Platform Tested: XBLA
Platform(s) Available: XBLA
Platformer
Back in 2009 Twisted Pixel brought platformer 'Splosion Man to Xbox Live Arcade. Two years later his female counterpart is here and ready to carry on exactly where he left off. But how does his better(?) half compare.
'Splode-again?
Ms. Splosion Man leads directly on from the end of the first game; the scientists, celebrating the capture of the original 'Splosion man, accidentally manage to create another one, a rather more feminine one (Assumedly her bow is the 'Splosion equivalent of a second X chromosome, either that or it's the champagne). From there the story takes a back seat; to y'know, 'sploding and stuff.
And 'sploding is important. In fact it's pretty much the only thing to remember (besides shoes, obviously) as all the face buttons perform that one action. 'Sploding is your propulsion mechanism, it allows you to jump, to kill enemies, to activate barrels and generally blow stuff up. You can splode up to three times before needing to recharge, which is done by making contact with a floor or wall or through a couple of other mechanics and a big part of the game is making use of those limited 'splodes.
And you're going to run out. A lot. I can't begin to count the number of times I went flying past a barrel I needed to splode only to realise I'd run out of juice. The game is difficult; in a number of ways. In parts your timing has to be almost perfect, but even when it doesn't you often don't get enough advance warning to successfully navigate a section so Trial and Error is necessary. And if that isn't enough challenge for you the game also has a hardcore mode where the checkpoint are removed and a 2 girls 1 controller mode where you play the multiplayer section with, as the name suggests, one controller (It could be worse the multiplayer is up to four players, you only have to control two).
The multiplayer campaign is completely different from the single player campaign, so even once you've finished the single player there is still a lot to do. There are also a lot of unlocks; videos, pictures, music, avatar items and so on to be got, so you will need to play through levels multiple times, you could try and improve your times for the leaderboards while you're at it and make sure you pick up the shoes that are in each level. Ms. Splosion Man is even stylish enough to wear them for the rest of the level, a small but nice touch.
The game brings a few additional elements to the table compared to the original but none of them are anything dramatic; it's still all about timing 'splodes, the changes are mostly aesthetic. Still, it's nice to have different locales, and with the new world map there's the ability to take different paths and find hidden levels which is good for allowing players to avoid the more challenging ones, though personally I wanted to complete them all anyway so that didn't have much effect.
While your going through the levels Ms, Splosion Man will take every opportunity to spout pop culture references. Girly pop culture references for the most part. Despite being as out of touch as possible with pop culture as possible I still found myself quoting along with her after a while, though I suspect some people will get annoyed with the constant stream of drivel. Still, this is Twisted Pixel, they tend to do a reasonable job of humour in their games.
She'll be 'sploding down the block
just to show you what she's got.
The main negatives about the game are the bosses, which occur at the end of each level and are a bit weak compared to the rest of the game, a flaw which it shares with the original game, and the long loading times. Neither of them are deal breakers but they do detract from a game which is otherwise a lot of fun.
Rating:
Better than Cloning Clyde - Worse than - Castle Crashers
Like this? Try Super Meat Boy
If you were bored with the originals mechanics this isn't likely to rekindle the flames of your desire. But if what you've been wanting for two years is more 'Splosion Man then you'll find this game to be pretty hot.
Illusion
Back in 2009 Twisted Pixel brought platformer 'Splosion Man to Xbox Live Arcade. Two years later his female counterpart is here and ready to carry on exactly where he left off. But how does his better(?) half compare.
'Splode-again?And 'sploding is important. In fact it's pretty much the only thing to remember (besides shoes, obviously) as all the face buttons perform that one action. 'Sploding is your propulsion mechanism, it allows you to jump, to kill enemies, to activate barrels and generally blow stuff up. You can splode up to three times before needing to recharge, which is done by making contact with a floor or wall or through a couple of other mechanics and a big part of the game is making use of those limited 'splodes.
And you're going to run out. A lot. I can't begin to count the number of times I went flying past a barrel I needed to splode only to realise I'd run out of juice. The game is difficult; in a number of ways. In parts your timing has to be almost perfect, but even when it doesn't you often don't get enough advance warning to successfully navigate a section so Trial and Error is necessary. And if that isn't enough challenge for you the game also has a hardcore mode where the checkpoint are removed and a 2 girls 1 controller mode where you play the multiplayer section with, as the name suggests, one controller (It could be worse the multiplayer is up to four players, you only have to control two).
The multiplayer campaign is completely different from the single player campaign, so even once you've finished the single player there is still a lot to do. There are also a lot of unlocks; videos, pictures, music, avatar items and so on to be got, so you will need to play through levels multiple times, you could try and improve your times for the leaderboards while you're at it and make sure you pick up the shoes that are in each level. Ms. Splosion Man is even stylish enough to wear them for the rest of the level, a small but nice touch.
The game brings a few additional elements to the table compared to the original but none of them are anything dramatic; it's still all about timing 'splodes, the changes are mostly aesthetic. Still, it's nice to have different locales, and with the new world map there's the ability to take different paths and find hidden levels which is good for allowing players to avoid the more challenging ones, though personally I wanted to complete them all anyway so that didn't have much effect.
While your going through the levels Ms, Splosion Man will take every opportunity to spout pop culture references. Girly pop culture references for the most part. Despite being as out of touch as possible with pop culture as possible I still found myself quoting along with her after a while, though I suspect some people will get annoyed with the constant stream of drivel. Still, this is Twisted Pixel, they tend to do a reasonable job of humour in their games.
She'll be 'sploding down the blockjust to show you what she's got.
The main negatives about the game are the bosses, which occur at the end of each level and are a bit weak compared to the rest of the game, a flaw which it shares with the original game, and the long loading times. Neither of them are deal breakers but they do detract from a game which is otherwise a lot of fun.
Rating:
Audio: 9/10 [Good music and chatter, but gets a little repetitive]
Graphics: 8/10 [Looks pretty good for the most part]
Gameplay: 8/10 [Simple to play, but challenging at times]
Multiplayer: 8/10 [Multiplayer specific levels. (Based on a fairly brief experience with the multiplayer side.)]
Presentation: 8/10 [Long loading detracts from an otherwise good presentation]
Lasting Appeal: 8/10 [Shoes, unlocks and leaderboards should keep you playing for a while, unless the difficulty turns you off]
Story: 5/10 [Does what it needs to, which isn't much]
Overall: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Better than Cloning Clyde - Worse than - Castle Crashers
Like this? Try Super Meat Boy
If you were bored with the originals mechanics this isn't likely to rekindle the flames of your desire. But if what you've been wanting for two years is more 'Splosion Man then you'll find this game to be pretty hot.
Illusion
