‘Splosion Man

‘Splosion Man is an action platformer in which you take on the role of ‘Splosion Man in his quest to elude the scientists and robots of The Big Science Company. The goal is to clear as many levels as possible, as fast as possible, while scoring as many points as possible. With this in mind players spend the majority of their time running, jumping, and utilizing ‘Splosion Man’s signature means of locomotion, the “splode”, a series of up to three jumps, each punctuated with an explosion that takes out enemies in range. This tactic is important not only for the hilarious affect it has on scientists – literally turning them into cold cuts – and as a means of enacting dramatic platforming moves, but also as a way to increase players’ scores, which in part is based on the number of enemies bested. The power to pull off this ability is not limitless though, and must be recharged after used three times in series. Points can also be scored in other ways, including finding cakes, which are ‘Splosion Man’s favorite food, hidden throughout the gameplay area. As a natural result of the importance of speed, as the game progresses through its 50 levels, action in the game grows more challenging. Players having difficulty completing levels can opt instead to follow the comical “Way of the Coward”, which after a certain amount of deaths in a single spot allows the player to skip the current level and proceed to the next. The embarrassing trade-off for this free pass is that players start off the next level dressed in a tutu, and of course a less than spectacular score. Additional features rounding out the gameplay of ‘Splosion Man include puzzle-solving, 2-4 player coop in both in local play and via Xbox LIVE, unlockable bonuses for use throughout Xbox LIVE, custom interactive soundtracks, leaderboard support, and voice messaging.