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Joystiq

Explodemon prototype videos reveal explosive gameplay, Bangai-O inspiration

by Andrew Yoon on Dec 28th 2009 5:15PM

Remember Explodemon? If you don't, don't blame yourself -- the title was revealed back on April Fool's Day and hasn't been heard of since. While its core concept -- a superhero powered by self-detonation -- may seem familiar after the XBLA release of 'Splosion Man, these prototype videos show a very different direction for the upcoming PS3/PSP/Wii platformer. Perhaps an analogy would best sum up our impressions:

Explodemon : Mario :: Splosion Man : Sonic (the good 2D kind, mind you)

Jonathan Biddle, design director at developer Curve, recently wrote about the various inspirations of Explodemon, a design that has been four years in the making so far. According to Biddle, players are encouraged to get as close to enemies as possible when exploding themselves, a mechanic ripped from Dreamcast's Bangai-O. "It's risk/reward in a distilled form, and is pure Treasure genius." You can see it in action after the break.

Source

Tags: Action, Curve-Studios, Explodemon, jonathan-biddle, Nintendo, Platformer, Wii, WiiWare

Reader Comments (42)

Am I the only one who read the title as something to do with pokemon?

No... but now I'll forever see that when I read it. Damn it, Awetoebawt!!!! :p

Or perhaps I should say, yes?? You were the only one?

Damn lack of an edit function, also.

I thought pokemon, but I knew it wasn't

actually i thought digimon since all there names had mon in it

Your C4 will blast us through! You blow me and I'll blow you, EXPLO-DE-MON~

on the upper right hand corner: Isn't that from Burnout: Revenge?

It is almost identical to the Crashbreaker Icon form Burnout Revenge

It's a standard warning icon for explosives

At any rate.. I watched a bit of the vids... looks like it'll make a fun little PSN release to waste time with.

I'm impressed by the videos, the game looks like a lot of fun.

Where the hell have you been?

Um... someone care to explain why is the character in the videos Pulseman... ?
And as I'm sure most people don't know who Pulseman is...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulseman

He kind of reminded me of Proto Man.

Problem is, he doesn't just remind me of Pulseman, it IS him. Same sprites, movements and everything. I should know, I played that game all the time as a kid and I even replayed it recently. Here's a gameplay video if you don't believe me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XtzoNv2Jzw
So... what gives?

Yeah I was thinking Protoman when I watched it also. You are right, however, it does look a lot like this Pulseman you speak of.

In re: to the what gives.. maybe write the dev and ask him?:) Maybe he was a big fan too.

I'm pretty sure they were just using borrowed sprites until the actual characters were made, I recognised several other ones in there.

These videos are from a prototype that wasn't commercially released. If you want to see what the game looks like now, view this trailer:

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/01/explodemon-blows-up-on-wiiware-psn-in-2009/

not only that, but the enemies appear to be Mets from Megaman.

All the sprites/tiles are just placeholders so they could worry more about the gameplay and programming. Graphics are usually the least important aspect of early prototypes like this.

the 2009 version has the same color scheme as Iron Man.

Holy crap thanks for the link Andrew:) I was ready to buy it before when it was lookin' old school. The way the game looks now is very nice:)

Just to make you roll your eyes, though. I got it. He's a mini Iron Man, not a mini Proto Man or Pulseman. Understood.

Yeah... I get the feeling I shouldn't have checked that "E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment" box down there...
I thought it might be just a placeholder sprite, but I imagined programmers use some simple, standard sprites for that, not ones from other games. Huh...
...
Maybe Somari was actually the placeholder sprite for Sonic the hedgehog? :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBKW0kDHIQ

Yeah, where the hell have you been, man?

some crazy shit with Bradwart, Planet and some new people have been going on.

*has

Yeah, that's definitely Pulseman.

http://www.lacrampeauxdoigts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/2009_02_14_pulseman_03.gif

I'll buy it

sold.

dat dun meen u can vizit ur gud frend Joistik

I'm just sad that it isn't gonna be released for XBLA.

Yeah, you missed the Great Darth Bradwart Attack, the Anti Bradwart Attack Force, my appointment to the Planeteers, my removal from the Planeteers, the banning of those morons, and my happy retirement.

Exciting, isn't it?

wow, these guys must hate microsoft or something

yeah, they probably do. But hey 360 has 'splosion man exclusivly, while PS3 and wii get this. Personally I prefer this.

Get closer to do more damage, at the cost of bigger risk? Game doesn't look bad, but it's kinda funny how they're making a big deal out of what's basically the shotgun from every other game ever.

Your analogy is a little mixed up there...

Please be bringing it on!

Why did they change Megaman's helmet? Is it a power up? A Robot Master ability?

Seriously, the character is Megaman with a different helmet. Even the stage looks Megaman-ish.
(I'm talking about the article image)

Spyder, you just earned so much respect just then. Same goes for me, man, that stuff is ridiculous and stupid IMO.

Hi guys,

Glad to see you're interested in the game. We've put an unholy amount of work into it over the years. I reckon it's definitely better than you're expecting it to be too!

To clear some things up, this article takes part of my own retelling of the making of the game from my blog. The movies are of the prototype, which uses sprites from other games (including the awesome Pulseman), since initially I didn't want to worry about artwork when making it fun. Later versions used our own sprites.

If you're interested in learning more, then check out the Explodemon Saga at my blog www.onebitbeyond.com. There are playable versions of even earlier prototype builds to check out. As for why we're not on XBLA? That will be covered in a later part of the story...

(...and btw, it's pronounced Explod-uh-mon, like Digimon and Pokemon, since it's a parody of Japanese action games.)

All of those boxes exploding in reaction to one another reminded me of Crash Bandicoot.

Especially 2:38 of the first video.

_____________________________________________
JaseH.

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Breaking News

Explodemon prototype videos reveal explosive gameplay, Bangai-O inspiration

Reader Comments (42)

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:18PM I AM IRONHIDE said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:22PM Sordid State of Eclairs said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:23PM Sordid State of Eclairs said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:45PM MrAlex said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 6:13PM Roxas560 said

Posted: Dec 29th 2009 3:13AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:20PM I AM IRONHIDE said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:39PM oOWallaceOo said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:45PM MrAlex said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:26PM Sordid State of Eclairs said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:32PM Vidikron said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:32PM I AM IRONHIDE said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:34PM Verg said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:38PM I AM IRONHIDE said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:46PM Verg said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:46PM Sordid State of Eclairs said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:47PM Sordid State of Eclairs said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:47PM MrAlex said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:49PM Andrew Yoon said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:50PM NickAVV said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:58PM DomoBraden said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:54PM I AM IRONHIDE said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:55PM Sordid State of Eclairs said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 6:28PM Verg said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:49PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:56PM I AM IRONHIDE said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 5:56PM I AM IRONHIDE said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 6:42PM Ebylon said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 6:44PM Marcus Carter said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 6:51PM SoCoolCurt said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 6:52PM I AM IRONHIDE said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 7:02PM NekoDaimyo said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 7:20PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 7:28PM Typicalgamer said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 9:07PM PN04 said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 7:29PM bm111 said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 8:39PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 9:58PM chuckrich81 said

Posted: Dec 28th 2009 10:53PM Shiaoran said

Posted: Dec 29th 2009 6:08AM Omega2k3 said

Posted: Dec 29th 2009 12:32PM onebitbeyond said

Posted: Dec 29th 2009 6:15PM JaseH said

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