Splosion Man never tries to be anything more than it is: a simple, fun platforming romp that delights from start to end.
Cons: Short; Some weird camera angle problems at times; Multiplayer is tacked on; Levels all look the same; Boss fights are uninspired
Nobody knows who or what Splosion Man is. Your only knowledge is that he has to get from point A to point B, blowing up himself, scientists, and anything else that stands in his way in this throwback to the simple days of gaming. In a world filled with increasingly complex games, there is something refreshing about Splosion Man's simplicity.
This is a game that's so basic that its controls take about 5 seconds to memorize at most. You move with the left analog stick, and blow up with any of the face buttons. With this explosion functioning as a jump, there's nothing else required. You blow up to cross pits, you blow up to kill scientists and their robots, you blow up to ignite barrels.
However, thanks to some fantastic level design, it all works. Splosion Man realizes how simple its controls are and takes full advantage to create a constant breakneck pace that rivals the old 2-D Sonic games. You are constantly on your toes as the game thrusts new and unique challenges your way every instance. And the game doesn't hesitate to get hard in the later stages (though some of that can be attributed to a sometimes awkward dynamic camera system that can zoom out too far from the action). It's hard enough that after dying enough times you get the option to skip stages entirely.
While the level design is great, the boss battles leave much to be desired. Each boss follows a simple cliché tactic such as repelling a projectile, allowing the enemy to hurt themselves, etc. and never challenges you to think nor keeps you on your toes quite like the rest of the game.
Even with those setbacks, you will have a smile across your face throughout the entirety of the game, thanks to a really tongue-in-cheek style of humor prevalent in every aspect. Scientists explode into meat, fat guys shield you from lasers, and Splosion Man always leaps in dramatic slow motion whenever you encounter cake. Splosion Man himself provides a lot of the humor as every movement and noise that he makes is over-the-top insane.
The rest of the art design, however, is a mixed bag. The characters certainly express a ton of personality, but at times this feels like a last-gen game, and the environments all feel the same, even with minor background differences. The sound receives no complaints as the music complements the fast, light-hearted pace of the rest of the game. Bonus points awarded for playing a song about donuts every time you pick up a fat person.
The biggest issue with Splosion Man, however, is not aesthetic: it's length. Splosion Man can be completed in less than 5 hours, the multiplayer is no different from the single player aside from increased likelihood of failure with more people stealing jumps, the hard mode is just flat-out sadistic, and collecting all the cakes doesn't add a significant amount of time.
Splosion Man won't revolutionize the gaming industry, and at its short length, you'll be done with game within half a week (at most). However, for those who are curious and have a bit of cash or some spare Microsoft points, Splosion Man will consistently satisfy from start to finish. It's a blast.