History YMMV / Blinx

* 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]], {{trial and error game play}} that puts the player at the mercy of {{randomly 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.

* HarsherInHindsight: One minor complaint about the sequel is that you never get to play as the titular character. Because there was never a third game and Microsoft ''abandoned'' the trademark in 2015, we will never get to play as Blinx himself ever again.

** Pelon, a side character in the second game, was a source of disagreement among fans for years who couldn't figure out if the Sweeper was male or female. Despite all the other Sweepers being male, Pelon has a very effeminate voice, a sleeker face than the others, and a name that isn't obviously masculine or feminine. Even [[http://www.gamesradar.com/be-kind-rewind-the-real-story-behind-blinx-xboxs-mediocre-mascot/ a 2017 online article]] referred to Pelon as female, but [[WordOfGod the art director eventually put the issue to rest]] after thirteen years by [[https://twitter.com/NaotoOhshima/status/851271806434525192 confirming that Pelon is indeed male]].

** Mina from the second game is the "child" of three goddesses that inexplicably has [[ShoutOut the hair style]] of [[Manga/DragonBall Super Saiyan Goku]]. Fast forward to ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'', where it turns out the saiyans can create "gods" by pooling their energy, they have to do so in that particular movie to stop a humanoid cat and when their god's time runs out Goku taps back into its power using his super saiyan form. And then [[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF the follow up movie]] reveals the cat has a "retainer" that can turn back time.

** In the first game, Blinx dives in to save the infected world because he seemed to develop a crush on the princess that the Tom-Toms kidnapped. The game's director and Blinx's designer was Naoto Ohshima, the man who designed ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''. After the second game came [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 a certain infamous Sonic game involving a romance with a human princess]].

* StuckInTheirShadow: These two games, especially the overall improved sequel, may have done well on the market if not for the fact games like ''Videogame/JakAndDaxter'',''Videogame/StarFoxAdventures'', ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' and ''Videogame/RatchetAndClank'', hadn't been much better console exclusives targeting the same audience, meaning the time controls were about the only thing that made ''Blinx'' stand out. Then games available on multiple consoles such as ''Videogame/ViewtifulJoe'' and ''Videogame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' implemented much less frustrating time manipulation gimmicks, so ''Blinx'' did not even have that for very long.

* HypeBacklash: It was a supposed Xbox MascotWithAttitude, but [[http://web.archive.org/web/20031001191838/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/september03/25overrated/index21.shtml ended being less than impressive.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: Mina from the second game is the "child" of three goddesses that inexplicably has [[ShoutOut the hair style]] of [[Manga/DragonBall Super Saiyan Goku]]. Fast forward to ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'', where it turns out the saiyans can create "gods" by pooling their energy, they have to do so in that particular movie to stop a humanoid cat and when their god's time runs out Goku taps back into its power using his super saiyan form. And then [[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF the follow up movie]] reveals the cat has a "retainer" that can turn back time.

* HilariousInHindsight: Mina from the second game is the "child" of three goddesses that inexplicably has [[ShoutOut the hair style]] of [[Manga/DragonBall Super Saiyan Goku]]. Fast forward to ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'', where it turns out the saiyans can create "gods" by pooling their energy, they have to do so in that particular movie to stop a humanoid cat and when their god's time runs out Goku taps back into its power using his super saiyan form. And then [[Anime/DragonBallZRevivalOfF the follow up movie]] reveals the cat has a "retainer" that can turn back time.

* 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, [[OneHitWonder 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]].

* ScrappyMechanic: The way time powers are handled. 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, [[OneHitWonder 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]].

* 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.

* StuckInTheirShadow: These two games, especially the overall improved sequel, may have done well on the market if not for the fact games like ''Videogame/JakAndDaxter,''Videogame/StarFoxAdventures'', ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' and ''Videogame/RatchetAndClank'', hadn't been much better console exclusives targeting the same audience, meaning the time controls were about the only thing that made ''Blinx'' stand out. Then games available on multiple consoles such as ''Videogame/ViewtifulJoe'' and ''Videogame/ThePrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' implemented much less frustrating time manipulation gimmicks, so ''Blinx'' did not even have that for very long.

** 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 [[JapanesePronouns "俺" ("ore")]] to refer to himself, making this more of an issue for western audiences.

** 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.

* CultClassic

* ScrappyMechanic: The way time powers are handled. 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, [[OneHitWonder 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]].
* ViewerGenderConfusion: Pelon, a side character in the second game, was a source of disagreement among fans for years who couldn't figure out if the Sweeper was male or female. Despite all the other Sweepers being male, Pelon has a very effeminate voice, a sleeker face than the others, and a name that isn't obviously masculine or feminine. Even [[http://www.gamesradar.com/be-kind-rewind-the-real-story-behind-blinx-xboxs-mediocre-mascot/ a 2017 online article]] referred to Pelon as female, but [[WordOfGod the art director eventually put the issue to rest]] after thirteen years by [[https://twitter.com/NaotoOhshima/status/851271806434525192 confirming that Pelon is indeed male]].

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Pelon, a side character in the second game, was a source of disagreement among fans for years who couldn't figure out if the Sweeper was male or female. Despite all the other Sweepers being male, Pelon has a very effeminate voice, a sleeker face than the others, and a name that isn't obviously masculine or feminine. Even [[http://www.gamesradar.com/be-kind-rewind-the-real-story-behind-blinx-xboxs-mediocre-mascot/ a 2017 online article]] referred to Pelon as female, but [[WordOfGod the art director eventually put the issue to rest]] after thirteen years by confirming that Pelon is indeed male.

* ViewerGenderConfusion - Pelon, a side-character in the second game, was a source of disagreement among fans for years who couldn't figure out if the Sweeper was male or female. Despite all the other Sweepers being male, Pelon has a very effeminate voice, a sleeker face than the others, and a name that isn't obviously masculine or feminine. Even a 2017 online article referred to Pelon as female, but [[WordOfGod the art director eventually put the issue to rest]] after thirteen years by confirming that Pelon is indeed male.

* StopHelpingMe - In the second game, your commanders tell you how to do pretty much everything.
* VindicatedByHistory: The games are generally looked upon more fondly today than when they were first released.

* StopHelpingMe - In the second game, your commanders tell you how to do pretty much everything.

* HypeBacklash: It was a supposed Xbox MascotWithAttitude, but [[http://web.archive.org/web/20031001191838/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/september03/25overrated/index21.shtml ended being less than impressive.]]

* HypeBacklash: It was a supposed MascotWithAnAttitude, but [[http://web.archive.org/web/20031001191838/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/september03/25overrated/index21.shtml ended being less than impressive.]]