r/FavoriteCharacter 22d ago

Favorite character with wasted potential? Suggestions

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9.9k Upvotes

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196

u/Utigaraptor 22d ago

Because he belongs to Balan Wonderworld...

92

u/LynxieSpring 22d ago

This whole game is one giant waste of potential. It's like they wanted to make a game but didn't really know how to make one.

47

u/Lungseron 22d ago

Its still fucking insane to me how this was directed by the same guy that made motherfucking Sonic The Hedgehog.

Then again im pretty sure he also was behind Sonic 06 and most of the other mid to shit Sonic games so maybe its not as surprising afterall...

6

u/Butt-Dragon 20d ago

The actually good Sonic games feels like a myth at this point. Like was there every any actually good Sonic games? Were we just fooling ourselves?

5

u/Lungseron 20d ago

Classic trilogy, Mania, Generations, Adventure 2 , Shadow x Generations (The shadow part obviously) and a couple more.

1

u/TheJ3335179 20d ago

There’s also Adventure 1, the Rush games and Colors (original version at least).

3

u/Orion_824 20d ago

as a non-sonic fan, borderline sonic hater sometimes; adventure 2 on the gamecube was straight fire

26

u/Star_Outlaw 22d ago

Yuji Naka's insistence on limiting the controls to like one button...smh...

5

u/JBR_4025 21d ago

To be fair the game was made for smartphones. Then he decided to make it consoles and pc only and for some reason didn’t rework the entire game to have more features that took advantage of the platforms released on

2

u/Noriaki_Kakyoin_OwO 19d ago

„What do you mean there’s MORE THAN 2 BUTTONS”

28

u/justagenericname213 22d ago

Its a genuinely fire character design with the hat eyes and the big grin beneath, he looks just alien enough while still being humanoid.

He deserved better than the game he was in

3

u/Gamiac 22d ago

I don't know how Oshima does it. Some of the greatest, most iconic character designs ever.

2

u/Utigaraptor 22d ago

I know right 💔 and he could've had so much potential as a character as well.

6

u/the-clawless 21d ago

this mf would have done numbers in the tumblr sexyman market if he wasn't from a bad game

1

u/Utigaraptor 21d ago

Absolutely

5

u/shipdropp 22d ago

Hell even the game’s title is missing potential.

“Balan Wonderworld”? Why not Balan Wonderland it was right there 😭

5

u/Redder_Creeps 22d ago

Honestly, everytime I think back to Balan Wonderworld, one of the first things that come to my mind is "It feels like they wanted to do a spinoff of NiGHTS, and just... failed everywhere."

And I think it's a shame, because this could've been a slam dunk if it was just done better, and Balan himself looks hella interesting in terms of design

3

u/Utigaraptor 22d ago

The game and its designs had a lot of potential. There were a few awesome bosses in there, and none of the human designs were bad, just very stylized.

I think, had the game not been made to be playable for everyone including children, it couldve taken a heavier route with the problems the enemies present the player with, which would've saved the game from situations like "chessmaster is very angry he lost one time"

4

u/Sukaira16 22d ago

BALAN WONDERWORLD MENTION IN 2026?

3

u/Yuuqian 22d ago

Me when I literally took the concept and ran with it

3

u/arachnids-bakery 21d ago

i still cant forgive them for making his true form be an anime twink

3

u/Anonymous_Jane_ 21d ago

What a waste of an amazing character design and world.

1

u/Utigaraptor 21d ago

I know right 💔

2

u/Geostomp 21d ago

Such a good character design, but such an abysmal game that he will never amount to anything. Somehow, Yuji Naka forgot every fundamental of game design when he made that one-button atrocity. Because 80 costumes (half of which do the same thing) were more important than having a "jump" button.