Balan Wonderworld was one of the most-anticipated 3D platformers to release this year because it was being developed by Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima who are the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog. However, with the release of the game’s demo, the hopes starting to go down and despite various promises by the developer to fix the issues with the game at launch, the full game failed to live up to expectations and now recent sales figures suggest that Balan Wonderworld has flopped massively.
According to sales data shared by Cartridge Games over at Twitter, the game managed to sell just 2,100 copies and was unable to crack the top 30 list during its first week at retail. The game also failed to get a spot in the top in the eShop in Japan or North America despite being available for sale digitally while titles older than Balan Wonderworld are currently occupying spots that are much higher in the list. These figures are absolutely disappointing for the developer and Square Enix, which is the publisher of the game.
Normally, with such bad releases, we can blame the developer for rushing the game as it has plenty of bugs or glitches that are hindering progress in the game or making the game unplayable for example Cyberpunk 2077. However, this time around, the game was complete and ready to ship at launch without any issues or glitches however it seems that this time around, the whole concept of the game was dull and boring and failed to impress the players who tried out the demo or the full game when it was launched last month.
In Japan:
Balan Wonderworld debuted at under 2,100 copies, completely missing the top 30 in its first week at retail pic.twitter.com/UVoYo6WMxk
— Cart Games (@CartridgeGames) April 2, 2021
I personally liked the character design of the game and the world was colorful and full of life however the gameplay was mediocre and the overall presentation of the game was just okay as well. The main demographic of Balan Wonderworld is still undefined because it is not as enjoyable as Mario or Sonic, something that adults would enjoy and it certainly does not attract a young audience as well such as children. It was a decent attempt by Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima however it seems like their plan to create another memorable character like Sonic the Hedgehog did not really work in this case.
What are your thoughts on Balan Wonderworld? Did you enjoy your time with the game or did you end up throwing it in the bin as well? Let us know in the comments section below.
