Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People [Review]
If there is one thing I miss about today’s gaming market, it’s the classic point-and-click adventure. In what I like to refer to as their “Golden Age”, LucasArts published a wealth of games in this genre. Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis, and the absolutely beautiful, Stephen Spielberg produced, The Dig. These days I always find myself longing for a return to this kind of fun simplicity, and with their debut into console and PC gaming, the crew behind Homestar Runner gave me just that.
And this should come as no surprise. The developers behind Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People happen to be Telltale Games, a group of former LucasArts employees. With work on games like the Monkey Island series and the terribly under-appreciated Grim Fandango, the Brothers Chaps chose the right people to transform their beloved flash animation cartoon into a full fledged video game.
Read on and learn more about the game, and why we suggest you should go download it immediately.
Episode #1, entitled “Homestar Ruiner”, takes us through Strong Bad’s attempt to compete against his forever arch nemesis, Homestar Runner, in the Tri-Annual Race to the End of the Race (cue epic trumpet fanfare). Along the way, Strong Bad interacts with the cast of the familiar flash cartoon through a series of point-and-click missions. Pick up this for Marizpan, drop of this for Bubs, so on and so forth. Plenty of gopher style missions (”fetch quests”, if you will).
You would think this sort of game play would grow tedious, but you would be dead wrong. Fans of the game will be thrilled at how Strong Bad interacts with different characters during each go-to mission. Given two options, a halo or devil horns, Strong Bad utters brilliantly hysterical and snarky dialogue that keeps the spirit of the flash cartoon alive while at the same time, driving the story along. And interrupting your missions… there are mini games.
You wouldn’t have a proper Wii game without mini-games and you wouldn’t have a proper Homestar Runner cartoon without them either. If you’re a fan of the online cartoon, you’re well aware of Strong Bad’s ridiculously awful/amazing computer games. The Trogdor game comes immediately to mind. Telltale must have done their research, as Strong Bad’s Game is packed with enough mini-games to keep the replay value extremely high. The Teen Girl Squad game, where you help Strong Bad create his wonderful cartoon series, allows you to interact with a cherished piece of the Homestar Runner canon.
The game is available in episodic form for the Wii thanks to WiiWare, at 1000 Wii Points an episode (that’s $10). Unfortunately, due to the game being in five separate episodes, this means Strong Bad’s game will run you a solid $50. This fact might turn the casual gamer off to downloading Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, but try and keep in mind you’d be paying roughly $50 for a brand new, “full game” in stores anyway. So hey, deal with it. Believe me, this game is worth every penny.
Other Stuff You Might Wanna Know:
Developer: Telltale Games
Release Date: 8/11/2008
Available for: Nintendo Wii/PC
Price: $10 for Wii Episodes, $35 for PC Bundle
Rating: (Buy It, Don’t Buy It, Rent It): Buy it!
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