Ms. Splosion Man Review

I will be honest with you: I did not play Splosion Man, but I really wanted to. I read all of the reviews and Splosion Man seemed like a genuinely fun game in the vein of classic sidescrollers, except faster and with more explosions. I expected Ms. Splosion Man to be no different or at least continue in that trend. I am happy to tell you that Ms. Splosion Man is definitely a fun game that’s not exactly in the mainstream of today’s gaming scene.

There is very little story to go by in Ms. Splosion Man. The short introduction scene depicts Splosion Man being either captured or obliterated by the scientists. Ms. Splosion Man seems to have been created by the essence of Splosion Man mixed with a girly bow. The character of Ms. Splosion Man is a satirical representation of all things girly and pop. It is unclear what your goal in the game is. Perhaps it is to rescue Splosion Man or escape the scientists or possibly to just wreak havoc and “splode” everything. The game tutorial refers to the main character, a magenta colored Ms. Splosion Man, as Sarah. An orange Ms. Splosion Man is referred to as Debbie. Debbie, according to the tutorial, is “a stupid #@$! and (bitch)”. There’s also a blue Ms Splosion Man named Alice, who is referred to in the multiplayer tutorial.

I probably have said this to friends many times and can’t stress it enough: there aren’t enough comedy and satire video games. The only comedy/satire/parody game that comes to mind is Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Portal has its own sense of humor but it’s not hilarious. While I don’t think Ms. Splosion Man is a riot, it has a lot of character and is imbued with light hearted humor. Ms. Splosion man will sing one liners of popular girly music, talk gibberish on the phone (her hand), speed walk, tiptoe and skip instead of walk, and strike a pose whenever she ‘splodes’. Ms. Splosion Man is essentially girliness hyped up on Red Bull.

Ms. Splosion Man has some decent sound design that is generally simple but appropriate and well thought out. The most memorable song in Ms. Splosion Man accompanies a voluptuous scientist named Mandy who can become possessed by Ms. Splosion Man and is used as a human shield. Mandy also serves as a cute parody of Total Recall early during the game. Though repetitive sound bites tend to annoy me, Ms. Splosion Man’s short monologs are quick, funny, and so well delivered that they never got on my nerves. Some made me chuckle every time I heard them.

Ms. Splosion Man’s single player mode has 50 levels, a few secret levels and a hidden pair of shoes in each. There are also 50 unique multiplayer levels so that friend may join you locally or through Xbox Live. The multiplayer portion of Ms. Splosion Man requires a good deal of communication with your partner. You will have to “splode” in tandem with your friends. Ms. Splosion Man generally requires familiarity with the levels and that you maintain momentum. You can also race friend’s ghosts to try and beat their times. There are malls throughout the game sections where you can “buy” concept art, game movies, audio tracks, photos and exclusive content such as “2 girls 1 controller” where you control two Ms. Splosion Men with one controller using both analog sticks.

Ms. Splosion Man is definitely a fun game and it is nice to play something that is not so grand in scheme. It seems that Twisted Pixel had some fun while making Ms. Splosion Man. The pause menu is accompanied by a song whose lyrics are “Everybody loves doughnuts.” Ms. Splosion Man is presented to you using the wonderful Beard Engine. I’m not sure if that’s a real graphics engine or if that’s more of Twisted Pixels fun but it sure does help keep the game light hearted and fun. Either way, the game looks good for the 800 Microsoft Points it costs, about $10. If you enjoyed Splosion Man, Ms. Splosion Man won’t let you down. Newcomers like me won’t be disappointed.