Play Smart Ball Online

Summary

Smart Ball is a quirky side‑scrolling platformer that lets you guide Jerry, a little jelly‑bean hero, through eight distinct stages split into two parts each, with a boss waiting at the end of every level. Jerry slides across the ground, can cling to walls and ceilings by holding the Y button, stretch his body, and even run faster when you press Y, giving the gameplay a fluid, stretchy feel.

Along the way you’ll find balls hidden in flowers that can be swallowed and later fired at foes, or you can simply flatten enemies by jumping on them and pressing down. Power‑ups include health refills, 1‑ups, and seeds that sprout climbable beanstalks, while collecting the scattered letters that spell J‑E‑R‑R‑Y rewards you with two extra lives.

The world is presented on a film‑strip map that you can "rewind" to revisit cleared stages, and the cartoony, cute graphics make the game feel especially friendly to younger players. Its distinctive blob‑shaped protagonist even earned a Digital Content Association award for character design.

Critics gave Smart Ball mixed scores—ranging from high marks in some Japanese magazines to more modest ratings abroad—but it sold over 33,000 copies in Japan and remains a nostalgic curiosity, especially after a fan‑made English translation resurfaced the original Japanese storyline.

Storyline

Smart Ball follows the tale of Jerry, a young prince and ruler of his kingdom, who is suddenly turned into a blob by a mysterious witch. The witch acts at the request of Jerry’s jealous brother Tom, who is infatuated with Princess Emi. As a blob, Jerry must navigate a series of surreal levels to restore his human form and reclaim his throne. The original Japanese version included detailed towns and a full narrative, but the North American release stripped away the storyline and all town names, leaving only the gameplay.