Before reading this review, note that my experience may differ as I played solo rather than with a group of friends. Please take into consideration that the following points may differ when played with a group as opposed to single player.
This review got a little out of hand in length.
TLDR: Game is fun even in single player and is in a similar vein to Monkey Ball. Would probably benefit from some slight gameplay changes to account for whether you are playing multiplayer or single player. May want to really lean into the speed running aspect and cater more to it rather than suppress it on some levels. Overall great game!
First off, I'd like to highlight some things that are done well which I enjoyed. I really enjoyed the level design in BiaB. Trying to maneuver your way from point A to B is satisfying on most levels. There are good moments when speed boosters present opportunities to route levels slightly differently than the "straight forward" path. This does lead to some slight skill expression which can make repeat playthroughs a little different each time.
The difficulty is in a pretty easy state for the first two thirds of the game, then gets a bit more difficult in the final third. This is not inherently a bad thing and I attribute this mostly to some level design aspects not accounting for a single player experience. For example, on some levels there are blue and red platforms/walls. It is intended that half of the players are able to see red platforms/walls, whereas the other half can only see the blue platforms/walls. This would theoretically lead to both halves of the players trying to frantically relay this information to their counterparts while traveling at high speeds. In a multiplayer setting, I could see this being a pretty fun gimmick which leads to building synergy between players and getting good at making urgent callouts to convey this information quickly.
You may then be wondering: how does that work in single player? Fortunately, the result is not that you simply can't see EITHER color. The bittersweet solution is that you get to see BOTH colors. This "works" but makes levels which rely on this gimmick extremely easy and more of an interactive cutscene. There aren't many of these levels which make this the center of gameplay, but there are enough of them that I wish they could be "multiplayer exclusive" levels rather than part of the main game.
I don't like to draw many comparisons between other games as this may not be fair to either game. That being said, I find that it can occasionally be a useful practice to convey an idea in the same fashion an analogy can. Whether directly inspired or not, BiaB has some overlap in game elements with Monkey Ball (traverse obstacle course in a ball, momentum-based challenges, branching paths, emphasis on quick completion, gets very difficult, etc). I think BiaB being similar to Monkey Ball is a great thing! This style of gameplay is quite fun and lends well to speed running the levels to get a fast completion time.
Most levels are laid out in a way that seems to incentivize quick movement and potentially taking shortcuts. Unfortunately, some levels punish you for playing this way as despite not falling into the void, you fail the level by veering too far off the intended path. You may have found a way to bounce off of collision or utilize a speed booster to jump to the end of the level, but this is typically shut down by failing the level half way through your jump. If some of these invisible vertical walls which cause an instant fail were removed, BiaB could allow far more play and skill expression which is very important in a game which emphasizes speed.
I enjoy the momentum-based gameplay of BiaB very much. You need to account for your speed before attempting jumps or crossing tight spaces. You end up needing to commit to your trajectory and make small adjustments to your launch angle off of jumps on the fly. That being said, it does go a little *too* far with the commitment to your momentum. Once you are moving a certain direction, it can take as much as 10 seconds for you to redirect your movement in the opposite direction. Trying to alter your direction once you have built up speed is very difficult and could benefit from having directional influence or acceleration increased slightly. I don't think player control should be increased too much as that would take some of the challenge away from certain sections. With that in mind, it could be honed in just a tad.
There are small sections of the game where you will be ejected from your ball by passing through a gate and are forced to scurry back into your ball to proceed. These usually just serve as a minor inconvenience rather than a super unique part of gameplay. In the current state of gameplay, you can also just mash "shift" to instantly get back into the ball with no cooldown which allows you to virtually skip these sections entirely and play as if they don't happen. I've seen someone else mention that perhaps these sections of gameplay should serve a functional role that open new opportunities to the player such as pressing a button or performing some light puzzles. With some minor adjustments to the players abilities/tasks when outside of the ball, I could see these gates as a cool new movement option or to allow for further player choice where the group could decide between taking a path that forces them outside of the ball and one that presents a different challenge. The ability to instantly get back into the ball should probably also be removed in order to not trivialize the interaction.
I'll comment briefly on some aspects I consider outside of the core gameplay, and therefore are more "bonus" content.
The announcer and advertisements are pretty funny. Please add more voice lines and advertisements as the existing ones are really entertaining and add some good flavor to the gameplay.
Music seems to be the same track the entire time which isn't bad, but could be repetitive after playing a few hours.
Sound effects mostly consist of "rolling" noises. This isn't out of line seeing that you are rolling a ball for most of the game but the ball seems to be made of metal and maybe should sound more metallic as a result. That's quite a nitpick, but it struck me as strange that the ball sounds more like a bowling ball rolling down an alley than a clinking, metal sphere.
With consideration to the points I've presented, I really enjoyed playing through BiaB and am excited to see what kind of content gets added over time and what tweaks are implemented. It is always a possibility that I didn't get the proper experience as I had no Buddies in my Balls, but these are things that came to mind. I highly recommend giving Buddies in a Ball a try (perhaps get some friends too)!
