Blinx: The Time Sweeper

Blinx: The Time Sweeper is a third-person platform game developed by Artoon and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released for the Xbox on October 7, 2002. A sequel, Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space, was released for the Xbox in 2004.

For the video and audio content Internet search engine, see blinkx.
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Developer(s)Artoon
Publisher(s)Microsoft Game Studios
Director(s)Naoto Ohshima
Producer(s)Katsunori Yamaji
Earnest Yuen
Artist(s)Masamichi Harada
Writer(s)Soshi Kawasaki
Composer(s)Mariko Nanba
Keiichi Sugiyama
SeriesBlinx 
Platform(s)Xbox
Release
  • NA: October 7, 2002
  • EU: November 8, 2002
  • JP: December 12, 2002
Genre(s)Platformer
Mode(s)Single-player

Advertised as "The World's First 4D Action Game", Blinx: The Time Sweeper focus on the titular character Blinx, an anthropomorphic cat, who is on a mission to prevent the end of Dimension B1Q64 and rescue its princess from the evil Tom-Tom Gang. Blinx is outfitted with the TS-1000 Vacuum Cleaner, with which he can exert control over time itself through five unique "Time Controls": slowing time down, speeding time up, recording a moment in time, reversing time, and stopping it entirely.

Plot

Blinx works as a Time Sweeper at the Time Factory, a facility located outside of time itself that's dedicated to the creation, distribution and maintenance of the flow of time throughout the dimensions. Whenever Time Glitches are found in any part of a dimension, Time Sweepers like Blinx are dispatched to whatever dimension the glitches are in to locate and correct them before they solidify into Time Crystals. If left unchecked, the crystals will transform into Time Monsters, which will roam freely among whatever dimension they're in, disrupting time and distorting whatever they come into contact with. But when the Tom-Tom Gang, a malevolent army of pigs, begin to steal and destroy countless Time Crystals in a dimension known by the codename "B1Q64", it becomes unstable to the extent that the Time Sweepers decide, for the safety of all other dimensions, to halt the supply of time to it, suspending it and its inhabitants indefinitely. But when Blinx spots Princess Lena, the monarch of Dimension B1Q64, being held hostage by the Tom-Tom Gang, he enters the dimension via the Time Sweepers' Time Portal, moments before it closes, to rescue her.

Development

Naoto Ohshima's inspiration for Blinx came from the fairy tale character Puss in Boots.[1] When Ohshima first drew Blinx, the feline originally had purple fur.[2]

Blinx as a mascot

GameSpy suggests that Blinx was proposed as a possible mascot for the Xbox system,[3] rivaling Nintendo's Mario, Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, and since the main character of Halo: Combat Evolved (Master Chief) was considered too violent (and also lacking in identity behind a visor), and the officials wanted a "friendly, furry face" to lead the sales among the younger clientele. Due to the game's unpopularity, it never achieved the suggested goal and Master Chief is unofficially seen as the mascot, though Blinx was in fact proposed as the mascot for the Xbox in Japan for a while.

Backwards compatibility

While already available via backwards compatibility on the Xbox 360,[4] on April 10, 2018, it was announced by Microsoft that backwards compatibility would be supported for Blinx: The Time Sweeper on Xbox One on April 17, 2018. Physical discs will be playable on the system, while available on the Xbox Live Store as a digital download.[5]

Reception

Blinx was met with a mildly positive reception upon release, as GameRankings gave it a score of 73.09%,[6] while Metacritic gave it 71 out of 100.[7] GameSpy included the game in its "Most Overrated Games Ever" feature.[3] Although the graphics were generally praised, the game's execution, notably the control method, was considered to have resulted in the game being too difficult. Saleswise, by 2003, 156,000 copies were sold.[23] In 2003, Blinx also entered the Platinum Hits range (as part of the all-age Platinum Family Hits).

GameSpot editor Greg Kasavin gave it a score of 6.3 out of 10, noting that players get a sense of relief from completing a level, rather than enjoyment or satisfaction.[16] It was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Most Disappointing Game on Xbox" award, which went to ToeJam & Earl III.[24] Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it 7.5/5.5/8: the second reviewer found the game to be tedious and repetitive, but the third believed that "issues aside, the unique style and play mechanics make [it] stand out".[10] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 31 out of 40.[12]

References
  1. https://mobile.twitter.com/NaotoOhshima/status/839872531062403072
  2. https://mobile.twitter.com/NaotoOhshima/status/839642377832689668
  3. GameSpy staff (September 15, 2003). "25 Most Overrated Games of All Time (#6: Blinx (Xbox) Artoon/Microsoft)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 6, 2004. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  4. "Play Original Xbox Games on Xbox 360". support.xbox.com. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  5. "Microsoft is bringing 19 more original Xbox games to the Xbox One, including Star Wars classics". The Verge. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  6. "Blinx: The Time Sweeper for Xbox". GameRankings. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  7. "Blinx: The Time Sweeper for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  8. Marriott, Scott Alan. "Blinx: The Time Sweeper - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  9. "Blinx: The Time Sweeper". Edge. No. 117. December 2002. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  10. EGM staff (December 2002). "Blinx: The Time Sweeper". Electronic Gaming Monthly (161): 248. Archived from the original on March 10, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
  11. Reed, Kristan (November 5, 2002). "Blinx: The Time Sweeper". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  12. "Xbox - ブリンクス・ザ・タイムスイーパー". Famitsu. 915: 108. June 30, 2006.
  13. Barber, Chet (November 2002). "Blinx [the] Time Sweeper". Game Informer (115): 136. Archived from the original on December 1, 2003. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  14. Star Dingo (October 8, 2002). "Blinx: The Time Sweeper Review for Xbox on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 8, 2005. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  15. Gee, Brian (October 2002). "Blinx: The Time Sweeper Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  16. Kasavin, Greg (October 4, 2002). "Blinx: The Time Sweeper Review". GameSpot. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  17. Turner, Benjamin (October 10, 2002). "GameSpy: Blinx: The Time Sweeper". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 18, 2005. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  18. Bedigian, Louis (October 28, 2002). "Blinx: The Time Sweeper Review - Xbox". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  19. Goldstein, Hilary (September 27, 2002). "Blinx: The Time Sweeper Review". IGN. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  20. "Blinx: The Time Sweeper". Official Xbox Magazine: 96. December 2002.
  21. Keighley, Geoff (October 18, 2002). "Blinx: The Time Sweeper". Entertainment Weekly (678): 124. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  22. Boyce, Ryan (October 28, 2002). "Blinx the Time Sweeper". Maxim. Archived from the original on December 3, 2002. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  23. Kent, Steve (May 9, 2003). "Xbox: Cool Despite the Games (Page 2)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on February 10, 2005. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  24. GameSpot Staff (December 30, 2002). "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 7, 2003.
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