This adorable little blue dog has taken over the hearts of millions of children and their parents with their adventures into hardships we all face growing up. Bluey is a 2D platformer that lets you play as Bluey, her sister Bingo, and parents Bandit and Chili as they explore their house with backyard, the park, the beach and the playground.
As a father of 2, the blue dog’s theme song is heard about 75 times a day in this house. For my kids, this game was a must, and they were very excited to find it under the Christmas tree.
The Good
The graphics and sound of the game are faithful to the show, with colorful and cute animations and voice acting from the original cast. The game has simple controls, with single buttons for jumping, kicking, and interacting with objects. The game also has a local co-op mode that allows all 4 members of the family to play on the same screen.
The story is heartwarming for the parents, the kids will appreciate the sentiment at the end as well. I know there is definitely a place for games like this that are calm, violence free, and don’t involve trendy dances…wait there is the floss dance. Never mind that last one.
The game is structured into 5 levels and 4 episodes, each inspired by an episode of the show. The game kind of lies to you here as 2 of the “levels” are the same one, with the backyard area of the house being selectable but still part of the main house.
The Bad
On our very first play through of the game, it crashed twice and soft locked on the very first chapter. Cutscenes are constantly breaking up the action, sometimes just jumping from one platform to another and you’re sitting there waiting to move once more. Speaking of movement, the 2.5D space can be finicky as the controls are floaty and some of the collisions feel imprecise. My oldest kid was really frustrated with this at first, but overtime got the hang of it.
All-in-all, this game will take about 2 hours or maybe 2-3 sessions to fully complete. For the asking price of $40, I expect just a little bit more from full-fledged console release. Unfortunately, this game screams “mobile” and feels like it was rushed to the shelves. I have a suspicion there will not be any free updates adding anything substantial to the game, maybe some additional DLC. This entry has cemented the idea of success for the Bluey series in games, so I would expect more entries of kart racing, additional platforms, and an MMO coming over the next 5 years (like Toontown maybe?).
The Verdict
As a gift for a child, this game is priceless. For that reason, I can’t deduct points. The kids will love this game, you should play it with them, and together form a nice bond with a short game before going outside and doing it for real. If you don’t have kids but still love Bluey, wait for it to go on sale in a few months, the $20 price point is far more forgiving for this game’s shortfalls.
