hit points. The more hit points she has, the longer she can fight!

Grab a rotating image of Melissa's lovely countenance to receive an extra chance at defeating the slimy aliens.

Enter basic training. Master the controls B4 U play!

Credits

Concept, game design, and artwork by Mike Perrucci.

Game engine and creator of Game-Maker, the software that made the creation of this game possible, from Recreational Software Designs.

GIF pictures created using Neopaint.

Availability

This game is distributed on its author's Website. Other means of distribution are unknown.

Archive History

In the late 1990s, Mike Perrucci made contact via email, out of enthusiasm for finding another Game-Maker user on the Web. The two Blobs games have been held as part of the archive since then.

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