BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition Reviews
Badland is as dark, brooding, and mysterious as the most sullen teenager, but this seemingly simple game is built on a foundation of ingenious design. Its hands-off approach to guiding the player makes for an invigorating challenge where it counts, and plentiful checkpoints help alleviate the frustration that comes from later levels. It teaches you how to interact with the environment before turning it all on its head with a slew of mutations that change your abilities, and that's a little bit brilliant.
A competent port of the mobile hit that feels lost in the living room. Stick to playing this on a mobile device.
Seeing as it started its life as a mobile game, BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition works surprisingly well on the Xbox One. With simple controls, plenty of levels and both co-op and multiplayer to spend your time on, it is easy to jump in and out of this game and contains hours of fun to be had. The achievements add a nice sense of replayability to the game's levels, and the lovely settings means you can enjoy looking at the game while you play it. You're getting a lot of gaming time for your money, so it is worth taking the time to help save a clone or two in this bad land they have to make their way through.
Badland: Game of the Year Edition translates to PlayStation platforms well. The understated but attractive aesthetic runs smooth and fast on all platforms, and there's tons of content. The challenge does get a little stiff, however, and the experience was clearly designed around short play sessions. It's unlikely to hold your interest forever, then, but for the short time that it does it's a splendid game.
Quickly becoming one of my favorite games when I have a few minutes or so, Badland GOTY is fairly enjoyable. Originally a mobile game, the port to consoles and computers is solid. All the little details; from the backgrounds to the audio to Clony's eyes changing to portray his mood, it all adds a lot of value to the game. The three bonus challenges in each level also adds hours of replay value, especially if you are the "100% completion" type of gamer. I will warn you though; if you don't have patience this game may challenge your gaming prowess. You will most likely die a lot and need to rethink your strategy many times, and if that isn't your thing then this game may not be for you. However, if you are looking for a game to spend hours on, have a quick ten to fifteen minutes to spare now and then, or are looking for something to play as you transition between other games, I would highly recommend Badland GOTY.
Badlands offers local co-op, multiplayer, and a ton of levels to keep players going, yet it feels like a game made for quick access, and I found myself getting rather bored after 30 minutes of play. On a mobile system this game feels right at home with in its casual play time, but I can't help but feel a little alienated with it on consoles.
Badland: Game of the Year Edition is a great looking game with simple gameplay and a lot of charm. Despite all the things going in its favor, this brand new PlayStation 4 and PS Vita game left me cold. It's often frustrating for reasons outside of your control and the fresh ideas are stretched out over hundreds of stages.
Frustration and short lifespan aside, Badland is a deliciously difficult side-scroller that offers remarkable value in its gruelling challenge.
Badland: Game of the Year Edition is a successful example of how a game designed for mobile devices can be interesting to play on the Wii U. Despite its inconsistencies and the lack of a solid plot, its gameplay provides some brilliant moments and the game is full of content and compelling ideas.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
I always find it fascinating when developers take an incredibly simple concept and blow it up to fill an entire game. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but no matter what, it is interesting to see the ways in which they try and expound upon a concept to keep it fresh, or use visual or audio tricks to make it more compelling. Badland: Game Of The Year Edition is one of those games, and fortunately, it works: and it works very, very well.
I give Badland props for its challenge, multiplayer, bold visual style, and content relative to its price. But it's a game that wears its mid-2010s origins on its sleeves, warts and all. I feel it hasn't held up as well as hoped and will have its work cut out for it to stand out on the congested Switch eShop. Want to play Badland in 2021? Do so on a mobile device instead. You'll get touch screen support and more content that way.
I heartily recommend Badland to fans of side-scrolling platformers or anyone looking for a game that's easy to pick up and play. There's a fairly large collection of levels that will take a handful of hours to complete, and the multiplayer mode is fantastic if you have someone to play with locally. Everything that was great about the mobile version of Badland translates exquisitely to the PC.
Badland: Game of the Year Edition seems undercut by its basic nature more than the troubles that ports face. Though fun and challenging at times, it struggles to match up to the best its genre has to offer.
The sky hates you. Plants hate you. Saws hate you. And evolution? It's trying to eliminate your fluffy, winged existence as a species, and yet, it's quite enjoyable.
It's no wonder that Frogmind won so many awards for the mobile incarnation of this game
So all in all, average game with good party play, wrapped in an extremely pretty box.
Badland offers plenty to those who seek it and therefore it is a title which is easy to recommend to anyone wielding a PS Vita in their pocket.
What it comes down to is that, even though it's a redesigned version of its mobile counterpart, BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition is experimental and rich enough to justify its existence on a home console.
If I had written the review after I had cleared Day 1, I would have been ready to give Badlands some awards. The frustration of the later levels and all the level skipping that I did to see if it would improve really left a sour taste in my mouth. There's a really good game here, just know your frustration point and be ready to jump out when it gets there.
With 100 single-player levels, Badland: Game of the Year Edition is a worthy single-player romp on the Wii U, if you don't mind a little frustration every now and then. But with 100 co-op levels—not to mention 27 multiplayer deathmatch stages—it's a perfect addition to your multiplayer arsenal. So long as you're okay with senseless clone death.