Blender Bros. webpage
Notice: This page makes heavy use of gifs.

What is BLENDER BROS.?
Blender Bros. is action platformer game released on April 15, 2002 for the Game Boy Advance (US only) and PC via Steam on August 25th, 2020.
◆ Developed and published by Infogrames Hudson Inc. (Bomberman/Bonk series).
◆ Features 7 worlds and 21 levels.
◆ Collect and evolve 20 Mini Bros. that can assist you in different ways.
◆ 3 mini games with 4 player Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable functionality. You can also trade Mini Bros. using this and another copy of the game.

STORY

Zooligans VS. Cosmo Keepers
A few hundred years have passed since human beings settled their lives in the Universe. Humans carried out the Animalman Project to control the population of human beings and animals. They thought that with the execution of the project, human beings and animalmen could help each other to coexist peacefully. However, after the population of animalmen surpassed the population of human beings, an anti-human gang called the Zooligans emerged and they began fighting against humans. The leader of the Zooligans was Buffer-Kong, a cross-animalman that was created by humans! Humans felt that the emergence of the Zooligans was a crisis of the Universe, so they consulted with other animalmen who wished to coexist with humans peacefully. They both agreed to establish Cosmo Keepers to fight against the Zooligans and bring back peace to the universe. The future was in their hands.

- From the game's manual

GAMEPLAY

Clear the stages and defeat the Zooligan bosses! Some stages are simply go from one end to the other, while others require you to race a timer or ride a vehicle on a track for keys to stop a bomb. Blender has moves to help him navigate stages, but will sometimes require the use of certain Mini Bros. to make it to the end. You'll come across bones (currency), hot dogs (health), and 1-ups in stages. There will be times where you have to throw bombs onto switches in out of reach areas like the background.

Blender's Abilities
◇ Attack
Spin Attack Press the B button to have Blender attack like a spinning top with his ears. Keep pressing it to extend it's range.
Spin Wave Press and hold the B button, until the sparkles on Blender stop, then release for a farther reaching attack.
Downward Attack After you press A to jump, press down on the control pad and then B to drill back to the ground.
◇ Special Actions
Ear Jump After you press the A button to jump, press down on the control pad for a higher jump.
Ear Grip If you jump onto a rope, you'll grab onto it automatically. You can move up or down it with the control pad. He can slide down or move across rails too.
Ear Glide While in the air, press the B button repeatedly to spin Blender to stay airborne a bit longer.
Ear Listen Hold the L button to use Blender's ears like a radar. A red arrow points towards hidden Mini Bros., while a blue arrow points to the stage's goal.
Fly When you pick up a icon, make Blender fly upwards by repeatedly pressing the A button. Keep collecting them to stay airborne and don't get hit.
◆ Mini Bros.
Extraterrestrial beings, each with their own abilities, that can join forces with Blender during most stages. In the Mini Bros. room, you can play records you have purchased in the Shop for them. Some records can cause them to evolve! You can switch out your Mini Bros. during a stage if you come across a blue and yellow swirl panel.
Use Mini Bros. If your Mini Bros. has an ability that isn't automatically enabled, press R to use it.
Here are 4 of the 20 Mini Bros. you can obtain in the game.
Nuckle
This Mini Bros. is with Blender from the get-go. He enhances Blender's Spin Attack (Press B button). He likes reggae music.
Puwape
Press the R button and Blender can ride atop him on water. He likes classical music.
Neon
She lights up any dark room automatically. She likes reggae music.
Blon
Press the R button and he'll create a barrier that protects against one hit per charge-up. He likes rock music.
◆ Mini-Games
In the Mini Game Room at Cosmo Heaven, you can play the three multiplayer mini games by yourself. You can earn crystals and collecting 50 of them will increase Blender's life value to the maximum.
Cosmoride Race
Race on a vehicle around a track. A button accelerates and B button brakes. Hitting walls decreases your speed.
Ear Glide Race
Fall to the goal safely! Use Ear Glide with the B button to slow your fall and avoid the mines. If you hit anything, you're disqualified.
Flag Race
Avoid obstacles while running towards the flag goal. Use A button to jump over the mines.

CAST
COSMO KEEPERS
Established to protect the peace between humans and animalmen. They make their base on the satellite Cosmo Heaven.
Blender
Palty
Catle
Leader of the Cosmo Keepers. A super athletic dog animalman with a heart of justice.
She will brief you on stage objectives,
Mini Bros., and other info.
She manages the shop, mini game, and save rooms at Cosmo Heaven.
Valclose, Carle, Todon
Your fellow Cosmo Keepers. They'll swing in to revive you if you use the Mini Bros. Yoobie.
ZOOLIGANS
Led by Buffer-Kong, these animalmen have sworn to break their long-standing peace with humans. It's bosses are a mix of two animals.
Buffer-Kong
Beardile
Hippopobat
A cross-animalman accidentally created by humans. He is invading planets with his Zooligan forces where humans and animalmen co-existed peacefully.
Part bear, part crocodile. Returning the fish shot from his mouth will stun him for a moment. Boss of planet Diva.
Part hippopotamus, part bat. Emits supersonic waves that can reverse your left-right movement if hit. Boss of planet First Heaven.
Shartle
Carbee
Tigerboar
Part shark, part turtle. Watch out for his Spin Attacks and sliding attacks from off screen. Boss of planet Oasis.
Part cat, part honeybee. Her "heart attacks" will slow you down if hit. Boss of planet Fog.
Part tiger, part wild boar. He throws bombs and snorts his nose for a suction attack. Boss of planet Millitar.
Jackbatlar, Chick, Tack
A vagabond space lizard and his two insect minions who challenges Blender to a battle anytime they meet.

Secrets and Extras
Spoilers below!
Translations: None yet!
◆ A Troubled Release
This is an edited version of some posts I did on my blog Quirky-VG.
Blender Bros.’s release on Steam, out of nowhere, got me thinking about the strangeness surrounding this game’s existence again.
It had only made it to the US, but there was likely to be a European release too as evidenced by this French box art floating around the internet.
The game was slated to be released in Japan, but like Europe, never did. It had been shown at Nintendo Space World 2001 (August 24-26th, 2001) and Autumn Tokyo Game Show (October 12-14th, 2001).
The game was largely shown off in Monthly Comic Bom Bom magazine, where a manga was briefly serialized, titled Super Dog Blender Bros. (スーパードッグ ブレンダーブロス). According to manga artist, Kouji Izuki, Blender Bros. was a collaborative game by Hudson Soft and Infogrames, but it was only released in the US because trouble arose between the two companies. What exact trouble it was isn't known; likely financial.
This manga was originally closely based on the game's plot. Due to the game's cancelled Japanese release, it too was cancelled. As a compromise, it could continue on as a gag manga with a drastically different tone and style, but that too was cut short.
In 2020, Piko Interactive gained the rights to release this game on Steam, which is not only surprising because of how obscure it is, but because I thought Konami would own the rights as it was half a Hudson Soft published game. Although they may have gained it by scooping up Infogrames IP. This release is just a slightly edited US version ROM (removes all mention of Nintendo/disables Link Cable functionality), running in a Game Boy Advance emulator wrapper.


◆ Debug Mode
Activated with Codebreaker code:
74000130 00FF
83001AA8 8FD9
74000130 00FF
83001AAA 0800
Then press L+R at any time to enter the debug menu.
~~~
MAIN GAME TEST - Select a level in the game.
MINI BROS NUM - Select a Mini Bros.
MENU TEST - See the game's various menu screens.
TEST1, TEST2, and TEST3 - Test rooms for the game's mechanics.
HIT EDIT - See the various in-game sprites and their collision boxes.
MINI GAME - Play the mini-games.
SOUND MENU - Music/sfx player.
DATA VIEW - View all sprites.

These are two leftover animations seen in the DATA VIEW using a different design for Blender.
There are also graphics localized to several European languages and one with Japanese text that reads something like: "That's all for now. See you soon!". It was probably shown at the end of a demo version.


BLENDER BROS. (C) INFOGRAMES HUDSON. GAME BOY ADVANCE (C) NINTENDO.
Site by @mushroom32x. This site is purely fan-made and not associated with the above entities.
Niche games are my lifeblood.