This review was based on a review copy of the game and not a retail copy, generously furnished by Telltale Games.
I never followed the adventures of Homestar Runner and his friends very closely, but whenever I saw Strong Bad’s e-mails or other misadventures, it almost always made me laugh; The Brothers Chaps had an accessible yet unique style of humor that I liked. Admittedly, this humor is a major selling point of Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People (SBCG4AP), but there’s a fair amount of it for $10, and the gameplay itself isn’t too bad either.
SBCG4AP is your standard point-and-click adventure title a la Sam & Max, and the controls and the gameplay concept are highly accessible. Strong Bad will head wherever you indicate with your Wii Remote pointer, either walking over to a random spot or moving to the item you indicate to pick it up, interact with it, or just provide humorous commentary. You’ll talk with characters to advance the plot, use items on other items or people to trigger events, and compete in the occasional mini-game. It’s intuitive and luckily doesn’t get boring, mainly because Strong Bad keeps the laughs coming, but it’s not really complex in any way and there’s not much to say about it. This isn’t a bad thing, though; it’s how adventure games roll.
The game’s humor is far and away the main attraction of SBCG4AP; Strong Bad has something to say about everything in the game, and more than a few items are there solely for the purpose of being commented on. In addition, there are several other amusing touches to the game that will make you laugh when you discover them; my personal favorite is the way Strong Bad will tell characters to shut up if they’re talking while you decide to talk to them.
The major gameplay component of the game would be the general puzzle-ish nature of advancement that adventure games provide. There are many items to interact with and many people to talk to, but sometimes the secret to going forward can be rather obscure, so it’s to your credit to inspect everything and do pretty much anything that comes to mind. This is where SBCG4AP excels; because the game’s packed with humor at pretty much every step, you’ll be naturally inclined to do everything you can just to see what happens, so while you may be doing a lot of work for little gain, you’ll be enjoying it. Regardless, you’ll end up scratching your head at least a couple of times during your adventure. One of the things I thought was good about the main story is that many things can be done out of order as you think of them, so you don’t have an arbitrary order to follow, which could have brought this game down heavily.
The main quest is unfortunately a bit short; my first playthrough lasted about three hours with tons of exploring and head-scratching, and I can see it all getting done in under 45 minutes by an experienced player. Luckily, there’s a lot of collectibles to find, mini-games to conquer, and a generally high level of replay value throughout this game. Once you beat the main quest, the game lets you continue on doing whatever you like so you can get absolutely everything you can. It won’t last you forever, but foronly $10 you’re getting a pretty good deal.
If you’re a fan of Strong Bad and his pals, this is worth a download if only for being a 3+ hour Flash cartoon full of laughs; even if you’re not, though, you’ll find an enjoyable adventure game with a great sense of humor. If you’re looking for a game filled with many hours of playtime and a ton of substance, then perhaps some of the Virtual Console RPGs (such as the incredible Paper Mario) are a better choice, but it’s hard not to recommend SBCG4AP to anyone who loves a good time.
