Explodemon! (PSN, Wiiware, PC)

[StrainedEyes]

Mega Man Meets Half-Life 2?!
Where do we sign up?
http://wii.ign.com/articles/969/969244p1.html

April 2, 2009 - Developer Curve has announced a downloadable game called Explodemon, headed for WiiWare, PC, and PlayStation Network this year. Described as a mix of classic platformers like Mario and Mega Man with a modern Halo or Half-Life 2 twist (!), Explodemon will be presented in 2.5D. Curve is apparently a big fan of Super Nintendo-era Japanese platformers. Explodemon himself looks like a super-deformed Iron Man.

The developer previously delivered Buzz! Master Quiz and Buzz! Brain Bender to the PSP. Screenshots of Explodemon have definitely caught our attention and we'll be keeping an eye on this one.

April 3, 2009 - Yesterday we discovered an upcoming WiiWare game that instantly shot to the upper echelons of our anticipated games. Explodemon is a side-scrolling action platformer presented in 2.5D and described by developer Curve Studios as a mix of Mega Man and Half-Life 2. The reaction from IGN readers was very enthusiastic. Luckily, we've gotten a few more details from Curve about its homage to classic Japanese action games.

Our hero Explodemon gets his name from his ability to self detonate. He also has the ability to fly and solve physics-based puzzles. As the game is essentially a love letter to Super Nintendo-style games from Japan, typos have been inserted into the game intentionally to recreate those hilarious translation errors we used to enjoy.

"Due to the prototype, we've been in the fortunate position of having been able to play Explodemon! for a long time now," says Jason Perkins, Managing Director of Curve. "The gameplay has been honed through iterative playtesting so many times, that we are effectively now releasing Explodemon II. We're excited to now be able to marry this solid gameplay with cutting edge 3D visuals and effects and release it via digital distribution for others to enjoy.

"Explodemon! is best described as what Treasure would create if they mixed Yoshi's Island with Half Life 2. It includes many elements from games as diverse as Street Fighter II, Halo, Super Metroid and Bangai-O. As lifelong gamers, we're huge fans of these titles and feel we've managed to bring together something that captures something from all of them. We think that there are many gamers out there like us who feel that there aren't enough absolutely amazing action platform games on the current download services and we really can't wait for people to see that we've managed to create exactly that with Explodemon!"

Explodemon is set for release in Q4 2009 -- for the PlayStation Network. The WiiWare and PC versions will apparently come after the PS3 debut.

Trailer - http://www.gametrailers.com/player/47528.html

I didn't see a thread about this, and there should be one.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well, that sounds very interesting & fun indeed. Going to have to check that out. This is definitely showing the benefit from Sony's new policy towards small, indie developers.

 

[Brainiac 8]

Yea, I'm looking forward to this...when I saw the trailer at first it interested me. I'll be getting this one Wiiware.

 

[Havok83]

That looks really cool. I wonder why they arent releasing it on XBLA

 

[Tron Bonne]

Yeah, kind of wondered that myself. I thought at first it was a deal with Sony, with that new policy and all, but if that were the case I doubt we'd be seeing a Wii release, either.

 

[StrainedEyes]

Well, I'm glad I have a Wii. I barely use it anymore, so something like this is great.

 

[StrainedEyes]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/105/1058820p1.html

January 6, 2010 - Remember Explodemon? No, not 'Splosion Man, the Xbox Live Arcade game released last summer. We're talking about Explodemon, the 'Mega Man meets Half-Life' action game that was announced early last year for PlayStation Network, PSP, WiiWare, and PC. Like 'Splosion Man, Explodemon can self detonate. However, Explodemon is more of a love letter to the 16-bit action games of yore, going so far as to insert typos into the text to simulate the poor translation so many Japanese games received. We haven't heard much about the game since its announcement, but a few recent blog posts written by Jonathan Biddle, design director at developer Curve Studios, provide some details on what we can expect.

First off, the initial plans to bring Explodemon to all of the above platforms have been set aside in order to focus on the PlayStation 3 version. Work on other versions won't start until the PS3 game is done and Curve hasn't yet determined which other platforms it will eventually make it to.

The inspiration for Explodemon came directly from games like Yoshi's Island, Astro Boy on Game Boy Advance, and the revered classic Gunstar Heroes.

"These kinds of games, and especially for me Yoshi's Island, possess a certain quality to them," Biddle says. "Something about the pixel art, the depth of gameplay deriving from simple rules, the accessibility, the collecting, the level designs, the perfect controls… I didn't know what it was, but it tickled my nostalgia node in a special way, and I felt a burning desire to create my own game that explored these mechanics. I didn't want to create something ambitious, or poignant, or something that pushed the edge of game theory, but rather an uncomplicated platform game, albeit one of the quality of a Nintendo or Treasure title. I was interested in finding out just what it is that makes those titles as good as they are. And so I started at the beginning."

Biddle began coding Explodemon way back in 2005. Once he had the basics of a platformer up and running (and jumping) he borrowed ideas from three separate sources in order to create Explodemon's explosive mechanics:

1. Biddle had made a plug-and-play Superman game called Meteor Strike. Similar to Missile Command you could destroy certain enemies and cause the explosion to take out additional bad guys at the same time. "A key strategy was to repeatedly chain these explosions together in order to clear the screen. It worked out pretty well in a basic fashion, but I thought it might be nice to see how that would work with a platform game."

2. He had also previously created a simple match-three game where the player had to eliminate blocks by destroying like colors around them. Explosions would "level up" and become more powerful as you progressed.

3. Finally, Biddle and a former colleague now working at Pokemon studio Game Freak had an idea for a game starring a robot that couldn't stop itself from exploding. He decided to make Explodemon jump by detonating himself – which also happens to be the way 'Splosion Man reaches higher ground.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Only for a Q4 release.
Ok, i should have a PS3 by then

 

[Havok83]

I completely forgot about this and actually did confuse it with Splosion Man