Still Goofy, But Better Than Ever
A Review of Planet Blupi
Ron Enderland
I reviewed EPSITEC’s Blupimania back in January of 1997. I thought it was (a) one of the goofiest and (b) one of the most intellectually challenging games that I’d ever seen.
Well, it’s still goofy (about the same, I’d say), but it has gotten even more challenging.
The game’s graphics have dramatically improved. It now runs from a CD-ROM to contain the graphical library. The sound is also better. But where the greatest improvement has taken place is with the play of the game itself.
The hapless blupis must now deal with a greater number and variety of enemies, including bulldozers, bombs, viruses, and the dreaded fire. Fortunately, they are better equipped to defend themselves, with an arsenal that includes poison, "good" bombs, sticky traps, and jeeps and boats to get around with.
They still have the IQ’s of office furniture, though, so it’s up to you to guide them out of the dilemmas into which the game throws them. 
In this version, you can select multiple blupis and have them perform various tasks at the same time. For instance, you can make them travel cross-country as a group, or you can have one growing the life-sustaining tomatoes while the others gorge themselves on them and gain more life.
The game is even more addictive, causing normally non-playing me to spend hours trying to foil the nasties and get my dumb little friends to the goals that have been selected for them by the program.
If you have the desire, you can now make your own missions for the blupis to tackle.
There is an ultimate goal involved here.It is to send a master robot back to the planet from which it came. Its arrival on Planet Blupi is what caused all of the problems that our simple little friends must now endure, and defeating it and sending it home provides the plot for the game.
If you manage to obtain this elusive objective, you can always make up your own missions, as difficult as you like. I, however, will just have to dream about someday getting rid of the evil droid. Unfortunately, in my house, the blupi’s master is about as smart as his subjects . . .
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: | Planet Blupi |
| Company: | EPSITEC SE |
| Cost: | $59.00 |
System Requirements:
PC with Windows 95
Pentium 60 with 8 Mbytes RAM
CD-Rom
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 4
Graphics 5
Sound 4
Interface 4
Replayability 5
Overall Score:
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