YMMV / Blinx

The franchise as a whole

• Awesome Music: If there is something people can agree on despite everything, it's that the music was amazing and likely ahead of its time. From the first game, Temple of Lost Time, Everwinter, Forge of Hours are enormous standouts.
• Cult Classic: It was a Stillborn Franchise that didn't live up to its hype, but it still has its fans nevertheless.
• Critical Backlash: The games reputations (mainly the first one) sunk very low in the following years after their release, to the point where Blinx was basically regarded as a complete joke not worth anyone's time. People who actually go to try it out find that the games can't possibly live up to being of such low quality, and will instead see games with at least some good qualities and interesting ideas. With the caveat of noticing some issues as well.
• Game-Breaker: The Record time control is as much anything can be a game breaker in a game like 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. It and the Retry are also responsible for the Alternate Timeline Glitch, soundly described below in the folder for the first game. The sequel (which was otherwise 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.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: 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. This was arguably invoked by Microsoft, since they deliberately solicited a Japanese developer (Artoon) to create a cartoony mascot platformer for them. It worked, but not well enough.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • 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.
  • Early magazines advertising Blinx followed with the line "Mario, Sonic... prepare for war!" Unfortunately, Blinx didn't last long enough for either of them to consider a rival.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Mina from the second game is the "child" of three goddesses that inexplicably has the hair style of Super Saiyan Goku. Fast forward to Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, 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 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 Sonic the Hedgehog. After the second game came a certain infamous Sonic game involving a romance with a human princess. Even moreso, in the sequel Blinx is voiced by Quinton Flynn, who would go on to eventually voice Silver the Hedgehog, a character introduced in that game.
    • Furthermore, the second game features a character creation feature and has the player controlling that avatar for the entire game. Thirteen years before another Sonic game.
• Memetic Molester: When Blinx and the other Time Sweepers use their vacuums, they give a wide Cheshire Cat Grin that some players found to be extremely off-putting. It's especially bad in the first game, where there are no frames that transition between his neutral face and grinning face.
• Nintendo Hard: The last two worlds of the first game (Everwinter, Forge Of Hours) and the final boss (Momentopolis).
• Popular with Furries: Blinx's cute Funny Animal cat design has endeared quite a number of furries, though he's still overshadowed by other similar protagonists.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: Beating the game without using Time Controls or upgrading your sweeper. The former is only possible in the first game, but the latter is possible in both, just very hard. Have fun feeling the difficulty of only relying on common trash to dispatch enemies!
• Stuck in Their Shadow: These two games, especially the overall improved sequel, may have done well on the market if not for the fact games like Jak and Daxter, Star Fox Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Ratchet & Clank, 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 Viewtiful Joe and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time implemented much less frustrating time manipulation gimmicks, so Blinx did not even have that for very long.
• Viewer Gender Confusion:
  • 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 fairly 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 the art director eventually put the issue to rest after thirteen years by confirming that Pelon is indeed male (it's worth noting that even Naoto Ohshima himself, the game's director, had to check with someone else when asked!).
  • To a lesser extent, Blinx himself, at least in the first game. His voice is pretty androgynous (and is not helped by the strange pseudo-language everybody speaks in), and the only other hint to his gender, in-game or in the manual, is his 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 "俺" ("ore") to refer to himself, making this more of an issue for Western audiences.
• Vindicated by History: The games are generally looked upon more fondly today than when they were first released.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Both games push the limits of the 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 Super Mario Sunshine were able to go toe to toe with it.

Blinx: The Time Sweeper

• Anti-Climax Boss: Dust King, in Forgotten City. The boss operates similarly to Dust Keeper in Round 1, jumping randomly around the arena and throwing trash at you, but it can force the arena to change forms each certain amount of time or when it takes damage. However, for some reason, the boss lacks Mercy Invincibility for a short amount of time while the arena is changing forms, even after he Turns Red. This can lead to a Cycle of Hurting by shooting trash at him each time the arena fully changes form, so as long as one of the spots in the arena doesn't screw his position up, Dust King can be defeated under a minute. Keep in mind, this is the fourth boss we're talking about.
• Breather Boss: Juggernaut, the boss from Temple Of Lost Time. Slow attacks and a completely predictable pattern that lets you suck up as much trash as possible. Its flunkies that spawn after you inflict damage to it lack Mercy Invincibility, die in one shot, and cough up Time Crystals on death. The only problem Juggernaut could pose is shooting its flunkies to keep the difficulty easy and the Spikes of Doom around the arena, but that aside, it's a matter of beating the boss at your own pace. The game's own difficulty rating even points out its (lack of) difficulty for you!
• Breather Level: Mine of Precious Moments is generally easier that both Temple of Lost Time and Everwinter, the levels it's sandwiched on. Even with the stage being a giant bottomless pit, and there being Molegons, the strongest versions of Chrono Blobs and Combustasaurs, the area is open enough that there is much less to worry about than the previous round's Malevolent Architecture and the next round's hordes of monsters and ice physics. On the other hand, the round's boss is Kerogon II.
• Demonic Spiders:
  • Spikers. As soon as one spots you, it will roll at you a long distance, curled up into an invincible 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 Forge of Hours). In later levels, if alone, they'll also usually be in cramped places. A trick with the camera allows you to 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.
  • Molegons are this not because they are hard to face alone or anything — in fact, you'll rarely get the privilege of doing so. These buggers appear in the Hourglass Caves, Temple of Lost Time and Mine of Precious Moments, and their main problem comes from the fact you'll usually find one 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.
  • Combustasaurs are similar to Water Spirits, being tied with them for the highest amount of health of any enemy at 11 HP (8 HP in the Platinum Hits version)^* 10/7 from the illusion, 1 from the actual monster, 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 TS-2000 Ice sweeper will One-Hit Kill its fiery illusion, so long as you don't hit it with bombs.
    • A pink variation in the second stage of Forge of Hours will combine both traits of the Water Spirit and Combustasaur, meaning it moves while shooting. In a cramped area with a Tesla coil machine that shoots bolts of electricity so that you get easily cornered. Well, then... The Platinum Hits version also makes it tougher than the other Combustasaurs, as it has 9 HP compared to the usual 8 HP.
  • Typhoon Dragons. They spin to create a typhoon on plain land, which makes them 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 (most commonly Spikers), where their ability to leave you open will prove fatal. Make sure these guys are the first enemy you take care of if you find one in a group. Fortunately, they're left vulnerable if you use a Pause, and their health is only average.
• Difficulty Spike:
  • Round 4, Forgotten City, is a noticeable one from Hourglass Caves. Some of the areas in which you fight enemies are more cramped, which can make it a bit difficult to adjust.
  • The second half of the game, starting with Round 5, Temple of Lost Time, is an even bigger ramp up in difficulty for obvious reasons, and the game only becomes more difficult from there. Sure, Forgotten City isn't that easy either, but compared to Round 5, it's a lot less taxing.
• Fridge Brilliance: Blinx can hold a total of nine Retry Holders, boosting his HP up to 10 hits. The reason for this? Becuase Cats Have Nine Lives!
• Game-Breaker: 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, 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 vital for speedrunning.
• Goddamned Bats:
  • Octoballoons usually fly on their own, ocasionally coming down to shoot at you. The main issue comes from them being on large groups of other monsters, where their large hurtbox, quick shot delay (compared to Dust Herders) can prove an annoyance. The fact they fly can also make them hard to hit without jumping. Nothing says you can't use the trash they shoot at you to your advantage, though.
  • Keroppers are unique: you can't regularly shoot at them from the front, as they'll just eat the trash and become bigger with each absorbed shot. In fact, this is how you're supposed to defeat them; feeding them and causing them to become bigger and slower, to the point you can shoot them from the sides or behind. Fortunately, they can't eat heavy trash as it's too big. Bombs will also do the trick — if they eat a bomb, it deals one more point of danage, killing green variants in one hit (Super Bombs don't normally appear, but buying one and feeding it to them will OHKO even red variants).
  • Gatekeepers are harlequin-looking gates that spawn a harlequin-looking monster if you get close. These enemies aren't that bad, but the 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.
  • Water Spirits. They are tied with Combustasaurs for the highest amount of health for any enemy at 11 HP (7 in the Platinum Hits version). You have to hit it 10 times (6 in PH) to destroy its water illusion, followed by an additional one after it reveals its true form (a small lizard), to finally kill it for good. Don't even think of using heavy trash or 16-ton weights to weaken them, as they take 1 HP from those, too. And if you don't kill the resulting critter, it will reform its illusion and you'll have to kill it again, though 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. Thankfully, the Water Spirit is very slow, and the TS-2000 Flame sweeper will One-Hit Kill the illusion, so long as you don't hit it with bombs.
  • Golems are sturdy, yet fairly slow and tall monsters whose parts can even be sweeped before the monster forms by using certain time controls not named FF; overall, not too worrying of an enemy unless they're in groups of other monsters as well. However, it's their form in the 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) or hitting you. Though if you can spare the trash, said clocks can be destroyed and, like other enemy parts, be exchanged for some serious dough at the end of the stage.
  • 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 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 after getting hit, they will respawn with 1 HP^...huh?Ice Turtles actually have 2 HP, but getting hit without falling off the stage does kill them in one hit.
• Goddamned Boss:
  • Kerogon, in Déjà Vu Canals. Think the Keroppers (jumps at you and eats trash shot at it from the front) but 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 subverts the Feed It a Bomb 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.
  • Molesaur, 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. Fortunately, like with Kerogon, Molesaur has pretty low health.
  • Tom-Tom Bikers 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 — you'll need to defeat him quickly if you want the loot for yourself. Oftentimes, they will be found alongside monsters, ensuring you won't finish the mini-boss quickly enough.
• Good Bad Bugs:
  • The Alternate Timeline Glitch, a full explanation of which can be read here. In a nutshell, take the already Game-breaking Record, perform any action using it (invoking Time Crystals or money, killing monsters, etc.), then as the Record plays back after it rewinds, perform any action with Blinx before the Record's playback time ends and immediately use a Retry. Due to a programming bug, any action you performed as the real Blinx persists as if you had done it during the Record itself. This is extremely useful for speedruning individual levels, as it cuts down the amount of trash you have to use because you kill other monsters by technically doing... nothing! It is also very useful for duplicating money earned from various sources, most notably bosses. An example of the effects of the glitch at speedrunning can be seen here, whereas examples of its duplication abilities can be seen here.
    • A less powerful but still useful way to use the Record to duplicate stuff is by not using a Retry, but still performing the action you made as Blinx before the Record clone does it. This can lead to duplicating money from chests and bosses, or Time Crystals from chests and regular monsters.
  • 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 Juggernaut II, this also prevents the arena from becoming dynamic, mitigating some of the difficulty and leaving you with only the boss' repetitive, time-consuming pattern to worry about.
• It's Hard, So It Sucks!: The game's puzzles aren't very intuitive, there's a limited number of resources in every level and Trial-and-Error Gameplay puts the player at the mercy of random drops, causing multiple cases of Unintentionally Unwinnable. The game's power up system forces the player to slow down when everything is on a time limit, and said time limit not stopping for anything other than Retries when you take damage, which can easily lead to beating a boss only for a time over 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 screwy camera, which boots whenever the player moves Blinx close to anything. Finally, there are multiple enemies with Mercy Invincibility and or a long Invulnerable Attack while Blinx is functionally a One-Hit-Point Wonder.
• Polished Port: Through backwards compatibility or the Arcade, the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S 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.
• Porting Disaster: On the other hand, playing Blinx in the Xbox 360 is considered to be by far the worst version due to the game lagging at several points.
• Scrappy Mechanic: The way Time Controls are handled. They are single-use abilities earned by collecting matching sets of crystals, and are sometimes required to progress, 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 can lead the level to become Unintentionally Unwinnable. Oh, and one of the powers is, 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, they both cancel out.
• Scrappy Weapon: The Fast Forward, on casual playthroughs, can be more of a hassle than a blessing. None of the puzzles involving it are mandatory unlike all the other ones, and the drastically increased speed makes an already hard game even harder because now you have to do everything in double-time. Its secondary perk, making you "invincible" for one hit, is made up by how the effect wears off immediately on hit. 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. It does have its uses, though, as it's vital for speedrunning and the shield can be combined with a Bomb's or Super Bomb's blast radius to spare you the hit without losing time.
• That One Boss: Most of the "II" verions of the bosses are a big ramp up in difficulty.
  • Kerogon 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 6 HP (5 in the Platinum Hits version), 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.
  • Hydrosaur, in Everwinter, is considered to be 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 like a machine gun, and 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 eventually start sinking the section of the stage you're currently standing on; may Lord have mercy if it sunk 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 8 HP (7 in Platinum Hits), meaning you'll stay a while fighting this abomination. Have fun!
  • Juggernaut II, while not as bad as Hydrosaur, is pretty difficult to fight as well. 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, as if Juggernaut II goes back to the center, if you haven't taken out its flunkies, it will 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 8 HP, even in Platinum Hits, so you'll have to really be on your toes. Fortunately, there are Time Crystals found during the fight that could be of help. As explained in Good Bad Bugs, bringing in Rewinds can mitigate the difficulty if you know how to use them.
• That One Level:
  • Temple of Lost Time is officially where the gloves come off. The level is full of Malevolent Architecture, with Spikes of Doom aplenty, switches that must be pressed to activate mechanisms, falling barrel currents that oftentime drop Exploding Barrels too, spiked doors that only open with a well-timed Pause, gates with swinging 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 Molegons and the introduction of Golems. On the bright side, the stage's boss is a Breather Boss.
  • 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. The water ponds are, for all intents and purposes, glorified Bottomless Pits, and the stages' platforms also tend to break or move, making falling into the water even easier. 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 are either Demonic Spiders or Goddamned Bats — in fact, this level introduces Typhoon Dragons, features the second-strongest variants of Spikers (which tend to team up with Typhoon Dragons to create a nasty one-two combo), and Water Spirits also make a return. And finally, to finish it off, the round's boss is Hydrosaur.
  • Forge of Hours, the very last level, is Malevolent Architecture 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, Tesla coil contraptions that constantly create streams of electricity to limit your movements lest you get a painful shock, and of course, since it's a forge, gigantic and numerous 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 Demonic Spiders or Goddamned Bats that appear in groups and are located in worse and worse sections of each stage, it probably doesn't help. Stages 2 and 3 are worse, since they're both in the style of Rise to the Challenge, meaning that if you fall off the edge of a top section, you'll have to redo part of that stage again or worse, fall directly into the molten metal. To finish off, the boss before the final one is Juggernaut II.
  • Stage 2 in Forgotten City, an otherwise regularly difficult round, is this in the original version. Many of the enemies in this round are tankier, with none of them dying in one hit, and notably, the 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. The last room even features two of these Spikers and a Water Spirit, so even with all the trash around, juggling everything is difficult. Fortunately, the Platinum Hits version, much like with other levels in the game, tones this level down by repositioning enemies and using weaker variants of Dust Herders and Spikers.

Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space

• Annoying Video Game Helper: Your commanders tell you how to do pretty much everything.
• Contested Sequel: 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 player handholding, is significantly slower than the first game, isn't as heavy on clever puzzle solving, has a somewhat divisive Gameplay Roulette, the Darker and Edgier tone is also divisive, and Blinx himself is Demoted to Extra. As a result, which game is the better one is generally up in the air.
• It's Easy, So It Sucks!: 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 Mission Control 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 tutorials.
• Salvaged Gameplay Mechanic:
  • 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).
• Scrappy Weapon: 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 really difficult. 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.
• Sequel Difficulty Drop: 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 Mission Control 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.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Gameplay-wise, the game fixes many of the issues that hindered the first game, and is generally better liked than it as a result.
• Underused Game Mechanic: 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.

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