Even as an adult, there's a great appeal to taking a simple black and white image and laying down color into it, something that's almost therapeutic to take part in, at least for myself. It's not about staying in the lines as you get older of course, but it's about laying down some personality into an otherwise bland image, without needing to stress about getting it all right. There's a creative freedom to coloring that's hard to match, but de Blob really took that basic coloring book idea and turned it into a video game with surprising results.

The story of de Blob comes out of the fictional location of Chroma City, a place where color has been banned, and everything is now represented in drab swabs of gray, black, and white. Bucking against the current regime, our title character Blob has decided to join forces with an underground movement, or "The Color Underground" if you will. This kicks off the actual gameplay you'll be engaged in for most the main story, which has de Blob slathering himself in different coats of paint, as he attempts to spread color back into a sterile world, one roll at a time.

Each section of Chroma City is gated off, and as you begin to fill more spaces with color, you'll earn a score that goes towards unlocking more and more sections. This is based on a percentage of area you fill in; so the more effective you are at covering all the spots, the more you'll get to see. There's also a time limit in play, but it's not quite that hard, and the difficulty only comes from trying to be thorough, and not so much for any of the obstacles that pop up along the way. There are enemies you will encounter, usually police-like black and white guys called INKT, along with a few challenges or goals to achieve within certain sections. Blob can color himself in a variety of paints, done by finding and destroying paint robots scattered about the city. Certain goals will require specific paints, but for the most part you're free to paint the town however you see fit.

Controls are as simple as using the analog stick to move and using the Wii remote to control your jumps. Blob has a variety of things he can pull off, including some tricky jumps later on, but for the most part the control scheme is really simple, and definitely something that could appeal to all ages.

Along with the bright and colorful visuals, the music really plays a big part in de Blob as well. You'll notice as you roll around and paint that the music seems to be affected by your actions, and there's a great dynamic between what happens on screen and how the actual game sounds while you're playing. It's not necessarily the first time we've seen something like this, but it helps to add more charm to a game that's already oozing with it.

Surprisingly, outside of the single player mode there are also a number of multiplayer games you can partake in with up to 4 players. Most of the modes involve all 4 players painting a section of the city, usually seeing who can paint the most. One mode has only one player being able to paint, and the other players need to take out that blob to gain the painting ability. Another allows you to paint over your opponents sections, while another keeps you stuck to only objects that are still black and white. All of the multiplayer modes are quite a bit of fun, and while they're not going to keep you engaged for very long, they're still a pretty solid way of passing some time and getting a bit more out of the game.

I definitely enjoyed the de Blob, and found it to be a surprisingly fresh title for the Wii, and one that I hope doesn't get overlooked. I don't find the Katamari Damacy comparison to be exactly fitting, but it's definitely a unique game, and one that's worth checking out for Wii owners. Give this one a go; I doubt you'll be disappointed.