Blinx The Time Sweeper

by Microsoft

Product Features

• Clever, Cool Cat: At the Time Factory, where time is manufactured and managed, Blinx has worked as Time Sweeper and janitor for years. His daily tasks include collecting lost time crystals before they cause glitches in time.
• Time Control: Actually control the flow of time, a feature only possible on Xbox. Record actions, play them back and have dual characters cooperate to complete challenges.
• Totally Twisted Worlds:
• The Time Sweeper: What would Blinx do without his Time Sweeper?
• Upgradeable Weapons and Abilities: Need extra power to move larger obstacles? Blinx sweeps up trash from the streets to supplement his meager income from the Time Factory.

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00006IJIW
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 5 inches ; 1.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: August 6, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,336 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Blinx: The Time Sweeper takes into a new kind of action, in the world four-dimensional adventure! Become the master of time in this fun and exciting new 4-D game!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid, fun platformer in the "old school" tradition., October 16, 2002

By 

Gabriel Perdue (North Aurora, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blinx The Time Sweeper (Video Game)

Blinx: The Timesweeper is a fun and fairly well made platformer cast in the mold of some classic games but with a new twist: the ability to manipulate time. I read a fair number of reviews on the internet before buying this game and a distressing number of bad reviews nearly dissuaded me from the purchase. I'm quite glad though, that a few poisitve and insightful comments convinced me to take the plunge.

Starting with the basics, Blinx is a three dimensional (actually four dimensional) platformer game. That is to say, you control a character who has to move through large levels and leap about and stay alive while defeating a fairly large number of quirky enemies and rooting out hidden secrets. For a plot you have your basic save the world, get the girl scenario. The controls for Blinx are a little difficult to manipulate at first, not because the scheme is particularly complex, but because of the camera. A faulty camera is the first pitfall in any three dimensional, third person game and the deisgners of Blinx, recognizing this, put the camera in your hands. You choose the angle and can even go into an "over the ears" mode which lets you look around from a first person perspective. The challenge in controlling Blinx is figuring out how to move while constantly manipulating the camera to your best advantage, as "forward" and "backward" and such change with the camera. It can be a little disorienting at times, but that's just part of the game. If you can get that skill down early, a lot of the tougher sequences in the game get a lot easier. Ultimately, Blinx can move and look any which way, you've just got to learn how to make him do it and the challenge is subtle, especially in heated battles where you don't have time to choose your angles carefully.

What makes Blinx special and different are the time manipulation features. If you gather certain cmbinations of special "time crystals", you can alter the game with the stdandard VCR controls: pause, slow, rewind, fast forward, and record. All the powers are cool and useful although they sometimes seem under-utilized, which is to say that there a lot of levels and enemies you can easily defeat without any of the time manipulations. But they are still fun to use, with rewind, record, and pause seeming to be the most powerful. Rewind is most often used to reconstruct crumbled or destroyed features of a level, pause is a useful combat trick to say the least, and record is a multipurpose tool, making you twice as deadly in combat or giving you a spare hand to open special, double triggered doors and such. You can gather crystals by walking over them or by sucking them up with your vacuum cleaner. Blinx is equipped with one heck of a vacuum cleaner and he uses it to suck up garbage to fire at his enemies.

Graphically and musically speaking, Blinx is dripping with cuteness. The graphics are amazing and the landscapes are trippy and highly detailed although there seem to be an awfully lage number of invisible walls keeping you out of some of the nooks and corners. The music is your typical platformer fare, and would have gone perfectly with Sonic or Mario games of the past, although it is more techinically involved than some of those games' music and obviously beyond the capabilites of the older consoles we all played those games on.

Blinx is a long game of standard levels punctuated by occasional boss levels that you move through in a linear fashion. However, you can go back and replay old levels as many times as you wish in order to stockpile gold or to perfect your technique. Indeed, you have to go back to some of the old levels once you have better equipment as some secrets are only accessible once you have used some of your cash to upgrade your vacuum cleaner. Some objects are far too heavy and large for the sweeper you start with to handle.

The most common complaints people have made about this game are about its camera, its difficulty, and its music and feel. Most of these complaints are unwarranted. The camera is challenging to learn to use, but once you do it is quite powerful and flexible. Good games should be difficult. An easy game you can pass in a few hours without dying or having to really think or explore new strategies is just a waste of time. The difficult stages you encounter later in the game go a long way towards giving it that "old school" feel. And finally, the game is supposed to be "cute". If you don't think you can stomach that sort of Hello Kitty brand of cuteness, then Blinx, despite its excellent and innovative glameplay, is not the game for you.

Overall, Blinx is an excellent game for both kids and adults. It is fresh, challenging, and worth adding to the collection of any fan of platformers.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New twists that make all the difference., October 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Blinx The Time Sweeper (Video Game)

Blinx - what is it? In some ways its a clone of numerous 3rd person 3D Mario-like games. Run around worlds, jump up and down, defeat monsters, save a princess. So why is it being so hyped?

Because it's worth the hype.

Graphics: Superb, a cut above other games of its kind. Each world has its own look and feel - with a color depth and detail that are astonishing. The underwater world alone is proof positive of the care the developers took in making this game.

Gameplay: Simple. You can jump in and figure out the game in minutes. Powers and new gadgets are not difficult to attain - but you do have to think a little to get them. As you get them, gameplay becomes deeper and deeper.

New Twists: The time powers can be described with one word. Fun. Dizzingly fun. It literally does add a 4th dimension to the game. What to do when the river's current was against me, and logs are falling on me as they wash down a waterfall? Simple. Hit rewind: the river's current reverses carrying me forward, jump on a log, and be carried up the waterfall to a section you'd never be able to get to without that power. The full replay of your completed level as your points are tallied is another great touch.

Replay Value: Tremendous. You have to go back to old levels once you get new powers and gadgets, because there is so much more to explore and hidden treasures to find -- and they can only be found with those new powers! Replay was built into the game structure. Add on the desire to get the fastest time on each level, and you have a game that's addictive in the most extreme way. (You have 10 minutes to complete each - another addictive factor. "Hey, I have time for one more level...")

Final word: Blinx is an old concept that is beautifully executed, and adds new twists that make all the difference. Get this game. Be forewarned: you may not be able to stop playing.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind Bending (And Potentially Frustrating) Puzzle Romp, October 10, 2002

By 

Jubel Brosseau (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blinx The Time Sweeper (Video Game)

I wanted to use my review space not to just reiterate the other reviews on this page as far as game content, but to instead address some GRIPES I've been seeing about this game elsewhere. It is my belief that this game is likely a bit misunderstood.

One of the things I've been noticing in the first wave of reviews of Blinx in the gaming press is that, while it is an innovative and visually beautiful game, it can get EXTREMELY frustrating in later levels, as some gameplay loopholes due to the time controls can cause a level to be unpassable if you don't have the correct items. I've only played this game for a couple of hours so far, and I'm seeing that this game is not merely a Mario style adventure, but a combination of that PLUS Logic Puzzles (not unlike old games like DigDug and centipede), and a little bit of RPG style supply stockpiling. So I'm thinking that getting around the Frustrating aspects of this game would require spending some time playing and replaying several of the first levels (This is necessary because there aren't always enough time crystals to go around.), loading up on gold, and buying a buttload of extra slots for the time manipulation functions. That way, you'll have what you need later in the game, and you won't have to start the level over a zillion times because of one stupid puzzle. (Of course I realize that it could be more complicated than that. A lot can happen in 40+ levels) This game simply requires more preparation than any other platformer I've ever seen, and if that is okay with you, I HIGHLY recommend this game.