History YMMV / Blinx

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Both games push the limits of the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} to their fullest, with amazing sceneries here and there that, for some people, were ahead of their time and look surprisingly well detailed for a cartoony game. Notably, the first game released in ''late 2002'', period of time on which few games like ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' were able to go toe to toe with it.

* PolishedPort: Through backwards compatibility or the Arcade, the ''UsefulNotes/XboxOne'' and ''UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS'' ports of the first game feature faster load times and much better definition on the details, making the game's aesthetics truly shine. While the game tends to lag in some areas (such as in the Forge of Hours), the original version also tended to lag, so it's not considered a huge deal.
* PortingDisaster: On the other hand, playing ''Blinx'' in the ''UsefulNotes/Xbox360'' is considered to be by far the worst version due to the game lagging at several points.

* ItsHardSoItSucks: The game's puzzles aren't very intuitive, there's [[InventoryManagementPuzzle a limited number of resources in every level]] and TrialAndErrorGameplay puts the player at the mercy of {{random drops}}, causing multiple cases of UnintentionallyUnwinnable. The game's power up system forces the player to slow down when everything is on a [[TimedMission time limit]], and said time limit not stopping for anything other than Retries when you take damage, which an easily lead to beating a boss only for a time over [[KaizoTrap during its death animation]]. The game's automatic aiming system that frequently shoots at everything but what you were trying to aim, doesn't go well with the [[EventObscuringCamera screwy camera]], which boots whenever the player moves Blinx close to anything. Finally, there are multiple enemies with MercyInvincibility and or a long InvulnerableAttack while Blinx is functionally a OneHitPointWonder.

* BreatherLevel: [[AbandonedMine Mine of Precious Moments]] is generally easier that both [[ThatOneLevel Temple of Lost Time and Everwinter]], the levels it's sandwiched on. Even with the stage being a giant {{bottomless pit|s}}, and there being [[DemonicSpiders Molegons]], [[EliteMook the strongest versions of Chrono Blobs]] and [[BossInMookClothing Combustasaurs]], there is much less to worry about than the previous round's MalevolentArchitecture and the next round's hordes of monsters and [[SlippySlideyIceWorld ice physics]]. On the other hand, the round's boss is [[ThatOneBoss Kerogon II]].

** Spikers. As soon as one spots you, it will [[RollingAttack roll at you]] a long distance, curled up into an invincible [[SpikeBallsOfDoom spike ball]]. It completely {{No|Sell}}-Sells any and all sorts of trash, explosion, or damaging stage hazard. Not content with harassing you alone, you will more commonly find them among larger enemy groups (especially higher HP variants) ''and'' may even find it alongside ''more'' Spikers (as seen in Forgotten City, Everwinter and Force of Hours). In later levels, if alone, they'll also usually be in cramped places. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V0KAgm3Ipk A trick with the camera]] allows you to [[AIBreaker avoid aggro from these monsters]] (presumably to help avoid them), but unless you carry bombs, the screwy camera and controls makes aiming at them more difficult.

** [[PlayingWithFire Combustasaurs]] are similar to [[GoddamnedBats Water Spirits]], being tied with them for [[BossInMookClothing the highest amount of health of any enemy at 11 HP]] (8 HP in the Platinum Hits version)[[labelnote:*]] 10/8 from the illusion, 1 from the actual monster[[/labelnote]], but they sacrifice the ability to move in favor of shooting {{fireballs}}. Your first encounter with one in the Mine of Precious Moments will be easy, in an open space, but as you progress, you'll find them in closer quarters, and oftentimes alongside other enemies in this page. Don't underestimate the Combustasaur — it is tough. Fortunately, the [[AnIcePerson TS-2000 Ice sweeper]] will OneHitKill [[KillItWithIce its fiery illusion]], so long as you don't hit it with bombs.

* DifficultySpike: The second half of the game, starting with Round 5, [[TempleOfDoom Temple of Lost Time]], is a notable ramp up in difficulty for [[MalevolentArchitecture obvious reasons]], and the game only becomes more difficult from there. Sure, [[UrbanRuins Forgotten City]] isn't that easy either, but compared to Round 5, it's a lot less taxing.

** What's this harlequin-looking gate? ...wait, is that an actual harlequin coming out of it? Congratulations, you just found a [[KillEnemiesToOpen Gatekeeper]]. These enemies aren't that bad, but issue with them is, if they weave too far from you and you aren't able to shoot them dead, they'll go back to their gate and take a while to come out of the gate again; this happens especially if they fall out of the level, and it ''will'' happen in Mine of Precious Moments.

** [[MoleMonster Mole]][[KingMook saur]], in Hourglass Caves. You'll definitely never run out of ammonution or Time Controls during the fight, as trash and Time Crystals will always be falling from the ceiling, but the small arena you fight Molesaur in is very skewed towards you failing to avoid its attacks. There are six rock platforms floating over the quicksand that you can sit on to force Molesaur to eat them and use the time to shoot it, but you have to manage them well — if you find yourself in the quicksand too much, even if you're able to predict its bite, it will hit you, no doubt. Fortunaetly, like with Kerogon, Molesaur has pretty low health.

** A glitch involving the Rewind allows you to cancel out Juggernaut and Juggernaut II summoning flunkies, by activating the Rewind a split second after they land from their ball form and hitting them soon after activating the Rewind. In the case of [[ThatOneBoss Juggernaut II]], this also prevents the arena from becoming dynamic, mitigating some of the difficulty and leaving you with the boss' repetitive, time-consuming pattern, and the arena to worry about to worry about.

* ItsHardSoItSucks: The game's puzzles aren't very intuitive, there's [[InventoryManagementPuzzle a limited number of resources in every level]] and TrialAndErrorGameplay puts the player at the mercy of {{random drops}}, causing multiple cases of UnintentionallyUnwinnable. The game's power up system forces the player to slow down when everything is on a [[TimedMission time limit]], and said time limit not stopping for anything other than Retries when you take damage, which an easily lead to beating a boss only for a time over [[KaizoTrap during its death animation]]. The game's automatic aiming system that frequently shoots at everything but what you were trying to aim, doesn't go well with the [[CameraScrew screwy camera]], which boots whenever the player moves Blinx close to anything. Finally, there are multiple enemies with MercyInvincibility and or a long InvulnerableAttack while Blinx is functionally a OneHitPointWonder.

** [[ActionBomb Ice Turtles]] lie motionless and invincible until you get close, then they'll slowly but steadily hop towards you. Usually, they only take one hit to destroy, though you'll really want to shoot them from afar and not from up close, as [[DefeatEqualsExplosion they explode on death]]. The blast radius is immense as well — if you can't keep your distance when attacking them, you'll get hit. They also have a quirk in that, if they fall into a bottomless pit, they will respawn with 1 HP[[labelnote:...huh?]]Essentially, Ice Turtles have 2 HP, but getting hit without falling off the stage does kill them in one hit[[/labelnote]].

* BreatherBoss: [[{{Golem}} Juggernaut]]. Slow attacks and a completely predictable pattern that lets you suck up as much trash as possible. Its {{flunk|y Boss}}ies that spawn after you inflict damage to it lack MercyInvincibility, die in one shot, and cough up Time Crystals on their death. The only problem Juggernaut could pose is shooting its flunkies to keep the difficulty easy, but once you do that, it's a matter of beating it at your own pace. Ironically enough, this is the boss from [[ThatOneLevel Temple Of Lost Time]].

** Spikers. As soon as one spots you, it will [[RollingAttack roll at you]] a long distance, curled up into an invincible [[SpikeBallsOfDoom spike ball]]. It completely no-sells any and all sorts of trash, explosion, or damaging stage hazard. Not content with harassing you alone, you will more commonly find them among larger enemy groups (especially higher HP variants) ''and'' may even find it alongside ''more'' Spikers (as seen in Forgotten City, Everwinter and Force of Hours). In later levels, if alone, they'll also usually be in cramped places.
** [[MoleMonster Molegons]] are this not because they are hard to face alone or anything — in fact, you'll rarely get the privilege of doing so. Its main problem comes from the fact you usually find it alongside other groups of numerous enemies of all types. This makes it painful to juggle everyone when you know Molegon will suddenly rise, snarl and attempt to bite you. If you're too distracted juggling all the enemies in a room but aren't able to pay attention to Molegon's cue, you're going to have a bad time. These buggers appear in the Hourglass Caves, Temple of Lost Time and Mine of Precious Moments.
** [[PlayingWithFire Fire Lizards]] are similar to [[GoddamnedBats Water Lizards]], being tied with them for [[BossInMookClothing the highest amount of health of any enemy at 11 HP]], but they sacrifice the ability to move in favor of shooting {{fire|ball}}balls. Your first encounter with one in the Mine of Precious Moments will be easy, in an open space, but as you progress, you'll find them in closer quarters, and oftentimes alongside other enemies in this page. Don't underestimate the Fire Lizard — it is tough. Fortunately, the TS-2000 Ice sweeper will destroy its fiery body, so long asyou don't hit it with bombs.
*** A variation in the second stage of Forge of Hours will [[TookALevelInBadass combine both traits of the Water and Fire Lizards]], meaning ''[[AllYourPowersCombined it moves while shooting]]''. ''In a cramped area with an electrode machine that shoots bolts of electricity so that you get easily cornered. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Yikes.]]''
** [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Typhoon Dragons]]. They [[SpectacularSpinning spin to create]] [[BlowYouAway a typhoon on plain land]], which makes them [[SpinToDeflectStuff completely invincible to attacks]] and is capable of trapping you, leaving you completely wide open to enemy attacks; as such, you ''will'' find these monsters alongside groups of others, where their ability to leave you open will prove fatal. Make sure these buggers are the first enemy you take care of if you find one in a group. As a side-note, however, they're left vulnerable if you use a Pause, and their health is only average.
* GameBreaker: Super bombs and spike bullets, both items of which deal double damage. The super bomb has a gigantic blast radius compared to a regular bomb, which if you're not careful, [[ExplosiveStupidity can hit you]], but it makes an excellent job at taking down or seriously damaging hordes of enemies. Spike bullets, on the other hand, are less prone at hurting you (though touching them is a death wish). Both items are, in fact, vital for {{speedrun|ning}}.

** [[BossInMookClothing Water Lizards]]. They are tied with Fire Lizards for the highest amount of health for any enemy at 11 HP. You have to hit it 10 times to destroy its water illusion, followed by an additional one after it reforms into a small critter, to finally kill it for good. And if you don't kill the resulting critter, it will reform its illusion and you'll have to kill it again — fortunately, it only needs one hit to destroy the illusion if this happens. It becomes even more annoying when there are more enemies around or in tight spaces. The saving graces to the Water Lizard is [[MightyGlacier its very slow speed]], and that the TS-2000 Flame will destroy the illusion in one hit so long as you don't hit it with bombs.
** {{Golem}}s are sturdy, yet fairly slow and tall monsters whose parts can even be sweeped before the monster forms by using a Pause; overall, not too worrying of an enemy unless they're in groups of other monsters as well. However, it's their form in the [[ThatOneLevel Forge of Hours]] what makes them annoying: two clocks start to spin around it to shield the Golem from attacks, potentially wasting precious trash (especially considering the level you find them in). Said clocks can be destroyed and, like the Golem's parts, be exchanged for some serious dough at the end of the stage.
** [[ActionBomb Ice Turtles]] lie motionless and invincible until you get close, then they'll slowly but steadily hop towards you. They only take one hit to destroy, but you'll really want to shoot them from afar and not from up close, as [[DefeatEqualsExplosion they explode on death]]. The blast radius is immense as well — if you can't keep your distance when attacking them, you're gonna get hit.

** [[AmphibianAtLarge Kerogon]], in Déjà Vu Canals. Think the [[AmphibianAssault Keroppers]] (jumps at you and [[ExtremeOmnivore eats trash shot at it]] from the front) but [[KingMook it is larger]], is able to ''shoot'' trash at you, has the ability to divebomb jump at wherever you are (though they can't jump to the high ground of the arena) and, unlike Keroppers, it can no-sell any bombs shot at it; thus, this {{def|ied Trope}}ies the FeedItABomb strategy. As with Keroppers, you're expected to defeat it by feeding it trash to make it grow and wait for it to lower its guard. Easier said than done, for as if you feed Kerogon too much trash, you may not have enough to shoot it dead; but if you don't feed it trash, you will barely have any time to shoot it when it lowers its guard. When Kerogon suffers damage, it will spit all the trash you fed it, allowing you to suck it back up; good luck trying to do so though, as you may risk a hit. Fortunately, the boss has pretty low health.

** Benito Brothers are mid-stage mini-bosses that ride on speeders. One will always be surrounded by gold (and oftentimes Time Crystals and Cat Medals too), and his primary goal is to steal every goodie before he departs. Meaning that you'll need to defeat him quickly if you want the loot for yourself. Oftentimes, there will be found alongside monsters, ensuring you won't finish the mini-boss quickly enough to take the loot for yourself.

** A glitch involving the Rewind allows you to cancel out Juggernaut and Juggernaut II summoning flunkies, by activating the Rewind a split second after they land from their ball form and hitting them soon after activating the Rewind. In the case of [[ThatOneBoss Juggernaut II]], this also prevents the arena from becoming dynamic, mitigating much of the difficulty and leaving you with only the boss' repetitive pattern to worry about.

* ScrappyWeapon: The Fast Forward. None of the puzzles involving the Time Control are mandatory unlike all the other ones, and the drastically increased speec makes an already hard game even ''harder'' because now you have to do everything in double-time. Its one perk, making you "invincible", spares you from one retry if you get hit, but the effect wears off immediately. The developers intended for it to be a time-saver, but if you don't know how to control it, it's dangerous to use it to speed up because you have to platform in fast mode too, and falling is the one exception to being spared a Retry.
* ThatOneBoss:
** [[AmphibianAtLarge Kerogon]] [[TookALevelInBadass II]], in the Mine of Precious Moments. There is no high ground to stand on unlike the green Kerogon, it's huge by default, has [[DamageSpongeBoss 6 HP]], and the lack of trash in the area means you'll have to rely on what it spits. This guy's divebomb jump is even more dangerous than before, as it takes more time to charge and, due to its huge size, it is also very difficult to dodge properly. After taking enough damage, it will also start to repeat this attack after failing to hit you. If you take a look at all the Time Crystals around the arena, you'll notice you'll have guaranteed two of each Time Controls as well as Retries in case you mess up, which subdues the difficulty a bit. However, this is mitigated by the fact Kerogon II will usually jump to the center of the arena and hit it to shrink it, meaning you can miss on some precious Time Controls.
** [[MoleMonster Hydro]][[TookALevelInBadass saur]], in Everwinter, is considered to be one of the two hardest bosses in the game for various reasons. First off, the ice physics already make the fight hard enough. Unlike Molesaur, you cannot reliably see where Hydrosaur is going to appear because the snow and ice cover the platform you'll be standing on, and the ice is too opaque to see it coming. There's no trash in the area, forcing you to make Hydrosaur bite through the ice and shoot trash at you [[MoreDakka like a machine gun]], and [[ImprobableAimingSkills with incredible accuracy]] to boot. Time Crystals are lacking in this area, save for Retry crystals (you're gonna need them) and Rewind crystals; Hydrosaur will mercifully cough up some for you every now and then, but the crystals are determined at random, so good luck getting Slows or Pauses. As with Molesaur, you're supposed to use the same strategy of standing on a rock platform and waiting for Hydrosaur to eat it and leave itself vulnerable, but the kicker is that Hydrosaur will quickly get sick of you and start destroying the section of the stage you're currently standing on; may Lord have mercy if you're standing in the middle one, which has two rock platforms and connects every other section in the arena. To add insult to injury, Hydrosaur has an attack where it ascends into the air and divebombs into you, creating a red shockwave on its wake that pushes you far, far away if you manage to dodge the divebomb. And the worst part? The boss has [[DamageSpongeBoss 8 HP]], meaning you'll stay a while fighting this abomination. Have fun!
** [[{{Golem}} Juggernaut]] [[TookALevelInBadass II]], is much like Hydrosaur, one of the two hardest bosses in the game, though for different reasons. Its strategy hasn't changed much from that of its green counterpart, curling up into a ball and rolling into you. However, it can now do so as many times as it likes before finally deciding to rest at the center of the arena. This can get grueling after a while, especially since the moment Juggernaut II goes back to the center, it can decide to repeat the process again instead of breaking ball form, lengthening the fight and wasting precious time. After shooting it and its flunkies enough, the arena becomes dynamic, spinning to make things more complicated and opening up hatches on which you can fall into the molten metal. Eventually, Juggernaut II will start to remain invincible until you kill its flunkies and then some more, jumping around the room and dropping bombs, which will force you to either aim well and hope for the best shot, or avoid everything else trying to kill you until it restarts its usual strategy. Unlike Hydrosaur, trash does fall into the stage, but will do so at a much slower pace than its first fight, forcing you to aim well and use it sparingly. And finally, like Hydrosaur, Juggernaut II has [[DamageSpongeBoss 8 HP]], so you'll have to really be on your wits. Fortunately, there are Time Crystals found during the fight that could be of help. As explained in GoodBadBugs, however, bringing in Rewinds can mitigate the difficulty if you know how to use them.

** [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Everwinter]] is a huge step up from the Mine of Precious Moments. To start, since this is the game's ice world, obvious ice physics are obvious — it doesn't help the clunky controls and camera will be screwing you up, too. Chrono Blobs no longer appear starting with this round, every group of monster will have at least three or more, and every monster found here being either DemonicSpiders or GoddamnedBats — in fact, this level introduces Typhoon Dragons, which will leave you prone to being hit by the other enemies. It also features the second-strongest variants of Spikers, which tend to team up with Typhoon Dragons to create a nasty one-two combo. Water Lizards also make a return. On top of this, if for any reason you fall into the water, you'll instantly lose a life. The stages' platforms also tend to break or move, making falling into the water even easier. And finally, to finish it off, the round's boss is [[ThatOneBoss Hydrosaur]].
** [[EternalEngine Forge of Hours]], the very last level, is MalevolentArchitecture incarnate. Complicated rotating mechanisms and cogs that can potentially kill you if you don't react properly, switches that must be pressed to operate these mechanisms, electrode contraptions that constantly create streams of electricity, and of course, since it's a forge, gigantic and numerous [[LavaPit pools and vats of molten metal]]. The clunky controls and camera only add insult to injury. Mercifully, there are much less monsters in these stages than there are in any of the previous four rounds, but since every enemy here are DemonicSpiders or GoddamnedBats, that appear in groups, that are located in worse and worse sections of the stage, it probably doesn't help. Stages 2 and 3 are worse, since they're both in the style of RiseToTheChallenge, meaning that if you fall off the edge of a top section, you'll have to redo part of that stage again or worse, [[AMoltenDateWithDeath fall directly into the molten metal]]. To finish off, the boss before the final one is [[ThatOneBoss Juggernaut II]].
** Stage 2 in [[UrbanRuins Forgotten City]], an otherwise regularly difficult round. Many of the enemies in this round are tankier, with none of them dying in one hit, and notably, the [[DemonicSpiders Spikers]] in this level have 3 HP, a notable leap from the previous ones in stage 1, their last instance where they have 1 HP. There's even a room featuring ''two'' of them '''''and''''' a [[BossInMookClothing Water Lizard]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The Platinum Hits re-release of the original game lowers the difficulty a bit, like having bosses take fewer hits and getting rid of a few enemies.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** The Time Control system is much better, as you simply have to pick up three crystals of the same color to refill a power, with all meters independently operating from each other.
** The Fast Forward Time Control was made much more intuitive. The only thing it affects now is your horizontal speed, as you otherwise control the same and jump at the same speed (which also means you can jump farther).

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The first game had a lukewarm reception in all regions except for one, but it did well enough in that one region to get a sequel. For a while, ''Blinx'' was about the ''only'' Xbox game to sell in Japan, until ''Halo'' hit its stride of course.

** [[TempleOfDoom Temple of Lost Time]] is officially [[DifficultySpike where the gloves come off]]. The level is full of MalevolentArchitecture, with SpikesOfDoom aplenty, switches that must be pressed to activate mechanisms, [[ThrowABarrelAtIt falling barrel currents]] that oftentime drop {{Exploding Barrel}}s too, spiked doors that only open with a well-timed Pause, gates with swinging [[AnAxeToGrind axes]], and floors that destroy once you step on them. With the exception of Octobaloons, no enemy in these stages will take less than two hits to die, and of course, this round marks the return of [[DemonicSpiders Molegons]] and the introduction of [[MightyGlacier Golems]]. On the bright side, the stage's boss is a BreatherBoss.

* ContestedSequel: This game did some much-needed difficulty rebalancing, is significantly more expansive and story-driven, and smoothed out much of the gameplay mechanics. It also does ridiculous amounts of [[ViewersAreMorons player handholding]], is significantly slower than the first game, isn't as heavy on clever puzzle solving, has a somewhat divisive GameplayRoulette, and Blinx himself is DemotedToExtra. As a result, which game is the better one is generally up in the air.

[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:The franchise as a whole]]

* GameBreaker: The Record time control is as much anything can be a game breaker [[NintendoHard in a game like]] ''[[NintendoHard Blinx]]''. The way you're "supposed" to use it, concerning "two man" puzzles, is rather boring but once one realizes the potential for having two cat men in action the options for abuse are seemingly endless. The sequel (which was otherwise [[SequelDifficultyDrop easier than the first game in every way]]) not letting you use record until halfway through, is a testament to how much easier record made an otherwise aggravating game.

[[/folder]]

* PolishedPort: Through backwards compatibility or the Arcade, the ''UsefulNotes/XboxOne'' and ''UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS'' ports of the first game feature faster load times and much better definition on the details, making the game's aesthetics truly shine.

** [[MoleMonster Hydro]][[TookALevelInBadass saur]] is considered to be by far the hardest boss in the game for various reasons. First off, the ice physics already make the fight hard enough. Unlike Molesaur, you cannot reliably see where Hydrosaur is going to appear because the snow and ice cover the platform you'll be standing on, and the ice is too opaque to see it coming. There's no trash in the area, forcing you to make Hydrosaur bite through the ice and shoot trash at you [[MoreDakka like a machine gun]], and [[ImprobableAimingSkills with incredible accuracy]] to boot. Time Crystals are lacking in this area, save for Retry crystals (you're gonna need them) and Rewind crystals; Hydrosaur will mercifully cough up some for you every now and then, but the crystals are determined at random, so good luck getting Slows or Pauses. As with Molesaur, you're supposed to use the same strategy of standing on a rock platform and waiting for Hydrosaur to eat it and leave itself vulnerable, but the kicker is that Hydrosaur will quickly get sick of you and start destroying the section of the stage you're currently standing on; may Lord have mercy if you're standing in the middle one, which has two rock platforms and connects every other section in the arena. To add insult to injury, Hydrosaur has an attack where it ascends into the air and divebombs into you, creating a red shockwave on its wake that pushes you far, far away if you manage to dodge the divebomb. And the worst part? The boss has [[DamageSpongeBoss 8 HP]], meaning you'll stay a while fighting this abomination. Have fun!
** [[{{Golem}} Juggernaut]] [[TookALevelInBadass II]] doesn't trump Hydrosaur in terms of difficulty, but it's a hard and grueling fight nonetheless. Its strategy hasn't changed much from that of its green counterpart, curling up into a ball and rolling into you. However, it can now do so as many times as it likes before finally deciding to rest at the center of the arena. After shooting it and its flunkies enough, the arena becomes dynamic, spinning to make things more complicated and opening up hatches on which you can fall into the molten metal. Eventually, Juggernaut II will start to remain invincible until you kill its flunkies and then some more, jumping around the room and dropping bombs, which will force you to either aim well and hope for the best shot, or avoid everything else trying to kill you until it restarts its usual strategy. Unlike Hydrosaur, trash does fall into the stage, but will do so at a much slower pace than its first fight, forcing you to aim well and use it sparingly. And finally, like Hydrosaur, Juggernaut II has [[DamageSpongeBoss 8 HP]], so you'll have to really be on your wits. Fortunately, there are Time Crystals found during the fight that could be of help.
*** There's [[GoodBadBugs an exploit]] you can use against Juggernaut II (and even the first Juggernaut) to make the fight less bothersome by bringing as many Rewinds as possible; using one to negate its ability to create flunkies and the arena's ability to become dynamic ([[FridgeBrilliance since it's going backwards]]), leaving you with only the boss to worry about.

** [[TempleOfDoom Temple of Lost Time]] is officially where TheGlovesComeOff. The level is full of MalevolentArchitecture, with SpikesOfDoom aplenty, switches that must be pressed to activate mechanisms, [[ThrowABarrelAtIt falling barrel currents]] that oftentime drop {{Exploding Barrel}}s too, spiked doors that only open with a well-timed Pause, gates with swinging [[AnAxeToGrind axes]], and floors that destroy once you step on them. With the exception of Octobaloons, no enemy in these stages will take less than two hits to die, and of course, this round marks the return of [[DemonicSpiders Molegons]] and the introduction of [[MightyGlacier Golems]]. On the bright side, the stage's boss is a BreatherBoss.

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: In the second game, your commanders tell you how to do pretty much everything.
* AuthorsSavingThrow: The Platinum Hits re-release of the original game lowers the difficulty a bit, like having bosses take fewer hits and getting rid of a few enemies.

* ContestedSequel: The second game did some much-needed difficulty rebalancing, is significantly more expansive and story-driven, and smoothed out much of the gameplay mechanics. It also does ridiculous amounts of [[ViewersAreMorons player handholding]], is significantly slower than the first game, isn't as heavy on clever puzzle solving, has a somewhat divisive GameplayRoulette, and Blinx himself is DemotedToExtra. As a result, which game is the better one is generally up in the air.

* GameBreaker: The record time control is [[NintendoHard as much anything can be a game breaker in Blinx]]. The way you're "supposed" to use it, concerning "two man" puzzles, is rather boring but once one realizes the potential for having two cat men in action the options for abuse are seemingly endless. The sequel, which was otherwise [[SequelDifficultyDrop easier than the first game in every way]], not letting you use record until halfway through, is a testament to how much easier record made an otherwise aggravating game.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The first game was panned in all regions except for one, but it did well enough in that one region to get a sequel. For a while, ''Blinx'' was about the ''only'' Xbox game to sell in Japan, until ''Halo'' hit its stride of course.

* ItsHardSoItSucks: The first game, what with its not very intuitive puzzles, [[InventoryManagementPuzzle a limited number of resources in every level]], TrialAndErrorGameplay that puts the player at the mercy of {{random drops}}, multiple cases of {{unwinnable by design}}, a power up system that forces the player to slow down when everything is on a [[TimedMission time limit]], a time limit that doesn't stop for anything other than retires when you take damage, which an easily lead to beating a boss only for a time over [[KaizoTrap during its death animation]], slow "reload" time, enemies with MercyInvincibility and or a long InvulnerableAttack while you're functionally a OneHitPointWonder, an automatic aiming system that frequently shot at everything but what you were trying to aim at plus a [[CameraScrew screwy camera]] to boot whenever the player moved Blinx close to anything.
** ItsEasySoItSucks: The developers seemed to have been listening to every complaint while working on the sequel, perhaps a little too much. You can count the number of puzzles MissionControl doesn't walk you through on both hands, one hand if you don't count optional things like cat/pig medals. The only things they don't make easier are speed runs, since the game comes to a halt when your bosses want to tell you something and can in fact lead to some ''different'' {{fake difficulty}} if you decide to run ahead rather than walk and wait for their yapping to start and finish, as one can end up triggering their prompts in the middle of an enemy attack or platform jumping segment. There are also several {{forced tutorial}}s.

* ScrappyMechanic: The way time powers are handled in the first game. Time powers (which are sometimes required to progress, and often ''very'' useful) are single-use abilities earned by collecting matching sets of crystals, but if the player picks up too many non-matching crystals, the entire set becomes wasted. There is no way to drop a set of crystals if a bad match is made or imminent, and crystals do not respawn, meaning that wasteful use of time powers or improper management of inventory[[note]]which is not difficult, since the game has lots of secrets to encourage experimentation, one of the time crystals is the game's health pickup, and another looks almost the same as the game's money pickup[[/note]] can lead the level to become UnintentionallyUnwinnable. Oh, and one of the powers is, [[OneHitPointWonder essentially]], the player's health. Imagine trying to pick up four pieces of heart every time you want a single point of health, and that if you pick up any other collectible while doing so, [[PoisonMushroom they both cancel out]]. Thankfully the second game completely did away with this and now you simply have to pick up three crystals of the same color to refill a power, with all meters independently operating from each other.
* ScrappyWeapon:
** In the first game, Fast Forward. It is never mandatory for solving puzzles unlike all the other time abilities, it makes an already hard game even ''harder'' because now you have to do everything in double-time, and its one perk, making you "invincible", actually just spares you from one retry if you get hit, after which the effect wears off immediately. The developers intended for it to be a time-saver, but it's dangerous to even use it to speed up because now you have to platform in fast mode too, and falling is the one exception to being spared a retry. The second game made it much more intuitive by making the only thing it affects being your horizontal speed, as you otherwise control the same and jump at the same speed (which also means you can jump farther).
** In the second game, the hammer. Even ignoring the fact that melee weapons are next to useless in this game thanks to the huge knockback you suffer from any weapon no matter how strong, the hammer has an extremely delayed and long animation before it actually initiates. While it does a lot of damage, actually getting it to land a hit is next to impossible. Worse yet, one boss requires it to be used, and once it's used you have to remember to switch away from it to actually harm the boss since it splits into pieces that can be killed in one hit with your bare fists, the latter of which are mapped to the same button as the hammer.
* SequelDifficultyDrop: Given the major complaints about the first game's high difficulty, it's no surprise the second game cranked it down several notches. Even ignoring the amount of hand holding MissionControl does, the annoying crystal matching system was completely removed (you simply only need to pick up three of the same crystal now to replenish a power or a retry, with order not mattering), ammo can be replenished much faster and the ammo now respawns, a new lock-on system has been added to ensure your shots hit what you want them to, you now have a proper health bar to deplete before you need to consume a retry, and a checkpoint system was introduced in the case you ran out of retries or didn't want to consume one.

* UnderusedGameMechanic: The second game has a few of these:
** Time power mixing, whereby two time powers can have their effects combined and activated at once. It's introduced very late in the game, and only has two places in the entire game where it's required for use, one of which is in its own tutorial. Otherwise, it's very situational and generally one time power will be more than sufficient enough to get you out of most situations.
** Vines that can be vacuumed for climbing. These are found in only one level (plus the tutorial), with only a small handful existing even within that context.
** The rotating cylinders that can be used for far jumps. Again, these are only found in one level and its preceding tutorial, and are clustered together when they do appear so as a result they only show up on two seperate occasions.

** To a lesser extent, Blinx himself, at least in the first game. His voice is pretty androgynous (and is not helped by the [[SpeakingSimlish strange pseudo-language]] everybody speaks in), and the only other hint to his gender, in-game or in the manual, is his [[CardiovascularLove reaction]] to seeing the princess for the first time. The Japanese version of the game and its accompanying instruction manual mitigate this somewhat, as Blinx uses the very masculine [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns "俺" ("ore")]] to refer to himself, making this more of an issue for western audiences.

* ScrappyMechanic: The way time powers are handled in the first game. Time powers (which are sometimes required to progress, and often ''very'' useful) are single-use abilities earned by collecting matching sets of crystals, but if the player picks up too many non-matching crystals, the entire set becomes wasted. There is no way to drop a set of crystals if a bad match is made or imminent, and crystals do not respawn, meaning that wasteful use of time powers or improper management of inventory[[note]]which is not difficult, since the game has lots of secrets to encourage experimentation, one of the time crystals is the game's health pickup, and another looks almost the same as the game's money pickup[[/note]] can lead the level to become UnwinnableByMistake. Oh, and one of the powers is, [[OneHitPointWonder essentially]], the player's health. Imagine trying to pick up four pieces of heart every time you want a single point of health, and that if you pick up any other collectible while doing so, [[PoisonMushroom they both cancel out]]. Thankfully the second game completely did away with this and now you simply have to pick up three crystals of the same color to refill a power, with all meters independently operating from each other.

* SequelDifficultyDrop: Given the major complaints about the first game's high difficulty, it's no surprise the second game cranked it down several notches. Even ignoring the amount of hand holding MissionControl does, the annoying crystal matching system was completely removed (you simply only need to pick up three of the same crystal now to replenish a power or a retry, with order not mattering), ammo can be replenished much faster and the ammo now respawns, a new lock-on system has been added to ensure your shots hit what you want them to, you now have three hits before you need to consume a retry, and a checkpoint system was introduced in the case you ran out of retries or didn't want to consume one.

* ScrappyWeapon: Fast Forward. It is never mandatory for solving puzzles unlike all the other time abilities, it makes an already hard game even ''harder'' because now you have to do everything in double-time, and its one perk, making you "invincible", actually just spares you from one retry if you get hit, after which the effect wears off immediately. The developers intended for it to be a time-saver, but it's dangerous to even use it to speed up because now you have to platform in fast mode too, and falling is the one exception to being spared a retry. The second game made it much more intuitive by making the only thing it affects being your horizontal speed, as you otherwise control the same and jump at the same speed (which also means you can jump farther).

* ScrappyMechanic: The way time powers are handled in the first game. Time powers (which are sometimes required to progress, and often ''very'' useful) are single-use abilities earned by collecting matching sets of crystals, but if the player picks up too many non-matching crystals, the entire set becomes wasted. There is no way to drop a set of crystals if a bad match is made or imminent, and crystals do not respawn, meaning that wasteful use of time powers or improper management of inventory[[note]]which is not difficult, since the game has lots of secrets to encourage experimentation, one of the time crystals is the game's health pickup, and another looks almost the same as the game's money pickup[[/note]] can lead the level to become UnwinnableByMistake. Oh, and one of the powers is, [[OneHitPointWonder essentially]], the player's health. Imagine trying to pick up four pieces of heart every time you want a single point of health, and that if you pick up any other collectible while doing so, [[PoisonMushroom they both cancel out]].
* ScrappyWeapon: Fast Forward. It is never mandatory for solving puzzles unlike all the other time abilities, it makes an already hard game even ''harder'' because now you have to do everything in double-time, and its one perk, making you "invincible", actually just spares you from one retry if you get hit, after which the effect wears off immediately. The developers intended for it to be a time-saver, but it's dangerous to even use it to speed up because now you have to platform in fast mode too, and falling is the one exception to being spared a retry.