Strong Bad: Baddest of the Bands

Episode three of the Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People series is entitled Baddest of the Bands. Once again players control the shirtless hero with the Mexican wrestling mask; only in this episode events diverge from the typical setup as the centre stage for the action is not a Strong Bad Email but Strong Bad's beloved Fun Machine. Only seconds into playing one of his favourite games “Limozeen: Hot Babelien Odyssey” disaster strikes and he is forced to seek the only qualified Fun Machine repair man, Bubs, of the concession stand fame.

This introduction re-establishes a favourite game layout of developer Telltale, the three section narrative. Strong Bad must tackle three main problems in order to get the cash for his charred Fun Machine, each problem has a number of sub-missions which bring in the rest of the motley band that inhabit Strong Badia.

Controlling Strong Bad also doesn't break the Telltale mould with the mouse examining the world and buttons interacting with characters and objects. It's a little frustrating at times that items cannot  be combined in the inventory screen, but instead have to be used in the world, as it means that solutions to puzzles require slightly more effort to achieve.

In general the puzzles make some form of logical sense but one in particular is very frustrating, enraging and bewildering to discover the solution is one which contradicts the game's own advice.

This sort of puzzle is of course no stranger to the adventure game fanatic as ridiculous combinations of objects often herald the solutions but it's particularly noticeable here.  The anger fades quickly however in part due to the humour which often sets up the genre for ridicule, whilst acknowledging its similar limitations in a manner closely reminiscent of Discworld 2, but also because Telltale provides a step by step walk through on their website.

This brings up a central problem that has often plagued this type of game, if you're a bit of Sudoku, Rubik's Cube or Towers of Hanoi kinda person then you will find some of the puzzles frustrating as reliance on a brute force combination system is the best option. Chances are however that if you're contemplating this then you're most likely a fan of Strong Bad and also that you've played at least one another episode and are thinking of filling in your collection. If this is the case then it's hard not to recommend playing this.

Additionally, fans of heavy metal and 80s rock will find a lot to enjoy here too. The episode is full of quirky jokes about irrelevant album covers, bands which focus more on their look than talent and snooty rock journalists. Gamers with a more sensible temperament and a quick temper may wish to avoid this episode but for the rest of us it's rock and roll!