Update [Sat 21st Jan, 2023 15:20 GMT]: The YouTuber RebelTaxi has released a new video taking a closer look at the cancelled de Blob port that was in development for the Nintendo DS.
In the video, he reveals that the build he obtained is a short debug build with three stages. He also gives a better insight into the reasons why the game was cancelled.
According to his sources, the project was apparently shut down when THQ, the parent company of its developer Helixe, decided to close the small studio. At the time, THQ wasn't doing so great, suffering major losses after many of its original projects had bombed and sales of its license titles fell.
RebelTaxi has released the ROM of this unfinished build online. You can watch the full video below and you'll also find a link to download this build in the video description:
Original Story [Mon 16th Jan, 2023 14:00 GMT]: Earlier today, the popular gaming YouTuber RebelTaxi revealed that they have in their possession an early build of the unreleased de Blob port for Nintendo DS (as spotted by MyNintendoNews).
de Blob, in case you're unfamiliar, was a THQ-published game initially released for iOS and Nintendo Wii in 2008. It had players control a blob and collect paint to transform landmarks and buildings in order to complete missions. A DS version of the game was announced to be in development inside the THQ subsidiary Helixe but was eventually canceled for unspecified reasons, with the studio shutting not long after.
RebelTaxi posted this exciting news on Twitter along with a video of some gameplay. It shows an introductory animation of various coloured blobs being turned into robotic drones, as well as some footage of a city stage. From this, we can see how the DS's dual screen would have been implemented, with the map being placed on the top screen. Players, meanwhile, controlled the protagonist with the touch controls.
Compared to the handheld port of de Blob 2, which simplified the gameplay of its console counterpart into a 2D platformer, this appears to be a more faithful take on the series. Which makes it all the more disappointing that it never saw the light of day. We're hoping that more footage of the game will be released in the future and that the build can be archived somewhere to ensure it's properly preserved.