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BattleBlock Theater
The game's antagonist, from a still from the game's official teaser trailer.
Developer(s)	The Behemoth
Designer(s)	Dan Paladin, Tom Fulp
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, other platforms TBA
Release date(s)	2010
Genre(s)	Platformer
Mode(s)	1-4 Player (local), 1-16 player (online)

BattleBlock Theater^[1] is an in-development co-operative / competitive platformer video game and the third production from developer The Behemoth following Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. Set to be released in 2010, the company originally revealed an early playable version of the game at the Tokyo International Anime Festival on 16 March 2009 with a trailer of gameplay footage.^[2] The game has been announced for Xbox Live Arcade, with other possible formats yet to be confirmed.^[3] Programmer Tom Fulp, creator of The Behemoth's origin project Newgrounds, is said to be focusing on other Newgrounds projects rather than playing a prominent part in this game's development.^[4]

Story

A mysterious character who experiences two emotions at the same time (some have nicknamed him "Two-Emotion Man") has kidnapped the player's friends, and it is up to the player to rescue them through a series of trials.^[5] Behemoth wrote this in the official BattleBlock Theater Trailer 'Having shipwrecked on a mysterious island you find yourself both betrayed by your best friend Hatty and captured by the locals. All of this is happening while being forced into deadly performances. This however, is just the start of your problems.'

Gameplay

Players create a character using shapes and different face styles and give them a weapon to use, and control them using a simple control system of running, jumping, punching and firing a weapon. Punching dazes an opponent whilst jumping on their head kills them. Players on the same team can stand on each others heads and help their teammates up ledges. Different weapons have different effects, ranging from explosive devices to effect inducing objects. Levels shown featured different types of blocks, including ones that self-destruct and ones with spikes, as well as hazards such as water and laser cannons. Power-ups include wings that allow players to fly around the level.

The following mini game modes have been revealed so far:^[6]

• A block painting game where blocks turn into the color of the player who first touches them. Whilst blocks are flashing, an opponent can capture them if touched. The blocks are de-colorized at certain intervals. At the end of the match, the player or team who touched the most blocks wins.
• A soccer game where each team attempts to knock a ball into their goal. The goal is just a hole on the ground. and seeing as how there's no kick button, you move the ball about by simply bumping into it.
• A game where you collect gold coins that are spit out by a golden whale which floats about the stage. Points are earned by depositing the gold into a flying safe.
• A game where killing an opponent releases its soul into the stage, and by collecting and holding onto an opponent's soul, you earn points. Those who've lost their soul can also attempt to chase it down after respawning.
• A game where opponents try and push their opponents into hazards. Jumping on opponents doesn't kill and certain weapons (like the grenade) are disabled.^[7]
• Co-operative stages in which two players work together to get through the level filled with obstacles, such as bridges that require one player to hold a switch down whilst the other returns to bring a creature back.

Development

Dan Paladin has stated that the things such as the mini-games and character selection weren't final.

At San Diego Comic Con 2009, the game, under its working title "Game #3", was shown to have online gameplay with up to 16 players in up to 4 teams. The final game will also have a single player story mode.

Whilst not a lot is known about the main game itself, it appears to revolve around the collection of gems.^[8] Like their previous game, Castle Crashers, there are plans to feature user-generated music from Newgrounds artists.

At the Tokyo Game Show, The Behemoth announced the game would definitely be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade, though were unable to say at the time if the game would be released for other formats.

A second trailer was released on February 1, 2010, revealing the final name for the game to be BattleBlock Theater.^[9]

See also

• The Behemoth
• Alien Hominid
• Castle Crashers
• Newgrounds

References

External links

• The Behemoth's Official Development Blog