Kicking off Microsoft’s Summer of Live Arcade with a bang is Twisted Pixel’s quirky, charm-riddled puzzle-platformer, ‘Splosion Man. The premise is simple: the player takes control of test subject ‘Splosion Man as he tries to escape an experimental facility using his one power: the power of ‘splode. While the story doesn’t really progress any further than that, ‘Splosion Man still delivers and enjoyable package of levels that include boss fights, explosions, unique puzzles, explosions, humor, and, of course, more explosions. With his ‘splode power, ‘Splosion Man jumps and attacks using one command: ‘splode, which is humorously mapped to practically every button on the controller. With this one button platforming mechanic, ‘Splosion Man might sound like a bit of a simple game, but that is not quite the case.
The ‘splode function allows the player a triple jump, but heat sources, like explosive barrels or the friction of sliding down a wall, can earn more jumps. And, pairing these principles with unique level design and clever puzzles keep the game interesting throughout its 50 single- and multi-player stages. Depending on the level, obstacles can vary between sections of more simplified platforming to complex puzzles or—as the difficulty ramps up—a combination of the two, complete with a giant robot chasing you down, rocket turrets firing at you, and an electrified floor that forces you to stay in the air. Speaking of difficulty, this game is flat-out hard. Sure, the first couple levels may seem easy enough, but the margin for error in the game quickly drops to around zero, making the game a bit frustrating at times, but—at the same time—adds some longevity to it.
On my first playthrough, I clocked in a total time of about seven hours while the game insists that the “par time” (or rather, the predetermined time you are challenged to beat) for the game is only a little over two. Even though it makes me feel a bit ashamed to admit that fact, the “par times” are part of what make me want to go back and try to nail the difficult bits of levels that I had some trouble with. The other incentive to go back and try to reduce your overall play time is that the platforming feels great, especially if you do it well. It may seem a bit weird at first, as ‘Splosion Man looks completely out of control despite the fact that the game demands quite a bit of precision from the player, but it’s simply a charade that makes the results of player input much more fun to look at.
