Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People - Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner Review

Many of you will no doubt be thinking "huh? Who's Strong Bad?", let us address that situation for you. Strong Bad is the titular hero of the SBemails, a series of cartoon shorts where the eponymous Strong Bad responds to fanmail. His witty retorts and retro look has meant since 2001 the series has grown in popularity and in 2008 TELLTALE GAMES (makers of Sam & Max) were tasked with bringing Strong Bad to the big screen (well that depends on how big your tv screen is really).

In this first installment of the absurdly long-windedly titled Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People - Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner, Strong Bad receives an email asking why he doesn't beat the living snot out of his mortal enemy Homestar Runner. A seemingly easy task, but in true adventure game style, Strong Bad is sidetracked and instead decides to humiliate Homestar (which also neatly sidesteps the issue of how one might beat the snot out of a character with no visible nose) by beating him at the tri-annual race to the end of the race.

The controls are simple enough, the mouse controls Strong Bad's movement and interaction with characters and a simple drop down menu allows you to select items. Whilst Homestar Ruiner is very approachable, it doesn't let down fans of the SBemails as it's crammed full of references to the Strong Bad universe (Teen girl squad, the poopsmith and other quirky sections of the Strong Bad cartoons all appear).

The comedy is often physical or ridiculous and there's nothing too maudlim (aside from Strong Sad's obvious goth temperament) or grossly rude (even Homestar's flashing scene is blurred, which will surely be a let down to the female fans). There are down sides however, the comedy relies very much on an appreciation of the cartoon counterpart or at the least an enthusiasm for quirky pop culture references to the 70s, 80s and 90s. No matter how much you tell people that calling your biceps guns is amusing, some just don't find it funny.

Homestar Ruiner also isn't that long and PC gamers get a far better deal through Steam than the Wii owners as the price is at least double for the Wii. On the down side for PC however, is that there's no option to buy individual episodes anymore so if you fancy a try before you buy then the demo is the best bet. Additionally the Wiimote is really suited to playing adventure games, just make sure you're not too far away as reading the subtitles is helpful for solving the more tasking puzzles. That being said, none of the puzzles are especially difficult to solve and there are options to give more or less hints depending on your familiarity with the genre.

If the humour of Monty Python and the bizarre nature of the 80s appeals to you, then Homestar Ruiner is definitely a fun way to spend an afternoon. An extended mode unlocks after completion so diehard fans will get a bit more from the game but for newcomers, a little caution should be utilised.

........

Want another opinion?