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Twisted Pixel exploded on to the XBLA scene earlier this year with the instantly amiable hit The Maw. Taking the creative and colourful character design they’ve been recognized for Twisted Pixel’s follow-up title, ‘Splosion Man, is an instantly amiable title full of charm and challenge.

‘Splosion Man’s concept is simple; players control recently created lab accident ‘Splosion Man trapped in the quirky laboratory he was conceived in, ‘Splosion Man travels in traditional platforming fashion from left to right hurdling obstacles as they prevent him from getting to the level’s exit. What makes the game different from every other platformer is that instead of jumping or attacking all the controller’s face buttons are mapped to ’splode. When ‘Splosion Man ’splodes he’s propelled upward in a fiery burst that destroys everything around him.

At first this may sound like a ridiculous idea for a game, but in the context of a side-scrolling platformer it works remarkably well. The game plays like many traditional platformers, requiring expertly timed jumps (er… ’splosions) and a little puzzle solving. The level design in the game is clever without being strenuous, it’s always fun to keep trying after failure and the challenges are divided properly to keep every second of the 50 levels fresh. For a young designer Alex Jones, Level Design Intern, really shines and looks to have a promising future if his work on ‘Splosion Man is any indication of his overall quality.

Of course, this being a Twisted Pixel title it’s safe to assume there is a great deal of personality thrown into the game. Art Director David Leung made ‘Splosion Man glow, quite literally, by creating great contrast between the radiant skin on ‘Splosion Man against the cute-but-cold environment of a science laboratory. This helps players always keep track of their character, even in the most hectic moments and is a great example of how art direction can have an impact on how the game plays beyond how it looks.

Sound direction is also something that stands out in ‘Splosion Man. Between the hilarious voicework of the title character by Sonny Strait and the hilarious song “Donuts Go Nuts” by Matt ‘Chainsaw’ Chaney that plays whenever ‘Splosion Man uses a fat scientist for cover the audio breathes life in to the game. Even the background music is impressively made, Joshua Mosley’s original score blends perfectly with the Matt Chaney’s guitar stings that play whenever there’s a ’splosion going on. With so much effort put in to making the game’s soundscape light hearted and enjoyable it’s a natural fit that the game’s finale showcases the audio talent in a completely radical way (no spoilers here!).

‘Splosion Man also includes a co-op mode for up to 4 players with 50 unique levels designed to make the most of multiple players. It’s both easy to find and connect to players online as well as play locally. To enable non-speech communication for those without microphones the left trigger can be pulled to display a countdown to ’splosion so players can expertly time their movements and ’splode off one another to propel to great heights.

While it’s hard to find fault with the game the environments never seem to change and that means 50 levels of the same metallic-grey tile scrolling from left to right. It never gets in the way of the gameplay itself, but it would have been nice to see some variation in the types of environments ‘Splosion Man enters. Additionally, unless players are prepared to die a lot, ‘Splosion Man can be a rather frustrating game. Many of the puzzles do require a fair bit of trial and error which may not appeal to everyone.

Of the Xbox Live Arcade titles released during the Summer of Arcade promotion, ‘Splosion Man may have been on the bottom of many to-get lists. However, this is a title that should be at least tried by everyone who enjoys fun games with a good sense of humour. It will make you laugh out loud at points and sometimes tear your hair out in frustration, but the overall sense of satisfaction from completing a challenging portion will always leave players feeling like a genius.

‘Splosion Man was released on the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MSP (there is a free demo available) as part of the Summer of Arcade promotion. To help celebrate the game’s release, Microsoft has given us a download code for the game to give away to one lucky reader. To enter the contest simply post a comment below inventing a new type of doughnut (recipes appreciated), for the poor fat scientist that goes through so much pain at ‘Splosion Man’s expense. Don’t forget to leave your email address or register for our comment system so we know how to contact you. The winner will be announced next Saturday (August 15th) in a separate post so keep tuned and good luck!