Candy's Space Mysteries: Missions on the Blue Planet

Alternate universes are always intriguing and fun to explore, especially in video games that allow you to move around freely. However, the said universes must at least make some kind of sense, otherwise you are just exploring someone’s ludicrous imagination. Casual players might not be too annoyed by inconsistencies, on the other hand, especially if the video game in question is dedicated to a very young audience.

Candy's Space Mysteries: Missions on the Blue Planet is a third-person action/adventure game in which you play as a dog by the name of Candy, with the sole task of saving the universe. You can run around and jump through portals in order to travel between galaxies, but most of your time is going to be spent collecting all sorts of items and bonuses to help you deal with UFOs.

Story-wise, you shouldn’t expect a very intricate plot, other than “aliens are bad and they want to destroy the world”. In essence, the storyline doesn’t have too much of an influence on the gameplay anyway, because there’s barely any dialog or interaction with other characters. You can call on the help of a few friends, but they are mostly there to help you fight and keep you company on your journey.

Although there is more than enough world to explore, it should be noted that the game is split into a multitude of rather small maps. In essence, it only takes you a few dozen seconds to get from one end of a map to the other, especially if you are sprinting. Each map is filled with candy and various other items you can collect, on the other hand, which means that you have plenty of reasons to stay and explore.

Visually, the graphics are fully three-dimensional and quite decent, especially when you consider the game’s size on disk. There are plenty of glitches you have to live with, however, not to mention the rather disappointing level design. The camera is a bit annoying in some situations, especially since it’s a real struggle to adjust it using the keyboard.

In the end, Candy's Space Mysteries: Missions on the Blue Planet is not the kind of game that would satisfy a mature gamer, but it can be exactly what the casual/young portion of the audience needs. The gameplay mechanics are nice enough to keep someone occupied for a long time.