BYE-BYE BOXBOY! Review

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After two previous releases, the BOXBOY! series seems to be coming to an end with the third iteration, BYE-BYE BOXBOY!. This game continues on with the story and mechanics from the previous games and offers a multitude of new challenges and levels for you to complete, but with new twists.

Following the escape from the planet in BOXBOXBOY!, this game has you play as Qbby as he adventures on his spaceship, finding several different planets that have been enveloped by darkness. Each planet has got its own unique mechanics that need to be learned in order to overcome.

BYE-BYE BOXBOY! Review Screenshot 1

Once more, each World has got its own unique element to it that continues throughout the levels. From a world of spikes, to a world where you need to escort Qbaby through the stages. There are repeats on various planets, but it never felt like things were being repeated too much. However, with this game there is still a feeling of it not innovating as much as its predecessors.

Despite that, it does come with a few new tricks which alter the way you think about puzzles. While BOXBOXBOY! focused on using two sets of boxes at once, this game introduces four different kinds of boxes.

First is a Bomb Box. Here, the first box in your creation is a bomb which will explode and take out parts of the scenery, allowing for you to use the newly created gap to solve puzzles. Second is a jetpack which will cause the boxes to fly upwards, taking Qbby with it if still attached or standing on them. The third is a warp which will have Qbby transported to the position of the first box in your creation and finally, there’s a platform that you can then move around after creation. These all aid in making the game feel fresh, but it’s just not as innovative.

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The puzzles are all still clever and fun, but unlike its predecessors, you’re unlikely to have too many troubles until the post-game worlds, which is a bit disappointing. It also has the challenges you’d expect with this series, and they can require some considerable thought to complete.

The game features some amiibo support, as well as support if you have save files from previous games. If you have BOXBOY! or BOXBOXBOY!, it will import all the costumes you have obtained in those games. If you have both the games, then it will also unlock a special mode where it changes the colour palette of the game to match the original Game Boy. This feature is also unlocked with the Qbby amiibo which is currently only available in Japan. The other amiibo compatible with the game are the Kirby series amiibo, each unlocking a coloured costume based on the Kirby characters.

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The graphics of this game are the basic line-art of boxes that you’d expect, though in these games there’s a bit more colour matching the planet. The new boxes also have colour to them as well. It’s a nice simple graphical style, but it’s not going to win any awards.

The game’s sound is rather decent, just like its predecessors. The music is soft enough to allow you to think and catchy enough to stick in your head when you are not playing the game. The rest of the sounds are just general. Like its predecessors, you can purchase music with the in-game currency in order to get a sound test.

BYE-BYE BOXBOY! is a decent swansong to the series, if it is indeed the end. While its puzzles aren’t as revolutionary or unique as the original game, they’re still a lot of fun to play through and it’s nice to bring the story of Qbby to a close. It’s definitely worth a play for puzzle fans, platforming fans and BOXBOY! fans alike.

Version Tested: Nintendo 3DS
Review copy provided by Nintendo

8/10
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