Yesterday marks the first release of Microsofts Summer of Arcade 2009 in which they release a slew of good games for 5 straight weeks. Last year it brought the joys of such games as: Geometry Wars 2, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Galaga Legions, Braid and the infinitely wonderful Castle Crashers. This year, I’m not convinced it’s going to be quite as good. But it sure did start off strong with the release of ‘Splosion Man.
Created by the same people that made “The Maw”, this is a 2D puzzle-platformer. You have one ability, to explode. You can explode up to 3 times before needing to “recharge”. By recharge I just mean land on the ground, or slide down a wall for a second. Basically, you have a triple jump because that’s what the exploded equates to when platforming. But it can also be used to destroy tons of environmental objects and scientists.
The levels are extremely clever featuring many class 2D platformer traps. Things that fall from the ceiling to smash you, moving platforms and levels with rising water that kills you on touch. Don’t get me wrong though, the game brings a lot of new things to the table as well.
I’m not done with the game yet, but so far I have encountered 2 main things that add to the ‘sploding fun. One are grenade type objects that when you ‘splode on give your ‘splosion a boost. The other give you a jet propulsion in a certain direction. Often times you’ll be required to string these things together with specific timing to clear large gaps.
The game also has a good sense of humor. ‘Splosion man is constantly running in funny ways, doing cart wheels in the air and laughing like he’s a crazy man. The scientists are always in flee and some have fantastic beards, what more do you need?
I can’t give a final review yet, because I’m only like 33% done with the game. It doesn’t feel like in the end it’s going to be to long, but like any platformer the last bit will probably take longer due to more and more precise platforming. There is also supposedly some multiplayer, but I haven’t gotten to check that out yet.
If you haven’t yet, check out the demo, if you enjoy that you’ll enjoy the real game. It’s been a blast so far (no pun intended) and I expect it will keep it up all the way through the end.
