Ms. Splosion Man
Encyclopedia
Ms. Splosion Man is an action
platform
video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games
, and was released on Xbox 360 on July 13, 2011. It is the sequel to 's 'Splosion Man
. The game takes place directly after Splosion Man. In the celebration of 'Splosion Man's capture the scientists accidentally create Ms. Splosion Man. The gameplay draws most of its core elements from its predecessor, but adds new gameplay mechanics such as jump pads and riding on rails.
The game was generally very well received by critics. Aggregate websites GameRankings and Metacritic
report scores in the 85% range. Individual scores ranged from a 60% approval to multiple perfect scores. Critics generally felt that the game was a great expansion and improvement over the original. The game's humor was also lauded. Criticisms included long load times between levels and increased difficulty over the original Splosion Man.
left off, 'Splosion Man is finally captured by Big Science. As the scientists celebrate in their lab, one scientist inadvertently spills a bottle of liquid onto some electrical wiring. This causes a surge of energy to flow to a nearby experimentation platform where a yellow bow is falling. As the bow touches the platform the surge of energy is released, and Ms. Splosion Man is created. For the first time in the series the character will escape the fictional Big Science facilities and venture out into the world.
. The character is made entirely of explosive material. The aim of the game is to "splode" through a series of levels consisting of puzzles, traps, and enemies to escape the facility. A splode is effectively a jump, and can also be used to kill enemies, such as scientists and robots, demolish walls, detonate explosive barrels or trigger other effects.
Various new gameplay elements have been added to Ms. Splosion Man, including energy rails on which the protagonist can ride, and cannons that toss her in specific directions, some of which can be controlled by the player. The game features both single-player and multiplayer cooperative campaigns, each including levels set in the outside world. Also new to the game is a mode known as 2 Girls 1 Controller, which enables a single player to play through the cooperative campaign controlling both Ms. Splosion Man and 'Splosion Man simultaneously.
In response to player feedback about the first game's difficulty, Ms. Splosion Man contains an overworld
that clearly marks each level's difficulty and allows players to skip more difficult levels if they so choose. Twisted Pixel CEO Micheal Wilford stated that the overworld map was inspired by Super Mario World
, and that it contains similar secrets such as secret exits.
, which, according to Bear, the game pays homage to. Bear continued by explaining that as Ms. Pac-Man was an improvement on Pac-Man
so Ms. Splosion Man is meant to be an advancement on Splosion Man. He stated the goal was to ensure that the game "stands out on its own as a much bigger and better game overall, not to be confused as an over-priced DLC pack which I think a lot of retail "sequels" can be a lot of the time." The game runs on Twisted Pixel's BEARD engine, which has been used to power all of their titles.
Twisted Pixel stated that their desire was to keep the game character driven. CEO Micheal Wilford stated "Everything is character based. The thing that matters to us is that hopefully there's a memorable character that makes you laugh, cause no one makes games like that anymore. One of the ways in which they do this is with pop culture references. For example, the controller is kept idle long enough Ms. Splosion Man will do the Macarena
, a popular dance from the 1990's. Additionally the character will quote movies and other references as the player navigates through levels.
Ms. Splosion Man ran a beta testing session in June 2011. Ten thousand signup slots opened to players on May 24, 2011. The beta slots filled in three days. Additional codes were distributed during E3 2011 on the show floor and via the official Twisted Pixel Games Twitter account as well as programmer Mike Henry's Twitter account. The game was shown at PAX East 2011 as well as E3 2011. The game was released on July 13, 2011, nearly two years after Splosion Man.
reporting 82/100. GameRankings reports a similar aggregate score of 83.92%. Individual scores ranged from an 60% approval to a perfect score. The lowest score came from Giant Bomb
's Brad Shoemaker who gave the game 3/5 stars. Multiple critics gave the game a perfect score, including Richard Mitchell of Joystiq
, Ray Barnholt of 1UP.com
, and Terry Terrones of GamePro
.
Richard Mitchell of Joystiq
stated that Twisted Pixel Games
put in a lot of love into this sequel that is packed with new mechanics, level designs and he stated it was his favorite ending of a video game. He stated that "Ms. Splosion Man. excels over its predecessor in every way." Daemon Hatfield of IGN
also gave the game high marks. He stated in the review that the game was "another excellent, thrilling platformer from the insane team at Twisted Pixel." He added that the game was much more challenging than the first installment, but that it was also more creative, adding new gameplay elements and spots of humor. Hatfield said "there is more creativity packed into one Ms. Splosion Man level than many other games can muster in their entirety".
1UP.com
's Ray Barnholt awarded the title a A rating and praised the single and multiplayer modes. Nick Chester of Destructoid
called it a step up from Splosion Man. He noted that fans of the first will enjoy the game. "If you enjoyed the developer's first incendiary platformer, you've got no excuse not to go pink for Ms. Splosion Man." Official Xbox Magazine
s Tyler Cocke praised the wonderful levels, excellent humor and charm but criticized the long load times between levels and menus. Terry Terrones of GamePro
praised the vast amount of content for the asking price. He stated it had "a ton of great content to choose from, from concept art to videos and more."
GameSpot
's Carolyn Petit lauded the game's level design and cooperative mode. She felt it had lots of funny moments and extras, as well as great replay value. She criticized some of the visuals and puzzles that hinder some moments. Brad Shoemaker from Giant Bomb
expressed some disappointment in the game "Given all the improvements and additions and craziness, though, it's a little disappointing that I didn't enjoy playing this sequel as much as the first one." His criticisms included the amount of time it takes for Ms. Splosion Man to reach her full speed, and the lack of air control. In addition, he felt the game required a certain amount of "guesswork" to get through some levels, and that players have been put off by the trial-and-error segments present within the game.
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games
Twisted Pixel Games
Twisted Pixel Games is a video game developer based in Austin, Texas. Originally a contractor, Twisted Pixel now releases games based on their own intellectual properties such as The Maw and Splosion Man. The company uses their own proprietary engine, known as BEARD to power their games...
, and was released on Xbox 360 on July 13, 2011. It is the sequel to 's 'Splosion Man
'Splosion Man
'Splosion Man is a 2.5D action platform video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade digital download service. It was released on July 22, 2009 as part of the 2009 Xbox Live Summer of Arcade...
. The game takes place directly after Splosion Man. In the celebration of 'Splosion Man's capture the scientists accidentally create Ms. Splosion Man. The gameplay draws most of its core elements from its predecessor, but adds new gameplay mechanics such as jump pads and riding on rails.
The game was generally very well received by critics. Aggregate websites GameRankings and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
report scores in the 85% range. Individual scores ranged from a 60% approval to multiple perfect scores. Critics generally felt that the game was a great expansion and improvement over the original. The game's humor was also lauded. Criticisms included long load times between levels and increased difficulty over the original Splosion Man.
Synopsis
Following from where 'Splosion Man'Splosion Man
'Splosion Man is a 2.5D action platform video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade digital download service. It was released on July 22, 2009 as part of the 2009 Xbox Live Summer of Arcade...
left off, 'Splosion Man is finally captured by Big Science. As the scientists celebrate in their lab, one scientist inadvertently spills a bottle of liquid onto some electrical wiring. This causes a surge of energy to flow to a nearby experimentation platform where a yellow bow is falling. As the bow touches the platform the surge of energy is released, and Ms. Splosion Man is created. For the first time in the series the character will escape the fictional Big Science facilities and venture out into the world.
Gameplay
Ms. Splosion Man shares much of the same gameplay with its predecessor, 'Splosion Man'Splosion Man
'Splosion Man is a 2.5D action platform video game developed by Twisted Pixel Games for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade digital download service. It was released on July 22, 2009 as part of the 2009 Xbox Live Summer of Arcade...
. The character is made entirely of explosive material. The aim of the game is to "splode" through a series of levels consisting of puzzles, traps, and enemies to escape the facility. A splode is effectively a jump, and can also be used to kill enemies, such as scientists and robots, demolish walls, detonate explosive barrels or trigger other effects.
Various new gameplay elements have been added to Ms. Splosion Man, including energy rails on which the protagonist can ride, and cannons that toss her in specific directions, some of which can be controlled by the player. The game features both single-player and multiplayer cooperative campaigns, each including levels set in the outside world. Also new to the game is a mode known as 2 Girls 1 Controller, which enables a single player to play through the cooperative campaign controlling both Ms. Splosion Man and 'Splosion Man simultaneously.
In response to player feedback about the first game's difficulty, Ms. Splosion Man contains an overworld
Overworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
that clearly marks each level's difficulty and allows players to skip more difficult levels if they so choose. Twisted Pixel CEO Micheal Wilford stated that the overworld map was inspired by Super Mario World
Super Mario World
, subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series...
, and that it contains similar secrets such as secret exits.
Development and marketing
Ms. Splosion Man was announced December 3, 2010 via a press release and teaser trailer. "I think with Splosion Man a follow up was something we really wanted to do, and that is why you never saw DLC for that game. We could have churned out new levels, but we wouldn't have had the time to add in new gameplay puzzles or cool new character stuff. But we didn't just want to do Splosion Man 2, it had to be something a little more interesting. That is why we decided to do MSM," stated Josh Bear of Twisted Pixel games. The team chose a female variation on 'Splosion Man as an homage to Ms. Pac-ManMs. Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licensor Namco as an official title...
, which, according to Bear, the game pays homage to. Bear continued by explaining that as Ms. Pac-Man was an improvement on Pac-Man
Pac-Man
is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,...
so Ms. Splosion Man is meant to be an advancement on Splosion Man. He stated the goal was to ensure that the game "stands out on its own as a much bigger and better game overall, not to be confused as an over-priced DLC pack which I think a lot of retail "sequels" can be a lot of the time." The game runs on Twisted Pixel's BEARD engine, which has been used to power all of their titles.
Twisted Pixel stated that their desire was to keep the game character driven. CEO Micheal Wilford stated "Everything is character based. The thing that matters to us is that hopefully there's a memorable character that makes you laugh, cause no one makes games like that anymore. One of the ways in which they do this is with pop culture references. For example, the controller is kept idle long enough Ms. Splosion Man will do the Macarena
Macarena (song)
"Macarena" is a Spanish dance song by Los del Río about a woman of the same name. Appearing on the 1994 album A mí me gusta, it was an international hit between 1995 and 1996, and continues to have a cult following. It was ranked the "#1 Greatest One-Hit Wonder of all Time" by VH1 in 2002.The song...
, a popular dance from the 1990's. Additionally the character will quote movies and other references as the player navigates through levels.
Ms. Splosion Man ran a beta testing session in June 2011. Ten thousand signup slots opened to players on May 24, 2011. The beta slots filled in three days. Additional codes were distributed during E3 2011 on the show floor and via the official Twisted Pixel Games Twitter account as well as programmer Mike Henry's Twitter account. The game was shown at PAX East 2011 as well as E3 2011. The game was released on July 13, 2011, nearly two years after Splosion Man.
Reception
Ms. Splosion Man received generally strong reviews, some with critical acclaim. Aggregate scores were strong, with MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reporting 82/100. GameRankings reports a similar aggregate score of 83.92%. Individual scores ranged from an 60% approval to a perfect score. The lowest score came from Giant Bomb
Giant Bomb
Giant Bomb is an American video game website and wiki that includes gaming news, reviews, commentary, and video, created by former GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis in collaboration with Whiskey Media...
's Brad Shoemaker who gave the game 3/5 stars. Multiple critics gave the game a perfect score, including Richard Mitchell of Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
, Ray Barnholt of 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
, and Terry Terrones of GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
.
Richard Mitchell of Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
stated that Twisted Pixel Games
Twisted Pixel Games
Twisted Pixel Games is a video game developer based in Austin, Texas. Originally a contractor, Twisted Pixel now releases games based on their own intellectual properties such as The Maw and Splosion Man. The company uses their own proprietary engine, known as BEARD to power their games...
put in a lot of love into this sequel that is packed with new mechanics, level designs and he stated it was his favorite ending of a video game. He stated that "Ms. Splosion Man. excels over its predecessor in every way." Daemon Hatfield of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
also gave the game high marks. He stated in the review that the game was "another excellent, thrilling platformer from the insane team at Twisted Pixel." He added that the game was much more challenging than the first installment, but that it was also more creative, adding new gameplay elements and spots of humor. Hatfield said "there is more creativity packed into one Ms. Splosion Man level than many other games can muster in their entirety".
1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
's Ray Barnholt awarded the title a A rating and praised the single and multiplayer modes. Nick Chester of Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
called it a step up from Splosion Man. He noted that fans of the first will enjoy the game. "If you enjoyed the developer's first incendiary platformer, you've got no excuse not to go pink for Ms. Splosion Man." Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
s Tyler Cocke praised the wonderful levels, excellent humor and charm but criticized the long load times between levels and menus. Terry Terrones of GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
praised the vast amount of content for the asking price. He stated it had "a ton of great content to choose from, from concept art to videos and more."
GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's Carolyn Petit lauded the game's level design and cooperative mode. She felt it had lots of funny moments and extras, as well as great replay value. She criticized some of the visuals and puzzles that hinder some moments. Brad Shoemaker from Giant Bomb
Giant Bomb
Giant Bomb is an American video game website and wiki that includes gaming news, reviews, commentary, and video, created by former GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis in collaboration with Whiskey Media...
expressed some disappointment in the game "Given all the improvements and additions and craziness, though, it's a little disappointing that I didn't enjoy playing this sequel as much as the first one." His criticisms included the amount of time it takes for Ms. Splosion Man to reach her full speed, and the lack of air control. In addition, he felt the game required a certain amount of "guesswork" to get through some levels, and that players have been put off by the trial-and-error segments present within the game.