Ball laB II is a minimalistic precision single screen platformer.  Guide a white ball through beige and orange obstacles like spikes, pits, and air gusts as you make it to the exit of the level.  I’ve never played the first game so I don’t know if this one has any additions or improvements.  It’s available on all current consoles, but reviewed on PS4 here.

Move around with the control stick and jump and double jump with the X button and that’s it.  You must make it to a swirl of pixels in the level, that’s the exit.  If you hit a spike or fall into a pit, you have to start the level over again.  And that’s pretty much it.

Aside from being way too difficult, this game has some other problems, too.  Some levels have you jump high above the top of the TV screen, and you can’t see where you are until you fall down again.  And the gusts of air that blow you around are hard to see since they are just depicted as white dots on a beige background.  Plus I had a hard time getting a bead on how they work anyway.  Those things just kind of take the precision out of a precision platformer, so I lost interest pretty quickly with this one.

Kid Factor:

Nothing too terribly violent here.  If your ball hits an obstacle, it just dissolves into pixels.  Reading skill isn’t needed, but younger gamers may find this one too difficult.  Ball laB II is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews