MsSplosionMan
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Daily iPhone App: Ms. Splosion Man splodes out onto iOS
I'm a big fan of developer Twisted Pixel -- their console games are always terrific, with the original Splosion Man being one of my favorites. Now, the company has teamed up with developer Iron Galaxy and publisher Microsoft to bring the sequel to that one, Ms. Splosion Man, to iOS, and the result is a really impressive port. In fact, I don't know if "port" is even the right word for this one. If you'd never heard Ms. Splosion Man was released on Xbox before it arrived on the iPhone, this could just be one of the best platformers on the App Store. The idea here is that you play a very silly creature that can "splode" whenever you touch the screen, which allows you to destroy objects and jump all in one explosive movement. You can "splode" up to three times before you need to touch the ground again, so essentially the game is a pretty twitchy triple jump platformer, challenging you to navigate Ms. Splosion Man through fifty different levels. Just looking at the game itself, Ms. Splosion Man is great -- it takes Twisted Pixel's original Splosion Man idea, and improves on it with huge boss fights, perfectly designed levels, and lots of new mechanics, like rotating cannons and a very active camera. As a port, however, this title is even more impressive. I am not sure how Iron Galaxy was able to make the game look and run this well, but they did it -- the title looks like it was lifted straight from the Xbox, and it runs just as smoothly on my iPhone. There are some new additions, too, like challenges to complete for "Fame" as you play, and even full AirPlay support. My one complaint here is that the touchscreen controls sometimes cover up the action, but that's not a huge issue, especially considering the rest of the app's quality. Ms. Splosion Man is a great game already, and it's been delivered to the App Store with panache here. You can pick it up there now for just $2.99.
