Balan Wonderworld, the new platformer from the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, will be arriving in March. Before that, publisher Square Enix will be releasing a demo next week giving players a chance to experience the game for two hours ahead of its release.
The demo features three of the game’s worlds. The demo begins in World 1 – The Man Who Rages Against The Storm. Jose Gallard is a farmer whose cornfield is destroyed by the aforementioned storm and the farm world is created from Jose’s memories. Through Acts 1 and 2, player can use costumes like the Jumping Jack to get into unreachable locations, or the Dainty Dragon to clear obstacles with fire. At the end they’ll battle Barktholomew, the boss that represents Jose’s despair at the destruction of his livelihood.
World 4 – The Boy Who Would be One with the Wind is the second world players can experience. Only Act 1 is playable here. This unusual world features floating islands and bicycle parts scattered throughout the sky. Here, the Soaring Sheep costume allows players to float between islands, while the Aero Acrobat lets players perform flying kicks at both balloons and enemies.
The final world is World 6 – The Girl and the Kitten, and only Act 1 is playable here too. The memories of Cass Milligan, the girl who met a cute kitten, have formed this world out of candy pieces, floating books, and buildings made of moving gears. The Gear Prince costume can spin switches to operate machinery, while the Pumpkin Puncher gives players a rocket punch attack.
As well as the three worlds, the Isle of Tims base area will bring the worlds together. The Tims are magical creatures who can use their abilities to help Leo and Emma. Their powers can be upgraded if players feed them droplets they’ve harvested from flower patches on the island. Each of the stages also includes the collectible Balan Statues and the Balan’s Bout mini-games will be available to try too.
The demo will be playable in single player or in local co-op for two players each assuming the role of either Leo or Emma. Each of these characters has different costumes that allows them to access routes that aren’t available in single player.
Balan Wonderworld‘s demo will be released on both PS4 an PS5 on January 28. The full game will follow on March 26. Those who grab themselves a physical edition of the game will get a physical collectible Balan Theatre ticket.
