Writings of Mass Deduction

Stegersaurus Games is a prolific indie game publisher. Some I really don’t get, like “Can You Handle Two At Once” (which I passed on, in exchange for a game from another developer called “Insanity” which I felt was a deeper offering). Others from Stegersaurus are actually quite good such as “Tank Strike”, “Mega Monster Mania”, “This is Hard”, and (one of my all time favourite indie games) “Battle Beat” (seriously, forget this review, just go play that game right now).

That brings us to “Baby Maker Extreme 2”. I skipped on the first game in the series, but some part of me has remained curious about the series. Is it terrible? Is it a guilty pleasure? Is it a hidden gem? I think the first game in the series is in the second category (not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that), but I think the sequel is actually a hidden gem. It’s a big upgrade over the original.

As in the first game, your goal is to have your expecting mother shoot out a baby at high velocity and see how much distance you can get. That’s the guilty pleasure part. Where it gets better is in all the options the game gives you. Some are fluff, such as humour-laden outfits that the babies can be born in. Others offer more substance, such as four different areas you can shoot your baby through (the hospital from the first game, a city park, a shopping mall, and a Tron-like virtual world).

Each time you bounce off an obstacle (a person, an object, etc.), your baby is bounced back up into the air. The game gives you the ability to double-jump when in the air, or to dive down; these make it more than just randomness, there’s actual strategy to how you keep your baby bouncing and gain more distance. Lots of hilarity ensues, unless you’re disinclined to enjoy dark humour. There are also super-powered babies in the game that have various special abilities and, in the grand tradition of the skulls in Halo games, some make the game easier, some make it harder, and some simply make it crazier.

The different areas are more than a simple graphical switch, too. The frequency of obstacles, and how obstructed they are, change starkly from one to the next. This changes the gameplay sharply. You unlock new locales by shooting your baby so far you leave your current one. Once you unlock a new locale, you have the option of starting from there. If you like one locale more than the others, you have the option of making it infinitely long so that you never leave it.

The outfits and super-powered babies are unlockable, which gives a nice sense of progression to the game. For 80 Microsoft Points, this is a shockingly deep game for something that could have been cheesy beyond words. Full marks to Daniel for elevating something far beyond anywhere it had any right to be.

Here’s what the developer (Stegersaurus Games) has to say about the game:

“The baby is back and ready to fly farther than ever! The surprising slippery superstar returns in this stupendous sequel. Now with more locations, super powered babies, and outfits to unlock. Who wouldn’t want more Baby Making in their life?”