Balan Wonderworld was a highly anticipated game when it was first announced. It was made by Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima, who are best known for making some of Sega's best games, including Sonic the Hedgehog. However, rather than being published by Sega, Balan Wonderworld is a Square Enix game.
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Unfortunately, when a demo of the game released, many players were disappointed by its lack of challenge, slow movement, and incredibly simple gameplay. Some still played the game when it came out and are now thinking of what to play next, while those that didn't get it may want something similar to what they hoped Balan Wonderworld would be. Here are ten games that should satisfy both types of gamers.
10 Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is an underrated Sega game that Yuji Naka worked on. When Billy goes to Morning Land, he must save a group of chickens from Dark Raven, the antagonist of the game, and an army of crows.
From the trailers of Balan Wonderworld, it seemed that the game took a lot of inspiration from Billy Hatcher, so this may be closer to what players were looking for. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg came out in 2003 for the GameCube and was brought to PC in 2006.
9 A Hat In Time
A Hat in Time is a modern platformer that shares similarities to Balan Wonderworld. It was developed by Gears for Breakfast and published by Humble Bundle. It came to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2017, and was brought to the Switch in 2019.
Similar to the costumes in Balan Wonderworld, players of A Hat in Time will collect hats that give them different powers. The story follows an alien named Hat Kid that is trying to find her way home.
8 Super Monkey Ball
Super Monkey Ball is one of Sega's biggest platformer series, though it never gained as much popularity as Sonic the Hedgehog did. The first installment, which shares the same name as the franchise, released as an arcade game months before coming to the GameCube in 2001.
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Its unique gameplay is a nice twist compared to what people often expect from platformers as they navigate a monkey inside of a ball from one side of a course to another.
7 Spyro Reignited Trilogy
The Spyro games were some of the most popular platformers in the late 1990s and 2000s. Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a collection of the first three games in the series (Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon) released in 2018.
They were remastered by Toys For Bob, similar to what Vicarious Visions did with the Crash Bandicoot games in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. Players can reexperience three great games on the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
6 Kirby: Star Allies
Nintendo has always been known for their platformer games, and Kirby: Star Allies is one of their newest. It released in 2018 on the Switch with a lot of disappointment from fans. However, the developers listened to the criticism and worked hard to make it the best it could be.
A more challenging mode, Heroes in Another Dimension, was added as players felt that the game was too easy. New Dream Friends, characters from previous installments in the series that can be used, were also introduced. Hopefully, Balan Wonderworld will be given similar treatment.
5 Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is considered by many fans to be the best 3D game in the series. It released on the Switch back in 2017 and allowed players to control Mario and Cappy, a new character in the series. By using Cappy, players could turn into other creatures across the kingdoms in Mario's world, such as goombas, koopas, and even dinosaurs.
This is similar to Balan Wonderworld's use of costumes. Super Mario Odyssey is also similar to Balan Wonderworld as it is one of the easiest games in the series, though there are some difficult levels and bosses for those that want something harder.
4 Sonic Forces
Sonic Forces is the newest platformer game in the franchise and is one of the easiest, only taking a few hours for most fans to beat. Players get to control Modern Sonic, Classic Sonic, and their own customizable avatar.
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The three have to fight against Infinite, along with other villains they've faced in previous games such as Eggman and Chaos. This title was released in 2017 for the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. It should be noted that Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima did not work on this installment in the series.
3 Yoshi's Crafted World
A lot of characters from the Mario games have gotten spin-offs over the years, with one of them being Yoshi. Yoshi's Crafted World is another one of Nintendo's newest games as it released on the Switch in 2019.
As indicated by the title, Yoshi's Crafted World is a very creative game in which everything in it looks like a craft, causing this to be one of Nintendo's best games visually. The level design is also brilliant as it uses these craft elements in many realistic and artistic ways.
2 Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts shares a lot of themes with Balan Wonderworld. The installment in the Disney and Square Enix crossover that is most similar to the 2021 game is the original as it was both an RPG, like the other titles, as well as a platformer.
Being the first installment, Kingdom Hearts tells the story of how Sora, the protagonist of the franchise, first met Donald, Goofy, and a lot of other Disney characters. The game originally came out in 2002 on the PS2, but it has been released on the PS3, PS4, Xbox One, and PC since then, as a collection with other installments in the series.
1 Nights Into Dreams
Since the first trailer of Balan Wonderworld released, people compared the game to Nights into Dreams, hoping that it would be a spiritual successor to the 1996 title. This game was also made by Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima while they were working at Sega.
Nights into Dreams is, in many ways, what a lot of people were expecting Balan Wonderworld to be. Nights into Dreams is available on the Sega Saturn, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.