THE BINDING OF ISAAC WARP ZONE: S H A R D S O F I S A A C
"Bum-Bo Got Coin!" is the Isaac equivalent to "Don't Trust Them New _________ Over There" from The Boondocks.
The Legend of Bum-bo is a fucking WEIRD game. It’s the prequel to The Binding of Isaac, but I never fully played it, and I couldn’t say I would recommend it, but I kind of liked it at the same time? It’s complicated. This one’s gonna be pretty “”quick”” because of that, so buckle up. This is my pretty brief review for The Legend of Bumbo.
Okay, so Bumbo is some guy with Mii Hands, who gets his shit stolen. And then he descends into the depths below, only to fight all of the monsters in his path. There’s not much to overarching story itself; Bum-bo kind of just goes through the motions, and upon clearing a new floor, the run ends, the next character is unlocked, and you get another new floor. It’s pretty straightforward, but The Legend of Bum-bo adds some important pieces to the story of The Legend of Bum-bo. In the 5th ending of the game, the ending is suddenly interrupted by Isaac’s mother, storming in and taking the cardboard set from Isaac. It’s revealed that The Legend of Bum-bo was made by Isaac’s father, and the Mom threw it out. It’s such a well done scene, with the voice acting and music really selling the fear that Isaac goes through. And, in the end, the cutscene points to The Binding of Isaac’s title screen. A great way to segway into the game. But, if you 100% the game, and get 10 Jackpot endings, which are endings you get at random, Bum-bo creates an underground society where he is king. Bum-bo goes on all kinds of adventures, with monsters to fight. And then, the game pans out once again to reveal that Isaac’s dad is the narrator of the game. He made The Legend of Bum-bo as a way to escape from the real world for Isaac. The Dad taught Isaac the power of his imagination, in order to make this world a reality for him. But, this very action would cause Isaac’s downfall, no matter how good it seems. Is that a good storyline, or what? I absolutely love it when Edmund reveals new elements into the storyline. It makes the story feel so open, and interpretation heavy. I’ve already explained why Isaac has a phenomenal story, so if you’d like a full explanation of why I think it’s amazing, check out the Rebirth review.
But on the game itself, does it stand up on its own? It’s a match-4 puzzle game, where each tile does something different. Activated items are the main focus of the gameplay, and they alter the board or damage enemies. Bum-bo has 3 HP, and if he dies, it’s Game Over, back to the start. Each enemy is on a grid based system, but at times battles can get pretty overwhelming. The game is simple dumb fun, but I wish there was a little more variety to each individual run, like The Binding of Isaac. Bum-bo gets a little more stale than Isaac and FAST. Sure, each individual character adds some variety, but in the end, you’re doing the same thing ad nauseam. Match, use item, repeat. What if there were passive items that added all new tiles, or items that expanded the board? Or perhaps allow the player to pick up different weapons to spice up their attacks? I feel like there’s a lot of missed potential with Bum-bo’s kit here. Oh, and the boss fights... Yeah, not the greatest to say the least. They’re just too tanky for my liking. Each boss just has too many enemies, and making one mistake too easily leads to a dead run, in my opinion. But after that, the game just kind of goes on...? It doesn’t really change up the formula much. And while it was fun for a few hours, it did get pretty stale, so I just ended up dropping the game. One thing I can praise The Legend of Bum-bo on is its PHENOMENAL presentation. Everything in the cardboard world is so animated and colorful, and the soundtrack is pretty solid to boot. A good effort all around, but the game kind of falls short for me otherwise.
The Legend of Bum-bo is fucking WEIRD. I don’t think it’s really a bad game, but it’s not all that great either. A solid effort, but not all that fun, unfortunately. It has good production values, and amazing music, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. Consider it on a sale, and not much else.
“"I want coin" I say / In reality I lay / in grim thoughts all day” - “Bumbo” by zeusdeegoose, Written on 4/22/24
"Bum-Bo Got Coin!" is the Isaac equivalent to "Don't Trust Them New _________ Over There" from The Boondocks.
The Legend of Bum-bo is a fucking WEIRD game. It’s the prequel to The Binding of Isaac, but I never fully played it, and I couldn’t say I would recommend it, but I kind of liked it at the same time? It’s complicated. This one’s gonna be pretty “”quick”” because of that, so buckle up. This is my pretty brief review for The Legend of Bumbo.
Okay, so Bumbo is some guy with Mii Hands, who gets his shit stolen. And then he descends into the depths below, only to fight all of the monsters in his path. There’s not much to overarching story itself; Bum-bo kind of just goes through the motions, and upon clearing a new floor, the run ends, the next character is unlocked, and you get another new floor. It’s pretty straightforward, but The Legend of Bum-bo adds some important pieces to the story of The Legend of Bum-bo. In the 5th ending of the game, the ending is suddenly interrupted by Isaac’s mother, storming in and taking the cardboard set from Isaac. It’s revealed that The Legend of Bum-bo was made by Isaac’s father, and the Mom threw it out. It’s such a well done scene, with the voice acting and music really selling the fear that Isaac goes through. And, in the end, the cutscene points to The Binding of Isaac’s title screen. A great way to segway into the game. But, if you 100% the game, and get 10 Jackpot endings, which are endings you get at random, Bum-bo creates an underground society where he is king. Bum-bo goes on all kinds of adventures, with monsters to fight. And then, the game pans out once again to reveal that Isaac’s dad is the narrator of the game. He made The Legend of Bum-bo as a way to escape from the real world for Isaac. The Dad taught Isaac the power of his imagination, in order to make this world a reality for him. But, this very action would cause Isaac’s downfall, no matter how good it seems. Is that a good storyline, or what? I absolutely love it when Edmund reveals new elements into the storyline. It makes the story feel so open, and interpretation heavy. I’ve already explained why Isaac has a phenomenal story, so if you’d like a full explanation of why I think it’s amazing, check out the Rebirth review.
But on the game itself, does it stand up on its own? It’s a match-4 puzzle game, where each tile does something different. Activated items are the main focus of the gameplay, and they alter the board or damage enemies. Bum-bo has 3 HP, and if he dies, it’s Game Over, back to the start. Each enemy is on a grid based system, but at times battles can get pretty overwhelming. The game is simple dumb fun, but I wish there was a little more variety to each individual run, like The Binding of Isaac. Bum-bo gets a little more stale than Isaac and FAST. Sure, each individual character adds some variety, but in the end, you’re doing the same thing ad nauseam. Match, use item, repeat. What if there were passive items that added all new tiles, or items that expanded the board? Or perhaps allow the player to pick up different weapons to spice up their attacks? I feel like there’s a lot of missed potential with Bum-bo’s kit here. Oh, and the boss fights... Yeah, not the greatest to say the least. They’re just too tanky for my liking. Each boss just has too many enemies, and making one mistake too easily leads to a dead run, in my opinion. But after that, the game just kind of goes on...? It doesn’t really change up the formula much. And while it was fun for a few hours, it did get pretty stale, so I just ended up dropping the game. One thing I can praise The Legend of Bum-bo on is its PHENOMENAL presentation. Everything in the cardboard world is so animated and colorful, and the soundtrack is pretty solid to boot. A good effort all around, but the game kind of falls short for me otherwise.
The Legend of Bum-bo is fucking WEIRD. I don’t think it’s really a bad game, but it’s not all that great either. A solid effort, but not all that fun, unfortunately. It has good production values, and amazing music, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. Consider it on a sale, and not much else.
“"I want coin" I say / In reality I lay / in grim thoughts all day” - “Bumbo” by zeusdeegoose, Written on 4/22/24