Reviews
Drugs are a bad thing kids. No good ever comes out of them. However I struggle to think how the developers of ‘Splosion Man ever made this game without being high on some hallucinogenic. It’s bonkers for a start. The game draws everything we loved about platformers back in the day and injected it with HD visuals and a psychedelic art style that sucks you into its mad world. Controlling your character, ‘Splosion Man, is beautifully simple. One button press causes you to explode which also makes you jump. You’re allowed three presses before ‘Splosion Man needs to cool down for a couple of seconds, effectively allowing him a triple jump. And that’s it. The exploding jump mechanic means it doubles as an attack as well as you try and fend off robots and turn mad scientists into cuts of meat. They’re all just a distraction from the main platforming element of the game though as you slide down walls, activate switches, avoid laser beams and use exploding barrels to catapult you around the levels. The exploding jump is a little disconcerting at first but once you get the hang of it you’ll be linking your chains with aplomb.
The level design is a meticulously crafted affair almost to the point where the timing resembles a Quick Time Event on some parts. Time everything right and you’ll be witnessing a superbly laid out, highly improbable chain of events, which takes you to the end of the level. It seems as if Twisted Pixel hired the writers from Ocean’s Eleven to do their level designs. More often than not though, you’ll die trying. The camera does its best in zooming out when there’s some big platforming to be done but often you’ll need to endure a lot of trial and error. The level of faith that you need in the developers is biblically high in that a barrel will exist at the right time at the end of your fall or a platform is just on the edge of the next screen. The later levels will have you tearing your hair out in frustration but it’s not a fault of the game as it was almost always your own timing that caused your demise. You have a self-destruct button if you want to reload from the last checkpoint in case you’ve botched things up and if you really suck, the game even has an option to let you skip the level after failing too many times through “The Way of the Coward”. The only drawback is that you have to wear little tutu for the rest of the next level. I wore that, a lot.
This level of humour is engrained in the game from the animations to the sound effects and you’ll constantly be amazed at the level of craftsmanship in the minor details. The dynamic camera pans and zooms depending on the area needed for gameplay and although it works well for the most part, it’s never going to be perfect given the intricacy in the level design. I found myself wishing I knew what was below on the next ledge but that brings me back to the “faith” you need to have in the developers. I found I wasn’t as holy as I needed to be and hesitating on far too many occasions. This invariably led to many deaths and skirt-wearing. Needless to say this game is H.A.R.D. And yet frustratingly addictive. Luckily there are usually checkpoints after a particularly difficult part to keep your sanity.
A seemingly great inclusion is Multiplayer where you can team up with a buddy locally or on Xbox Live. These multiplayer levels require you to co-ordinate your jumps at the same time for extra boost or activate switches simultaneously. The Left Trigger acts as a countdown timer, which is indispensable over Xbox Live when you’re trying to time your explosions together. Unfortunately it turns out to be a frustrating affair as it requires BOTH of you to have the timing of Seiko. Trying to manage the levels on your own was hard enough. Doing it with a partner requires a zen-like level of co-operation. There are also Time Trials for speed runs and Leaderboards to pit your skill against. It’s a well fleshed out game with plenty of challenge and it will take you a while to finish the 50 levels in the single player game anyway.
The premise is simple, the controls are simple and objectives are simple. There are no coins to collect, no power-ups or upgrades and no unlockables. Oh, but ‘Splosion Man loves cake, so you’ll want to find that hidden in each level for bonus points. I think someone once said that the best design is to take everything out that isn’t needed. And ‘Splosion Man game does that. It is frustrating to the point of controller-chucking in some parts although but even pansies like myself are well looked after with the level skip option. The game does get a bit repetitive after a while though with the same backgrounds and baddies repeated too often but at least the first boss is epic. If you think you’re an old school gamer who relishes rock hard timing with tighter than spandex controls then ‘Splosion Man is right up your LSD alley.
Xboxzone Score: 8/10
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