The original BOXBOY! trilogy proved to be one of the quiet triumphs of the 3DS era. These unassuming puzzle-platformers might have lacked the visual fireworks or the 3D gimmicks of some of their contemporaries, but they more than made up for that with a fresh concept and rock solid level design.
We're delighted that HAL Laboratory has seen fit to give its unsung hero a chance to shine on Switch. BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! is no flashier than it's ever been, but it has expanded in scope by a fair amount. With 270 stages and a series-first two-player mode, this is the biggest and most fully-featured entry yet.
Regular series protagonist Qbby is here joined by Qucy, who serves as both a selectable companion in the single player story and as a second character in the aforementioned co-op mode. Otherwise, this is BOXBOY as we've come to know and love it. The idea is to guide our square protagonist through each 2D level, bypassing traps and ideally collecting all of the crowns that are dotted around.
While Qbby and Qucy can run and jump like your average platformer character, their main power is the ability to spawn clusters of boxes that look like they've dropped out of a Tetris game. At their most basic, these abstract shapes can serve as bridges across spiky pits or steps to take you to higher ground.
Pretty soon, though, HAL starts mixing mixing things up with new mechanics. You'll learn how to use a line of boxes as a grappling hook, a pogo stick, a shovel for digging, and a shield against harmful laser beams. They can be used to activate switches, or to form spring-loaded moving platforms.
This steady unfurling of abilities almost reminds us of a Metroidvania, though the game's rigidly linear progression system and self-contained levels put paid to any further comparisons. Rather, this is simply a puzzle-platformer that's never content to rest on its laurels or maintain the status quo. This is reflected in additional flourishes like a bonus balloon-popping mode that puts your box-forming prowess against the clock, or a character customisation system that treats our heroes' simple features as interchangeable cosmetic components.
It's true of the game's difficulty too. After a pretty easy introduction, the game ramps up its demands on you. It's often simple enough to find your way to the level exit, but doing so within the box limit for an optional bonus score is the real trick. Meanwhile, figuring out how to reach some of those crown collectibles will keep you scratching your head for far longer than you might imagine.
What makes this multi-layered depth and challenge feel so incongruous is BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!'s radically stripped-back style, which has barely been embellished at all since 2017's BYE-BYE BOXBOY!, or even the original BOXBOY! for that matter. The characters of this world are formed of scarcely more than a few black lines, with dots and dashes for facial features and limbs.
That's not to say that BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! is devoid of personality, you understand. It's HAL Laboratory, don't forget, that made us fall in love with a pink balloon in the form of Kirby, and the developer hasn't lost its canny knack with expressive animation and jolly ditties.
In BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!'s co-op mode, HAL has given its series a whole new dimension. Playing with a partner suits the simple mechanics of the game down to a tee, to the point where it feels like the mode must have been baked into the series at the point of conception. If you've played and enjoyed the co-op puzzling of Death Squared, you'll almost certainly get some similar kicks out of this.
This isn't a perfect package by any means. While we dig the BOXBOY aesthetic, there's no doubting it was built with a low-powered mobile device in mind. Blown up on a modern TV, it looks and feels somewhat spartan. Should HAL Laboratory have done more with the Switch's extra power to really push the aesthetic to the next level? Maybe.
It could certainly have tightened up the controls a little. There's a persistent wallow and a sense of lag to Qbby and Qucy's movement and it remains tricky to judge the jumping and throwing physics even several hours into the game. Fortunately there's a generous and frequent checkpointing system that lets you retry each individual obstruction, and you're not penalised for doing so come the end-of-stage tot-up.
Sluggish controls and a brutally minimalist aesthetic do little to blemish the overall BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! experience, however. It remains a distinctive and deceptively layered puzzler, while the fact that you can now bring a partner in on the fun makes this the best BOXBOY yet.
Conclusion
Bigger and more fully featured than ever, BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! marks a high point in this quirky puzzle-platformer series. It's not perfect - the stripped back aesthetic and lethargic physics won't be everyone's cup of tea - but fans of co-op puzzlers, in particular, should investigate pronto.
Comments 26
I'm playing it right now and I am having fun, which is something I missed with Crafted World, sadly.
This is easily GOTY material. Thanks, HAL for saving the day again!
Loved this series on 3DS, even imported the Qbby amiibo. Now it's time to play it in co-op on my Switch.
I adored the 3DS games, so this is absolutely on my to-buy list.
I enjoyed what I played of the 3DS games but as I expect this to be basically more of the same, I'm not really in a rush to pick it up. I'll grab it at some point when I'm in the mood or if it's on sale.
These games are brilliant little puzzlers and the stripped back aesthetic actually works in its favour. Sometimes when you’re trying to work something out, you really don’t want things flying all over your screen.
Played through the regular single player, and while I still really like the series, I'd place this AFTER BoxBoxBoy! and Bye Bye BoxBoy!
BoxBoxBoy! ist still the series' most challening entry, and Bye Bye BoxBoy! has the most fun gimmicks and block types.
I have yet to really sink my teeth into the co-op and the Qudy campaign yet though, and that seems to be where the game really differentiates itself from the other games, so I'm looking forward to really trying those out and will probably leave the game on a more positive note after that.
So yeah, it's great fun, but it hasn't wowed me as much as the predecessors did yet.
Something about the addition of more color makes the game look cheap now, to me. I'll still buy it because the 3DS games were bangers but man it just does not look right at all compared to the originals.
I'm definitely getting this, loved the 3DS trilogy.
But just to be sure: the co-op stages are a different set from the single player ones, right?
@Krisi yes, they are completely different levels, designed with coop in mind. You can play them solo, though.
Sluggish controls?
More about the Pro Controller lag issue, and this is not the first review on this site to misjugde it. You must desync your controller and then resync it, Jon Mundy
So glad they finally released a version of his series that runs smoothly! Love it!
Fantastic game. Bought it immediately at launch like I did with all the 3DS games as well.
Bought it today. Played the first 3 sets of levels. As always, it starts off really easy but I'm sure the levels get comfortably challenging in no time. I'll play the single player campaign now and come back for the multiplayer later when I have someone to play with. Maybe during summer.
There are few changes I don't quite get, though. The way they handled crowns and box limits in 3DS games was already perfect. Feels like they try to make the game even easier to approach. This theory is also supported by the new items in shop that give you extra boxes and other stuff as well as the hint option that the game tells you about if you stay in one place for too long. I can see the latter get annoying really fast. I'll have to take a look if I can disable it.
I also don't like how they limit your abilities at start. I was trying to use the tactic where you hang onto a ledge and press Y to get on top but Y did nothing. It's the best way to save boxes so I'm used to using it in every opportunity. I hope it unlocks soon.
Tried the demo, it's really fun. Digital only?
@Stu13 The game is a prequel, so it loses all color after the tutorial world, because it is setting up the plot.
only $10 bucks not bad... and honestly we need more 3ds ports on the switch.
Sounds like a good puzzler. I'll probably give it a spin in a couple of weeks when I'm done school. Crafted World was a bit disappointing to me so I could use another Switch game to play in the meantime until Mario Maker 2 releases.
i'm already planning to pick this on switch in may.
I am a big box boy fan from 3ds and was so happy to get this!
@nessisonett Completely agree about the aesthetic. I really don't get NL's criticism of the art style. It works perfectly for what the game is trying to accomplish.
My only question is, when is Switchmo coming out? 🤨 Like others, I enjoyed the 3DS games so I'll probably pick this one up.
@Bubble_Bobble Its not a port though. New game in the series.
Cant wait to grab this.
I picked this up and played for an hour or so. It's fun! It's starts off very easy and takes quite a while to get challenging. It's weird that the rewards for staying under par and for getting the crowns are separate, so you can cheese it by doing one and then the other instead of both simultaneously (which I imagine (?) is always possible.
I also love that these sorts of 3DS-style games are coming to Switch now. With the combined libraries of a portable and a home console, with significant third-party support, Nintendo is pretty well set to dominate.
I did struggle with finding the BoxBoy games getting a bit boring at times so won't be buying but glad to see many others are enjoying the game.
Played all 3 on 3DS, got this one on Friday and I don't regret it. I am just surprised by long loading times and animation stutter on such a simple game on the Switch. Apart from that, it's great.
I am not a gigantic Boxboy fan, but I might still download it someday in the future.
I know I am late to report this but this runs worse than the 3DS entries for some ungodly reason, I don't know why. It drops frames quite a bit and that really irritates me.
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