This game is fun, even if it is a bit old school and the maps leave something to be desired.
The graphics are well rendered, and 'spolosion man himself is wonderfully animated (never seems to have the same poses or animations, there's dozens). One minute he'll be flying through the air like he was shot out of a cannon, others he'll fly through the air doing a karate kick. None of it changes what the outcome will be just gives it more of that funny feel as you play. My favorite is when you stand against/near a wall he leans on it as if to say 'this is pointless'; he knows he cant push it so he'll just wait for you to figure that out. It's also funny when your running and 'splosion man plays airplane.
The music is well done, and suits the goofy atmosphere. It has it variations as well, from frenetic fast paced to unnoticable depending on the moment. My favorite is when you pick up the fat scientist (I dont think I'm alone here). The song for that, while very kiddy like, is reminiscent of "the song that never ends". Even though its only one line, it's just hilarious.
The sounds are very funny as well, ranging from "loony tunes" (I see 'splosion man like daffy duck on crack) to "dexter's laboratory". It just has that old fashioned cartoon feel about it all, and to top it off everything just kinda mumbles goofy nonsensical comments so it has a bit of that sims flair where you dont know what they're saying but its their reactions that you really care about. 'Splosion man, also, has a varied assortment of non sensical things he will say. They never really make sense, but he does say them generally in english. "Get to da choppa'" is pretty great among others but there's never really a reason he will say any of them, he just does when he feels like it cus hes insane haha
The boss fights to me are the most fun (what few there are). The first one being a giant robot that talks like a teenager (which I thought was a nice touch and even though I died alot figuring out how it worked, it was hilarious the whole time). Sadly though the game is less about these fights and are more about the mazes and puzzles that arent entirely well fleshed out.
To me the puzzles reminded me of Jazz Jackrabbit a bit (wow, i havent played that in years) as they are frenetic and quick, but not over bearing or flash by like sonic can be (which Gamespot refrenced). They are a bit disappointing to me though because while fun, alot of them are basically the same only harder and harder versions and there are few different assortments of puzzles. They're all fun, dont get me wrong, and while some are frustrating and the game will tell you to use way of the coward, I never do (the game isnt THAT hard) its more fun to figure out the puzzles and the game is funny enough to make you forget your mad quite quickly (at least to me).
The maps were the biggest disappointment. I was kind of hoping every 10 levels theyd have something different, they didnt. Its basically the same map type the whole way through with subtle variations and the mazes built into it obviously always different and gets harder and harder. It builds well but its not enough to keep you interested. Although this is just one thing that makes it old school, even old school games had better variation on the map types. The differences I have noticed only seem to be in that sometimes they're a different color... thats just not good enough.
All in all, this game is fun, and I give it a 9 because its just an arcade game. I dont expect alot of flash from these and this is one of the best I've played in awhile. Very interested to see what else we get on XBOX360 arcade in the coming months. I do recommend it if you enjoy a good arcade game with a loony tunes flair, its definitely there and definitely fun... just not for long periods of time.